F-86s vs. MIGs )) DOGFIGHTS OVER KOREA DEADLY NIGHT STALKER Ras SUPER | a Pd ee | ' Golden Age ‘ Darling Ts an AerobatThe Invention of the Year The world’s most fun-to-drive and portable mobility device Once in a lifetime, a product comes along that truly moves people. Introducing the future of battery-powered personal transportation... The Zinger. Throughout the ages, there have been many important advances in mobility. Canes, walkers, rollators, and scooters were created to help people with mobility issues get around and retain their independence. Lately, however, there haven't been any new improvements to these existing products, or developments in this field. Until now. Recently, an innovative design engineer who's developed one of the world's most popular products created a completely new breakthrough . . . a personal electric vehicle. It’s called the Zinger, and there is nothing out there quite like it, “What my wife especially loves Is it gives her back feelings of safety and independence which has given a real boost to her confidence and happiness! Thank You!” Kent C,, California The first thing you'll notice about the Zinger is its unique look. It doesn’t look like a scooter. Its sleek, lightweight yet durable frame is made with aircraft grade aluminum so it weighs only 47.2 Ibs. It features, one-touch folding and unfolding - when folded it can be wheeled around like a suitcase and fits easily into a backseat or trunk. Then, there are the steering levers. 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Call now, and find out how you can get a Zinger of your very own. e journey zinger Call now and receive a utility basket absolutely FREE with your order. 1-888-442-3108 Please mention code 117709 when ordering. enjoying life never gets ola~ OD journeyRedemption for the Yak ‘THERE IS NO DOUBT that acronauitical engineer Alexander Vakovlev's Russian fighterhas taken aback seat to more glamourous fighters like the P-S1 Mustang and Spitfire. But high-scoring ace Marcel Albert, who flew and fought under three flags during World War Il, was well aware of the combat lethality of the ‘Yak fighter that somehow eluded its image over the years. This is most likely due to the fact it was Russian-built and designed to be rugged, manufactured quickly in large numbers, and only use available materials and labor, like the T-34 tankcand PPSh-4l machine gun. It was purely utilitarian tool of war. In our feature story “Tricolor Ace," modem jet fighter pilot Clive Rowley, MBE RAF (Ret) tells us the incredible story of Marcel Albert's unlikely combat tour with the Yak. Albert first flew with the French Air Force early in the war, later joined his fellow Free French pilots with the RAF, and then fought with the Russians on the Eastern Front in Yaks. This unique fighting unit would operate from primitive airfields in the most brutal of weather conditions: frigid temperatures and blowing snow in the winter, extreme heat and dust in the summer, and deep mud and slush in between. Even worse, food was scarce, andaccommodations for the pilots were nobetter than for the infantry. Disease ‘was rampant as well, The Yak, with its super strong aluminum construction, ‘wide undercarriage, low pressure tires, and devastating 20mm cannon, was the aerial weapon of choice, and it proved itself continually against waves of Luftwaffe fighters and bombers and the harsh conditions they operated in, Albert and his Yak were truly built for these adverse fighting conditions andhe became the leading ace with 23 victories. By the end of hostilities, these French warriors would claim 273 enemy aircraft destroyed in the ar. Free French warrior Marcel Albert's unexpected combat journey allowed him to demonstrate that the Yak fighters were as formidable and reliable as their Allied and Axis counterparts. As a gesture of thanks, the Soviets even gifted the pilots 37 Yak-3s and when they retumed home, they received a hero's welcome. Theres plenty more in this issue to feed your aviation passion, so climb into the cockpit with us and with those who were there as we relive history. —Louis DeFrancesco | aa ear essen aire ‘atv batorbabe legen CONTRIBUTING EDITORS ‘ud Andersen, James P. Busha, Ted Carison, Edie. Creek, Doug DeCaster, Robert, DeGroat, John Dibbs, Robert F. Doct, in Farmer, Paul Gilet, Ph Haun, Randy Joly, Frederick Johnsen Geoffrey P Jones.Ron Kaplan, Peter Lert, David Leininger, Rick Linares, iohn Lowery, George Marrett, Peter ‘Mershy, Paul Novak Dan Paterson, Steve Pace Stan Piet Aled Price, CiveRowey, Brian Sicox, Robert Tate. Jan Tegler, Warren ‘Thompson, David Truby, Barnaby Wainfan, Bradley Wentzel, Chuck Yeager ART [Art Director Betty K Nero DIGITAL MEDIA Web Development Cirrata Services PRODUCTION Davia Pandy 203.529.4604 |productonaalrage.com ADVERTISING Fox Associates Inc. ‘16 West Kinzie St, Chicago I 60654-4655 800.440.0231 (US/Canada | 312.644 3888 Fax 3126448718 ‘axinfoFightlournakaFoxRep.com CONSUMER MARKETING Mast Crcuation Group, Ic ‘MARKETING 6 EVENTS Event Manager Emi DeFrancesco PUBLISHING Group Publishers Louis DeFrancesco Ir, ‘WonneM, DeFrancesco os FouLow us on Facebook ocebook com/Fihtoutral (On Twitter itor Oninstagrame Fight Jerna Visitas ihpuralcor EDITORIAL OFFICES Mail 5 Darr Rood Ste 202 Wer Cr 6807 USA ema ghiaaragecom Internet Firourntcom MBA = FipP Ca Ceres Email sorvice@airage.commF Each one of our 1:30 scale metal figures is painstakingly researched for historical accuracy and detail. ‘The originals are hand sculpted by our talented artists before being cast in metal and hand painted ~ making each figure a gem of hand- crafted history. Please |) visit eobritain.com to }) see all these figures and more from many other historical eras. PCR) Pan) Call W.Britain and mention this ad for a FREE CATALOG Also