Propellers to Jets: The Korean War Dogfights That Changed Air Combat Forever

C-54 Sky Master, C-47 Sky Train, and C-46 Commando Transports are lifting off from Kimo airfield in the Republic of Korea, heading to Ituk in Japan at around noon on the 27th of June, 1950. Aboard these unarmed transports are civilians fleeing from North Korea's full-scale invasion of South Korea, which began 2 days earlier. With North Korean People's Army troops less than 20 mi away, the United States Air Force is assisting with the massive evacuation effort taking place to the south of the capital of Seoul. Upon taking off, the transports are joined by five F82 twin Mustangs of the 68th and 339th Fighter Squadrons, part of the eighth fighter wing. Only moments after leaving the airfield, a flight of five Korean People's Air Force or KPAF fighters arrive in the area. Spotting the seemingly defenseless transport, the North Korean pilots prepare to dive into the attack. One of the first dog fights of the Korean War is about to begin. Aerial combat will never be the same. The piston-driven aircraft of the Second World War will soon be replaced by powerful jet engine fighters. For years, the Korean Peninsula has been a powder keg waiting to explode. The end of the Second World War finally freed Korea from Imperial Japan, which had controlled the peninsula since 1910. As part of the postwar realignment, the United States and Soviet Union separated Korea into two occupation zones with the 38th parallel serving as the dividing line. Relations between the new superpowers quickly deteriorated as the Cold War began and Korea became a major focus for both the capitalist West and the Communist East. In May of 1948, an election was held in the American occupied southern territory under the supervision of the United Nations. Initially, the election was to take place across all of Korea, but Soviet officials and North Korean leader Kim Ilsung refused the UN supervisor's entry into North Korea. As a result, only the South formed a government, and on the 15th of August 1948, the Republic of Korea was officially proclaimed. US troops left the country the following year, turning its defense over to the poorly equipped and led Republic of Korea Army along with the similarly unprepared ROK air force. Hoping to secure legitimacy for their puppet government, the Soviet Union established the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in the northern half of the peninsula on the 9th of September 1948 following Sham elections. Tensions quickly rise as the new governments prepare to unify the peninsula on their own terms. With ample military support from the Soviet Union, North Korea sponsors a communist insurgency to topple the South Korean government led by President Sunung Man. However, a brutal crackdown ordered by President Rei crushes the communist uprisings, leading North Korean dictator Kim IlSung to believe that only a military invasion of the South will unify the country. With the blessings of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin and Chinese leader Ma Sadong, Sun prepares his army to launch a surprise attack on the South in the summer of 1950. At 4:40 a.m. on the morning of the 25th of June 1950, 10 divisions of the North Korean People's Army crossed the 38th parallel into South Korea following a tremendous artillery barrage. The Republic of Korea army initially fights bravely, but North Korean air superiority and Soviet built tanks overwhelmed their defenses at the 38th parallel. The Korean People's Army reaches the outskirts of Soul by the second day of the war, causing considerable alarm within the US government. With President Rey having fled the capital and the Roka disintegrating, US President Harry Truman gains approval from the United Nations to intervene in the war. It will take weeks for the UN ground forces to gather in strength, leaving the Japan-based United States Air Force's Far East Air Forces, FEAF, as the only means of defending the South for the time being. Under the command of Lieutenant General George Stratamayer, the FEAF dispatches 397 fighters and 48 bombers from its bases in occupied Japan to South Korea. Their first mission is to slow the North Korean advance and evacuate US diplomats and South Korean civilians to the safety of Japan. Suan and Kimo airfields near Seoul become the epicenters for this massive evacuation effort. Civilians gather there waiting to be airlifted to safety. FAF F82 twin Mustangs and F80 shooting stars flying out of their air bases in Japan are tasked with protecting the vulnerable transports as they flee. On the morning of the 27th of June, five twin Mustangs commanded by Major James Little arrive and circle above Kimpo airfield. Once the C-54 transports are airborne, Little's aircraft join them on their journey to provide air cover. This is Dr. Conrad Crane, a military historian and a retired United States Army officer. He taught at the United States Army War College and at West Point. He is the author of American Air Power Strategy in Korea 1950 to 1953. The North Korean Air Force started the war with about 62 IL 10 aircraft and about 70 ACT fighters which are okay conventional aircraft. They're not going to be able to stand up in the jet age. But of course early in the war they were trying to exploit what they could. They were trying to take out Kimpo. >> It is at noon when the five North Korean Yak 11 fighters dive out of the cloud layer at 10,000 ft, catching the aerial convoy by surprise. The Korean People's Air Force aircraft pepper the C-54s with machine gun fire, scoring hits but failing to bring down any of the transports. Major Little and his flight of five F82s are then set upon by the enemy fighters. Major Little calls out on the radio for his flight to engage the North Koreans and one of the first dog fights of the Korean War begins. Little is a decorated ace pilot from the Second World War, having shot down seven Japanese aircraft over China as a member of the 23rd Fighter Group, the direct descendant of the famed Flying Tigers. A North Korean Yak 11 overshoots Little's aircraft and he fires a burst from the Twin Mustang 650 caliber machine guns mounted in the center wing section. But the first shots fired by an American serviceman in Korea missed the mark. After overshooting the American formation, the North Koreans split up with two climbing into the clouds and the rest descending with Major Little's flight of F82s in hot pursuit. The F82 twin Mustang is an unusual creation designed to serve a specific purpose