Transonic?
My dad would have said, F-86 hands down. He kept a North American publicity shot of a D model in his den for 60 years, I have it now. Couple years before he died, he waxed rhapsodic on me about a couple of flights he took out of Wheelus (Libya) with a naked plane, no tanks or rockets. Bare-plane flights were a reward for high training scores. So he basically chose to do an air show over the base both times, as bare Sabres didn't have much range.
If I was a MULTI millionaire, I'd grab a Sabre, or more likely, an Douglas A-4 Scooter. Pilots' airplanes both, simple, durable, and a joy to just fly.
I noticed the Super Sabre and Delta Dart were mentioned here as well, those are supersonic. Dad flew both. Also flew 102s operationally, IP in TF102s, and T-birds. The Six was a "fcking great fcking airplane." The 102? Good enough. The Tub? "Dangerous fcker," he ejected from one, the first survivor from the command pilot seat in the first successful dual ejection, his buddy Gene Ihli was the first survivor ever after 13 consecutive fatalities. The 100? "Ground-seeking dog, with lousy control authority, easy to get behind quick." He felt like he could never really relax in a Hun. It's well known that Bob Hoover loved the Sabre, but the Super dang near killed him.
As for fighter pilots not being FACs, I guess my dad was an exception, mainly because he got promoted to major while training in the F-100s. He scored second in his class for the Goldwater Trophy by one point. Off he goes to RSVN and because he's ADC and therefore a new guy in TAC, he gets a ground control jeep. Basically, it was a chain of command thing, uncool to have majors flying wing to captains and first loots. Dumb, but that's the way it went, he never flew a Hun on a sortie. Finally, he's asked if he wants to be a FAC, and he's put in charge of an 0-1 detachment at Vinh Long for the last nine months of his tour. Rocky's point about having FACs who know the limits of tac air is a valid one, at least all that jet fuel and gunnery practice wasn't totally wasted.