receive a MINI BACKDROP with your first purchase! ae 1072 1-2 iderato tho ighiy at 5" Mi Backerop 25025 ‘Be Seeing You PAF Plovand| Gakissing Goodbye. ‘sr See our complete collection of 1/30 scale W.Britain historical metal figures at: Tel: U.S. 740-702-1803 © WI ritain.COm « tel: u.k. (0)800 086 9123 WEFASLNAROH O23 Stn Ma Fi sn, J a si comms, FES Ga Vouluhe sez= en. 9 > SN ‘ WS THROSGH WELL Flak decimates a B-26 Bomb Group Ce ay FOR CENTURIES, FEBRUARY 14, ST. VALENTINE’S DAY, has been Peete hme cies ta Cet Nate ye Deen ee Meee Re eh RCN aa ee eee tee EE Ma ee aunt aC ma ald CEM MN BORG Rage Mer elena aller Restle tect keaiee ite eave R eral Namal a mealet ee VI) ues CEC cuur ace taem eee eae BeleKermit Weeks’ ullr-rare 1940 Martin B-26 Marauder fles over an ominous coud bank {Photo by John Dibbs Facebook.com theplanepicturecompany)MARAUDER MISSION THROUGH HELL The “giving” had begun one day earlier as British Lancaster and Mosquito bombers began the fire-bombing of Dresden. American. heavy bombers continued the daylight action as the fires of hell engulfed the ravaged German city. Elsewhere in Europe, the German Army reversed course and wasin retreat, falling back across the Rhine River into the heart of the fatherland, Hitler's dream of a,000-year Reich would fall short by about 988 years. Asthe strategic heavy bombers from the 8th Air Force concentrated on Germany's industrial targets, the tactical 9th Air Force committed more than 600 A-20 Havocs, B-26 Marauders and A-26 Invaders to the fleeing German army. Their targets were marshalling yards, troop concentrations, railway stations, barge traffic and bridges. Included in this. mission were men and aircraft from the 495th Bomb Squadron, 344th Bomb Group, flying Martin B-26 Marauders from their base A-59 at Cormeilles-en-Vexin, France. Copiiot Ben Huffman, bombardier Leo Armstrong and pilot Chuck Mintan relax ‘during a llln the action (Photo courtesy of Chuck Minihan via author) {8 FlihtdouraLcom (On February 13,1945, Lak-a-Nookle taxis out for takeoff rom the 344th BG's airfield A-59 InFrance. On the very nextday, ts crew flew in ‘nother Marauder that was shot to places by flak. (Photo by 1K, Havener) Of the hundreds of men who gathered for the morning briefing, two had flown almost 20 missions together inside a B-26's belly. Each man had a different view of the sky and the chaos to follow because they sat at opposite ends of the aircraft. Hereis their story. ‘Theairplane commander, Lt. Charles "Chuck" E, Minihan, had been flying B-26s in combat since August 1944, During that time, he was responsible for the lives of five other men, including copilot Ben Fiuffman, bombardier /navigator Leo Armstrong, fight engineer Ben Longstreth, radio operator John. Regan, and the rear back seat of eyes and protection, tail gunner /armament Sgt. Noble Holland. As the men assembled for their briefing, John Regan did not join them because an illness had sent him to sick bay. Vick Ellis replaced him; it would be his last, Lt. Minihan recalls the February 14 mission briefing . "Our target was arailroad bridge over the Rhine River near Koblenz. We were told that the Germans were retreating but had stalled on the other side of theRhine,ee s What caughteveryone'sattention though, “OUR TARGET WAS A RAILROAD BRIDGE OVER were the flacpatters around the target. THE RHINE RIVER ... WHAT CAUGHT EVERYONE'S Generally speaking, they werered circles ATTENTION, THOUGH, WERE THE FLAK oftheterget. PATTERNS AROUND THE TARGET. THIS WAS BY slargebunchofgrapes,except each grape ~=-- PAR THE WORST FLAK CONCENTRATION WE represented multiple ssmmfiak guns. There WOULD EVER FLY OVER.” had to be more than 1,000 guns in anarea_ of 20 square miles with overlapping fire from each of the guns. This was by far the worst flak concentration we would ever fly over. “Having flown more than 20 missions, we had been briefed in the past about heavy gun emplacements and thankfully encountered none. n ther cases, though, we had flown above the undercast and had not been shot at. 1 always looked for the good and bad signs before a mission, such as weather reports, target type andso on. That day, skies were clear allthe way to and over the target—a bad sign, in my boole Things only got worse from there on out “Our engine-start time was supposed to be8.am.We had finished the preflight and loading of our B-26, which included 4,000 “This is the bridge that Chuck Minthan and crew attacked on St. Valentine's Day; themis~ had strapped ourselves sionenly got worse from there onout!(Photo courtesy of Nobe Holand via author) Marchitorit20e3 8MARAUDER MISSION THROUGH HELL into our respective positions, waiting for the signal of the green flare to crank our engines. We only saw themorning sunrise higher in the sky and the ‘red reds' repeat the never- ending delays. On thismaximumeffort mission, three squadrons put up 18 B-26s apiece, and each aircraft carried a full bomb load and a crew of sixmen, Inside the Marauder's cramped quarters, we passed the ‘time with thoughts of the mission at hand, which only intensified our anxiety. Asa cure for that, thought about home and my wife and the name I gave to one of the B-26s usually flew. B-26'snose tucked just below and behind Maj. The 44thBG's 4a4thAs Clay’stail ,too,hadaB-26on either sideof orm Marauder was measweformedup overFranceandmade photographed at Mount our way to Germany, Little did [know at the _-FarminEngland before time that I would: tof th tiewoenmenedy time that lwouldnever see most of thesemen pre@owpmevedle again, Astela) Our formation zigzagged across Germany, while our crewmen searched for the Luftwaffe fighters that thankfully never showed up. But they didn't have to, as flak opened up ahead andall around us, We settled into the bombing, run and had just started