AEROMEDIA
The Italian Aerospace Information Web
by Aeromedia - corso Giambone 46/18 - 10135 Torino (Italy)

A Sabre Fighter to be Remembered

It is worth retracing the saga of the Canadair CL-13 Sabre Mk.4, “gate guardian” at the Turin/Caselle airport Italian Air Force Detachment, from 1989 to 2002.
This version of the North American Sabre (type designation F-86E), a classic western fighter of the ‘Fifties, flew for the first time on August 28, 1952. A total of 438 items were manufactured under licence by Canadair, as Model CL-13. The initial production aircraft entered service with the Royal Canadian Air Force, but they were almost immediately handed over to the Royal Air Force. The other CL-13 Sabre Mk.4 aircraft went directly to the RAF, within the frame of the US-UK mutual aid programme, equipping a total of eleven Squadrons.
In mid-1956, when Hawker Hunters became available, the RAF Sabres returned under USAF control. The major part of these almost new aircraft were in turn passed to Italy and Yugoslavia. It is reported that 179 Sabre Mk.4s were assigned to the Italian Air Force to re-equip their 2nd and 4th Air Brigades.
It is worth mentioning that the Sabre was also the mount of three IAF aerobatic teams: the “Lancieri Neri” of the 2nd “Aerobrigata”, the “Cavallino Rampante” of the 4th “Aerobrigata” and finally the then-newly formed “Frecce Tricolori”, also known as the “Pattuglia Acrobatica Nazionale”. The Sabre Mk.4 fighters had a short life in the ranks of the IAF, soon replaced by new F-104G Starfighters.
At the beginning of the ‘Eighties, the Avio Data members (Luciano Bertolo, Sergio Mapelli, Giovanni Masino and Mauro Rossi) “discovered” a former IAF Canadair CL-13 Sabre Mk.4 in open-air storage at the IAF “Presidio” in Via Beinette 26, Turin. This military facility was and still is a restricted area, and the aircraft - devoid of its 23 kN General Electric J47-GE-13 engine - was already showing signs of decay.
The Sabre was positively identified by Avio Data as c/n 434, original RCAF serial number 19534 and IAF unit code “4-74” (4th Air Brigade). It was delivered to the RAF on May 4, 1953, receiving UK serial number XB631. Some three years later, it was loaned by the USAF to the Italian Air Force. At the moment, the USAF-RCAF serial number juxtaposition is unknown, as are details of its individual operational life in Italy. To add some confusion, on both sides of the tail, the emblem of 2nd Air Brigade had been painted over that of the 4th Air Brigade.
Avio Data tried hard to convince the IAF to provide for minor but essential preservation activity, but to no avail. In May, 1985, Avio Data became the core element of GAVS Piemonte (later GAVS Torino), the first local branch of the “Gruppo Amici Velivoli Storici” (the Italian Aircraft Preservation Association). As it was, the persuasion effort to save the abandoned Sabre went on under the banner of this new and more appropriate entity.
Finally, after three more years of effort, a synergetic action was set up between the IAF, the then Aeritalia and GAVS Turin, to ensure a deserving future for this historic aircraft. The Sabre would be restored by industry, then placed as the “gate guardian” of the IAF Detachment at Turin/Caselle airport. Consequently, initial activity began on October 16, 1988, when Bertolo and Mapelli undertook an accurate survey of the relic, including measured sketches and photos of all the original inscriptions, symbols and roundels painted on the plane.
Subsequently, IAF personnel from Cameri Air Base dismantled the aircraft and ferried it to Aeritalia’s Caselle North plant, at that time under the direction of Ing. Giovanni Traversa. Another true aviation enthusiast, Mr. Giuseppe Sella, then Quality Assurance Director at Aeritalia’s Combat Aircraft Group, was appointed as team-leader of the company’s restoration party.
Soon the Sabre was stripped to bare metal and thoroughly cleaned in every detail, simultaneously undertaking the necessary minor repairs. The canopy and windshield were polished, and the aircraft was repainted in its overall silver colour (thick primer and double layer of paint), complete with the appropriate stencilled inscriptions and symbols, accordingly to the documentation collected by GAVS Turin.
Major Roberto Zuppichini, the then IAF Commander in Turin, was inclined to go for a traditional “gate guardian” arrangement, with closed landing gear and a single pylon connected in some way to the aircraft belly. At this point, GAVS Turin strongly suggested a more complex solution, particularly to avoid any crude alteration of the aircraft.
The association successfully proposed a three-pylon arrangement, of different heights, simply bolted to the hubs of the wheels. There was a touch of foresight, because this solution assured the aircraft could be easily moved away, at any time, rolling on its own undercarriage. It was a true benchmark in the peculiar field of low-impact “gate guardian” arrangement.
At the end of February, 1989, the Sabre was towed from the Aeritalia shop to the IAF facility, a journey of less than 2 km Southwards, making an unusual promenade along the Caselle airport taxiways. On March 3, 1989, a party of GAVS Turin members gave the final touch, painting the famous “Rampant Horse in the Cloud” – the personal emblem of WWI Ace Francesco Baracca inherited by the 4th Aerobrigata - on both sides of the tail, as well as the serial numbers.
The erection of the aircraft on the innovative pylons followed on March 16th, in time for the official inauguration of the new “gate guardian”, which took place on March 28th, the 66th Anniversary of the Italian Air Force. The solemn ceremony was the ideal conclusion to this exemplary cooperative effort in the field of aircraft preservation in Italy.
Thirteen years later, in 2002, the new Commander of the Turin/Caselle IAF facility (then hosting the 2nd Ufficio Tecnico Territoriale and the local DCA), for questionable reasons, decided to dispose of this fairly rare Sabre fighter, replacing it with one of the ubiquitous Starfighter, something that can be found at almost every air base in Italy!
Curiously enough, the new home for Turin’s Sabre became the airport at Aosta, unusual for such a civil airfield which has never seen any military aviation activity in its entire life! As it was, the inappropriate “gate guardian” of the “Aero Club Valle d’Aosta” was re-inaugurated on September 28, 2002, and there it safely stands today, defying the passing years.

In the picture: Canadair CL-13 Sabre Mk.4 4-74 of the Italian Air Force, “gate guardian” at the Turin/Caselle airport IAF Detachment, from 1989 to 2002. (Aeromedia)

(Aeromedia, December 2012)