Subject: Number Eighty Six in the Series--North American F-86 Sabre (3 of 22)

From: [email-masked]
Date: 9 Aug 93 16:17:37 GMT

>From [email-masked]

On June 25, 1950, the forces of North Korea invaded the South.  The 
South Korean army was poorly organized and badly led, and the initial 
North Korean advance was quite rapid.  The United Nations Security 
Council immediately met in emergency session and ordered the North 
Koreans to cease their invasion, but these demands were ignored.  On 
June 27, President Harry Truman authorized American forces to oppose 
the invasion, and General MacArthur ordered the Far East Air Force 
(FEAF) into action against the attackers.  

At that time, the combat units of the FEAF were equipped with the 
Lockheed F-80 Shooting Star fighter, the North American F-82 Twin 
Mustang all weather escort fighter, the Douglas B-26 Invader light 
attack bomber, the Lockheed RF-80A tactical reconnaissance aircraft, 
and the Boeing B-29 Superfortress heavy bomber.  These were later 
supplemented by North American F-51 Mustang fighters transferred in 
great haste from the USA.  

These US aircraft rapidly gained control of the air from the Korean 
People's Armed Forces Air Corps (KPAFAC), which was equipped with 
Russian-built equipment such as the Yakovlev Yak-9 and Lavochkin 
La-ll fighters, the Ilyushin Il-10 ground attack aircraft and a 
smattering of Yak-18 and Po-2 trainers.  Having largely eliminated the 
KPAFAC, the FEAF now turned to the task of ground attack in trying to 
halt the rapid North Korean advance.  

Despite repeated air attacks by UN aircraft on the advancing North 
Korean troops, by early September the UN armies had been squeezed down 
into a small area south of Naktong River, and there was a very real 
fear that the UN troops would be forced to evacuate the entire Korean 
peninsula.  

General MacArthur's invasion of Inchon on September 15, 1950 suddenly 
reversed the fortunes of the UN forces in Korea, and by the end of the 
month Communist forces had been driven entirely out of South Korea.  
At that time, the UN decided to enforce its prewar intention of 
reuniting all of Korea under one government, and UN forces advanced 
across the 38th Parallel and headed north, in spite of stern warnings 
from China of possible intervention if US troops approached their 
border.  

By the end of October, UN forces were up near the Chinese frontier and 
some forward units were actually on the Yalu River.  On November 1, 
1950, a group of F-51s and B-26s were beating up an airfield near 
Sinuiju (just across the Yalu from China) when they encountered six 
swept-wing jets coming across the Yalu at them, firing as they 
approached.  The Mustangs were able to escape the attack and return to 
base to report that the MiG-15 had appeared in Korea.  

The People's Republic of China had signed a mutual defense agreement 
with the Soviet Union in February of 1950, and had been supplied with 
650 combat aircraft.  The Russian-built MiG-15 was a product of the 
Mikoyan/Gurevich design bureau, and was originally designed as a 
high-altitude interceptor to counter the US B-29 and B-36 long-range 
bombers.  The prototype, designated I-310, made its first flight on 
December 30, 1947 powered by an imported Rolls-Royce Nene-1 
centrifugal flow turbojet.  The Nene turbojet was placed into 
production in the Soviet Union as the RD-45.  The first production 
MiG-15s reached operational units in early 1949.  The RD-45 engine was 
not very reliable, and had excessively high fuel consumption.  In 
later production batches, this engine was replaced by the Klimov VK-1, 
which was an improved version of the RD-45 offering 5957 lb.st.  
Versions of the MiG-15 powered by the VK-1 became known as MiG-15bis.  
These entered operational service in early 1950, and eventually became 
the most widely produced MiG version.  Armament consisted of one NS-37 
or N-37 37-mm cannon with 40 rounds and two NS-23 23-mm machine guns 
with 80 rpg.  

In these early encounters, MiG pilots would cross the border at high 
altitude, dive down and attack American aircraft, then duck back over 
the Yalu.  For political reasons, US aircraft were forbidden to 
pursue.  

On November 8, history's first jet-vs-jet battle took place when 
Lieut. Russell J. Brown flying a F-80C shot down a single MiG-15 out 
of a flight of four which had dashed across the Yalu.  Even though the 
F-80C drew first blood, the MiG was a hundred miles per hour faster 
than the Shooting Star and there was no doubt in anyone's mind that 
the MiG-15 was a deadly threat.  Chinese-based MiGs soon began to 
attack B-29 bombers flying near the Chinese border, and the F-80s were 
too slow to provide any effective protection.  

