Based on the North American F-86F Sabre, the CAC (Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation) designed the CAC-27 Sabre for the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). Some modifications were necessary to accommodate the more powerful but lighter-weight Rolls Royce Avon jet engine that powered it. Consuming 25% more air than the American plane’s GE J47 engine, the CAC-27 Sabre’s engine had a larger air inlet contributing to its lighter weight. This required the engine to be repositioned to maintain the center of gravity, with only 40% of the original fuselage able to be used. The aircraft was armed with 2x30mm ADEN cannons with 162 rounds per gun. It could carry 24x Hispano SURA R80 80mm rockets, 2x AIM-9 Sidewinder short-range air-to-air missiles or 5,300 lb (2,400 kg) of payload on four external hardpoints. A wide variety of bombs could be carried. Bombs were usually only mounted on the two inner pylons, typically 1,000lb (450kg) per pylon. The outer pylons were wet-plumbed for 2x 200 imperial gallons (910 L) drop tanks to give the CAC-27 Sabre more range.

RAAF A94-983 entered into service in November of 1957 where it served in different squadrons until August 1971. In late 1971 Australia gifted A94-983 to the Royal Malaysian Air Force as serial no FM1983 where the aircraft flew until 1976 when it was grounded awaiting disposal. In 1978 the RAAF 75th Squadron rescued the Sabre and the plane underwent 12 months of extensive restoration returning the historic aircraft back to A94-983 destination. The restored Sabre now resides on display at the Temora Aviation Museum located in Temora, Australia and flies regularly in air shows.

Product dimensions 10 x 10cm