Friends of the Super Sabre provide some F-100 firsts.

The following comes from the Friends of the Super Sabre website…thank you, FSS.

F-100 FIRSTS
May 25, 1953 – First operational aircraft to exceed Mach 1 in level flight – YF-100A flown by George Welch.

October 26, 1953 – New world speed record – 755.19 mph over the Salton Sea, F-100A, Lt. Col. Frank Everest.

October 1954 – First American Fighter unit equipped with supersonic jets – 479th FDW, George AFB, CA F-100As.

December 17, 1954 – The Collier Trophy awarded to NAA by Pres. Eisenhower for the development of the first operational supersonic fighter.

February 1955 – First supersonic ejection – George Smith from F-100A at 8,000 ft.

August 1955 – New world speed record – 822.5 mph over the Mojave Desert. Col. Horace Hanes – F-100C

September 4, 1955 – Col. Carlos Talbott won the Bendix Trophy in an F-100C that traversed the 2,325-mile transcontinental distance with an average speed of 610mph.

September 1956 – Start of the F-100F – First two-seater supersonic trainer aircraft.

September 1956 – Project Mobile Baker – first tactical jets to fly non-stop from Foster AFB, TX to Landstuhl, Germany (across the Atlantic), F-100C – 13 hrs, 50 min.

December 1956 – Two F-100Ds became the first-ever aircraft to successfully perform buddy refueling.

November 1957 – Project Mobil Zebra – First tactical jets to fly non-stop across the Pacific ocean – 16 F-100Cs and 16 F-100Ds from George AFB, CA to Philippine Islands.

February 1957 – First Air National Guard unit to be equipped with supersonic fighter jets – 188th TFS, Kirtland AFB, NM ANG.

May 1957 – Three F-100Cs set a new world distance record for single-engine aircraft by covering the 6,710 mi (5,835 nmi, 10,805 km) distance from London to Los Angeles in 14 hours and 4 minutes. The flight was accomplished using inflight refueling.

March 1958 – First supersonic jet to make a ZEro Length Launch (ZEL) – Al Blackburn.

March 1958 – Announcement – First fighter to be able to deliver a nuclear weapon at supersonic speed – TAC Cmdr. Gen. O. P. Weyland, F-100D.

May 1958 – First foreign country to be equipped with supersonic jet fighters – Military Assistance Program, France.

August 1959 – Two F-100Fs became the first-ever jet fighters to fly over the North Pole.

April 1961 – F-100s were the first USAF combat jets to enter the Vietnam War.

April 1965 – An F-100 was the first USAF aircraft to engage in aerial jet combat during the Vietnam War while escorting F-105 Thunderchiefs to target.

1956 – First supersonic jet fighter to equip the Thunderbird Aerial Demonstration Team – 1956-1964 and 1964 – 1968, 13 years total.

1980 – First operational high-performance fighter to demonstrate a remote-controlled attack capability – QF-100 Full Scale Aerial Target 1979-1998.

ACHIEVEMENTS
1958 First supersonic jet fighter to equip an allied nation – France – F-100Ds and F-100Fs.

1972 Flew more sorties in Vietnam than all the thousands of P-51s flew in World War II.

1972 Flew more sorties in the Vietnam War than all other combat fighter aircraft combined – 360,283 sorties – 242 F-100s lost (198 in combat, 54 non-combat).

Source: https://friendsofthesupersabre.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/firsts.pdf

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