Hobby Master 1/72 Air Power Series
HA4319Canadair Sabre Mk.6 (F-86-40) JA-344, JG 71 "Richthofen", Germany, 1961
General Background
The Canadair Sabre was built in two plants in Canada under license from North American Aviation. They were produced in 6 variants, Mk. 1 through 6. The Mk. 1 was a single prototype to check the accuracy of Canadair's manufacturing equipment. 350 Mk. 2's, 1 Mk. 3 to use as a test bed for the Orenda 3 engine, 438 Mk. 4's, 370 Mk. 5's and 655 Mk. 6's were manufactured. Over a dozen countries have operated the Canadair Sabre in one variant or another.
The Aircraft
As West Germany's first operational jet fighter unit, JG 71 was formed in June 1959 and equipped with 50 Canadair Sabre Mk.6s. Canadair Sabre Mk. 6 JG+344 MSN 1757 from JG 71, 2 Staffel was lost on a training flight. On August 7, 1963 JG+344, piloted by Feldwebel Eckhard Wendt, was lost when it crashed on a target range at Aurich-Brockzetel. The pilot as well as 5 people on the ground were killed. In 1963 the unit moved to Wittmundhafen AB and re-equipped with the F-104, an aircraft Erich Hartmann disliked.
