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different areas of the photo to see other views of the display  
There are few other aircraft in the history of aviation which are as famous, evocative and easily recognisable, as the F-86 Sabre family. Designed by North American Aviation, the prototype XP-86 first flew on 1st October 1947, and the first F-86A's entered service with the United States Air Force the following year. The Sabre soon began setting speed records.... but it was in the Korean war where it was to gain its greatest fame, as arch-adversary to the MiG-15. The basic Sabre design was constantly developed during its service life and its popularity and effectiveness led to its selection by the air forces of no less than 35 different countries around the world. As well as production in the U.S.A., Sabres were also assembled by Fiat in Italy, Mitsubishi in Japan, and modified versions were license-built in Canada as the Canadair CL-13, and in Australia as the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation CA-27. By the time all manufacturing had ceased, worldwide production stood at a grand total of 8,675 Sabres of various marks, some of which were still in service in the 1980's. Loved by all who flew it, the Sabre's excellent flying qualities made it an obvious choice for formation aerobatics, and of the 35 countries equipped with it, at least 21 of them had one or more Sabre-mounted aerobatic teams at some point in their history. Our display here represents a large number of those Sabre aerobatic teams, illustrating the different types and marks used, as well as the many highly-colourful schemes applied to the team aircraft.
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