[Steely Tom]

F-86 had trailing edge control surfaces on its rudder and horizontal stabilizer; this made it vulnerable to loss of attitude control authority at supersonic speeds due to flow effects resulting from the shock wave that formed leading edges.

The need for full-motion control surfaces was discovered around the time — or soon after — the crash of the de Havilland DH 108 "Swallow" that killed Geoffrey de Havilland in England.

The need for full-motion control surfaces was classified top secret, and was one reason films like this one were not released to the public for many years after the event.

If the F-86 was taken supersonic, it would have been very risky to the pilot. I'm not saying it didn't happen; actually, the sound barrier had been closely approached if not broken by pilots of the P-38 Lightning, when in steep dives, during and immediately after WWII.

[Ol' Dan Tucker]

F-86 had trailing edge control surfaces on its rudder and horizontal stabilizer; this made it vulnerable to loss of attitude control authority at supersonic speeds due to flow effects resulting from the shock wave that formed leading edges.

This is true of the F-86 models before the -E variant.

It was Yeager who, during flights in the X-1 that found that changing the angle of incidence of the entire horizontal stab (all-flying tail) allowed the aircraft to he controllable in pitch.

All models of the F-86E and beyond used all-flying tails.

[wardaddy]

My dad flew 86s

I shoulda asked him

He flew 100s and the crazy 104 as well....