| The P/F-51 Mustang, after WW-2, went into ANG units in large numbers. It was used in the Korean Conflict for ground support. |
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North American P/F-51 MUSTANG Length: 32 ft. 3 in. Height: 13 ft. 8 in. Weight: 12,100 lbs. max. Engine: Packard built Rolls-Royce "Merlin" V-1650 of 1,695 hp. PERFORMANCE Maximum speed: 437 mph. Cruising speed: 275 mph. Range: 1,000 miles Service Ceiling: 41,900 ft. Armament: Six .50-cal. machine guns and ten 5 in. rockets or 2,000 lbs. of bombs. 
For more information on the MUSTANG goHERE. |
| America's first operational jet fighter was the F-80. Quickly replaced as a fighter by swept-winged craft, the F-80, however, proved to be worthwhile ground support plane. The F-80 was to emerge the victor in the world's fist jet verses jet combat. The last of the Shooting Stars were retired from Air Force reserve and ANG units in 1958. |
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Lockheed F-80
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| Early jet engines were a thristy breed indeed. Many designers tried to increase the range of fighters by adding a piston or turboprop engine for normal cruise. The XP-81 was one of these designs that did not go too far. Only 2 were produced. |
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Convair XP-81
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| The last propeller-driven fighter bought in quantity by the United State Air Force was the North American F-82 Twin Mustang. Appearing to be two P-51 Mustangs on one wing the F-82 is, in fact, a totally new design. During the Korean Conflict, Twin Mustangs, flying from bases in Japan, were among the first USAF aircraft to operate over Korea. |
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North American F-82
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| Early jet engines were thristy, so what better way to increase range than to scale up an already existing plane, in this case, the Bell P-59? The result of this way of thinking was to add extra fuel, that also added extra pounds, to an enlarged airframe. The end result? A plane which offered no improvements to already existing jet fighters. Only 2 were built. |
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Bell F-83
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| Making its first flight on February 16, 1946, the straight wing Republic F-84 was the first post-war fighter to take to the sky for the USAF. In June of 1947, the Thunderjet began rolling off production lines and, by the end of its production career in 1953, about 4,450 had been built. The Thunderjet was also the first American fighter capable of carrying a tactical nuclear weapon. |
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Republic F-84E
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| In 1949, a time when the Air Force found funds for developing new planes rather limited, it was decided to bring the performance of the Thunderjet up to that of the F-86 Sabre, yet retain the ground attack capabilities of the earlier straight-winged �E� model. It was hoped that, by using 60% of the already existing Thunderjet and an F-84E fuselage, a plane of much higher performance could be produced with minimal costs and development time. |
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Republic F-84F
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OTHER FIGHTERS OF THE WORLD. Many fine planes were being designed around the world at this time. To the right are but a few of these planes. |
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 Hornet: Great Britian. |
Meteor: Great Britian. |
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 Mig-9: USSR. |
 Ouragan: France. |
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 MiG-15: USSR. |
 Hunter: Great Britian. |
| If one cannot have a fighter with the range of a bomber, why not carry the fighter with the Bomber. The XF-85 was designed to do just that however, it soon proved to point to the fact that it might be more deadly to friend than to foe. Only 2 built. |
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McDonnell XF-85
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| One of the greatest fighter planes in history, the F-86 ranks up there with the Fokker D.VII, Sopwith Camel, Focke Wulf Fw-190-series, the Mitsubishi Zero and the North American P-51 Mustang. Enjoying an outstanding service life, the last operational F-86 was not retired from service until 1993. After the Korean conflict ended, many F-86Fs were sent to allied countries such as Pakistan, Irag, and Japan. |
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North American F-86
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| The first jet aircraft produced by Curtis, as well as the last aircraft produced by the company. The Blackhawk was designed as a fighter-bomber, but was redesigned to fill the all-weather interceptor role. Lost to the F-89 Scorpion. |
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Curtis XF-87
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| Flying for the first time in August of 1948, the XF-88, like the XF-90, was designed as a penatration fighter and, like the XF-90, was to prove too advanced a concept for jet engines of the era. Later, the design was scaled up to become the F-101 Voodoo |
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McDonnell XF-88
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| In early June of 1948, a sinister, gloss black-painted plane was rolled out of the factory. The hulking form of the XP-89 Scorpion stood proudly, even with no armament installed, and lacking the huge 600 gallon wingtip tanks. On June 11, 1948, even before it made its first flight, the plane had been redesignated as the XF-89. The F-89D was in service in small numbers until 1959 when the Convair F-102 supersonic interceptor made the Scorpion series obsolete. |
