The North American F-86 Sabre was America's first swept wing jet fighter. It first flew in October 1947. It effectively replaced the piston-engined Mustang as the standard small, agile air force fighter. It was capable of supersonic flight, though in practice its top speed was normally about 650mph (depending on version). Over 6,000 were built. They served with great success in the Korean war.

This Sabre was at Duxford in 2004.

The North American F-100 Super Sabre owes relatively little to the earlier design, but was a new, potent, supersonic medium weight fighter. It first flew in May 1953. 2,300 were built, serving with many air forces worldwide.

This Danish air force F-100F two seat trainer visited Yeovilton in 1980.

The Lockheed F-104 Starfighter epitomised the trend in the late 1950s and 1960s for fighters to aim for speed at the expense of everything else. It was essentially the smallest aircraft that could be built round one J-79 jet. This gave it a top speed of over twice the speed of sound, but with less armament than the British Lightning and less agility than the Russian MiG-21. It was also very noisy indeed. Nevertheless it scored considerable export success.

Top: a German air force example at Greenham Common in June 1979. Bottom: German Navy Starfighter flying at Yeovilton, July 1986. (Without the tip tanks it must have had a phenomenally short range).

The Republic F-105 Thunderchief was a large, long range supersonic fighter-bomber. Over 800 were built. It first flew in 1955, and some remained in service until the1980s.

This one visited Upper Heyford in August 1986.

Convair recruited German designer Alexander Lippisch (of Messerschmitt fame) after the war, and pursued his ideas of delta winged fighters. The result was the F-106 Delta Dart (a development of the earlier F-102), first flown in 1956. It was capable of mach 2 and was a potent interceptor fighter.

This picture shows an F-106A with a two-seat F-106B in the background, at Fresno in September 1981.

The General Dynamics F-111 was the result of a massive development effort over many years. The specification was very difficult, effectively calling for a multi-role fighter and attack aircraft capable of optimum performance over a very side speed range. The solution was the innovative `swing-wing' design, where the angle of sweep could be varied in flight to give the best performance for the speed. This was heavy and expensive, but effective. The aircraft was correspondingly massive. Other innovations included a very neat twisting fold to retract the undercarriage into a very tight space, and a crew escape system whereby the entire cockpit could be detached from the aircraft and descend by parachute.

The RAF nearly bought F-111s after the cancellation of the TSR2, but were put off by the development delays and the cost. They should have waited. In the end they were only operated by America and Australia. 563 were built.

The top picture, showing three F-111Es with wings at different angles, was taken at Upper Heyford in August 1986. The lower picture shows an F-111E at Mildenhall in the 1970s.

The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom has the distinction of being the most widely produced jet fighter to date with almost 5,200 built. It originated from the US Navy's McDonnell F4H carrier borne heavy fighter, which first flew in May 1958. It quickly became popular with air forces of many countries, proving itself in both land and sea based roles. It is a multi-role aircraft, mainly a fighter, but also serving in ground attack, reconnaissance and electronic warfare missions.

The top picture shows an F-4C of the US Air Force (Texas air national guard) visiting Upper Heyford in August 1986. The middle picture is a Phantom FGR2 (a.k.a. F-4M), the version made for the Royal Air Force after cancellation of their F-111 order, and expensively (and unnecessarily) re-engined with Rolls-Royce Spey engines instead of the American version's J79s. The lower picture is an F4F of the German air force (Luftwaffe) at Fairford in July 2005.

The Northrop F-5 Freedom Fighter is a lightweight fighter, designed to complement the heavier F-4. It is a very agile and capable aircraft, of which 1,500 have been built since it first flew in 1959, but relatively few have been operated by the US forces. Mostly, they have been exported.

This F-5A is technically an NF-5A, having been assembled under license in Holland, and operated by the Koninglijke Luchtmacht (Dutch Air Force). Painted in an anniversary colour scheme, it visited Upper Heyford in August 1986.

