F-100 Super Sabre
The F-100, which was created as an upgrade to the F-86 Sabre that saw action in the Korean War, was the first airplane in production to reach 760 mph in level flight, faster than the speed of sound. On May 25, 1953, the YF-100A prototype made its first flight from Edwards Air Force Base (AFB) in California.
F-100 “Sabre Dance”
The F-100 fighter experienced a high accident rate after it was put into service in 1954. This post’s silent reel of footage was employed for company film productions in the 1960s and originates from the North American Aviation Film Library. The opening sequence of the video features engineers at work at the NAA facility and aircraft assembly. At exactly 4:30 on the runway at Edwards AFB, a tragic accident is depicted as an F-100 jet fighter piloted by Lt. Barty R. Brooks pitches up—also known as the Sabre Dance, the name given to a hazardous behavior of swept wings—which became apparent in the USAF with the introduction of the F-86 Sabre and crashes in a fireball.
Accident’s details
The details of this accident are described below.
When a swept wing starts to stall, the outermost portions tend to stall first. The aircraft’s nose pitches upward because these areas are behind the center of the lift, which causes the lift force to go forward overall. This increases the angle of attack and makes the wing stall more, which makes the issue worse. At low altitudes, the pilot frequently loses control, which can be fatal because there is not enough time for the pilot to regain control or eject before impacting the ground. This phenomenon caused a great deal of aircraft to crash during landing, often tumbling as they landed on the runway.
F-100 pilot Lt. Barty R. Brooks’ Sabre Dance
The loss of the F-100C-20-NA Super Sabre 54-1907 and its pilot on January 10, 1956, during an attempt at an emergency landing at Edwards AFB, California, is one of the most well-known incidents. By coincidence, cameras positioned to record an unrelated test captured this same action in great detail on 16 mm film. Due to poor landing technique, the pilot fought desperately to regain control. Eventually, he rolled and yawned to the right before hitting the ground, turning the fuselage about ninety degrees to the path of flight. The F-100 was noticeably underpowered for its day and had very pronounced “backside” tendencies if airspeed was allowed to decay too much.
Lt. Barty R. Brooks, a Martha, Oklahoma, native and graduate of Texas A&M, piloted the brand-new F-100C for the 1708th Ferrying Wing, Detachment 12, Kelly AFB, Texas. The aircraft was one of three being delivered from North America’s Palmdale plant to George AFB, California, but the nose gear pivot pin worked loose, allowing the wheel to swivel at random, so he diverted to Edwards, which had a longer runway. The fighter went outside its flight envelope during approach at a high angle of attack, went too far into stall condition, and lost directional control, which was lethal.