Today, there are a number of business jets which are seen as being incredibly versatile. However, the Rockwell / North American Sabreliner, otherwise known as the T-39, was the original “versatile” business jet!
In total, Rockwell / North American built well over 800 of the jet, making it one of the most built business jets in history. Despite some being well over 60 years old, many remain in service today…
Development
In the mid-1950’s, the USAF initiated the UTX program, which was looking for a jet that could could be both a trainer, and a VIP transport aircraft. To do this, the USAF requested design proposals from a number of aircraft manufacturers.
The project was extremely lucrative, which would see most aircraft manufacturers submit their own designs.
North American, would submit their own design, for a small, jet-powered aircraft capable of carrying up to seven passengers! They would initially refer to this jet as the T-39.
However, budget cuts in the mid-to-late saw the USAF scrap the UTX program. For most manufacturers, this was hundreds of hours worth of work that had gone down the drain, North American included.
At the time, however, a number of large corporations began toying with the idea of a small, personal jet, which could be used to transport high-level executives. Whilst initially mocked, some manufacturers took it seriously.
Among those manufacturers were North American, alongside Lockheed (with their JetStar) and McDonnell (with their Model 119). All of them began to redevelop their UTX designs into workable business jets.
North American would internally designate their aircraft NA-265, before changing it to the Sabreliner. This was due to the fact that the engineers thought the NA-265’s wing resembled the wing of the F-86 Sabre, also built by North American.
A number of Sabreliner pilots would call it the “Sabre” for short, something that has become semi-official since then!
The Sabre would first fly on September 16 1958, before entering service in 1962.
Operational History
When North American originally designed the jet, it was meant as a military trainer. Then, it was meant to be a business jet. It has since gone on to do both, and a whole lot more!…
Civilian
The majority of the Sabreliner’s initial customers were multibillion dollar corporations in the US. Here, they would spend much of their service life transporting the company’s executives around.
Often, these were companies who had previously been spending hundreds of thousands of dollars, transporting its executives on commercial airliners. By getting the Sabre, it was actually saving them money, each time they used it!
As time progressed, and private jets became more widespread, a number of celebrities would come to own the jet for their own personal use. Many of these jets have subsequently become highly prized as collectors items.
Unlike many other business jets, many original operators of the Sabre still operate it today. Many of them placed orders in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s, and received them a few years later.
Over time, these aircraft have become too expensive to operate, where many of these companies have simply replaced it with a newer variant of the jet. Many Sabre 80s, released in the late 1970’s, are still in use today!
Despite the jet having been originally designed in the 1950’s, a number of air charter companies currently operate the jet. For most part, these are newer Sabre 70s and 80s, but a few do operate original Sabre 40s.
The latter are often flown as “heritage” flights or on special occasions rather than anything else.
Military
Despite reneging on the UTX program, the US military followed the development of the first business jets very closely. By 1959, the NA-265 had impressed the USAF brass enough, for them to petition Congress for more funding.
This funding was, granted, allowed them to place an order for the Sabreliner, which they designated as the T-39. These T-39s would be delivered at the start of 1965, where they’d be primarily be used as VIP aircraft.
Over time, the USAF (as well as the US Navy and USMC) would acquire more T-39s, which they’d use for crew training.
A number of other countries would similarly become interested in the T-39, themselves purchasing the jet. Here, it was most commonly used as VIP and/or executive transport.
However, the T-39 are getting quite old. The newest of them (still in US military service) were delivered in the early 1980’s. As such, the military has begun to look for a replacement for the T-39.
In US military service, the T-39 is slowly being phased out in favor of two jets.
For crew training, the T-39 is being phased out in favor of the Hawker 800 derived T-1 Jayhawk, whilst for VIP duties, it’s being phased out in favor of the Learjet 35 derived C-21A.
Over time, a number of retired T-39s have been reconfigured as commercial jets, and sold to corporate buyers at a large discount (mostly due to the large amount of hours on the fuselage).
FAA
The Federal Aviation Administration was formed in 1958, merging a number of smaller regulatory agencies into one large regulator. This new agency was given a number of different roles it had to do.
Among them was the inspection of airfields and airports all around the United States. Initially, the agency utilized a number of turboprop and piston engine aircraft, left over from the previous agencies.
Over the course of the 1960’s and early 1970’s, airports in particular, changed immensely. Many grew in size rapidly, adding new runways and terminals every few years.
With this, the 1940’s-era pistons and turboprops the FAA were using to inspect runways were too slow and too fuel inefficient for modern runways. As such, the FAA began to look for a jet alternative.
After evaluating a number of different jets, the FAA ultimately settled on the Sabreliner. This was because it had already proven itself to be a reliable jet, in USAF, USMC and US Navy service.