to level our wings as ‘we completed our turn to the IP (Initial Point. We wereless than 15 minutes out from the “THE GERMANS DIDN'T SHOOT AT SINGLE B-26S; THEY JUST FILLED A BOX IN THE SKY AND DARKENED IT WITH BLACK DEATH ... WITH FLAK BURSTING ALL AROUND US, IT SOUNDED LIKE HANDFULS OF GRAVEL WERE BEING THROWN AGAINST ATIN SHED AS TINY STRIPS OF METAL TORE INTO OUR B-26.” "Iflew most of my missions in a Marauder I had dubbed Lak-a-Nookie. It was named for promise [made to my wife back in Texas on what Iwouldn't do overseas. [kept my promise toher, but it was damn difficult, especially around all those French girls! That day's mission found me in the left seat of another Marauder as the hands on my watch crept toward the noon hour, whenat last a green flare arched across the blue sky. The sound of 54 Marauders roared tollife as we taxied into position. “Our 489th Squadron was the lead group, and the entire group was led by Maj-Lucious Clay. We flew in a six-ship formation box with Maj. Clay out in front and aB-26 on either side of him. flew thenumber-four slot with my 10 Fightiournalcam target when all hell broke loose, and the sky faded to gray. “The Germans didn't shoot at single B-26s; they just filled a box in the sky and darkened itwith black death, Those 88s were well coordinated, and they had us peggedasto our exact position and height. With flak bursting allaroundus, it sounded like handfuls of gravel were being thrown against atin shed as tiny strips of metal tore into our B-26, We were the lucky ones, “We ware hit progressively for 15 minutes on our bomb run,andin that time, Isaw two bright flashes of light above my left and right wings. [felt the transmission of heat come through the Plexiglas as the number-two and -three B-26s vaporized before my eyes,26 Y5-OLak-a-Nook- isn formation, with Chick Mininan upfront ‘and Noble Holland inthe tail (Photo courtesy of Noble Holland via author) Lak-a-Nookle'’s profile withthe V5 496thBS's Identifiers onthe side, {ilustration by Chris Davey) ‘This wasn't something Icould easily ignore, and I was scared silly asIconcentrated on maintaining my position in the formation-or ‘what was left of it. ings werenot much better behindus, Sgt. Noble Holland recalls what happened next: “iness than aminute's time, the clear blue, sunny sky behindme turned blacic with powder and shrapnel everywhere. saw orange bursts above me, below me and level with me, Those sons of bitches high ones were the ones! didn't like because they had to get upstairs to detonate, and if they went through us, we were goners, for sure, [saw aB-26 behind mein another fight take aditect hit and explode. A million tiny pieces of aluminum went every which way. Tlooked out my window to one side and saw the right wing of aB-26 with the engine and propeller still attached, The wing looked like someone had jerked off aB-26 andtumed it loose. It was an eerie thing to see the propeller ‘turning at full hore as the wing fellback to earth. The whole scene was totally chaotic, and the sky was full of turmoil. Then the chaos penetrated our Marauder.” Lt. Minihan relates what happened up front: "My eyes were giued to Maj, Clay's B-26 that drifted above my nose eight feet away. This was by nomeansa castal,loose formation as my right hands jockeyed the throttles. fet ke a whiskey runner in Texas as jammed my throttles backand forth. Just, before the intercom was knocked out, [heard acallthat the waist gunner was hit by flak and needed help. couldn't do much for him, Marohtert 2029 10MARAUDER MISSION THROUGH HELL B26 Bec Meena Span uals ae SPECIFICATIONS Length 56 ft. 58 ft. Sin. Weight fempty/gross) 21,575/32,000 Ib. 24,000/38,200 lb Speed (maxJeruise) _SI5/265mph zezfe14mh Bombs 4800 Ib. 3,000 Ib. Guns 2or3.S0-calibers 12 50-calibers Wing area 602 2. ft. 858 5 ft Engines/hp -2800/1,850 Reegoove,000 'B-268-50-MA 42-95870, 496 BS, 344 BG (Ilustrationby Tom Tals) as Maj. Clay's bomb-bay doors opened andhis bomb load tumbled downward, [could sense our own bombs coming out as the lightening of our load forced the Marauder upward. hoped someone could help the wounded ‘waist gunner as concentrated on keeping the B-26 upright.” Sgt. Holland remembers the call fromthe ‘waist gunner: “"Viek Eis called me and said he was shot through the shoulder. lasked him ifhe was bleeding badly, and he said, No, not bad at al’ toldhim that | would wait until some of this flakcalmed down before I crawled forward to help him. Thad a lot of armor plating around my behind, andl didn’t want to venture too far away from| Up front in the cockpit, things began to unravel for Lt. Minihan. ‘Maj, Gay started a mild left turn witha flight of B-26s above us to our right anda flight below us to our left. Tey, too, were a shadow of their former box, as Maj.Clay and represented what was left of the lead box, turned left with them, and my forward speed increased, and [began to overtake ‘Maj. Clay. pulled the power back and found that my leftengine linkage had been severed at the control column with the left engine roaring at fullthrettle. My left engine began tooverpower the drag of the right engine,and Irealized Ihad a runaway. Itwas difficult to take my eyes off the B-26 abovemeand yet try to deal with an over-speeding engine, but my attention shifted to inside the cockpit as my B-26began torol to theright. 