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Northrop F-89
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| The Air Force had learnt painfully the need for effective fighter escort during the Second World War. The F-90 was, along with the XF-88, designed to fill that role. Due to the robust construction of the F-90, the weight was more than the engines could handle to allow the needed performance. Lost out to the XF-88 but, in the end, niether plane went into production. |
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Lockheed XF-90
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| The F-91 concept was much like the earlier German Me-163 "point defence" fighter. This plane was the first Amercan designed combat aircraft to fly faster than the speed of sound with rocket engines. First flight in May 1949. Two built. |
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Republic XF-91
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| More of a research plane than a fighter, the F-92 was the first jet-powered aircraft used to explore delta-wing design. First flown in September 1948. Only 1 built. |
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Convair XF-92A
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| Another contender for the Penetration Fighter was the F-93, originally known as the F-86C. Note the flush air intakes on the sides of the aircraft.Only 2 built. |
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North American YF-93A
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| With the advent of the Tupolev Tu-4, an exact copy of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress, only being redesigned where it was needed to adapt to Soviet manufacturing. The sight of the large bomber came as a total shock to American military planners. In March 1948, the Air Force opened talks with Lockheed as to the possibility of adding armament to the TF-80C trainer. By May of 1954 387 Cs had been delievered. The last F-94C leaving service in February of 1959 |
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Lockheed F-94
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| This was the early designation for what was to become the F-86D. When phased out of service was sent to the air forces of several nations. |
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North American F-95A
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| This was the early designation for the F-84F series. |
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Republic F-96
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| This was the early designation for the F-94C series. |
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Lockheed F-97
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| Both were missles with Fighter designations |
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Hughes F-98 "FALCON"
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| America's first supersonic fighter was the large F-100 a plane that, even beset by early problems, went on to live a long, useful ilfe. The first combat capable Super Sabre, and the first to serve in large numbers was the F-100C. Taking to the air for the first time on January 17, 1955. After the Super Sabre left Vietnam in mid-1971 it soon enter ANG service, lasting with Guard units until the last F-100D was removed from service in 1979. |
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North American F-100
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| Originally designed as a long-range escort fighter for the Strategic Air Command, the Voodoo never served in this role, emerging as a long-range interceptor, a nuclear strike fighter, and a tactical reconnaissance plane. The F-101 was the first production aircraft able to exceed 1000 mph in level flight and, in the Vietnam conflict, flew some of the fastest combat missions flown over North Vietnam. By 1979 the last of the Voodoos were retired from ANG service |
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McDonnell F-101
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| Air Defense Command took on its first F-102A on May 1, 1956, almost 3 years later than once hoped for. At the zenith of the F-102A, some 32 Air Defense Command units flew the big, delta-winged interceptor. In September 1958 the last of 873 Delta Daggers was delivered, as well as 111 TF-102A versions, this being a two-seated trainer version. |
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Convair F-102
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| Offered to the Air Force as an attempt to reverse the trend towards larger, heavier and much more costly and complex planes, the F-104 was destined to serve only in small numbers for but a few years in the country of its origin. However, it was to find service in the air arms of other countries such as Denmark, , Italy, Belgium, Greece, Turkey, Canada, Spain, and Norway. It was also built under license in Japan, and in large numbers for NATO countries. |
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Lockheed F-104
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| Best know as the �THUD�, the F-105 the first supersonic fighter-bomber designed from the start to fulfill that mission. It was designed to deliver a nuclear strike, the F-105 earned its great distinction in the hostile skies over Vietnam, mainly over North Vietnam. During 1971-72 some of the planes were given to units of the ANG, these units operating the F-105 until 1983. |
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Republic F-105
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| Regarded by many as being the finest all-weather interceptor ever built, the F-106 was on active service for close to 28 years, much longer than some of its counterparts. The F-106 was originally known as the F-102B, but was such a drastically different airplane that it was quickly changed to the F-106A Delta Dart. After 1972, the McDonnell F-15 Eagle begun replacing the Delta Darts. The last F-106 was replaced in 1988. |