It would enter service in the mid-1970’s, serving in this capacity up until the present. However, it is slowly being phased out in favor of newer jets, such as the Learjet 75 and Challenger 650.
On several occasions, it has also served as an executive transport for the FAA Administrator too.
Features
Compared to other jets of its era, the Sabreliner is slightly shorter, in terms is length. However, in terms of both wingspan and height, the Sabre was the largest business jet ever built, when it was released in 1962.
Looking back at the jet’s marketing material, North American, and later, Rockwell, focused heavily on the Sabre’s speed and range. Even today, the Sabre is among the fastest and longest range business jets ever built!
When compared to other jets of the era, the Sabre 8% faster, and has 25% more range. This helped North American, and later, Rockwell to sell the Sabre well over 800 times.
This are most due to the fact that the Sabre travels at a much higher altitude than most other business jets of the era. The Sabre travels at 45,000 feet, compared to only 41,000 feet of contemporary business jets.
Due to its initially intended purpose- landing and taking off from from small and large military bases, the Sabre only requires a relatively short runway to take off and land on.
The Sabre is one of only a few jets to need less than 3,000 feet of runway, to land on. Many subsequent variants of the Sabreliner also have thrust reversers, which reduces this even more.
Price
In 1980, the cost of a brand new Sabreliner from Rockwell would’ve set you back $1.69 million, making it one of the cheapest business jets of its day. Today, that $1.69 million is worth approximately $5.3 million.
With that being said, Rockwell ceased production of the jet in 1982. This means that the only way to buy one would be to get one on the second-hand market, where you can purchase them in a number of different conditions.
As of the time of writing, there are several Sabreliners on sale, both built by North American and by Rockwell. If you so desired you could also purchase one of several former USN/USAF Sabreliners too!
Due mostly to the jet’s age, there are a number of unairworthy Sabreliners up for sale, most of which are in various states of disrepair. If you wanted to, you could purchase one of these Sabreliners for as little as $30,000!
Assuming that you wanted a working Sabreliner, you’d be looking at paying around $250,000 for a 1960’s-era, early Sabreliner. On the higher end, you could get an early-1980’s Sabreliner for around $500,000.
In terms of cost to operate, the Sabreliner is surprisingly economical, even by modern modern standards. It costs roughly $2,600 per hour to operate the jet, compared to $3,800 for the Learjet 25 or $2,400 for the modern Gulfstream G100!
Variants
Since the Sabreliner’s introduction in 1962, it has proven to be one of the most popular business jets in history. As such, there have been multiple civilian and military variants of the T-39 built.
For the purposes of this article, we are only looking at the Sabres that have been put into mass-production…
Sabreliner 40
The Sabre 40 was the first mass-produced variant of the Sabreliner prototype. The only major difference between the prototype and the Sabre was its engines:
North American’s Sabreliner prototype would use the GE J85 engines, whilst the Sabre 40 would use the more powerful (and fuel efficient) P&W JT12A engines. In total, North American built 65, plus the prototype.
Sabreliner 40A
Following the 1973, North American-Rockwell Standard merger, the newly formed Rockwell International chose to bring back the 1950’s Sabre 40. To do this, they were forced to make some minor alterations…
This saw brand-new Rockwell avionics be installed in the cockpit, replacing the old avionics. Rockwell International would also contract a company to redesign the Sabre 40’s interior. This jet would be designated as the Sabre 40A
Sabreliner 60
In the mid-1960’s, North American decided to stretch the Sabre’s fuselage. This would allow the jet to carry 12 passengers, rather than the standard 8. North American would designate this as the Sabre 60.
On top of stretching the fuselage, North American would also install newer and more fuel efficient P&W JT12A-8 engines. In total, North American would build 140 copies of the jet.
Sabreliner 65
In 1976, Rockwell would contract James D. Raisbeck to redesign the Sabreliner’s wing. A year later, he’d develop the Raisbeck Mark V, which was the first supercritical airfoil used outside of Europe.
Rockwell would then add this to the Sabre 60’s fuselage, and give the Sabre 60 newer Garrett TFE731 engines. This new variant would be dubbed the Sabre 65, with Rockwell building 76 copies of the jet.
Sabreliner 75
By the late 1960’s, a number of Sabreliner operators began to complain that the cabin was too low for them to move around comfortably in. As such, North American decided to introduce a variant where they could!
To do this, North American completely redesigned the Sabre 60’s interior. Here, the redesigned the cabin to have a higher ceiling, this allowed many taller people to move around the jet without having to crouch.
However, only nine were ever built.
Sabreliner 75A
By the mid-1970’s, a number of Rockwell Sabreliner operators had begun to complain that their Sabre 75s were becoming less fuel efficient than other jets. Not wanting to loose customers, Rockwell began looking into it.