12 Flightiournatcom “When the Marauder went beyond the vertical, the formation rose above my belly, and the ground below filled my windscreen as [fought to control the roll. found out quickly that [had no aileron control either because the cable on my control wheel had heen completely blown away. My copilot, Ben Huffman, wondered out loud “What the hell are you doing?" He thought was deliberately maneuvering away from Maj. Clay, and it wasn’t untill yelled, ‘Help me!’ that he realized something was wrong. Lt. Huffman's aileron cable was stil intact as he wrestled with his control wheel while [pushed full right rudder in as fast and as far as [could Our B-26 completed its sloppy rol, losing 4.000 feet of altitude in the process. wanted to keep it flying long enough so the guys in the back could jump, but [had no idea what was going on back there. Things in the back were not much better.” “{saw black smoke coming from the left engine," recalls Sgt. Holland, “asIcrawled forward to aid Vick Elis. Vick was bleeding from the top of his shoulder, sol gavehima shot of morphine and dumped the whole bag, of sulfur powder on his wound. AsIbandaged his shoulder, looked up and saw the bombardier, Leo Armstrong, motioning for me tobail out. The howling wind through the back area made it impossible to spealc or hear over the noise, but Isaw his lips moving, telling me to jump. AsThelped Vick Ellis with his parachute, hydraulic fuid was fying around, sprayed me in the face, stinging my eyes; God, Thated the smell of that crap! B266 met 56 ft. Lin. 23,800/38.200 Ib, 2BS/Z16mph 4,000 Ib. 11 50-calibers 658 59, ft. Resa0/2.000 “Fred Johnsen“Imotioned to Vick and pointed tohis parachute. He nodded yes, but [could see there wasno way he could pull his ripcord with that bad arm, lattached a 20-foot strap tohis chute and anchored it to the inside of the Marauder in hopes that once he fell, it ‘would jerk the parachute open. As we got ready to jump, Vick changed his mind and “I MOTIONED TO VICK AND POINTED TO HIS PARACHUTE ... BUT I COULD SEE THERE WAS NO WAY HE COULD PULL HIS RIPCORD WITH THAT BAD ARM. I WASN'T ABOUT TO LEAVE HIM AND NEITHER WOULD THE REST OF THE CREW AS WE SETTLED IN FOR THE RIDE OF OUR LIVES. Lak-a-Nookie’s remains ‘after itblew a tre on landing while being flownby aditerent crow. (Photo courtesy of Noble Holland via author) shook his head no, pointing tohis injured shoulder. wasn't about to leave him and neither would the rest of the crew as we settled in for the ride of our lives. Iput a pair of earphones on to listen to what was going conup front, and [heard Maj. Clay yell Regroup, regroup, trying to pull the other B-26s back together. Then the intercom went dead.” “Isaw Maj, Clay pull up and away from us, recalls Lt. Minihan, “but my main concern was to get that left engine shut down. Ipulled mixture control an¢ then pulled the propeller control back, worrying that the Curtiss Electric propeller motors had crystallized, and they would shear off the blades, Thankfully, itdidn't happen as! feathered them, knowing, full well we were going to be here for a while Ben and I got it halftrimmed up as we slowiy ‘advanced power on the right engine. We got it {nto a reasonably mild, descending single- engine flight and pegged the airspeed at 140 knots. knew that once Ireached 3,000 to 4,000 feet, the B-26 would hold altitude. The question was, for howlong? “Icalled bomber command on the UHF frequency and told them to find me an airfield, or we were going toleave this sucker. After ‘what seemed like a lifetime anda half, they came back and said there was an airfield up ahead near Rheims, France. They forgot to tell ‘me it was still under construction! "it was getting late as wereentered French airspace; the bottom of the sun began to touch the top of the horizon. Isaw the airfield up ahead and shouted for the crew in the back tohang on, not knowing whether they could hear me or not. threw the gear handle down, and of course the never-ending bad luck held: the hydraulics was gone, and the gear remained retracted. I got flight engineer Ben Longstreth's attention and motioned for him to hand-crankk the gear down. knew we only hadoneshot at this, and wondered how long the Marauder would hold together “Icouldn't see into the cockpit," said Sgt. Holland, “so I didn't know what was going onup there. mew something was wrong, Marchitpri 2028 13MARAUDER MISSION THROUGH HELL when the flight engineer motioned for me tocomeup tothebomb bay. We found thelanding gear practically frozen shut as we stood in the bomb bay hand-cranking the gear down. [t took along time for the main gear legs to. lock, but we didit. Thenose gear was abigger problem because we couldn't even gett to unlatch. We tried and tried, but it wouldn't budge. crawled back to the waist area and made sure Vick Elis was secure as Isat next to him, waiting for the crash landing to follow." “Ttook some power off;"said Lt. Miniban, “and at the same time lagjusted Lt. Mintan flew 33 8-26 Sciatic ed the rudder trim. Icould see the field was still Fee eeal(Photo under construction because concrete mixers ‘courtesy of ChuckMinf- were working on parts of the runway. came han via author.) in hot, without flaps, and touched down on the mains as [held the nose off. literally tore apart the runway because it was made of wire mesh and not the pierced-steel planking had been used to. !missed one of the concrete mixers by a few feet as Iroared by, tearing up the wire mesh like a peeled orange. “[gotiit slowed down to 70 knots, but knew THE FATEFUL TALLY The original St. Valentine's Day massacre occurred in 1829 inside 2 chilly Chicago garage. Five men, all members of Al Capone's mob, dressed as policemen, entered the building under the guise of an illegal alcohol raid, The seven rival gang members found inside were lined up against a brick wall and gunned down by Capone's men. Intimidation by force and violence were an everyday occurrence on the streets of Chicago, Approximately 16 years later to the date, force and violence still reigned as a more destructive massacre took place in the skies over Bermany. The 344th BG sent out its B-26 Marauders in a maximum- effort mission intent on destraying a bridge over the Rhine