The North American Aviation F-100 Super Sabre, often nicknamed "The Hun" (for Hundred), was the first production aircraft to exceed the speed of sound / in level flight. North American's F-86 Sabre and some other early jet aircraft easily broke the sound barrier in a dive. The rocket-powered Bell X-1 series also broke the sound barrier, but could not take off under their own power. The "Hun" could break the barrier at any time and was a true aircraft, breathing air to make power and able to take off and land under its own power. An evolution of the F-86 design series, the F-100 was truly a "Super Sabre".