during the Second World War. Although the P-51 Mustang gained a reputation as an outstanding longrange fighter, it did not have the range to traverse the vast distances of the Pacific theater. With an invasion of Japan seemingly imminent in 1945, the United States needed an even longer range fighter which could escort B-29 heavy bomber raids on the Japanese homeland. The father of the P-51, engineer Edus Smood, decided the best solution would be to combine the two XP-51F Mustang fuselages into a single airframe. This is Dr. Andrew Wacus, a historian at the United States Air Force History Office. The F82 twin Mustang is a very strange looking plane. Very unusual. And in fact, you might think it looks like two planes bolted together at the wings and flying in parallel, which it kind of was. The new F82 had more range thanks to an extra engine and additional fuel tanks. However, Japan surrendered before the twin Mustang could be deployed to the Pacific. This dog fight against the North Koreans is one of its first tests in a combat situation. >> The designers knew that jets were the wave of the future. This was not a jet, but some of the oddness in the design approach tells you that they were trying to compensate. They were trying to create a bridge, a transition until the jets could come online. This was a way to extend the range using traditional technologies. So this was a stop gap design, something that would increase the performance and range of a prop fighter. >> Lieutenant Charlie Moran and Lieutenant William Hudson ascend to chase the pair of enemy fighters climbing through the cloud layer. When the two F82s break free of the clouds, they realize the North Koreans have maneuvered behind them. A Yak 11 fires a machine gun burst, which shreds one of the tails of Moran's twin Mustang, but the American pilot manages to pull hard on the stick to evade. Seconds later, his F82 stalls, which forces Moran to push the stick down in order to recover, while the North Korean fighter continues to chase him. Meanwhile, Lieutenant Hudson takes advantage of the twin Mustang's impressive agility to maneuver behind a Yak 11, which is severely underpowered compared to the US aircraft. The Yak 111 is a propeller-driven two-seater Soviet design and stands no chance against the F82. The North Korean pilot attempts to climb into another cloud layer, but Hudson stays on his tail. He closes to within yards of the yak and fires off a burst which strikes the rear fuselage. The North Korean pilot throws his aircraft into a steep right turn and Hudson fires again. This time the starboard wing fuel tank erupts into flames and Hudson is forced to take a violent evasive maneuver to avoid hitting the stricken aircraft. Hudson and his radar observer in the opposite fuselage, Lieutenant Carl Fraser, never forget what they saw next. Fraser later explained, "I could clearly see the pilot turn around and say something to the observer. Then he pulled his canopy back and climbed out on the wing." Once again, he leaned in and said something to the observer, but the latter was either scared or wounded as he never attempted to jump. The Yak pilot pulled the rip cord and the chute dragged him off the wing just before the ship rolled over and went in. In the meantime, Lieutenant Moran is struggling to regain control of his aircraft while the Yak behind him continues to fire machine gun bursts. Finally, Moran levels out and catches the North Korean pilot offg guard. The enemy fighter flies past Moran's twin Mustang right in front of his 50 caliber guns. Moran fires and sends the Yak 11, spiraling into the ground. With these kills, Lieutenant William Hudson and Lieutenant Charlie Moran become the first USAF pilots to shoot down an enemy fighter in the Korean War. Both men are credited because it is unknown to this day which pilot actually scored their kill first. Major Little had lost sight of the three North Korean fighters at the beginning of the dog fight and leads the other two F82s into a high alitude racetrack pattern, a flight path with two parallel straight legs and 280° turns. Upon hearing that Moran has been fired upon, Little spots the rest of the enemy aircraft down below, attempting to flee, the F82s slash into the KPAF formation with Major Little shooting down a fighter on his first pass. The two remaining North Korean fighters are heavily damaged, but one manages to hit Little with a burst of machine gun fire as he pulls up from his attack dive. A fire breaks out in Little's cockpit, but the veteran pilot is able to extinguish the flames while the pair of KPAF survivors escape to the north. With their mission accomplished, Major Little and the F82s rejoin the C-54s and escort them all the way back to Japan. Three North Korean fighters have been downed for no loss to the Americans, and Major James Little will later be awarded the Silver Star for this action. The American pilots report back to their superiors that North Korean aircraft are active over Soul, leading General Stratamire to post a combat air patrol over the embattled South Korean capital. An hour later, four F80 shooting stars from the 35th Fighter Squadron of the Eighth Fighter Bomber Wing are dispatched from Itazuk Air Base in Japan to watch for enemy aircraft. The F80s take station above Seoul in the early afternoon. The F80, like the F82, had been developed for combat in the Second World War, but never had the chance to engage enemy aircraft. But unlike the F82, the F80 is the first jet fighter in the history of the United States Air Force with a top speed of 596 mph. The F80 is the first in a new generation of jet powered fighter aircraft to herald a new age of dog fighting. >> Korea is really its time to shine and proof that the jet age had arrived. However, that time to shine proved rather short. It was very effective in the opening months in the opening engagements because it was facing Soviet World War II era designs that were not yet jet fighters. The Americans don't have to wait long to demonstrate the superiority of the jet fighter. Eight North Korean Illusian IL10 ground attack aircraft are spotted heading towards Kimo airfield from the northwest shortly after the 35th Fighter Squadron takes station. The KPAF formation splits into two groups of four just as the flight of shooting stars attack. However, the first quartet of IL10s managed to hit the air base first. The North Koreans strafe and destroy seven South Korean T6 Texan aircraft on the ground before attempting to rejoin their comrades in the second flight. But the IL10s