River. What followed was catastrophic. Atotal of five B-26s were blown aut of the sky by intense German BEmm antiaircraft fire, and 31 USAAC crew members were listed as ‘missing in action. Of the remaining airborne force, 21 B-26s limped back to Allied lines and crast-landed with category "A" damage (destroyed and/or damaged beyond repair). Seven other Marauders fared somewhat better; they made it back to their base with category “*B* damage (repairable, but no longer flyable until major repairs are performed). Six additional crew members were also wounded in action on a day set aside for love. 1 Flghtiournacom ifldidn't do something quickly, we would run out of runway. [reached up and pulled the red handle above my head that activated an air bottle, which in tun locked the brakes. ‘Thenose pitched down and went skidding across the wire mesh. My heels began to get hotas the nose of the Marauder ground off, destroying the Norden bombsight before got it stoppedat last. Ipopped the double overhead hatch, and people scrambled over my head to get out. shut off all the switches could find, andit was hell trying to climb down that nose. It wasa lot worse for the guys in the back, though; Noble Holland and Vick Ellis, had to jump out of the waist window that now stood more than 10 feet off the ground, "[counted noses and found everyone to be OK as we stood far away expecting that sticker to blow at any minute, Itnever did, though. A group of 82nd Airborne soldiers, housed nearby gathered around usand threw usinto the back of a6x6 truck.” “We sat in the back of that truck,” said Sergeant Holland, "just staring at one another. ‘AGlcame running up from behind us and tossed in abottle of Cognac. It went around the six of us inside the truckcand was tossed cout the back—empty! That mission made me createa belief in God. All the missions flew afterwards, Thad no fear. A calmness had come over me, Ibelieve that when itis my time to go, there's nothing [can do about it, so why worry about it?” Lt. Minihan didn't have many worries that night either. "Twas housed in a champagne factory that night,"remembers Lt, Minihan, “and we helped ourselves to the liquid bubbly, It helped calmmy nerves that night, but it gave me one helluva headache the next dayllt took us two days to get back to base, where [found out Maj. Clay was the only one to make it hack. from our flight. After our debrief, learned that my crew had put me in for the DFC, which Ireceived at alater date. One of the lines of the citation read:"‘Saving his aircraft and landing it safely when it should have been abandoned.” That jarred the hell out of me because Iimew each of these guys would have done the same forme.” Chuck Minihan completed 33 missions in Martin B-26 Marauders and retired from the USAF with the rank of colonel, Noble Holland. completed his tour as Chuck Minihan's tail gunner and livesin lowa, >At just 26 pounds, only one folding mobility chair has the power to change your life. The Journey Air Elite features the latest carbon fiber technology for the ultimate in portability and performance Mobility issues affect over 1in 5 Americans. These individuals, and their loved ones, know how decreased mobility can result NEW in loss of independence, pain and falling ONLY 26 hazards. 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Don’t wait ~ call now! e + Speedy and maneuverable + Comfortable and easy-to-operate Call toll-free now + Pulls right up to desks and tables 1-888-508-0106 ease ec Boe Please mention code 117708 when ordering, + Perfect for dining, shopping, sightseeing and lots more! enjoying life never gets old” & + Foldable for easy storage and £ ~ z trensport 6) journey Be ure Ar Et a pera ect vtde nena med dec nrwheeha. ls rence ar mesa sue prove ebay to pent eins oa attra pon, nur Et re covered by Mest ar Mee © 2025 June Heth on est aoaeThe many lives of DeHavilland Super Chipmunk N7DW BY JAN TEGLERRAF tranerhas built 2 following inboth the ‘southern andnorthern hemispheres over seven ddecadesin action. Ask Mark Meredith what maneuver he likes to fly most in his 1951 DeHavilland Super Chipmunk and his answer is immediate: “I love doing Cloverleafs!” The well-known aerobatic figure—a loop with a quarter- roll wherein a pilot pulls up and rolls 90 degrees from the airplane's original heading as it passes through wings- level inverted-is typical of the flowing acrobatics the modified Chipmunk excels at.“CHIPPY'S" CLOVERLEAFS Nicknamed "Chippy" as anod to its origins, N7DW was built asa T10 Chipmunks, the British version of the Canadian-designed basic trainer, The stylized, leaping Chipmunk onits rudder isa tribute to the Meredith's Navy service asa bombardier-navigstor in the A-6 Intruder. The cheeky rodent mimics the leaping panther emblem of VA~35, One of just 35 or so Super Chipmunksin the US, the airplane's 72-year careerismarked by changes that echo the turns/loops of a complete Cloverleaf maneuver. Its life began in England with the Royal Air Forceas one of approximately 735 Chipmunks the service would operate from 1950 to 1996, Asizeable group of nervous young RAF pilots made their frst fights in N7DW between 1951 and 1956, 18 Fightiouralcam Chippy as “VH-BSQ" sometime after itleft RAF service and migrated to Tasmaniain 1956 to hecome one of five Chipmunks awed by the Tasmanian Aero Chi. (Photo by Lindsay Miler)nove Withits front ‘windscreen removed and a fiberglass cover ‘verits front cockpit, ‘anenlarged/reshaped {al/ rudder, extended turtledeck, clipped ‘wings, wheel pants, and ‘custom, carbon-fiber ‘couthousing 2 280hp Ly- ‘coming 10-540, Chippy's ‘origins are hard to spot. (Photo by John Lackey) nove ci Chippy’ third guise was as crop- ‘duster. Converted to an SA-29""Spraymaster” in 1965. twas oneor just three but, serving with ‘ona Pty