The F-100A day fighters were in active service with the Air Force for a short time, then transferred to the Air National Guard. The USAF was more acceptable of the F-100C, which went into production in 1954. It was the first truly operational version of the Super Sabre, and stayed in active duty throughout the Vietnam War. But the F-100D was the first dedicated fighter-bomber of the series and used extensively for its accurate delivery of close air support for ground troops.

Air Force F-100s in formation.

San Diego Air & Space Museum volunteer and former Air Force pilot, Dave Barnett, describes his experience with flying the F-100:

Yes, the F-100 was a great fighter jet which I thoroughly enjoyed flying. It did not have many of the "bells and whistles" that current aircraft have, but it was very reliable and effective in delivering weapons "on target."

It had several roles during the Vietnam and Cold War days. In the Vietnam conflict, the warhorse F-100 flew over 360,000 close air support sorties which was more than all other USAF Fighters combined.

Dropping ordinance.

But some of my best recollections associated with the F-100 are when I was stationed at Lakenheath Royal Air Force base in England from 1966-1969. I was a Captain at the time, and along with our training to deliver conventional bombs and rockets, we were required to be combat ready to deliver nuclear weapons. This meant we sat alert 24 hours a day ready to launch within 15 minutes if called to deploy. I spent many days and nights on alert duty during that 3 year tour (we normally sat alert in 3 day shifts) at Lakenheath and also Aviano, Italy, and Izmir, Turkey.

We also practiced three methods of delivering nuclear weapons with practice bombs -- the most exciting was "over-the-shoulder," which was delivering the weapon while doing a loop over the target and as the weapon came off the aircraft on the way up, we hoped we had the time to complete the loop and escape the bomb blast. In 1968, I received the Squadron "Top Gun" award for nuclear delivery.

Dave Barnett also added an interesting tidbit regarding the "AirshowStuff" video from "The Intro" section, saying, “That is the same aircraft I flew at Fort Wayne in September 2018 (42 years after my last F-100 flight in the Air Force).”

F-100 artwork by John Steel.

Super Sabres were produced between 1953 and 1960 and could reach speeds well over 900 miles per hour. 

In 1958, rock legend Chuck Berry paid tribute to the Super Sabre with his release of holiday classic, “Run Rudolph Run.” Written in 1958 by songwriters Johnny Marks and Marvin Brodie, the song has been performed by countless singers for the past sixty-two years.  Here is a 2019 performance:

On August 7th, 1959, two F-100Fs became the first-ever jet fighters to fly over the North Pole.

Happy Holidays!