F-100 Super Sabre USAF ThunderbirdsNorth American F 100 Thunderbirds Super Sabre airplane model. The F 100 Super Sabre was the USAF's first operational aircraft capable of flying faster than the speed of sound (760 mph) in level flight. It made its initial flight on May 25, 1953 and the first production aircraft was completed in October 1953. North American built 2,294 F 100s before production ended in 1959. Designed originally to destroy enemy aircraft in aerial combat, the F 100