in Tintinara, ‘Australia. Photo by Rod Believers) But looking at Chippy now its origins aren't obvious. Meredith says the most frequent question he's asked is, ‘What kind of airplane isthat?" Underneath, much of the original trainer {still there. Remnants of the other major phases of Chippy's journey areless visible since Meredith purchased the airplane in 2009. But Chippy has a devoted group of followers fromalll over America and the southern hemisphere where the two-seater figuratively turned its first Cloverleaf. Chippy's First Cloverleaf ‘Sometime during 1956 Chippy was shipped to Tasmania, the island-state of Australia 150 milles south of the mainland. The transfer was part ofa larger distribution of Chipmunks toother nationsas they were replaced in RAF service by the Scottish Aviation Bulldog trainer ‘he Tasmanian Aero Club welcomed the new-to-them Chipmunk, one of about five they received, with club members and Royal Australian Air Force student pilots taking flight in the aerobatic-capable monoplane for the most of thenext decade, Cloverleaf Number Two Chippy’s second Cloverleaf was quite the maneuver. By the time the miltary/ciub training airplane recovered to “level fight," it ‘was no longer a basic trainer. It was a crop- duster! In 1965, Sasin Aircraft Service of Goulburn, New South Wales initiated a transformation of the airplane into an SA-29 “Spraymaster By then, Australia's World Wer Il-vintage crop-dusters, including modified DeHavilland Tiger Moths, were worn out, and the readily available Chipmunk was one aircraft the industry turned to, ‘The fanciful Spraymaster designation was applied after Aerostructures at Sycney’s Bankstown Airport completed the modifications that would turn Chippie into an Agaircraft. The fuselage was modified to accommodate a 50-gallon hopper where the front cockpit had been. The rear cockpit was modified to aid operation asa single-seater with the pilot's perchraised Il inches to provide better visibility for the down-on-the- deck flying typical of crop-dusters. Anair-driven spray pump was mounted under the forward fuselage along with a spray bar under the wings to pump out chemicals. Other alterations included an energy- absorbing seat, cable cutters to ward off dangerous power wires and telephone lines ahead of the duster's new bubble canopy,a lightweight wooden propeller, wing endplates, andasmall dorsal fin, “The hopper stayed in the airplane until 1988," Meredith notes. "it hadits original 145 hp [Gypsy Major inline four-cylinder] engine and they made the taila little bigger, but still pretty much like the original, Ultimately, just three SA-29s were bul Chippy flewas a duster with Tonair Pty. in Tintinara southeast of Adelaide for just three months before being badly damaged in alanding accident, But the wreck wasn't sground-bound for long, Cloverleaf Number Three ‘The Royal Aero Club of South Australia learned of Chippy’s existence and saw potential, The chub purchased the wounded duster and began a series of repairs that made the airplane airworthy again in 1967.It flew as aRASCA airplane until1969. ‘That's when the Adelaide Soaring Club acquired the modified Chipmunk and putt to work ina new role asa glider-tug. Chippy carried on, pulling gliders aloft until March 1970, when it was involved in another accident requiring one wing to bereplaced ‘Theairplane returned to Bankstown during this time awaiting the start of aconversion that would mar another Cloverleaf,a change inspired by airshow performer and aerobatic competition legend Harold Krier. Krier “Krafts" the Super Chipmunk By themid-1960s,Krier— former B-17 and 'B-24 crew chief during WW II-was well- ‘known on the American airshow circuit and multiple champion in America's Antique Airplane Association aerobatic competitions. Marchispri'2023 19“CHIPPY'S" CLOVERLEAFS He'dalso competed in the world aerobatic contests then dominated by European pilots. Realizing he'd needa special airplane to be competitive, he designed a one-off, lightweight biplane that combined the best traits of the Great Lakes 2T-1A he'd been winning AAA competitions in and the popular Bucker lingmeister. He called it the “Krier Kraft" and tookcit to ‘the 1964 World Championship in Spain but ‘was still unsatisfied with its performance. Much ashe loved biplanes, Krier knew they had too much inherent drag to compete with “clean, trim monoplanes.” At anairshow in Canada, he had the chance to fly a Chipmunk. It was a revelation and Krier immediately set to work creating a "Super Chipmunk" that could compete with the super-maneuverable monoplanes already winning the world aerobatic contests, Clipped wings, lengthened ailerons, a redesigned tail, strengthened airframe and a 200 hp Ranger engine made Krier's Super Chipmunk the frst aerobatic monoplane torepresent the United Statesin global competition, He freely shared everything he learned with others, including the most famous Super Chipmunk flier of all, Art Scholl. Scholl famously performed aerobatics at airshows across the US. and flew for television and Clipped wings, lengthened ailerons, a redesigned tai nove Chippy owes its "Super Chipmunk” heritage to multiple aerobatic champion’ airshow performer Harold Krier. Krier Converted Chipmunk with clipped wings, lengthened ailerons, a redesigned tail strengthened airframe anda 200%» Ranger engin to create the frst Super Chipmunk. Seen here, it was the rst 2erobatic monoplane torepresent the US. in World Championship aerobatic ‘competition and spawned many Super CChipmunk conversions. (Photo courtesy Mark Meredith) Lert Members ofthe Tasmanian Aero CChib gather around Chippy in the ate 1950s. (Photo by Lindsay Malar) films in three Super Chipmunks for almost 20 years before his untimely death in 1985 during the filming of the movie “Top Gun" while flying Pitts S-2 camera plane. Scholl founded an aerobatics school and. maintenance facility at Flabob Airport in Riverside, California, a community Meredith spent part of his childhood in, Decades before Chippy came into his life, he was familiar with ‘Scholl and the modified Chipmunks, “Tused to ride my bike over to Flabob to hangout,” Meredith remembers. "That was my introduction to the Super Chipmunk and Art Scholl Krier and Scholl took their Super Chipmunks to the World Aerobatic ‘Championship in 1966 and 1968, They performed well, but Krier realized they needed more power. In 1971 hemade his final design change, replacing the Ranger with a strengthened airframe and a 200 hp Ranger engine made Krier’s Super Chipmunk the first aerobatic monoplane to represent the United States in global competition. 