are too slow for the US jet fighters. The F80s slice right through the KPAF formation, shooting down every aircraft on the first pass with their six 50 caliber machine guns. Lieutenant Robert Wayne claims two kills, while Captain Chiller and Lieutenant Robert DeWalt each down a North Korean IL10. United States Air Force jet fighters have scored their first kills in history, seemingly in the blink of an eye. The second KPAF flight of four IL10s watch as their comrades are massacred and immediately run for home. The Americans do not pursue, instead remaining in the airspace around Soul to defend the ongoing evacuation. >> Early air combat, it showed the inadequacy really of the North Korean air capability. >> The air battles over the Kimpo airfield are a decisive victory for the United States Air Force. Nine USAF fighters have engaged 13 North Korean aircraft and shot down seven without a single loss. The aerial victory is so complete that no more North Korean aircraft are spotted in the airspace around Soul for the rest of the day. The evacuation of civilians and US personnel from Kimo and Suan is chaotic but successful. No transports are shot down and not a single refugee is wounded. Although some transports are destroyed on the ground in later raids. The North Korean Air Force is more cautious after this experience, rarely engaging in combat, while US aircraft enjoy aerial supremacy over the Korean Peninsula. The first battle of the Jet Age for the United States is a clear success. The North Korean onslaught on the ground continues despite this victory. The South Korean defense of Soul collapses the next day and the North Korean People's Army occupies the capital by the end of the 28th of June. Even the arrival of the US 8th Army and other United Nations units do not turn the tide until September, by which time North Korea has occupied most of the peninsula. The Korean War is off to a bloody start, and the United Nations have a fight on their hands, both on the ground and in the air. Faced with a more difficult foe than they had imagined, United Nations Command invests more men and material into the war effort. By August of 1950, UN forces along with the South Korean army manages to halt the enemy advance near the southern city of Busan. It is here that UN air power is brought to bear on the North Koreans. >> There are Mustangs. There are Corsair's. There's all kinds of aircraft flying cover over the perimeter. I can't find any records really of any effective air strikes from the North Koreans at this point. They're just it's at the at the max range. The UN's got their air force mass there. There's just no way for the North Koreans to do any kind of air interdiction, air attacks there. The advantages are all on the UN side at that point. Following the brutal and desperate fighting, the Communist Korean People's Army is routed in the autumn of 1950 by a massive UN counter offensive led by General Douglas MacArthur. He counterattacks across the 38th parallel, dividing the Korean Peninsula. The combined UN air forces have also marshaled their strength and destroyed most of the KPAF in lopsided aerial combat. They've been detred phenomenally during July. There's not a whole lot of North Korean air force left. By August, the North Korean Air Force is pretty much decimated. And and the UN is could have a pretty much free reign in the skies until November when when the MiGs show up. >> The obsolete piston-driven aircraft from the Second World War are being quickly replaced by jet fighters, which now dominate the skies above Korea. By early October, MacArthur's forces reached the Yaloo River, which separates North Korea from the People's Republic of China. The collapse of North Korean dictator Kim IlSung's communist regime seems imminent. However, danger lurks on the other side of the Yaloo. Ma Sadong, the leader of the People's Republic of China, grows increasingly alarmed by the encroachment of anti-communist forces on his border. He warns that the People's Republic of China will intervene on the side of North Korea if the United Nations do not halt their advance. These warnings go unheeded and Mao decides to strike. On the 25th of October 1950, the Chinese People's Volunteer Army or PVA launch a surprise offensive on the UN forces in North Korea. This is followed by another on the 22nd of November. Outnumbered by the PVA, MacArthur's forces retreat back across the 38th parallel to escape destruction. The front has stabilized in the following months, but the wall is locked in stalemate. The MIG 15 is one of the most famous aircraft of the Korean War. It is a scary scary machine when it appears in the skies over Korea to the surprise of the American and the UN pilots. Its surprise appearance almost turned the tide of the air war. >> The bottom line is is that when the MiG 15 show up, they are the best aircraft in the theater by a long shot. The date is now the 12th of April 1951 and the United States Far East Air Forces or FEAF is attempting to hamper the logistics of the Chinese forces. Beginning at dawn, 48 B29 Superfortress bombers lift off from Kadina Air Base in Okinawa. These bombers are from the 19th, 98th, and 307th bomb groups, which represent the main striking force for the United Nations strategic bombing campaign against North Korea. Once formed up, the 48 aircraft begin a long 2,000mi round trip to the Yaloo River. The targets for today's daylight mission are the critical railway bridges at the town of Sin Wiju, right in the heart of what the United Nations pilots call Mig Alley. They will be joined on route by their escort of F84 Thunderjets, F86 Sabers, and from Soviet accounts, F80 Shooting Stars. In less than 7 hours, they will take part in one of the largest dog fights of the Korean War. In April of 1951, what is happening is the Yaloo is starting to thaw. Before this, anybody could come across from North Korea on the ice, the Yaloo. Now the Yaloo is starting to thaw. The UN is aware that the Chinese are massing for a major offensive which will kick off later that month. There's a major railway bridge comes across it at Swingshoot. There's uh hopes they can take it out. The vast majority of logistical support to communist forces in Korea are moved over the Yalu River crossings. The most important of which are the two rail bridges at the North Korean town of Sinujun. The US FEAF has attempted to interdict this key supply route before without success. 