Word: mig
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...sunny afternoon last week, 31 U.S. Sabre jets, commanded by Colonel Benjamin Preston, let down over "MIG Alley" (the northwestern corner of Korea) for a quick look. "Bandits at eleven o'clock," Preston barked over the radio, meaning: enemy planes ahead, a little to the left. The enemy formation was unusual: twelve twin-engined TU2 bombers and 18 propeller-driven LA9 fighters (both Russian World War II types), guarded by 16 MIG-153. "Tallyho!" yipped Preston, and led his fast jets in for the kill...
...enemy formation was believed to have been sent to cover a Communist attack on U.N.-held islands near the mouth of the Yalu. In any case, the lumbering, thin-skinned bombers were slaughtered like sheep. After the battle, eight TUs, three LAs and one red-nosed MIG had been downed; two of the Sabres suffered minor damage, but all returned safely to their base. It was the first time that Red bombers had been shot down in Korea...
...Force is in serious trouble. Goaded by the U.N.'s punishment of their supply lines, the Communists are striking back with massive air power of their own. Since September, they have built up their air force to 1,400 Russian-made planes. About 700 of them are MIG-15 jet fighters. "Almost overnight, China has become one of the major air powers of the world," said Vandenberg. "Our control of the air in north west Korea, although by no means lost, is not as firm...
Superior Plane. The details were even gloomier. The MIGs have inflicted punishing losses on daylight raids, have forced U.S. bombers to operate almost entirely at night and singly. "In many respects," Vandenberg admitted, "the MIG can out perform our own F-86-the only airplane in production today capable of challenging the MIG on approximately even terms." Above 25,000 ft., it can outrun and outclimb the F-86, and it can maneuver at supersonic speeds. U.S. pilots claim that with its two 23-mm. and one 37-mm. cannon the MIG is better armed than the F-86 with...
Another ranking jet ace of the Korean war, First Lieut. Ralph D. ("Hoot") Gibson, 27 (with 5 MIG-15s), hopped into his T-33 Jet and flew 600 miles from Selfridge Field, Mich, to attend a hero's welcome in his hometown of Mount Carmel, 111. (pop. 9,182). He had planned to drive his blue Cadillac convertible, said Gibson, but "my dad called me and told me that I better fly. He told me the roads were pretty bad, and that an awful lot of people got killed on the highways...