[b]The combat over Korea begins[/span][p]

The 25th June 1950, North Korea, supported by the Soviet Union, invaded South
Korea, supported by United States, starting a war that would last three years and
cost millions of lives. This war

would witness as well the first combats between turbojets, already in the
stratosphere. The main adversaries were the F-86 Sabre and the MiG-15, but many
other types of aircraft were involved. For

example, the 26th June, five F-82 Twin Mustang from the 68th and 339th Fighter
Interceptor Squadrons, which covered the evacuation of civilians leaving Seoul,
intercepted seven Yak-9 fighter-

bombers that were in their way to bomb the airfield at Kimpo. In a five-minute
combat, five Yak-9 were downed; the first of them by Lieutenant William G. Hudson
from the 68th Squadron, who had the

honor of downing the first Communist aircraft over Korea. The other pilots that
registered downings were Commander James W. Little and Lieutenant Charles B. Moran.
Some hours later, North Korea

launched a second attack with eight Il-10 fighter-bombers. The pilots of four
aircraft F-80 Shooting Star from the 35th Fighter-Bomber Squadron sighted the
intruders over Seoul and swooped against

them. Lieutenant Robert E. Wayne downed two of them, while Captain Raymond E.
Schilleref and Lieutenant Robert H. Dewald downed one each. The surviving enemies
left the combat zone crossing the

38th Parallel, for the Americans had no orders to pursue them, retaking instead
their patrol. During the rest of the day, there were no more attempts to interfere
the evacuation.[p]
In the following weeks, the Mustang, Shooting Star and Twin Mustang from the United
States Air Force and the Royal Australian Air Force joined the light bombers B-26
Marauder to attack the North

Korean columns that advanced unceasingly towards the south, inflicting them huge
losses, benumbing the attack until stopping it, which allowed the United Nations
forces to carry reinforcements and,

ultimately, launch a series of counter-attacks that made the North Koreans to

retreat towards the Chinese border. During these operations, were the Shooting Star
from the 5th Air Force, operating

from Japanese bases, which carried the main weight on the ground attack missions,
accounting for two third parts of all the combat departures that were made; the
pilots achieved a high degree of

experience, specially in the use of 127 millimeters high-velocity aerial rockets

against the enemy armored forces. Each Shooting Star carried up to 16 of these
rockets, apart from its standard

armament of six 12.7-millimeter machine guns; with this configuration and a full
fuel load on takeoff, their combat radius was 362 kilometers, with a time of
permanence over the target of about 15

minutes. Pilots were unanimous in their praises towards the F-80 in the ground
attack role. Its high speed facilitated the important element of surprise and,
because it was exempt of the torque
caused by a propeller, it was a much better artillery platform than any piston-
engined aircraft. The F-80 could carry as well a couple of 454 kilograms bombs
instead of the 625-liter external fuel

tanks under the wings, but this configuration reduced the combat radius to about
160 kilometers. To solve this problem, the engineers from the 49th Fighter-Bomber
Wing fitted the F-80 with an

enlarged fuel tank with a capacity of 690 liters. At the end of July, the fourth
part of the F-80 units based in Japan had received the modified fuel tanks, being
so increased the time of

permanence over the target.[p]

[aimg96]high_res/aircraft_united_states/
lockheed_f80c_shooting_star_fighter_aircraft.jpg[*aimg96]low_res/
aircraft_united_states/lockheed_f80c_shooting_star_fighter_aircraft.jpg[/aimg96]
[br]
[fs]Lockheed F-80C Shooting Star 485467/FT-467 from the 45th Reconnaissance
Squadron of the US Air Force.[/span][p]
[b]The naval fighters enter into action[/span][p]
When American and British aircraft carriers moved to combat positions in coastal
waters in Korea, the activity of naval fighter-bombers increased. In the American
side, ground-attack missions were

carried by piston-engined aircraft, such as the veteran F4U Corsair and the robust
AD Skyraider, to which joined in growing numbers the turbojet fighter-bombers F9F
Panther. These had entered

service in May 1949 with the VF-51 Fighter Squadron, and their first combat action
was when the aircraft of the forementioned squadron, operating from the USS Valley
Forge, flew to give cover to

the attacks over the enemy airfields and supply lines next to Pyongyang. During
this mission, two pilots from the VF-51 shot down two Yak-9, which would be the
first downings effectuated by the US

