On the morning of 8 November 1950, Communist MiG-15 jets engaged a USAF air strike over the Yalu River near the city of Sinuiju. One of the MiGs dove in front of 1st Lt. Russell J. Brown, who was flying the number two (wingman) position in a flight of four F-80s. Although the American jets could neither out-climb nor out-run the MiGs, they could out-dive them. The heavier American plane quickly overhauled the Soviet fighter, and Brown held down the trigger. The USAF credited him with a kill, officially (and tersely) noting that, “During the encounter, Lt. Brown scored hits on an enemy MiG-15 that was seen to go down and explode.”1 This was the first jet-versus-jet combat and, according to American sources, the first jet downed by another jet.
The next day two MiGs bounced an RB-29 near Sinuiju. The aircraft’s tail gunner, Sgt. Harry Lavene, returned the enemy’s fire and claimed a MiG; the bomber was badly damaged and crash-landed in Japan, killing five of the crew.2 Two days later MiGs downed a B-29. On 14 November B-29 gunner S.Sgt. Richard Fisher received credit for destroying a MiG.3
MiGs also tangled with Navy aircraft operating in the area. On 9 November MiGs engaged a formation of prop attack aircraft, escorted by jet-powered Panthers (F9F). During the ensuing battle Lt. Cdr. William Amen got on a MiG’s tail, peppered it with 20 mm projectiles, and pursued it down to the deck. Amen’s wingman saw the Soviet aircraft hit the ground. A week later, on 18 November, Ens. F. C. Weber destroyed a MiG; and Lt. Cdr. William Lamb and Lt. R. E. Parker shared credit for downing another.4
On 17 December 1950, a flight* of four F-86s (Sabres) led by Lt. Col. Bruce Hinton, commander of the 336th Fighter Squadron, took off from Kimpo airfield.5 Hinton’s formation, in an attempt to deceive the Communists, masqueraded as F-80s by using their radio call signs, air speeds, and altitudes. As the four F-86s headed in a northeasterly direction at twenty-five thousand feet, the number two man spotted four unidentified aircraft at eighteen thousand feet. The Americans quickly identified the aircraft as hostiles, and Hinton led the flight in a dive on the MiGs. The F-86s pulled 5 “g”s and out-turned the Soviet fighters, which dropped their tanks, began to dive, and then resumed a climb. The Sabres dove at full throttle, attaining a speed above the aircraft’s Mach 0.95 red line speed, and closed the distance to their prey.
The Communist formation then spread apart, and the last man broke left, pursued by the second American element. Simultaneously, Hinton and his wingman pursued the other three MiGs. Hinton fired on the number two aircraft and observed hits on the aircraft’s wing and fuselage. That fighter turned left and cycled his speed brakes as his aircraft began to smoke. Hinton closed to within eight hundred to one thousand feet as he bounced around in the MiG’s jet wash. The American pilot fired a long burst and observed flame coming from the fighter’s tailpipe and smoke from its fuselage. He fired another long burst and saw “long violent flames enveloping [the] entire aircraft, which then slowed down terrifically.”6 To avoid overshooting the Red fighter, Hinton extended his speed brakes and throttled back as he fired into the damaged aircraft, which continued to burn as it began to shed pieces. The second USAF element observed a “MiG spinning slowly and awkwardly at three thousand to five hundred feet, going down smoking.” Although no one observed a crash or explosion, the Air Force concluded that Hinton had downed the MiG, achieving the first of more than eight hundred victory credits awarded to F-86 pilots in the Korean War.7
Thus began the titanic struggle between MiG and Sabre that would markedly shape the air war and, to a lesser degree, the entire Korean conflict.
The Korean War was a shock for Americans. The most powerful nation in the world, armed not only with conventional forces but also with atomic bombs and long-range bombers, was thwarted by the combined opposition of a second- and a third-rate military power. While the United States and United Nations (UN) achieved their initial objective, thwarting a direct invasion of the South, they failed to accomplish their later goal of unifying the entire Korean peninsula. Instead, the UN found itself in a grueling war of attrition with the most populous nation in the world. In sharp contrast to the total victory gained in 1945, the best the United States and UN could achieve after three years of fighting was a stalemate. Communist China emerged as a world power as it dealt a blow to the American psyche and pride. And the issue in Korea was not resolved. Fifty years after the end of the conflict, Korea remains divided, with American troops stationed there to counter the military threat that still exists on the peninsula.
The Korean War has become “the forgotten war” and stands in sharp negative contrast to World War II. The Korean War is not remembered for victory, glory, and accomplishment; it is instead remembered for allied frustration (certainly after the first six months), courage, and stamina. Trench warfare returned to the battlefield. In that respect, the Korean War seemed a throwback, not to the last war, but the one before the last.
If the ground forces were re-fighting World War I, the aviators were breaking new ground. In terms of victories and losses, the Korean War would become the largest air-to-air war of the jet era.8 The North American F-86 Sabre, the primary MiG slayer in the war, would become the most successful air-to-air jet fighter of all time.9 However, the aviators were not merely demonstrating their skill and the latest in aviation technology; they played an important role not only in how the war was fought but also how it turned out.
We should not overemphasize the glory and romance, the excitement and drama, of the air-to-air battle. Although the F-86 flew more sorties than the other USAF fighters engaged in the war (F-51, F-80, and F-84), the Sabre logged the lowest number of combat flying hours, aircraft lost, and casualties. The Sabres’ victory was significant because it gave the United Nations air superiority. That air superiority was a powerful UN advantage in this conflict, allowing the airmen to provide close air support and interdiction for ground troops and preventing the Communist air arm from engaging in offensive actions. (A minor exception was the night nuisance raids by the aptly named “Bed Check Charlie.”)
American air power enacted a heavy toll upon enemy forces and helped prevent UN ground forces from being overrun. Without air power, the result might have been different; certainly the cost would have been higher. Similar to the RAF’s victory in the famous Battle of Britain, the American victory in the skies over northwestern Korea known as “MiG Alley” determined how a large part of the rest of the war was fought. Air superiority allowed UN air power to be effective.
During the first four months of the war, the UN airmen had things their own way. Then, in November 1950, the Communists introduced the MiG-15 and threatened UN air superiority. The USAF countered with small numbers of F-86s, the best American fighter of the day. Fighting against great odds, far from their bases and hampered by political restrictions, the Sabres successfully battled the MiGs.
It is clear that the Americans got the better of the fight in terms of victories and losses, despite some dispute about numbers engaged and downed. More important than this argument is the fact that the American success over MiG Alley not only kept Communist aircraft off the backs of UN ground forces, but also allowed UN air power to operate almost anywhere, except close to the Yalu River, without enemy aerial opposition. The battle over MiG Alley was a clear-cut UN victory, one of the few glorious UN military feats of the war. Just as the aviators of World War I fought and symbolized a different war than the one fought on the ground, so too did the pilots that flew the Sabres over MiG Alley. This is their story.
*Two aircraft flying together comprise an element; two or more elements flying together make up a flight.