5 days earlier on the 7th of April, a large B-29 raid damaged the bridges but failed to destroy them. As such, the commander of FEAF's bomber command, Brigadier General James Briggs, authorizes a maximum effort mission to knock out the bridges once and for all. All three bombardment groups in the FAF are taking part in this attempt. Around 900 m into the journey, the bomb groups are joined by 39 F84 Thunderjets from the 27th Fighter Escort Group, which are providing close escort. 15 F86 Sabers from the fourth fighter wing also take station high above the bomber formation to provide top cover. Soviet pilots will later claimed that F80 shooting stars were also escorts that day. This error is said to be confirmed by using Soviet gun camera footage by Russian historians. No American sources mention the F80s as part of the escort group. This seems to be a case of mistaken identity by Soviet pilots. Nine of the 48 B-29s have been forced to turn back due to mechanical problems. And to make things worse, the bombers failed to form up in a close formation. Instead, the three bomb groups end up in three separate formations, which also has the effect of spreading out the jet escort fighters. Despite almost a fifth of bombers leaving the formation, the 39 remaining super fortresses change course to the northwest to avoid North Korean airspace and press on to the target. Despite months of clear skies for the B-29s at the beginning of the war, United Nations air supremacy is now being challenged. The Chinese intervention also emboldened Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin, who deployed the Soviet Air Force fighter squadrons to the combat zone in November of 1950 to assist the communist counteroffensive. Soviet pilots fly missions from air bases in China, which is off limits to United Nations bombing. Furthermore, their aircraft are painted in Chinese and North Korean markings to disguise Soviet participation. Many of the pilots in the skies on the Korean side of the war were not themselves Korean. They were in fact Russia Soviet. The Soviets had of course trained and equipped the North Korean air force, also the Chinese air force. They would join World War II. So everybody knew that the Soviets were involved, but they went through great lengths to hide that they were also sending pilots themselves. They would dress their pilots in North Korean uniforms. They would give them phrase books and training that they could have some basic Korean aviation language in case of any radio intercepts, they could hide their identity that way. Now, this wasn't the best kept secret because in the heat of combat, if radio intercepts suddenly heard this alleged North Korean pilot cursing in Russian, then you know the game was up and the curtain was drawn back on who was really behind it. But even at the time, the American pilot could tell. And you can see this in their use of a certain term. So, you've heard the term head honcho. You probably don't know that it's from the Korean War and specifically from dog fighting. Honcho is a Japanese term for boss essentially that American pilots learned after World War II during the occupation of Japan while they were stationed there. So they had picked up this term. So when in the skies above Korea, they're fighting, you know, these normal uh Korean air forces and suddenly one displays astonishing degrees of skill, is much more capable. They call them the honcho, the head honcho, the boss. Now, I will say that the UN and American intelligence is not aware of the Soviet units that are there. By 52, everybody's aware that they are Soviet pilots there, but they're not aware that these are from formally assigned Soviet units that are rotating in and carrying out their missions. I mean, it's pretty even fight. It's hard to wade through the the data on aircraft shot down and both sides exaggerate considerably and it's it's usually the most accurate way to figure it out is read what losses that people admit to. But it looks like in US versus Soviet air engagements, the Americans probably had about a 1.4 to one edge. It's not a massive edge, but it is a slight edge in their air engagements. Anton Air Base in Manuria serves as the main base for the Soviet 324th Fighter Aviation Division. At 8:56 a.m., the 324th commanding officer, Lieutenant General Ivan Kujadup, is informed that an American air raid has been detected on radar. Kadoop, the Red Air Force's top ace from the Second World War with 60 kills against the Luftvafa, put the 196th Fighter Aviation Regiment and the 176th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment on high alert. The pilots rush to their Mig 15 fighters and await the order to take off to intercept the bombers. At 9:53 a.m., the bombers change course towards Sinigu, confirming that this is a raid against the rail bridges. Two groups of Mig 15s under the overall command of Captain Nikolai Sha Laminov lift off from Anton and begin climbing to intercept the raiders. One of the key aspects of the MIG was its high ceiling. They could come swooping down from high altitude out of the clouds for these hit and run attacks, particularly like we saw on Black Thursday and other events. They would target the bombers away from the escorts with hit and runs. They could hit them without engaging the fighters. So, it was a very dangerous aircraft and became a terror of the skies in the second phase of the air war in Korea. The Mig 15 is seen as a serious threat not just in Korea but to the West in general as it demonstrates that the Soviet Union is capable of producing aircraft that are just as if not more capable than NATO aircraft. >> Up to that point the Soviets had some problems getting their jet fighters, their their jet aviation online. They had a MiG 9, for example, that used a captured BMW engine that they they captured from the Germans in World War II, but they had trouble adapting that to their own use, and so it was kind of an unreliable fighter for them, and this was their reputation going into the Korean War. Now, they knew that themselves. And so, by the late 40s, the Soviets were looking to just straight up buy an engine that they could use and adapt. And Stalin himself was a little skeptical of this plan. He said, "What fool would sell us their technology?" Uh, well, they they found a fool. No offense to anybody, but the Rolls-Royce company agreed to sell one of the top-of-the-line jet aircraft engines to the Soviets. They adapted that and put that into the MiG 15. They also adapted a new swept wing form the aircraft that most of the jets, all of the jets eventually would take over. So the Soviets proved very capable of reverse engineering and then just outright buying technology that they then put together into the MIG 15 which became the most superior aircraft when it appeared. >> The United States Air Force has not been seriously challenged by any hostile air force since the Second World War when the then United States Army Air Force fought massive aerial battles against the German Lufa. The Mig 15 is a nasty shock to the Americans who had also enjoyed technological superiority over the small North Korean people's air force. Now they find that the Soviet fighter can outperform the best propeller-driven aircraft of the Second World War and the United States Air Force's early jet fighters like the F84 Thunderjet. The first group of eight B29s from the 19th bombardment group have made their final turn for the initial point and are less than 10 minutes from the target when the accompanying RB29 reconnaissance aircraft calls out a warning over the radio. 