20 Flightlowrnalcom191972, Chippy made ts ‘way to America where Doug Warren of Big Springs, Texas converted the tiainer/crop duster to aSuper Chipmunk. (Photo courtesy Marc Meredith) 295hp Lycoming GO-480-G2D6 six-cylinder, an engine common to aircraft including the Beech Bonanza, He adapted the Bonanza's cowling as well and his final iteration of the Super Chipmunk was complete, Sadly, Krier flew only six airshows in themore powerful version before losing hislife in another experimental aerobatic airplane being developed by aerobatic competition promoter Pappy Spinks. Cloverleaf Number Four Word of the Super Chipmunk’sability as an aerobatic aircraft spread far and wide—all the way to Bankstown, Australia, There, modifications to Chippy got underway with the intention of beefing up the hard-working litle airplane asa Super Chipmunk, From 1971 until1972, "It sat ina warehouse partially modified while they tried to figure ‘out what to do withit next,” Meredith says, What camenext was along trip to the United States, Dean Whitaker of Morerra, Louisiana rescued Chippy and two other Aussie Chipmunks when he imported them in May 1972, But immediately Whitaker sold two of the aircraft to Doug Warten in Big Springs, Texas, Warren completed Chippy's Super Chipmunk conversion, clipping the wings inches on each side in hime 1974 while enlarging and reinforcing the rudder. He also ‘extended the ailerons by stealing from the flaps, sheeted the wings with aluminum, installed a single place bubble canopy and a 260 horsepower Lycoming 0-435 engine with inverted oil” Meredith reports, Chippy's hopper was stillin place but converted asa ferry tank for extra fuel. From 1974 to 2000, the airplane was in show business, flown by succession of aerobatic performers. In 1978, Warren traded his Super Chipmunk to a young aerobaticpilot named Howard Davenport, who had partnered with another famed aerobatic pilot, Duane Cole, to fy airshows. That lasted until Davenport, lying in loose formation with Cole returning from an airshow, lost oil pressure in the 0-435 and. made a forced landing on Interstate 10 near E1Paso. Thereafter, he sold the airplane back to Doug Warren, Warren added a further upgrade, swapping the 0-435 for a 300 hp Lycoming 10-540. He held onto the airplane until1987, when an Iranian-American pilot named Nadir Fahm purchasedt, Fahm and Chuck Stockdale further modified Chippy, convertingit toa tandem open cockpit configuration, finally removing the hopper and other Ag mods made to the airplane two decades earlier. ‘They also motified another Chipmunk (N66RP) to the same open cockpit configuration and flew them asa two-ship team for 12 years with sponsors including Tag- Heuer watches. But by 2000, the team was done and Chippy went to two more owners ‘who “didnt fly it much’ Meredith says. Itwas 2009 when he bought Chippy asa “flying project." Another Cloverleaf “Ipjust had tobe" Meredith quips, referring to a fight in Chippy he made prior to purchasing Marche 2029 21“CHIPPY'S" CLOVERLEAFS “I dont snap roll it,” he says. “That's too much for a 70 year old Pep eee Reem oOmeI UCR eran eC ecen ait is SC ones re rene enn tenn cee ena PUNTO RS aCe rant rere cnet mn tnry cre testy aa Chippy seeninits ‘two-seat configuration vith front windscreen | ‘anduuncovered cockpit. “Meredith oves thelook ‘of Chippy asa single- ‘seater, reminiscent of the glamorous, sporty, ‘open-cockpit monoplane ‘airracers ofthe 19305. (Photo by Chris Rose, ‘AOPA) £22 Fightsournalcom Vike it from previous owner Bruce Moore. He'd been advised by an aircraft mechanic friend familiar with the airplane not to buy it, Bat Meredith was hooked. ‘Youmight imagine that an ex-Navy bombardier-navigator would have all the experience needed to fly a Super Chipmunk, but Meredith didn't becomea private pilot until 2004, And most of his Navy career was spentas aLogistics Engineer. “Iwore glasses and couldn't be a pilot. ‘That's how lended up as aright-seater in the A-GE and KA-6D. did that for awhile andasI suspected I didn’t really love being abombardier-navigator. Sol switched to aircraft maintenance, logistics, and program management. ‘But Meredith had always been an airplane _ * buff with a particular enthusiasm for classic aircraft, After eaming his private license, he ought a Piper Cherokee and based it at Lee Airport near Annapolis, Maryland, where Chippy is hangared today. “Iflew the wings offit for several years, 800 or 600 hours, and got my instrument and commercial ratings; he explains. A partnership in aBeech Bonanza followed, allowing Meredith to gain more experience fying the airplane coast to coast. But memories of Flabob Airport anda desire to get elbows-deep in anew adventure redirected his passion for flying. “Iwanted to learn aerobatics. [wanted to rebuild an airplane I've alwaysbeen ahands- on guy. Lalways like tohave aproject”‘former U.S. Navy bombardier/navigatorin the A-6 Intruder, Meredith dit become private pilot unt 2004. Now, there's