This Sabre was flown in the Korean War but it is not the aircraft of Korean War ace Col. Joseph McConnell as painted. That F-86F was later written off while in Republic of China AF service. This one is in fact 52-5513, transferred to the Republic of Korea AF in 1955. By 1978 it was back in the US and on display at Eglin. My photo here shows the aircraft as it was in 1979. Another Sabre, an ex-Greek AF Canadair-built example, is painted in the same markings and can been seen in their museum at Tatoi

Seen soon after being placed on display, this F-86F is actually 52-5513, as per my 2024 photo

There is a lot of debate on this aircraft online, especially among modellers. It is painted to represent a famous 39th FIS aircraft that downed North Korean MiG-15s in 1953 and that is available in many model kits and die-cast models. There are reports that this aircraft either went to Taiwan (no reports exist that it actually was there) or crashed in North Korea on 7th April 1953. It is, therefore, unclear whether this is the real 51-12958 or not.