12 trains leaving the station. The bombers will have to fly directly over the Soviet air base at Anton. And the pilots aboard the Superfortresses can see the black exhaust smoke coming from the MiG 15s as they climb into the clear April sky. The situation is worsening by the minute with each group stretched perilously thin. Excessive crosswinds of up to 173 mph are also pushing the bombers into Manurion airspace where there is a greater concentration of communist flank batteries. The spread out and disorganized B-29s are about to fly directly into the heart of Mig Alley with the enemy fully alerted to their presence. The superfortresses of the 19th bomb group are now less than 5 minutes from the target, flying in two flights of four bombers each. What's going to happen is that the MiGs are going to be out in force. You know, part of the problem is that the you've got some F86s that are trying to provide a higher screen for the B29s. You've got F84 Thunderjets. They're supposed to be providing uh the cover close in for the B29s. What the MiGs are doing is the MiGs can fly higher than the F86s, and they they get up high, and then they're going to dive down to the F86s and dive into the bomber formations. >> Sergeant Billy Beachch is a gunner aboard the B-29. no sweat in the first flight and is scanning the sky for enemy aircraft when the tail gunner shouts, "My coming in at 6:00." At 10:10 a.m., six big 15s pounce on the bombers from the rear, catching the Thunderjet escorts off guard. Captain Lev Evenoff fires a burst from his 37 mm cannon, which slams into a B-29's fuselage, forcing the smoking bomber to jettison its bombs and leave formation. A second Superfortress is set upon by a MiG, whose fire hits the number one engine, igniting it. The B-29 enters a death spiral and crashes into the sea with no survivors. Another B29 is shot down when a MIG piloted by senior left tenant Alexander Kotagarov knocks out two of its engines. The bomber loses control and only two crewmen are able to bail out before it crashes into a mountain. No Sweat is the next target. The bomber is riddled with cannon shells despite defensive fire from Beach and the other gunners. Two engines are shot out and an engine fuel tank catches fire. But the pilot announces they will persist to the target. The bomber is now completely alone after the loss of the other three B29s in the flight and heavy flag strikes the wounded aircraft. Beach remembered like a bird with a broken wing, we limped in over the bridges. The bombader releases the munitions and the aircraft begins to lose altitude. Despite the odds, No Sweat manages to crash land at a US fighter base an hour later without any loss to the crew. Having been caught off guard, the American escorts now spring into action. Two MiG 15s attacking the Superfortresses are jumped by a flight of four F84s who managed to get behind the Soviet aircraft. However, these Thunderjets are no match for the Soviet fighters. The MiGs simply accelerate away and split off to turn the tables on the Americans. The MiG 15 is considered by many to be the most modern fighter in the world in 1951. With a top speed of 688 mph and an excellent turn radius above 33,000 ft, the MiGs are far superior to the Thunderjet, which only has a top speed of 622 mph. Furthermore, the swept wing design of the MiGs significantly decreases drag compared to the straight wings of the F84s. The MiGs quickly circle around the flight of Thunderjets and open fire with their powerful 37 mm cannons. An F84 has its starboard undercarriage door shot off and the American aircraft scatter. Thankfully, the F84's armor is enough to absorb the punishment, and the pilot manages to escape. A second flight of four B29s in the 19th bomb group are jumped by Captain Nikolai Shalamanov's eight MiGs, who pepper the bombers with cannon fire from behind. A group of four MiGs, then split off to deal with the escorts, while Shalamanov's flight circles around to make another pass at the bombers. attacking again from 6:00. Another B-29 is badly damaged and forced to leave formation. Despite the pounding, the Superfortress's rugged design, keeps the aircraft in the air. One of the escorting fighters, most likely an F84, chases after the MiG, firing its machine guns. Right behind them is another MiG, which attacks the American aircraft and forces it to break off, trailing smoke. Although no bombers in the second flight are shot down, No Sweat with Billy Beach aboard is the only B-29 from the 19th bomb group to make it to Synu and drop its munitions on the bridges. A further 14 MGs under the command of Captain Constantine Shabets have also taken off from Anton to meet the bombers. After climbing to 36,000 ft, they spot the second wave of American bombers approaching. These are the 12 B29s from the 307th bomb group, split into three strung out flights of four bombers each. Shabets off leads his MiGs against the first flight and easily outmaneuvers the escorting F84s to get behind the bombers. Captain Gregori Guess is a Soviet ace from the Second World War and damages a B-29 with cannon fire, forcing it to leave formation. Despite a heavy volume of defensive firepower, two more Superfortresses are damaged and the formation breaks up. The bombers jettison their bombs and flee to the south. The top cover of F86 Sabers have been unable to take part in the battle so far because the three bomb groups are so spread out. However, they now spot the enemy MiGs and dive to engage. The premier American fighters of the era join the Thunderjet in attempting to drive the MiGs away. However, the F86's swept