Navy in Korea. Later, another turbojet fighter-bomber would join the Panther in
their missions: the F2H Banshee, which entered combat for the first time the 23rd
August 1951, when the aircraft

F2H-2 from the VF-172 Fighter Squadron aboard the USS Exeter attacked targets in
north-western Korea. Unlike the US Navy, the Royal Navy had made no provision for
adopting turbojet aircraft, for a

few landing tests effectuated in 1945 with Vampire and Meteor aircraft convinced
them that their landing speed was excessive for a safe landing in a carrier. Thus,
when the Fleet Air Arm renovated

their aircraft at the end of the Second World War, they choose piston-engined
models, such as the Seafire, Firefly and Sea Fury. The Seafire was the Mk 47, the
last design of a series that dated

back to the prototype of the Spitfire from 1936, corresponding to the last model
Spitfire Mk 24. The Firefly had been a wartime project, conceived in 1940 as an
advanced two-seat fighter for the

fleet; the Firefly FR 1 had entered action for the first time in July 1944,
supporting air attacks against the German battleship Tirpitz, and serving as well
with the Pacific Fleet in 1945. In

Korea the Firefly Mk IV operated with considerable success in ground-attack

missions. The HMS Triumph was the only carrier that used a combination of Seafire
and Firefly; the air wings embarked in

other carriers, that operated by turns in the Korean waters, were equipped with
Firefly and Sea Fury. This latter had arrived too late for taking part in the
Pacific War, but demonstrated to be a

formidable attack aircraft, serving along the entire Korean War. Aircraft of
incredible performance, the Sea Fury claimed as well some downings of MiG-15.[p]
[aimg96]high_res/aircraft_britain/
hawker_sea_fury_fb_mk_11_fighter_aircraft.jpg[*aimg96]low_res/aircraft_britain/
hawker_sea_fury_fb_mk_11_fighter_aircraft.jpg[/aimg96][br]
[fs]Hawker Sea Fury FB Mk 11 from the 802nd Squadron of the Fleet Air Arm, piloted
by Lieutenant Peter Carmichael the 9th August 1952. This particular aircraft,
serialized VR 943, had the letter O

painted in the vertical tail and also the distinctive with white and black stripes,
this last detail being common to all the aircraft operated by the British and
Commonwealth carriers during the

Korean War.[/span][p]
[aimg96]high_res/aircraft_britain/
hawker_sea_fury_peter_carmichael.jpg[*aimg96]low_res/aircraft_britain/
hawker_sea_fury_peter_carmichael.jpg[/aimg96][br]
[fs]Lieutenant Peter Carmichael (second from right) with the three pilots from the
802nd Squadron that composed his flight group when he shot down a MiG-15 over
Korea. The Hawker Sea Fury achieved

several victories against the MiG-15 in Korea, but in that war it was seen that the
golden days of the piston-engined aircraft were already over.[/span][p]
[b]Russian pilots enter into scene[/span][p]
The success of the United Nations offensives in Korea provoked a direct
intervention of Chinese forces in large scale; it was then when Soviet fighter
pilots entered the scene, operating from bases

in China. The Russians were not newcomers in China; much before the Korean War had
started, the 29th Guards Fighter Regiment firstly and the entire 106th Fighter
Division later, both equipped with

MiG-15, were already operating in support of the Chinese Communists in their civil
war against the Nationalists. The Russians had few chances to engage against
Nationalist aircraft, albeit the 28th