Even though the initial skirmishes with the MiGs had demonstrated that 
the Chinese pilots lacked experience and an aggressive approach, the 
MiG threat was very real and threw the USAF into a near panic.  The 
USAF had nothing in Korea that could provide an effective counter if 
Chinese-piloted MiG-15s were to intervene in large numbers.  

In order to counter the MiG threat, on November 8 the 4th Fighter 
Interceptor Wing based at Wilmington, Delaware and equipped with the 
F-86A Sabre was ordered to Korea.  Most of their pilots were seasoned 
veterans of World War 2 and they had shot down over 1000 Germans 
during that conflict.  Their F-86A aircraft were embarked aboard ships 
and arrived in Japan in mid-December.  The aircraft were then unloaded 
and flown to Kimpo airfield in Korea.  

However, before these Sabres could reach the front, on November 26, 
1950, Chinese armies intervened with devastating force in Korea, 
breaking through the UN lines and throwing them back in utter 
confusion.  The MiGs did not provide any effective support for this 
invasion, being unable to establish any effective intervention below a 
narrow strip up near the Yalu.  The Chinese MiG pilots were relatively 
inexperienced and were poor marksmen.  They would seldom risk more 
than one pass at their targets before they would dart back across the 
Yalu.  Had the Chinese MiGs been able to establish and hold air 
superiority over the battle area, the UN forces may well have been 
thrown entirely out of Korea.  

The first advanced detachment of F-86As was based at Kimpo airfield 
south of Seoul.  The first Sabre mission took place on December 17.  
It was an armed reconnaissance of the region just south of the Yalu.  
Lt. Col. Bruce H. Hinton of the 336th Squadron succeeding in 
shooting down one MiG-15 out of a flight of four, to score first blood 
for the Sabre.  The rest of the MiGs fled back across the Yalu.  On 
December 19, Col. Hinton led another four-plane flight up to the 
Yalu, where his flight met six MiGs who flew through his formation 
without firing a shot before dashing back across the Yalu.  On 
December 22, the MiGs managed to shoot down a single Sabre out of a 
flight of eight without loss to themselves, but later that day the 
Sabres got their revenge by destroying six MiGs out a flight of 15.  
This loss spooked the MiG pilots, and they avoided combat for the rest 
of the month.  

During December, the 4th Wing had flown 234 sorties, clashed with the 
enemy 76 times, scored eight victories, and lost one aircraft.  

By the end of 1950, Chinese armies had driven UN forces out of North 
Korea and had begun to invade the South.  The Sabres were forced to 
leave Kimpo and return to Japan which put them out of range of the 
action up at the Yalu.  

Even though the Yalu was now out of range, on January 14, an F-86A 
detachment appeared at Taegu to participate as fighter bombers to try 
to halt the Chinese advance.  The F-86A was not very successful in the 
fighter-bomber role, being judged much less effective than slower 
types such as the F-80 and the F-84.  When carrying underwing 
ordinance, the F-86A's range and endurance were much too low, and it 
could not carry a sufficiently large offensive load to make it a 
really effective fighter bomber.  In these attacks, the underwing 
armament was usually limited to only a pair of 5-inch rockets.  

Eventually, the Chinese advanced ground to a halt due to extended 
supply lines and the relentless UN air attacks.  The Chinese advance 
was halted by the end of January, and the UN forces began pushing them 
back.  Kimpo airfield was recovered on February 10.  The halting of 
the Chinese advance can be blamed largely on the inability of the 
Chinese Air Force MiGs to provide any effective support for the 
attack.  Not only had no Chinese bombers appeared to attack UN troops, 
but no MiGs had flown south of the Yalu region to provide any air 
support.  

The Chinese apparently did have plans for a major spring offensive to 
complete the task of driving the UN out of Korea.  This plan was to be 
based on the construction of a series of North Korean air bases and 
for Chinese MiGs to use these bases as forward landing strips to 
provide air superiority over the North, preventing UN aircraft from 
interfering with the advance.  

In early March, the MiGs began to become more active in support of 
this offensive, On March 1, MiGs jumped a formation of nine B-29s and 
severely damaged three of them.  Fortunately, by this time the UN base 
at Suwon was now ready, and the Sabres were now able to return to 
Korea and reenter the fray over the Yalu.  The Sabres of the 334th 
Squadron began their first Yalu patrols on March 6th, and the rest of 
the squadron moved in four days later.  At the same time, the 336th 
Squadron moved to Taegu from Japan, so that they could stage Sabres 
through Suwon.  The 4th Wing's other squadron, the 335th, stayed in 
Japan until May 1.  