Rockwell determined that this was mainly down to the engines. As such, Rockwell redesigned elements of the Sabre 75 to accommodate newer GE CF700 engines, which were more fuel efficient than the previous P&W JT12s.
T-39A
The T-39A was the first militarized variant of the Sabre. It was almost identical to the Sabre 40, however, the USAF asked for more powerful J60-P3 engines to be used instead of the standard GE J85 engines.
Primarily, the T-39A would be used as a VIP transport, however, it would be used as a pilot trainer later on in its service life. In total, North American would build 143 of them.
T-39B
In the mid-1960’s, the USAF began looking for a new aircraft it could use to train navigators. Already operating the T-39A, the USAF settled on a variant of the T-39A to do the job. These T-39s would be designated as the T-39B.
Unlike the T-39A, the T-39B’s fuselage had three radar units. These would be used to train three navigators at a time, whilst in flight, with seating for the instructor and other trainees. In total, North American built 42 T-39Bs.
T-39D
In the early 1960’s, the US Navy began looking for a new multiengine jet trainer and radar trainer for their new pilots/radar operators. The Navy chose to kill two birds with one stone, so to speak…
Here, North American took the Sabreliner prototype and gave it newer P&W J60-P3 engines. Here, they’d install brand new radars in the T-39D’s fuselage, which could be used to train navigators and radar interceptors.
CT-39G
In the early 1970’s, the US navy needed a small aircraft, which could be used to transport sensitive pieces of cargo from ship to ship or from ship to naval air base. The aircraft they chose was the Sabre 60.
To accommodate this role, Rockwell lengthened the Sabre 60’s fuselage by a few feet. On top of this, the Sabre 60 was given newer engines from the P&W JT12 family, which had thrust reversers.
Specifications
| Specifications | T-39D |
|---|---|
| Length | 44 ft (13.41 m) |
| Wingspan | 44 ft 6 in (13.56 m) |
| Height | 16 ft 0 in (4.88 m) |
| Crew | 2 |
| Passengers | 7 |
| Cruise Speed | Mach 0.8 (800 km/h; 500 mph 435 kn) |
| Range | 2,170 nmi (2,500 mi, 4,020 km) |
| Service Ceiling | 40,000 ft (12,200 m) |
| MTOW | 17,760 lb (8,056 kg) |
How Safe is The Rockwell / North American Sabreliner?
When it comes to the safest and most dangerous aircraft ever built, we tend to focus on commercial jets, such as the 737 and A380. With this, business and military jets, like the Sabreliner, are often left off.
This is done for good reason.
The sad fact of the matter is that, unless something changes dramatically, most people will sadly never fly on a business jet. On top of this, the laws regarding business and commercial jets are wildly different in many places too.
With that being said, if you are looking to fly on the Sabreliner, you are probably curious as to how safe/dangerous the jet is.
Overall, North American/Rockwell produced well over 800 copies of the jet. Of those 800 jets, only 62 of them have been involved in an accident of some form, resulting in 153 fatalities.
In numerical terms, only 7.75% of all Sabreliners built, were involved in some form of accident.
By most standards, the jet is still one of the safest currently in the air. However, it is one of the more dangerous “Safe” aircraft.
When you look at this more closely, you’ll find that most of the accidents involving the jet were actually to do with the military T-39 variant, rather than the commercial variant of the jet.
And this makes sense. The T-39 is used to flying more hours than its civil counterparts. On top of this, it often flies near war zones, which have a knack for shooting down aircraft, even if they’re small and unarmed like the T-39.
What’s it Like to Fly on The Rockwell / North American Sabreliner?
As part of my research on the T-39/Sabreliner, I have been fortunate enough to fly on multiple different variants of the jet. And I have to admit something, I really enjoyed it!
Prior to writing this article, I had flown on a number of different business / private jets. Many of these jets have been modern, whilst many of them have been vintage.
In total, I flew on four different variants of the Sabreliner. These were the: Sabre 40, 65, 75 and a civilian T-39A. And I loved each minute of it.
Before I flew on the Sabre 40 (which I did first) I though it would be old and rather uncomfortable. Instead, I was greeted with one of the comfiest interiors of any business jet I’ve flown on to date!
This is something that was reciprocated on the subsequent variants I flew on.
When I fly, I usually tend to work. I then rate the aircraft based on how easy I found it to work during the flight(s). For the Sabre, I found that it was one of the smoothest jets to work on, at least compared to the business jets I’ve flown on.
As with any jet, however, the Sabre wasn’t perfect. I did find that the jet had a lot of engine noise, especially if you sat in the back. However, compared to other jets of the era (such as the Lear 25 and Lockheed Jetstar), it’s about the same.
What do you think of the Rockwell / North American Sabreliner/T-39? Have you ever flown on it? Tell me in the comments!
Featured image courtesy of Michael Bludworth via Flickr.