April 1950 Commander Kelenikov shot down a P-38 Lightning and the 11th May Captain
Sinkarenko downed a B-24 Liberator in the night. From the summer 1950, the 351st
Night Fighter Regiment, equipped

with aircraft La-11, was operating in the area of Shanghai; this unit was
transferred to Manchuria in June 1951, where it started to operate against the
United Nations night bombers. During 1950

Soviet fighter units had been accumulating in Manchuria, namely the 151st Guards
Fighter Division (28th and 72nd Guards Fighter Regiments) and the 28th Fighter
Division (671st and 139th Guards

Fighter Regiments). The first operative missions of these divisions were carried
the 1st November 1950, when the MiG-15 crossed the river Yalu, border between China
and Korea, claiming later the

downing of one F-51 Mustang and one F-80 Shooting Star, albeit the Americans denied
such losses.[p]
At the dawn of the 8th November, 70 bombers B-29 Superfortress dropped 580 tonnes
of incendiary bombs over Sinuiju, while the F-51 and the F-80 suppressed the anti-
aircraft artillery placed around

the city. Upper cover for this mission was given by two squadrons of Shooting Star
from the 51st Fighter Interceptor Wing; the pilots had a sense of impotence when
they saw the MiG-15 taking off

from the airfield in Antung, at the other side of the Yalu, unauthorized to
intervene. There were six MiG-15 that climbed above 9000 meters, diving then in
pairs against the F-80, whose pilots

turned back to repel the attack. Five of the MiG-15, after firing some imprecise
bursts, broke contact and took altitude to return to the other side of the Yalu,
but the sixth one effectuated a

light dive; one of the pilots of the F-80, Lieutenant Russell J. Brown, took the
chance. The F-80 was heavier than the MiG-15 so Brown reached it quickly, firing a
five-second burst against it when

it was taking impulse to climb. The MiG-15, in flames, fell and crashed in the
riverbank. This one was the first documented combat between turbojet aircraft in
the History. The 9th November, the

bridges in the Yalu between Sinuiju and Hyesanjin, about 200 miles upstream, were
attacked by aircraft from the 77th Combat Group, that operated from the carriers
USS Valley Forge, USS Philippine

Sea and USS Leyte. The attacks by the Skyraider, which carried 454 kilograms bombs,
and the Corsair, armed with bombs or rockets, were supported by the F9F Panther.
The MiG-15 approached to defy

the US Navy's aircraft; in the combat, Lieutenant Colonel W.T. Amen, commander of
the VF-11 Fighter Squadron aboard the USS Philippine Sea, downed one of them, being
so the first US Navy's pilot

that claimed the downing of a turbojet aircraft.[p]

[aimg96]high_res/aircraft_soviet_union/mikoyan-gurevich_mig-
15_fighter_aircraft_01.jpg[*aimg96]low_res/aircraft_soviet_union/mikoyan-
gurevich_mig-15_fighter_aircraft_01.jpg[/aimg96][br]
[fs]Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 flown on 21st September 1953 by North Korean defector
No Kum Sok to Kimpo, South Korea. The plane was captured by American troops and
test flown in Okinawa, with

American markings. Later it was permanently exhibited in the US Air Force Museum at
Wright-Patterson, Ohio.[/span][p]
[b]The arrival of the Sabre[/span][p]
In the end of 1950, the only unit equipped with MiG-15 that had taken active part
in the war had been the 50th Fighter Division, which comprised the 29th and 77th
Fighter Regiments; this division

was the first unit equipped with the MiG-15B in China, with which entered into
action for the first time the 30th November 1950. The following month the unit was
transferred to Antung, where its
aircraft remained in land for a time due to problems in the ailerons. Meanwhile,
arrived to Korea the F-86 Sabre, which would be the prime adversaries of the MiG-
15. They were adscribed to the 4th

Fighter Interceptor Wing, which stablished a first foothold in Japan, sending a

detachment of Sabre to Kimbo, the only airfield in Korea suitable for operating the
F-86. At the same time, the F-84

Thunderjet from the 27th Fighter Escort Wing, also just arrived, were transferred
from Japan to Taegu, from where armed reconnaissance and close support missions
were soon started. The 15th

