Hobby Master 1/72 Air Power Series
HA4320Canadair Sabre Mk.6 JA-111, JG 71 "Richthofen", Germany, 1960s
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
In 1956 Eric Hartmann became part of the newly formed West German Luftwaffe and soon was appointed the first Geschwaderkommodore of Jagdgeschwader 71 "Richthofen". This new squadron was an all-jet unit equipped with Canadair Sabre CL-13 Mk.6. Hartmann’s aircraft was built as JC+368 and later became JA+111. He had it painted the same black tulip scheme used by him on the Eastern Front during WWII. In 1959 Hartmann was promoted to the post of Kommandeur Jagdgeschwader 71 "Richthofen", Ahlhorn, West Germany. During WWII Hartmann flew 825 missions and scored 352 victories.
