@ Tucson, AZ
March 2018
Among the many fine aircraft exhibited at the Pima Air & Space Museum is this rare North American F-107A prototype, one of three built. First flown in 1956, this aircraft was the result of design studies based on the F-100 Super Sabre and competed for a tactical fighter-bomber contract that was won by the F-105 Thunderchief. The aircraft configuration was driven by an Air Force requirement for carriage of an underbelly semi-conformal nuclear weapon. Extensive design changes resulted in its redesignation from F-100B to F-107A before the first prototype flew. In late 1957, this aircraft was one of two F-107A prototypes leased to the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) for high-speed flight research. Nicknamed the Super Super Sabre, this would be the last fighter aircraft designed and built by North American Aviation.
