@ Fairfield, CA
May 2022
Spotted this rare bird at the 2022 Wings Over Solano airshow at Travis AFB. First flown in 1958, the North American Sabreliner was offered to the U.S. Air Force as the T-39 in response to their Utility Trainer Experimental program. North American then stretched the design by 3 feet 2 inches, providing greater cabin space, and marketed it as the Series 60 with 130 produced. Named Sabreliner due to the similarity of the wing and tail to North American’s F-86 Sabre jet fighter, over 800 Sabreliners were delivered, of which 200 were T-39s. Military variants of the Sabreliner are still in active service with the U.S Air Force, Navy and Marines. In 1973 North American Aviation merged with Rockwell Standard under the name Rockwell International. Sabreliner production came to a close in 1981 followed by Rockwell selling its Sabreliner division to a private equity firm. This Sabreliner wears the USAF livery of a military T-39 and now flies as the support aircraft for the Patriots Jet Team, along with being an inflight upset-recovery trainer. Being derived from the F-86, the Sabreliner is the only business jet certified for aerobatics (3G limit).