December 1950, the 4th Fighter Interceptor Wing performed its first flight with the
Sabre from Kimpo and the 17th day it effectuated its first patrol in the war; four
Sabre from the 336th Fighter

Interceptor Squadron, carrying each of them 450-liter droppable fuel tanks to

increase their operational range up to 907 kilometers, headed to the north towards
the Yalu. The American pilots had

they all great experience; some had reached the condition of aces by downing five
or more aircraft during the Second World War. They had been meditating a lot about
the tactics that would be

employed, eventually choosing the basic and well proved formation "finger-four",
which divided the four aircraft in two groups of two aircraft. The idea was to
enter the patrol zone at altitudes

between 8200 and 10000 meters, which would allow to sight the enemy aircraft flying
over them due to the visible contrails formed at such high altitudes.[p]
In this first combat mission the pilots of the Sabre made a mistake that could have
costed them dearly, for they were facing very skilled enemies. Since the distance
between Kimpo and the Yalu was

690 kilometers and the pilots wanted to increase their patrol time, they entered
the combat zone at the comfortable speed of 0.62 Mach to save fuel. At this speed
were they flying when they sighted

a formation of four MiG-15, which were below them and climbing; the pilots surely
believed that the American aircraft were F-80, because otherwise, most surely they
would have climbed to high

altitude over the other bank of the Yalu. They were not aware of their mistake
until the Sabre started to nosedive against them, gaining speed quickly, causing
the MiG-15 to break contact and head

towards Manchuria. Still, the Sabre piloted by Colonel Hinton approached the tail
of one of the MiG-15; he fired three four-second bursts with the six 12.7-
millimeter machine guns against the MiG-

15 piloted by Commander Yefromeyenko, who ejected himself while his aircraft fell
ablaze in a slow spin. This was the first downing of a MiG-15 by a Sabre, of the
hundreds that were claimed in the

following two years and half.[p]

[aimg96]high_res/aircraft_united_states/north_american_f-
86_sabre_fighter_aircraft_01.jpg[*aimg96]low_res/aircraft_united_states/
north_american_f-86_sabre_fighter_aircraft_01.jpg[/aimg96][br]
[fs]Upper aircraft: North American F-86F Sabre (number 55-006) from the Republic of
Korea Air Force. Lower aircraft: North American F-86F Sabre FU-096 (number 49-1096)
from the 116th Fighter

Interceptor Squadron of the United States Air Force.[/span][p]

[b]Combat over the Yalu[/span][p]
In the following days, there were several engagements between the Sabre and the
MiG-15, but without losses in either side. At that time, both sides were studying
the tactics of the adversary,

taking measures to counter them. The main defect of the Sabre was the short
operational range; patrolling at speeds of 0.85 Mach or greater, the pilots of the
Sabre could not spend more than 20

minutes in the vicinity of the Yalu before being forced to return to their bases
with a safe margin of fuel. The pilots of the MiG-15 noticed this limitation and
exploited it, climbing to high

altitude north of the Yalu and descending then in a high speed nosedive to attack
the Sabre when they were withdrawing from their patrol. In turn, the Americans
started to mount patrols with 16

aircraft, operating in four squadrons of four aircraft, that arrived to the combat
zone flying at diverse altitudes at intervals of five minutes. Thus, the withdrawn
of every aircraft would be

properly covered, with the exception of the last squadron.[p]