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Convair F-106
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OTHER FIGHTERS OF THE WORLD. The world was, by the mid-1950s, caught up in a quest for speed. The fighters to the right, helped their respective contry keep pace with the rapidly changing world. |
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 J29: Sweden. |
 Super Mystere: France. |
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 Mig-19: USSR. |
 MiG-21: USSR. |
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 Lightning: Great Britian. |
 Mirage: France. |
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Only two of the big F-107 aircraft were built. This redesign of the F-100 lost out to the F-105 Thunderchief. |
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North American F-107
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| The F-110A was the USAF designation for what was to become the F-4C. On 18 September 1962, the USAF and US Navy aircraft designation systems were combined into a single scheme resulting in the F-1 to F-11. The USAF F-110A and US Navy F4H-1 became F-4C and F-4B respectively. Production ended in 1979 after over 5,000 had been built, of which, more than 2,800 were built for the USAF. |
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McDonnell F-110A
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| One of the most controversial aircraft that ever flew, the F-111 flew. Not only were there many development problems, the big plane came face to face with its share of political problems. In the beginning, thousands of planes were planned but, in the end, 7 versions produced 562 planes. After a long trial period, the F-111 proved to be one of the finest weapon systems to date. The F-111 never had an official name. |
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McDonnell F-111
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| It had been very common for trainer aircraft to be derived from production aircraft, however, the reverse has seldom been seen, let alone gain substantial production as the Northrop F-5 Freedom Fighter did. The tiny fighter spawned from Northrop�s T-38 Talon, America�s first purpose designed supersonic trainer. In 1972, the improved F-5E Tiger II was introduced with more powerful engines. This is the version most often used in the aggressor role by U.S. services. |
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Northrop F-5
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| Even though it was designed in the late 60s and early 70s, the F-15 Eagle served to the end of the last century, and will continue serving well into this century as the world�s finest air-superiority aircraft. Having seen combat is the services of the Israeli, Saudi Arabian and Untied States Air Forces, the plane has posted a most impressive score of perhaps 100 kills with no air-to-air losses. |
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McDonnell Douglas F-15
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| The winner of the 1972 Lightweight Fighter program, the F-16 from an effective air superiority day finghter into a very effective fighter-bomber. It has been produced in large numbers, serving with many air forces around the world. Has been the mount of the Thunderbirds for many years. |
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Lockheed (General Dynamics) F-16
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As new materials and techniques became availble to aircraft designers of the 1970s, the Air Force became interested in stealth aircraft able to attack high-value targets without being detected. First flown in June 1981, and was operational in June 1983. In the military operations it has seen, the F-117 has proven its worth.
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Lockheed F-117A
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| The contender to the F-16 in the Lightweight Fighter program. Although the F-18 lost out to the F-16, the Navy showed interest in a Carrier version. After the F-18 was redesigned to meet Navy requirements it went on to become one of the best fighters in the world today. |
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Northrop YF-18
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| Maybe one of the best designed fighters of its day, the Tigershark lost out to sales to other nations because of the more modern looking F-16. Only 3 built. |
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Northrop F-20
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| Using advanced technologies in fighter design the F-22 was designed as the next generation of air superiority fighter. Up to 3,000 had been planned but, due to the ever present budget cut, less than 700 will be produced, if even that many. |
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Lockheed F-22
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| The concepts leading to both the F-22 and F-23 were being looked at as far back as 1969. The concept was for a replacement for both the F-15 and F-16 fighters early in the next century. After extensive design and testing, the F-22 was selected for production. |
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Northrop-McDonnell Douglas YF-23
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OTHER FIGHTERS OF THE WORLD. Not only was the Air Force on a quest for superior fighter planes, the world was coming up with some very advanced fighter concepts. A few of these planes are fetured here. |
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 Eurofighter. |
 Saab Gripen: Sweden |
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 Dassault-Breguet Rafale: France. |
 MiG-29: USSR. |
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 Panavia Tornado: European. |
 Su-37: Russia. |