wings are very similar to the Mig 15s, which confuses the F84 pilots. In a confused dog fight, some of the Thunderjets start shooting at the F86s, unaware they are firing at friendly aircraft. Although no Sabers are shot down in the debacle, the MiGs make a clean getaway. Another problem with the F86s as a valid escort was just that they look too much like Mig 15s. Uh they're the only sweptwing jets in the theater. If you were a nervous B29 gunner and you looked out and you saw a sweptwing jet approaching, you tended to shoot first and ask questions later. >> When the F86 was the most effective against the MiGs, it was when they set up the four plane teams just to go out and hunt MiGs. I mean, they weren't connected to the bombers. They were on their own. They they weren't restricted that way, and they could go out and kind of hunt. But again, as an escort, they were just either too fast or they just looked too much like the MiG 15s, and the bomber crews weren't going to take the time to try to determine what they were. >> Eight more MiG 15s under the command of Senior Lieutenant Boris Bach have launched from Anton and are now approaching the 307th bomb group second and third flights of eight B-29s. This time the escort of eight American Thunder Jets and Sabers are ready and engage the Soviet fighters first. Bockach directs senior left tenant Boris Abakimov to take four MiGs to attack the bombers while Bokach deals with the fighters. Abakimov's MiGs evade the American fighters and go straight for the superfortresses while a dog fight breaks out behind them. A pair of MiGs spot a B-29A electronic countermeasure aircraft dropping chaff to confuse communist ground radar. However, due to poor engine performance, the bomber has fallen behind the first flight, leaving it alone and without supporting defensive fire. The two Migs shred the airframe with their cannons and start a serious fire in the rear of the aircraft. The remaining five stay behind to fight the flames with their fire extinguishers and manage to put out the blaze. Unable to land their mortally wounded bomber, the last crewman will later bail out over UN controlled territory. The B-29 will crash into a hill near Seoul. The seven men who jumped earlier are taken prisoner by the North Koreans. Meanwhile, Lieutenant Spockach's mates have fought through the fighter escort and join Abakamoth's fighters to launch an attack on the 307th Bomb Group's third flight of superfortresses. The B29 Dragon Lady takes a direct hit on the cockpit's port side, killing the pilot and bombardier. The co-pilot, First Lieutenant Willis Uh Holtz, is wounded, but takes control of the aircraft and keeps the bomber on target. The fourth fighter wing sabers, managed to catch up to the bombers and drive off the rest of the mates. One manages to seriously damage Lieutenant Apacon's aircraft, forcing him to break off the engagement. The F86 will soon prove to be a worthy rival to the Soviet Mig 15s. With most Soviet aircraft low on fuel or out of ammunition, the last remaining bombers of the 307th bomb group get all the way to the bridges of Sinigu. Aboard Dragon Lady. Lieutenant Haltz has not informed the rest of the crew that he has serious wounds to his shoulder and neck. Despite explosive decompression and damage to the oxygen system, Umholtz gets the bomber over the target while Flack explodes around the aircraft. With the bombader dead, the navigator drops the bombs and Umhulse banks away to return to base. Hours later, he will make an emergency landing at a US airfield when only then does he report himself as wounded. Um Holtz will be awarded the Silver Star for bravery on this mission. Despite the carnage brought on the first two bomb groups, the 19 B29s of the 98th bomb group are not harassed by enemy fighters and arrive over the target with an intact formation. The superfortresses drop their payloads and along with their escorts egress to the south back towards friendly territory. Although the bridges at Synigu are damaged, later reconnaissance photos will show that only one has been put out of action. It is a bitterly disappointing result for a maximum effort bombing mission. The 12th of April raid on the Senui rail bridges is nicknamed Black Thursday by United States Air Force crewmen. Of the original 48 bombers that took off from Okinawa, only 39 made it to the target to drop their bombs. The total number of losses on both sides are disputed. The United States Air Force claims three B-29s lost and seven damaged as a result of the raid. Official Soviet sources claimed their MIGs shot down 10 B29s. This is disputed by Russian historians Leonid Krillof and Yuri Tepsay. Using Soviet archival sources, they claim six B29s were lost, four shot down, and two later written off from damage. Two F80s are also claimed by Soviet pilots despite the fact there are no American records of F80s being in the battle. Soviet sources vary wildly from source to source. Krillov and Tepsay claim only two MiGs were damaged in the aerial battle. In the United States Air Force history of the Korean War, B29 gunners are credited with shooting down 10 MiGs, while F84 pilots are credited with three probable kills. Figures for the kills of F86 Sabers are even more unclear, with some noting four shot down and six damaged. Another American source states only seven MIGs were shot down that day. Sergeant Billy Beach of the 28th Bombardment Squadron is officially credited with two MIG kills. Sergeant Lyall R. Patterson later provides eyewitness accounts of shooting down a MiG. There's only 30 some B29s in the whole attack. So that's, you know, you're talking like 25% casualties. It's really devastating. After Black Thursday, the US Air Force stopped doing bomber sorties over Korea for three months in the daytime. So, this really affected where things could be used and how. If you have an aircraft that isn't up to speed with the MiGs, literally or metaphorically, then you don't want to operate it in areas where the MIG will be. The commander of the United States Far East Air Force, General George Stratamayer is appalled by the casualties and bans any B-29 sorties to synagu until further notice. Morale in the bomber force drops as the UN pilots realize the enemy air forces are more dangerous than expected. It's obviously after October there's no more daily alert raids by propeller bombers. There's night raids, B26es at night. They're going to be P29s at night, but jet fighter bombers really become the the main bombing tool. F80, a lot of F84s doing that. Later, they're