The 22nd December, eight aircraft Sabre commanded by Lieutenant Colonel John C.
Meyer, were in a patrol at 10000 meters of altitude south of the Yalu when they
were attacked by more than 15

aircraft MiG-15. In a combat that lasted for 20 minutes and developed between high
altitudes and the treetops, the pilots of the Sabre claimed the downing of six MiG-
15 against the loss of one of

their aircraft, manned by Captain L.V. Bach, downed by Captain Yurkevich from the
29th Guards Fighter Regiment. After such whipping, the MiG-15 were absent from the
skies for a week and when they

returned, the 30th December, their pilots were very cautious to engage in combat.
In this occassion, 36 aircraft MiG-15 crossed the Yalu to engage 16 aircraft Sabre,
but the Russians soon broke

contact, returning to their bases. The pilots of the Sabre claimed two enemy
aircraft hit. Both sides started to calibrate the prestations of the enemy
aircraft; the Russians considered that the

cannons mounted on the MiG-15 were more effective than the machine guns installed
in the Sabre, and while they admitted that the Sabre was a superior aircraft in
aerobatic combat, in climb they

would not be half as good as the MiG-15B.[p]

[b]New fighter pilots[/span][p]
At the beginning of 1951, the 50th Guards Fighter Division was sent to the Soviet
Union, being replaced by the 151st Guards Fighter Division, which took the MiG-15B
from the 50th and yielded its

older models of MiG aircraft to the 3rd Fighter Division of the Republic of China
Air Force. In April 1951 the 151st Guards Fighter Division was transferred to
Anshan, being replaced in Antung by

the 324th Fighter Division, a very well trained unit, commanded by Ivan Kozhedub,
the fighter pilot with more victories of the Soviet Union and of the Allies in the
Second World War; put it simply,

he had more victories in his record than any American pilot in service then. The
division was equipped with 62 aircraft MiG-15B and soon it started to attack the B-
29 bombers that were attacking

bridges and another strategic targets. The 6th April 1951, the B-29 from the 98th
and 307th Bomber Groups were sent to attack the railway bridges in Sinuiju and a
road bridge in Uiju. The bombers

were escorted by the 48 aircraft F-84 from the 27th Fighter Escort Wing, based in
Itazuke; they had a severe encounter against 30 aircraft MiG-15 which attacked the
B-29 when they were bombing

their targets. The escorting Thunderjet were so effective that only one MiG-15
could pass, but it managed to shoot down one of the B-29. The F-84 claimed the
downing of one MiG-15, without losses

of their own. But the 12th April it was different, when the B-29 from the 19th,
98th and 307th Bomber Groups were sent again to attack the bridges in Sinuiju,
which had not been completely

destroyed despite the punishment received. The 27th Fighter Escort Wing sent that
time 39 Thunderjet for the close escort, while the Sabre from the 4th Fighter
Interceptor Wing served as high-

altitude escort. With its targets still several minutes far, the bomber formation
was attacked by about 40 aircraft MiG-15 from the 324th Fighter Division, whose
pilots employed a new tactic,

descending at high speed across the escorting fighters to perform attacks against
the eight bombers from the 19th Bomber Group. One B-29 was shot down and another
five were damaged. Barely finished

this attack, another 20 aircraft MiG-15 arrived, attacking the 12 bombers from the
307th Bomber Group, downing one of them and severely damaging another one, which
would result destroyed later when

crashing in an emergency landing in Suwon. Some MiG-15 attacked as well the

aircraft from the 98th Bomber Group, but without any success. The pilots of the
Sabre claimed four MiG-15 destroyed and

six damaged, while the pilots of the Thunderjet claimed the possible downing of
three. The gunners of the B-29 also claimed the downing of 10 aircraft MiG-15, but
in the confusion there existed

much exaggeration; Russian sources admitted no losses from the gunners aboard the
B-29.[p]
[aimg96]high_res/aircraft_united_states/republic_f-84e_thunderjet_fighter-
bomber_photo_01.jpg[*aimg96]low_res/aircraft_united_states/republic_f-
84e_thunderjet_fighter-bomber_photo_01.jpg[/aimg96][br]
[fs]Republic F-84E Thunderjet (number 49-2424) from the 9th Fighter-Bomber
Squadron, 49th Fighter-Bomber Wing/Group, taking off for a mission in Korea. This
particular aircraft was shot down by
anti-aircraft artillery on 29 August 1952.[/span][p]
Second part of this article: [a]articles/sakhal/air_war_over_korea_ii.php[*a]Air
war over Korea II[/a][p]