Lower picture: Turkish air force F5B, Fairford, July 2007.

The Grumman F-14 Tomcat was designed for the US Navy as a replacement for the F-4. One of a select band of variable geometry (`swing-wing') aircraft, it has outstanding performance over a very wide speed range. It is hard to believe that it first flew as long ago as December 1970. 557 were built, mostly for the US Navy.

This one is seen landing at NAS Miramar in 1988.

The McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle was designed to a US Air Force specification similar to that which produced the Navy's F-14. Not being constrained by the requirement to operate from aircraft carriers, the F15 adopted a more conventional approach which resulted in a very rugged and stable weapons platform. It first flew in July 1972. It is in service with several air forces including the US, Israel, Saudi Arabia and Japan.

This one is seen flying at Yeovilton in August 1984.

The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon was originally designed as a lightweight fighter, and first flew in January 1974. It has since grown into a very capable multi-role aircraft, used not only by the US air force but also by 16 other countries. Over 2,300 have been built. its 23,450lb engine can either be a Pratt & Whitney F-100 or a GE F110; either way, it has a top speed of over 1,320mph and combat range of 600 miles. In its later versions, it can carry up to 15,200lb of mixed stores (missiles, fuel tanks, cluster bombs, laser guided bombs etc) on its various external hardpoints.

Top: F-16A; lower: F-16B. Both operated by the Danish air force & seen at Fairford in July 2005.

The Northrop YF-17 Cobra was the unsuccessful competitor to the F-16 in the US Air Force lightweight fighter competition in the mid 1970s.

Only the two prototypes were built. This one displayed at an air show in England in 1976.

After the F-16 was selected as the winning airframe, the F-17 design was bought by McDonnell Douglas, who modified it substantially to produce the naval F-18 (below).

The McDonnell Douglas F-18 Hornet was derived from the earlier F-17, and became the standard lightweight fighter for the US Navy. In its revised form, it first flew in September 1978. It proved very successful in its new role. 1,350 of the initial variant were built, before the bigger and substantially different F-18E supplanted them on the production line. They have been exported to several countries worldwide.

Top: This Canadian CF-18 visited Yeovilton in July 1986. Bottom: two seat EF-18B operated by the Spanish air force, at Fairford in July 2005.

The Northrop F-20 Tigershark was a private venture, high manoeuvrability update of Northrop's F-5 series. It was a very capable aircraft, using the latest fly-by-wire technology and an advanced single engine to replace the F-5's two ancient J85s.

Unfortunately the US armed forces had no requirement for the type, and without the US as a customer no foreign air forces were interested. No customers were obtained and only the prototypes ever flew.

This F-20 put up a spirited display at Farnborough in September 1984.

The Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk is one of the most bizarre fighters ever produced. It uses radar-absorbent material on its surfaces and `faceting' to reduce radar signature. The air intakes are raked and blanked to prevent a radar seeing the rotating parts of the engines. It was kept secret for many years, despite persistent rumours of something called an `F-19' (a designation which was never used). The true F-117 was revealed publicly in the 1990s, by which time second-generation stealth aircraft were being developed.

This F-117 was at Fairford in July 2007.

The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is intended to replace the F-16, early F-18s and the AV8B Harrier in service with the US Air Force and Navy and the British Royal Air Force. It is a short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) machine, using a shaft-driven lift fan rather than the Harrier's full vectored thrust technology. Different versions are planned for the various services, optimised to different mission profiles. For stealth (low radar signature), most weaponry is carried internally on two stores stations, but it also has six external hardpoints for a variety of missiles or bombs including laser-guided and cluster weapons. Its single P&W F-135 or GE/Rolls-Royce F-136 engine will give it a top speed of Mach 1.5 and range of over 1,250 miles (depending on version). The engineering prototype, known as X-35, first flew in October 2000. It is due to enter service in 2011.

Engineering mock-up displayed at Fairford, July 2005.