going to try to turn the F86 into a fighter bomber as well that not doesn't go quite as smooth. >> Stratamire recognizes that the F84 and F80 fighters are too obsolete to stand up to the Soviet mix. In the Korean War, the F84 Thunderjet proved particularly effective, especially during the day and when used against ground targets. So that became its main role as a ground attack and interdiction aircraft. And some accounts credit it with destroying around 60% of the ground targets that were hit by the USAF during the Korean War. That role will be handled by the F86, which is the only UN aircraft that can go toe-to-toe with the MiG. >> What it does well is it send it across the aloo to hunt MS. I mean, it really is. It's it's a MIG killer. It hunts the MiGs. It fights with them. That's what the F86 is best at. >> However, it will take time for the tide to turn. While supremely capable and superior to the MIG in many respects, the F86 is still a new aircraft and only a limited number are available for deployment to the Far East. The bottom line is everybody wants them and production is low. I mean, the North American factories only make about 11 a month. When the the MiGs first come across in November and there's this mass panic, we have to get F86 over to counter the the MiGs. Basically the easiest way to do it is they had just sold 60 to Canada for the Canadian Air Force. So they kind of reig on it. They say, "Well, you know, we I know we had this deal and we need to get these back." And then so they kind of retrieve these from Canada. Everybody wants F86. The Canadians want them. Our European allies want them. You know, we're also concerned about possible Soviet incursions in Europe, so we've got to send them over there as well. So there's this big demand for F86s and it's going to take a long time. Eventually the forces in Korea can build up a stock about 150 F86s. It takes a long time to get to that level and that's still outnumbered by the MiGs by about 4:1 5:1. >> So over the course of the war, the Saber became uh in many ways the main jet fighter, main air-to-air engagement option for the US Air Force and the UN forces. and it did prove the equal of the MIG and perhaps even its superior. >> The era of piston-driven aircraft is well and truly over, but United Nations Command is about to find out if older jet aircraft such as the Britishes designed Glouester Meteor can hold back the communists in the skies above Korea. It's 9:00 a.m. on the first day of December 1951. 14 Glouester Meteor Jet fighters from 77 squadron Royal Australian Air Force lift off from Kimo near the South Korean capital of Seoul. Once all the aircraft are in the air, the meteors head north to conduct a screening patrol near the city of Sun Chong in North Korea. Their mission is to shield the United Nations ground attack aircraft from enemy interceptors and allow them to strike at the lines of communications supplying the communist forces fighting in Korea. Over 200 m to the northwest of Kimo, 20 Soviet MiG 15s from the 176th Guards Fighter Air Regiment are taking off from Anton Air Base to intercept the RAAF meteors. Six years ago, the Australians and Soviets were allies in the fight against global fascism. Now, they are about to do battles in the skies above Korea. The war has remained a bloody stalemate for the majority of 1951. The intervention by the People's Republic of China has saved North Korea from near certain defeat, but the communists have failed to drive the United Nations command off the peninsula. Despite tens of thousands of casualties on both sides, the conflict is frozen near the pre-war border between North and South Korea. Meanwhile, the air war continues to rage as it becomes evident that whoever controls the skies might be able to end the stalemate on the ground. The veteran Soviet fighter regiments clandestinely deployed to Korea have inflicted heavy casualties on the UN air forces thanks to the superiority of the MiG 15 fighter. The American F86 Saber is the only aircraft reliably capable of beating the MiG in a fair fight, but there are not yet enough Sabers in theater to make a difference. Therefore, the bulk of aerial combat will fall to older aircraft until production of the F86 can be scaled up. The Royal Australian Air Force's 77 Squadron arrived in Korea flying the Second World War era P-51 Mustang in ground attack missions. They were re-equipped with the Glouester Meteor in April of 1951. 77 Squadron is the only UN unit in Korea to fly the straight-winged Meteor, which was the only Allied jet fighter to see combat in the Second World War. Wing Commander Gordon Ste is among the many aviators of 77 squadron to see extensive action in the last war, having scored eight kills in North Africa and over the Pacific. The Australians hope that their veteran pilots can overcome the MiG 15's general superiority. Flight trials in Japan conducted by the US Air Force claim the Meteor is equivalent in performance to the Saber under certain conditions, but the aircraft has yet to prove it can stand up to a second generation jet fighter in combat. The 16 meteors of 77 squadron reached the area above the city of Sunshong at 9:30 a.m. and split into four flights of four aircraft each to orbit at 19,000 ft. 77 Squadron clashed with Soviet MiG 15s for the first time in late August, but were outclassed by the modern fighters. Despite fears that the Meteor is not up to the job of dog fighting, the RAAF continues to send them on fighter sweeps. Meanwhile, the 20 MiG 15s, led by left-handed Colonel Sergey Vishnakov, are closing in. Like the Australians, most of the Soviet pilots are veterans from the Second World War. Vishnakov shot down 10 Luftvafa aircraft on the Eastern front and already has six kills in the Korean War, making him a rare ace in both wars. This mission is at the extreme fuel range for the MiG 15 as they fly out of Anton in China. The Soviets spot the RAF meteors around 10:00 a.m., but the orbiting Australians are not yet alerted to their presence. Lieutenant Colonel Vishnakov immediately seizes the initiative and divides his force in half. He sends Captain Sergey Kremareno against the left flank of the Australian formation while he leads his element against the right. The Soviets will dive from 33,000 ft and execute a pinser move to box in the Australian aircraft. Captain Kareno has two Luftvafa kills to his name and later described the beginning of the dog fight. We closed in on the rear flight of Meteors. I ordered my wingman to take the right one. The left one is