Airplane Model*Hobby Master HA4301 1:72 F-86F Sabre “The Huff”, flown by Lt. Jim Thompson 39th FIS, K-13 (Suwon AB), South Korea June 1953 – Miniature Marvels: Airplane Models & Painted Dice

The North American F-86 Sabre was manufactured from 1949  1956 and was Americas first
swept-wing fighter. As well as being built in the U.S. variants were built in Canada and Australia
bringing the total of all variants manufactured to 9,860 units. During the Korean War the Sabre
arrived to take on the other swept-wing aircraft of the conflict, the MiG-15 Fagot. The Americans
claim they shot down 792 MiGs while only losing 78 Sabres, a 10:1 victory ratio which is greatly
disputed.

North American F-86F-1NA Sabre variant was the beginning of the new F models. F-86F-1NA
Sabre 51-2897 was assigned to Lt. James Thompson of the 39th FIS, 51st FIW and given the
name The Huff after he shot down a MiG-15 with a dragon painted on it. Thinking along the
lines of a kill marking Lt. Thompson asked to have a dragon painted on the aircraft. The result
was a 10 foot dragon that the C/O ordered removed but the story of a dragon MiG-15 being shot
down saved the scheme.