More Information on Iowa City's F-86 Sabre Jet

A communication regarding my last post concerns the history of the Iowa City Municipal Airport's F-86 Sabre jet memorial. Websites dedicated to identifying certain aircraft exist and are fueled by input from photographers, historians and local contributors.

One 42N blog reader provided a link to such a site where he and others have detailed information about this Korean War era airframe and its history in Iowa.

Additional history regarding this particular F-86 is welcomed. Please visit the website below and add your knowledge of this memorial to the veterans of Johnson County, Iowa.

From the Aerial Visuals Airframe Dossier website (Link):

Airframe Family:	North American P-86/F-86 Sabre
Latest Model:	F-86L Sabre
Last Military Serial:	53-0750 USAF
Construction Number:	201-194
Latest Owner or Location:	Iowa City Municipal Airport, Iowa City, Iowa

Veterans Day Study of an F-86 Sabre

Outside the entrance to the Municipal Airport in Iowa City, Iowa is this F-86 Sabre jet fighter. I took a few photos of it the day I got my first Nikon DSLR camera. Now with a newer Nikon camera and five years later its time to return to the venerable monument to examine what it is telling us.

This summer a painter gave a new coat of red white, blue and black to various areas of the airframe.

While not many people take the time to inspect the underbelly of the fighter it was important to check that the plane's integrity is being maintained.

The business end of a once powerful jet. Sabres vs. MiGs over North Korea back in the 1950s defined modern jet aerial combat.

A plaque on a small granite boulder below the plane reads,

This F-86 Sabre Jet

Re-dedicated by Johnson County Veterans

July 4, 1980

To the Memory of

American Veterans of all Wars

Who Have For More Than 200 Years Served

And Sacrificed in the Cause of Freedom

"They Shall Not Be Forgotten."

Cold War Radar Still Overlooks Washington, Iowa Skies

A Sunday drive to the southern part of eastern Iowa confirms no more snow, abundant drying farmland and the annual migration of field equipment from storage to staging areas near agriculture production centers. Southwest of Washington, Iowa rising prominently above flat fields, the eagle-eye 42N team came upon this interesting structure (above.)

The tower and building look to be of military origin or avionic related. FAA mid-continental navigation aids are or formerly were located just of few miles north of this location near Hills, Iowa. On sunny days east and west bound commercial flights can be seen nearly overhead. Was this structure something related to that? If military in origin, what was the function of this fenced facility?

Turns out this now defunct tower's function was far more important than what appears to be a radio antenna. During the Cold War, the responsibility for the defense of the US skies was with the US Air Force. About sixty years ago the USAF began building a series of installations to form a permanent radar network. The main function of the Washington, Iowa site was to fill the northern gap of radar coverage emanating from the Kirksville, Missouri Air Force Station.

Radar stations like the Washington, Iowa facility, like this USAF image (left) served as part of the Cold War defense program. Washington's mission as a warning station was to provide ground control intercept data to Kirksville. Washington, Iowa radar provided aircraft direction, speed, altitude information and whether the craft was deemed friendly or hostile.

Once the information was analyzed and a decision made, military aircraft scrambled to investigate unidentified or hostile craft. In the early part of the 1950s I imagine the go-to USAF interceptor was the F-86 Sabre, like this one from Ellsworth AFB in Rapids City, South Dakota. Sabres based around the Iowa-Missouri-Illinois region had the capability to zoom at a 687 mph maximum speed up to a 50,000 ft ceiling to find and engage hostile craft that dared enter Washington, Iowa airspace.

Today this rural situated tower may be a private radio operation. But more importantly, no passing Soviet MiGs were spotted over the Washington skies today either. Know that.

Guardian of Iowa City

The entrance to 42N country's Iowa City Municipal Airport is guarded by this static display from over a half century ago. Flying just a few feet above the ground is a Korean War vintage F-86 Sabre fighter. Some 9,500 of these jets were produced in the 1950s and only 15 remain flyable today. 

I discovered the jet on this site in the late 1970s. On one occasion some anti-war vandals sprayed orange paint on the jet during some protest during that era. Today the newer paint scheme looks good while the whole display could use a good washing. 

Photos displayed here are from the latest 42N camera upgrade and were taken by the junior team member on a shakedown tour of Iowa City sites (airport and grain mills.) Know that.