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The Korean War saw the end o thepropeller-driven fghter era overlapwith the early days o the jet age.

Fighters Ove

AIR FORCE Magazine/ March 201242

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During the Korean War, F-86Fs y south of the 38th parallel, back to OsanAB, South Korea. Their drop tanks are still attached, meaning they had notrun into aerial opposition.

Photos via Warren E. ThompsonText by June Lee

r Korea RobertHookphoto

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On June 25, 1950, North Ko-rean forces swept past the 38thparallel and invaded South Korea.While North Korea had the backingof China and the Soviet Union, SouthKorea had the assistance of theUnited States and the United Nations.Spanning a little more than threeyears, the Korean War ended in anarmistice. The war ushered in an era

of new swept-wing jets while phas-ing out propeller-driven ghters fromWorld War II. |1|Crewmen change atirechewed up by rough airstripson an F-51 Mustang at ChinhaeAir Base. When it came to ndinggood landing strips, it didnt helpthat Korea is a largely mountainouscountry. |2|A Mustang with the 67thFighter-Bomber Squadron ies overNorth Korea in 1951, ready to dropnapalm. |3|Capt. Daniel James Jr. ofthe 12th Fighter-Bomber Squadron atTaegu Air Base poses in front of hisMustang. Chappie James ew more

than 100 combat missions in Korea.He went on to serve in Vietnam andin 1975 became the rst black four-star general in the US military.

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Tom Shockley photo

Ed Mason photo

Ed Nebinger photo


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|1|Airmen inspect Lt. Ed JonesRedRaider, from the 36th FBS, after itwas struck by anti-aircraft re. Notethe holes in the rear fuselage. |2|Pilot1st Lt. Mario Prevosti poses with hisaircrafts Flying Tiger-style nose artand a young South Korean at ChinhaeAir Base in 1951. |3|The Mustangs ofthe 39th Fighter-Interceptor Squad-ron had blue and white spinners,giving them the nickname TheBlinker Nose Squadron. Note theunpainted napalm tanks.|4|Capt.Cecil Foster taxis back to the 16thFighter-Interceptor Squadron parkingarea after shooting down his fth MiG.Foster racked up nine aerial victoriesin the Korean War.

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Don Miller photo

Mario Prevosti photo Doug Ramsel photo

Phil Hunt photo


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|1|Lt. Emmett Taylor (r) of the 45thTactical Reconnaissance Squadronreceives congratulations for complet-ing his 100th mission in June 1951.Taylor ew Mustangs throughout histour. |2|Lt. Col. Bruce Hinton (l), 336thFIS commander, discusses tactics foran upcoming mission from Suwon. Hescored the rst MiG-15 kill for the F-86on Dec. 17, 1950. |3|Under the BoutOne project, USAF provided usedF-51 Mustangs and instructor pilotsto South Koreas Air Force, whichhad no combat ready aircraft. ThisF-51 was at Taegu Air Base in July1950. The fuselage is painted withSouth Koreas Air Force emblem. |4|F-86 Sabre pilots wait out alert dutywith a card game at Kimpo Air Base.|5|Mustangs prepare for a low-levelnapalm drop against Chinese troopsalong a mountain ridge.

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Fred Jones photo

Wayne Jackson photo

John Henderson photo

Duane Biteman photoRichard Erratt photo


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|1|Lt. Col. George Ruddell (l) and Maj.Clyde Wade (r) congratulate Capt.Joseph McConnell Jr. on a successfulmission. He would become the warshighest-scoring ace, with 16 MiG kills.All three pilots were with the 39th FIS.|2|Pilots of the 40th FIS at PohangAir Base enjoy some downtime beforetheir next mission. |3|Time for a quicksnooze in the cockpit while the crewchief does the same below. |4|Lt.Jim Isbell stands in front of his RF-51Mustang before taking off for a mis-sion. Isbell was assigned to the 45thTRS, nicknamed the Polka Dots.

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Doug Canning photo

Larry Darst photo


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|1|Maintainers change the engineof an F-86A Sabre at Kimpo in latespring 1951. The F-86 became aniconic aircraft of the Korean War as itwent up against the new Soviet MiG-15s. The MiGs had a better climb andturn rate and higher ceiling, but theskills of US pilots prevailed. |2|ThisF-86 was destroyed by PolikarpovPo-2s at Suwon Air Base. The Po-2,often own as the infamous BedCheck Charlie, would come in belowradar and attack air bases late atnight with small bombs. These attackswere more annoying than harmful, yetsome caused serious damage. |3|Lt.Bruno Giordano of the 334th FIS atKimpo sits in the cockpit of an F-86.Behind him are sandbag revetments,which helped protect aircraft fromshell fragments. |4|The rear fuselageof Lt. Col. Glenn Eaglestons F-86Aafter a MiG caught up with him overMiG Alley. Eaglestonwho had beenone of the top aces of World War II

managed to land safely at Suwon, butthe aircraft was a total loss.

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Irv Clark photo

Leo Fournier photo

John Henderson photo Bruno Giordano photo


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|1|Pilots of the 36th FBS pose infront of the F-86FRosalie at Suwon in1953. |2|F-86s hidden under camou-age netting. Sabres based at Kimpoand Suwon made those sites a hot

target. |3|Crew chief Sgt. GeorgeBanasky (r) smiles for the camerawith a fellow airman in front of anF-86. The tail colors of this aircraftrepresent the 18th Fighter-BomberWing. |4|Ruddell, commanding ofcerof the 39th FIS, is seated in his F-86MiG Mad Mavis. He would have sevenmore red stars painted on his F-86before the armistice in July 1953. Thearmistice stopped the ghting, but theKorean War technically never ended,and USAF airmen and ghters remainin South Korea to this day. n

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Les Sundt photo

John Henderson photo George Banasky photo

Earl Shutt photo


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