MiG15

‘We were both at idle with our speed brakes out, just coasting. He looked over at me, raised his hand, and shook his fist. I thought, “This is like a movie. This can’t be happening!”,’ Captain Robinson “Robbie” Risner.

The first conflict in which planes engaged in aerial combat for control of the skies was the Korean War. The greatest fighters in the conflict, the USAF’s F-86 Sabre and the Soviet-designed MiG-15, engaged in aerial combat over the Yalu River from late 1950 until the ceasefire in July 1953. Only 140 Sabres from the 51st and 4th Wings stood in their way when the communists rushed more than 500 MiG-15s into bases in Manchuria in an effort to seize aerial superiority over North Korea from the USAF-dominated United Nations Forces.

According to the written guidelines, US pilots were not allowed to fly north of the Yalu River, and many squadron commanders had zero tolerance for infractions. More MiGs perished in their “safe zone” than will ever be known, though. The F-86 pilots abandoned the pursuit at the river and were never able to return, leaving dozens of communist aircraft limp back to base with significant damage.

The eight-victory ace Captain Robinson “Robbie” Risner, who would later go on to become a well-known POW at the Hanoi Hilton during the Vietnam War, is said to have committed the most flagrant border breach, according to Thomas McKelvey Cleaver in his book MiG Alley. Risner, regarded as one of the Air Force’s most aggressive pilots, had initially arrived in Korea as a recon pilot and had convinced the assignment officer in Seoul to send him to the 51st Wing, where he was initially not welcomed as a “real” fighter pilot. On October 22, 1952, he proved his skill as a fighter pilot by winning a fierce battle and turning into an ace.

Risner chased four MiGs across the Yalu that day while assigned to escort fighter bombers on a mission near the Yalu. He eventually found the fourth MiG deep in Manchuria and fired a burst that destroyed the enemy’s canopy. Attempting to escape, the MiG pilot entered a split-S and managed to pull out 10 feet above a dry riverbed, so low that Risner saw the exhaust kick up dust.

Afterward, Risner spoke of the conflict. “He was not in very good shape, but he was a great pilot, and he was fighting like a cornered rat!” To cause Risner to overshoot, the MiG pilot extended his air brakes and pulled the throttle to idle, but Risner rolled over the opposing fighter and touched down on the opposite side just next to its wingtip.

‘We were both at idle with our speed brakes out, just coasting. He looked over at me, raised his hand, and shook his fist. I thought, “This is like a movie. This can’t be happening!” He had on a leather helmet, and I could see the stitching in it.’

All the way back to Tatung-kou airfield, 35 miles inside Manchuria, the enemy pilot bravely avoided Risner as the hunt continued. Once above the field, 1st Lt Joe Logan, Risner and his wingman pursued the MiG tenaciously as it flew between two hangars. When Risner finally managed to fire, a portion of the enemy’s wing was destroyed and crashed next to the runway.

Chinese antiaircraft fire damaged Logan’s fuel tank during the swift pass between the hangars. Risner instructed him to turn off his engine as jet fuel began to stream out of his Sabre and attempted to push the aircraft to safety by inserting the F-86’s snout into Logan’s jet pipe. After two attempts, Risner was forced to retreat when hydraulic fluid and fuel that had been venting covered his canopy. Logan ejected near Cho-do Island, but the wind caught him in his parachute, and he drowned.

Risner was returning to Kimpo when he ran out of gas, but he was still able to glide and land safely making a successful dead-stick landing.

MiG Alley is published by Osprey Publishing and is available to order here.

Top image from ‘F-86 Sabre vs MiG-15’ by Doug Dildy and Warren Thompson © Osprey Publishing

Photo by U.S. Air Force

When the range was reduced to 200 meters, Snr Lt Khominich started firing three seconds of cannon fire at one of the F-80s (220 yrd). In the first-ever dogfight between jet fighters, the Soviet pilots were said to have shot down the Shooting Star

On June 25, 1950, just before dawn, North Korean forces occupied South Korea. Seoul, the capital of South Korea, was taken three days later, and the UN sanctioned the dispatch of military support, led by the US, to fend off the North Korean invaders.

On July 5, the first American Army units—from the 8th Army—were sent into combat. UN forces were trapped in the Pusan Perimeter on August 4 when North Korean troops reached the Nakdong River in the southeast corner of the Korean Peninsula. In anticipation of a counteroffensive, Gen. Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander of UN Forces in Korea, concentrated his soldiers inside the Pusan Perimeter for more than a month.