mine. I opened fire and saw my shell burst dancing all over the enemy aircraft. Its right engine flamed. I noticed the meteor wingman's tail flying off as the result of a burst from my wingman. The meteor pilot flying officer Bruce Thompson manages to eject out of his aircraft. The Mates down two meteors and damage several others on the first pass while wing commander Steie orders his pilots to scatter and dive towards the ground. Having been caught by surprise, Siege knows that running from the superior Soviet aircraft is 77 squadron's only chance at surviving the onslaught. The RAF meteors spread out and dive with eight meteors beating a hasty retreat to the south. However, this leaves six Australian aircraft locked in an unequal dog fight against the MiGs. The combat is chaotic with jets crisscrossing the sky. Although the Soviets clearly have the upper hand, flying officer Bruce Goggle manages to maneuver his slower meteor behind a MIG 15 piloted by left tenant stepper Kiraenko. Goggali opens fire with his four 20 mm autoc cannons and sends Kirachenko's aircraft plummeting through the cloud. Despite damage to the MiG, Kirichenko levels out less than 2,000 ft from the ground and is able to land back at Anton. Pilot Officer Vance Drummond, another Australian pilot, is locked in combat with Captain Kareno. Facing a hopeless battle, Drummond breaks off the dog fight with his wingman and attempts to join the rest of the meteors, retreating to the south. Kareno follows him and right after the war, we overtook him and attacked. Seeing us, the Australian turned, but too slowly. I managed to frame him in my sight and opened fire. My shells burst on the meteor's wings and the pilot bailed out. Drummond ejects and is captured by the North Koreans. Drummond's wingman also tries to outrun the mix, but Kareno easily maneuvers behind him. However, Kareno has expended all of his ammunition and orders his wingman, Senior Lieutenant Guloy, to finish off the meteor. Yet Guloy's speed is too high and he overshoots the Australian. Kareno decides to break off the pursuit. "I decided to let the meteor pilot fly home and tell them all about the battle," he wrote. "Two kills were enough for me." The larger dog fight is starting to peter out as the MiGs begin to run low on ammunition and fuel. With the MiGs at the limit of their operational range, Lieutenant Colonel Vishnakov orders the rest of his pilots to break off and return to base. The faster Mig 15s easily break contact with the Australian aircraft, allowing the remaining meteors to limp back to Kimo air base near Seoul with wing commander STE in the lead. Nine Royal Australian Air Force aircraft have been shot down with pilot officer Don Armit killed in action. Only one MiG 15 has been damaged. The dog fight over Sunshine on the 1st of December 1951 is a rude wakeup call for United Nations commanders who believed the obsolete Meteor could defeat the MiG 15 in combat. Gordon Ste recognizes that the Meteor is incapable of engaging next generation fighters and informs the US fifth Air Force that his squadron is only good for ground attack missions. The decision is controversial as some UN commanders believe that with better training, the Gloucester Meteors can still be successful against the MiG 15. But Royal Australian Air Force Chief of Air Staff George Jones backs ste with the appearance of the MiG and how much more capable it was than a lot of its rivals such as the F80, such as the Meteor, it affected the way these other aircraft could be used. The Meteor is a good example. It was seen as one of the most capable in the British arsenal. Certainly at the time it was developed towards the end of World War II. But during its engagement with the Soviets with the Australian squadron, uh they found that it was really outclassed and they actually stopped using it in many situations. In reaction to that, they shifted to more of a interdiction role rather than offensive sweeps in an air-to-air role. The Glouester Meteor's days as a frontline fighter in Korea are over, and 77 Squadron must wait for a more advanced fighter to become available before returning to dog fighting. A popular song sung by 77 Squadron that Christmas had the lyrics, "All I want for Christmas is my wings swept back." Sunong represents the last stand for the first generation of jet fighters. Vance Drummond and Bruce Thompson spend the next two years in captivity before they are exchanged after the 1953 Armisters. Drummond later serves in Vietnam and is awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross by the US Air Force. Captain Sergey Kramareno is shot down in 1952, but survives and ultimately scores another nine kills, bringing his career total to 13. However, the dog fight over Sunshong is the high water mark for the Mig 15 during the Korean War. The newly arrived US 51st Fighter Wing, equipped with F86E Sabers, conducts its first fighter sweep in Korea the same day as the Sunron air battle. More Sabers are rushed into combat while the MiG 15 pilots begin to suffer from battle fatigue thanks to a demanding saucy tempo. The overwhelming Soviet advantage in the Korean air war will soon begin to diminish as UN pilots take to the skies with improved aircraft and improved tactics, setting the stage for some of the fiercest dog fights of the early jet age. Across the three dog fights at Kimo, Sinigu, and Sunshine, the Korean War compressed a decade of aviation evolution into a single year. They began with propeller-driven fighters over Seoul, escalated into jet powered massacres over Synergy, and ended with modern sweat-wing champions jeweling in Mig Alley. The lessons learned in these battles will shape the next half century of aerial warfare from Vietnam to the Persian Gulf and beyond. You know, in many ways, the US Air Force is going to get surprised again in Vietnam. They kind of lose sense of what they want went on in Korea. They're going to move on to focus a lot on nuclear weapons and again they're going to neglect conventional air attacks again. They're going to have to relearn all this stuff in Vietnam. I mean it it's kind of sad in some ways that that a lot of the lessons get forgotten between Korea and Vietnam and have to be relearned. >> Thanks again to Dr. Conrad Crane, military historian, retired United States Army officer, former professor at the United States Army War College and at West Point, and the author of American Air Power Strategy in Korea 1950 to 1953. And also to Dr. Andrew Wackus, historian at the United States Air Force History Office.