The strip of airspace just south of the Yalu soon became known as "MiG 
Alley" to the Sabre pilots.  The Sabres would arrive for their 
25-minute patrols in five minute intervals.  The MiGs would usually 
cruise back and forth at high altitude on the other side of the Yalu, 
looking for an opportune time to intervene.  Very often they would 
remain on the side of the river, tantalizing out of reach.  When the 
MiGs did choose to enter battle, the Sabres would usually have only a 
fleeting chance to fire at the enemy before the MiGs broke off and 
escaped back across the Yalu.  

The MiGs had the advantage of being able to choose the time and place 
of the battle.  The MiG-15 had a better high-altitude performance than 
the F-86A.  The MiG had a higher combat ceiling, a higher climb rate, 
and was faster at higher altitudes than the F-86A.  Its superior 
high-altitude performance enabled the MiG to break off combat at will.  
Despite these handicaps, the F-86A pilots were far more experienced 
than their Chinese opponents and they were better marksmen.  The Sabre 
was a more stable gun platform and had fewer high-speed instabilities 
than did the MiG-15.  In addition, the F-86A was faster than the 
MiG-15 at lower altitudes, and an effective strategy was for the Sabre 
to force the battle down to lower altitudes where it had the 
advantage.  

In April of 1951, the MiGs got a little bolder, and they would often 
make attempts to intercept B-29 formations that were attacking targets 
in the Sinuiju area up near the Yalu.  The biggest air battle of that 
spring took place on April 12, when a formation of 39 B-29s escorted 
by F-84Es and F-86As were attacked by over 70 MiGs.  Three B-29s were 
lost, whereas 14 MiGs were claimed destroyed, four by the escorting 
Sabres and ten by B-29 gunners.  

On May 20, 1951, F-86A pilot Capain James Jabara became the world's 
first jet ace when he shot down a pair of MiGs to bring his total to 
six.  

No F-86As were lost in action during the first five months of 1951, 
and they flew 3550 sorties and scored 22 victories.  Most of the 
attrition was caused by accidents rather than by actual combat.  

In June of 1951, the MiGs began to show more aggressive behavior, and 
their pilots began to get somewhat better.  In air battles on June 
17th, 18th, and 19th, six MiGs were destroyed but two Sabres were 
lost.  Another Sabre was lost on June 11 when the 4th Wing covering an 
F-80 attack on the Sinuiju airfield shot down two more MiGs.  

As the first year of the Korean War came to an end, it was apparent 
that the Sabre had been instrumental in frustrating the MiG-15's bid 
for air superiority.  Without control of the air, the Red Chinese were 
unable to establish their series of air bases and they were not able 
to carry out effective air support of their spring offensive, and the 
Korean War settled down to a stalemate on the ground.  

The F-86A was replaced in active USAF service by the F-86E beginning 
in the autumn of 1951.  As F-86As left active USAF service, they were 
refurbished, reconditioned and transferred to Air National Guard units 
in the United States.  The first ANG units to get the F-86A were the 
198th Squadron in Puerto Rico, the 115th and 195th Squadrons at Van 
Nuys, California, the 196th at Ontario, and the 197th at Phoenix, 
Arizona.  

F-86A serial number 49-1067 is on display at the Wright Patterson Air 
Force Base Museum.  It is painted as Col.  Hinton's F-86A-5-NA serial 
number 49-1236.  This Sabre is displayed next to Lt.  Ro's MiG-15bis, 
which he presented to the Americans when he defected to the South on 
September 21, 1953.  

Sources:

  F-86 Sabre in Action, Larry Davis, Squadron/Signal Publications, 1992.

  The North American Sabre, Ray Wagner, MacDonald, 1963.

  The American Fighter, Enzo Angelucci and Peter Bowers, Orion, 1987.

  Flash of the Sabre, Jack Dean, Wings Vol 22, No 5, 1992.

  MiG--A History of the Design Bureau and its Aircraft, Piotr Butowski and
  Jay Miller, Aerofax, 1991.

Joe Baugher		AT&T Bell Laboratories   	
2000 North Naperville Road      Naperville, Illinois 60566-7033