Ultimately, on September 15, he ordered an amphibious landing at Inchon to take the North Korean troops on the flank. He gave the 8th Army the command to move north from Pusan one week later. By October, North Korean forces had been pushed back under the 38th parallel of latitude, which served as the pre-war border. On October 26, UN troops arrived at the Yalu River near the border with China and Korea.

According to Leonid Krylov and Yuriy Tepsurkaev in their book Soviet MiG-15 Aces of the Korean War, China’s active involvement in the conflict was unavoidable after its leadership issued a warning that it would support North Korea if the 38th parallel was crossed by non-South Korean units. Soviet Air Force units in-theater were entrusted with providing air protection for the Chinese troops, their supply lines, and crucial locations in the country’s northeast during preparations for the ensuing offensive.

The 151st GvIAD (Guards Fighter Air Division) of the Soviet Air Force, which was headquartered in Manchuria, was the primary unit in charge of providing aircraft for these operations. Three of its regiments, the 28th, 72nd, and 139th GvIAPs (Guards Fighter Air Regiments), were stationed at the airfields at Anshan and Liaoyang, close to Mukden, starting in August 1950. Here, they taught Chinese pilots how to fly jets so they could later protect the northeast. The 67th IAP was established by the 151st GvIAD and the 139th GvIAP in late October to form the new 28th IAD.

The 72nd GvIAP’s 1st Squadron was given the order to take to the air at 1350 on November 1. Maj. N. V. Stroykov, a Hero of the Soviet Union (HSU) who flew 245 combat missions during World War 2, participated in 66 air fights and achieved 16 individual and 21 group victories, commanded this unit. On that particular day, Snr Lts Guts and Kaznacheev and Lts Monakhov, Chizh, and Sanin flew the MiG-15s in his formation. In the end, only five MiG-15s were able to take off since Sanin’s was unserviceable.

The others were instructed to proceed to Antung, which is located close to the North Korean border on the Yalu River. The group was given the order to cross the border, begin looking for enemy aircraft, and engage any found. The five MiGs flew far into Korean territory in the southeast.

Guts, who was leading the second pair, discovered three USAF F-51D Mustangs at 14:15. All five MiGs launched simultaneous attacks, but the US pilots were able to avoid a dogfight at first thanks to some skillful flying. Two F-51s made sharp turns, and one half-rolled dived before accelerating and heading south. When the third F-51 dove sharply and broke off to the south, according to Soviet archives, Chizh shot down a Mustang during the second attack (USAF records indicate that no Mustangs were lost).

From 72nd GvIAP’s 2nd Squadron, four MiGs departed towards Antung. The squadron leader, Maj. Bordun, was in command of these aircraft as they passed overhead the Yalu River 26 minutes after Stroykov’s group had done so. The MiG pilots were instructed to return to base by their ground controller around 25 minutes later, and they departed for Anshan. But less than three minutes later, they got instructions to return to Antung to repel an enemy air strike that ground forces had just reported.

While Lt Esyunin returned to base because his plane did not have external fuel tanks and was now out of fuel, Maj Bordun, Snr Lt Khominich, and Lc Sukhov changed course for the Korean border. At 1550 hours, Snr Lt Khominich noticed 10 F-80C Shooting Stars ahead of him. He then launched an out-of-the-sun attack on the leading group of four. He opened fire and peppered one of the F-80s with a three-second burst of cannon fire, ceasing when the range was down to 200 m (220 yrd). In the first-ever dogfight between jet fighters, the Soviet pilots were said to have shot down the Shooting Star.

After a morning airstrike on Sinuiju airfield, one of the USAF’s two F-80s was shot down by anti-aircraft artillery, the USAF acknowledged losing two F-80s on November 1. Although the USAF records contain no mention of the duel between the F-80s and the MiGs, the second jet, from the 49th Fighter-Bomber Group (FBG), was reported as having been shot down on the afternoon of the first during a rocket attack near Unsan. Even though the Shooting Star pilot perished in the battle, it is unlikely that his squadronmates were unaware of the Soviet planes’ attack.

It is unknown from the archives on both sides if Khominich actually won this all-jet clash, and it is also unclear what specifically destroyed the F-80. Clearly, a second Shooting Star was lost on Nov. 1, but where did it crash? Did it fall into the sea or explode in the air? Such queries are yet unaddressed.

Soviet MiG-15 Aces of the Korean War is published by Osprey Publishing and is available to order here.

Photo by U.S. Air Force