Osprey Aircraft of the Aces 4 : Korean War Aces

Before daybreak on Sunday 25 June 1950, amid squalls of rain, North Korean forces invaded South Korea with 90,000 men and hundreds of Russian-made T-34 tanks. Aerial support for the invasion took the form of 150 prop-driven combat aircraft, including Lavochkin La-7s, Ilyushin Il-10 Sturmoviks and Yakovlev Yak-3s, -7s. -9s and -18s. Also reported, possibly in error, were North Koreans flying Bell F-63 Kingcobras, 2456 of which had gone to the USSR under Lend-Lease six years before. US Ambassador to South Korea, John J Muccio, cabled Washington to tell them that four North Korean Yak-9 fighters had just strafed Seoul's Kimpo airport - he pleaded for 'positive and speedy action'. The first virtually all-jet war, the conflict in Korea saw F-86 Sabres of the USAF take on MiG-15s of the North Korean and Chinese air forces. Although the Allied pilots were initially taken aback by the ability of the communist fighter in combat, sound training and skilful leadership soon enabled Sabre pilots to dominate the dogfights over the Yalu River. In all 39 F-86 pilots achieved ace status, and a number of these are profiled in this book, as are notable pilots from the US Navy, Marine Corps and Royal Navy and, for the first time, the handful of MiG-15 aces. Text by Robert F. Door, Jon Lake and Warren Thomas with illustrations by Chris Davey.

Contents

• From Props to Jets
• Enter the MiG 15
• 51st Fighter Interceptor Wing
• Superior Sabre
• Soviet Aces and the MiG 15
• Appendices