SDASM Archives

Note the runout gauge measuring movement of the seat bottom.

Hysol was a brand of adhesives used in these kinds of applications. One web source confirms my recollection the brand was owned by Dexter. It also claims the brand was sold to Locktite in 2000.

When the USAAF released requirements for a "Penetration Fighter" competition in early 1946, the resulting competitors were the McDonnell F-88, the Lockheed F-90, and the North American F-93 (initially called the F-86C). An unhappy marriage between thirsty but low-thrust early jet engines and a desire for lots of range (and therefore lots of gas), none of the designs were chosen (although the F-88 eventually was developed into the F-101 Voodoo). This a/c is the NA XF-93 48-317 (NA-157 / "YF-317" / 1st of two prototypes) with NACA-type intakes (which were all the rage until the boundary-layer effect was discovered). Later modified with conventional intakes, it served as a chase a/c for years @ Edwards until scrapped in the late '50's.

YF-93A, s/n 48-317 (msn 157-1). First flew 24 January 1950. Designed by North American Aviation to compete with the McDonnell XF-88 Voodoo and Lockheed XF-90 to fulfill a USAF Penetration Fighter requirement for a bomber escort. Participated in a flyoff where the XF-88 Voodoo was declared the winner. The overall program was scrapped when the Boeing B-47's performance proved a bomber escort was unnecessary. The Air Force turned both prototypes over to the NACA Ames Laboratory, Moffett Field, CA for further testing and evauation (48-317 arrived 5 February 1951 and 48-318 arrived 5 June 1951). Beginning in 1953, both aircraft served as chase aircraft for the newly developed Century Series fighters. Both aircraft were eventually declared surplus in the late 1950s and scrapped.