nothing heikes better than performing aerobatic routines for ashow audiences. (Photo by Mark Stet) a ANew Maneuver Meredith flew Chippy home from Florida with a friend experienced in tailwheel aircraft, Tactually got my tailwheel endorsement in this airplane," he notes. “t's not difficult because t's got this wide gear andlong tail. Ie able but it can ite. t's got a lot of sailarea, He determined that he would fly the Super Chipmunk “alittle” and That approach worked until one day in 2009 ‘nen he and his brother were practicing ‘Maryland's eastern shore. vere inverted ina half Cuban-8,"he recalls, "We came over the top and down at 45 degrees, The act of rolling the airplane upright “Meredith installed Chippy's pretty rosewood veneer instrument panels part of the allowed air to get underneath the crappy txtenive restoration work he dv between 2008 and 2014 Not thecard with aerobatic fiberglass cheek cowling andrippeditright figures seearedtotnepanelPhotoby lo Tepe)“CHIPPY'S" CLOVERLEAFS srr Meredith pulls up sharply duringa routine with curting tals of white smoke streaming from Chippy's wingtip, airshow smoke system, (Photo by Aaron Haase) sc.0W A dose-up of Chippy’ right wingtip airshow smokenozzies, (Photoby Jan Tegler) off-away fromus, fortunately.” Meredith now had a Super Chipmunk without a complete cowling and engine he “didn't quite trust.” That's when Chippy's rebuild got underway, “My attitude was that whatever do to this airplane, |'m going tomake it as good as possible.” He world with craftsmenin southern Maryland to make a new, custom, reinforced- carbon fiber cowling. The molds for his cowling have been used for three other Super Chipmunks since then, With his typical enthusiasm, Meredith dived into project that was "much more” than he expected. While the 10-540 was sent off for an overhaul, he got to work integrating doublers to spread the loads on N7DW's engine mounts, replaced the firewall, and crafted anew nose bowl for the cowling with improved airflow andless drag He taught himself to dometal work and made patches for the fuselage to cover holes that had been there since it was motified as a crop- duster, fixed cracks in the wingtips and wheel pants, and rolled a new leading-edge skin for the vertical stabilizer. Meredith learned how to do fabric covering, rebuilt Chippy’s control surfaces, and recovered them. He did other structural modifications to strengthen the airplane and removed remaining £24 Fightsourralcom vestiges ofits Ag background. “There was stilla U-channel bolted to the bottom of the fuselage, riveted into the spar carry-through. It was nothing but a drag collector, so crilledit out and put pretty giant rivets back in the spar.” Behind the rear cockpit, he designed and fabricated a new, longer turtledeck that serves the dual purpose of housing aroll-over hoop and acting asa storage area for roll-up baggage and camping gear. N7DW's electrical system was in need of attention, so Meredith rebuilt and rewired it, Healso installed a new rosewood-veneer instrument panel with classic analog instruments as well as a Garmin G5, GPS, digital fuel totalizer, and engine monitor, Meredith eventually fitted a 280 hp Lycoming ‘Thunderbolt AEIO-540 custom “Red Bull Racer," ‘which delivers much improved ability to sustain energy during an aerobatics. He spent four years designing anew paint scheme for Chippie, “going for 1930s racer ook” with New Jersey-basedaircraft custom exterior designer Scheme Designers and painter Ken Reese of KD Aviation,Mark Meredith al ows Chippy totum= bleintoafat-spinas Cloverleafs and Crowds. Five years passed while Meredith remade Chippy. The same week the paint work was ‘completed in 2014, he flew N7DW to EA's huge AirVenture show in Oshirosh where the eye- catching airplane was a hit with onlookers. The following year it won a bronze “Lindy” award. Between 2014 and 2018, Meredith flew Chippy in International Aerobatic Chub events before finally being certified to fly airshows. “That became my next project," Meredith says. N7DW isnow on the airshow circuit, steadily picking up show bookings on the east coast and in the Midwest Capable of plus-6G/minus-3G maneuvering, Meredith performs a flowing routine in Chippy, staying withinits limits at “between four and five Gs, managing my energy. “Tdon't snap rol it," he says, "That's toomuch for 70 year old airplane. This airplane has snapped aot and Ive got video of it doing tail slides to an invertedribbon-cut. It's done hard stuff in its life. In the past Super Chipmunks were considered somewhat expendable, Now, they're pretty coveted and the emphasis as with any classicis to be a good custodian and take care oft.” ‘The Cloverleaf is the penultimate maneuver in Chippy'sroutine. “Icome out of it back to the show line for my final pass, an inverted wing-wag.It's so beautiful doing that, and Chippy's just perfect fort” > Marchiapel 2023 253 a a gor ap va I. g bf. = Od f 3 - | dventures of a = ah Pa eesistP-TaCMVCMUNG ia eR U-lm lauah (let Merce ttIna scenereminiscent of MiG Alley during the Korean War, Pe ose ee ean ed rete oir eer ed eRe et ene ae ear etn ea oree seeNeeLan Ree ceeAt the end of the Korean War in 1953, there were 39 Sabre aces, and one more was added 50 years later after footage of some gun- camera film had been closely examined. All these pilots had the right stuff, and they also had the good fortune to be in the right place at the right time. The fighter pilots turned out by the Air Force in the late 1940s and early 1950s were of the same caliber as those who fought over Europe and the Pacific in WW II. There was one difference: they flew fighters with swept wings and jet engines. It was a new world in which aggression at a high Mach number and lightning-fast reflexes were the order of the day. 28 Flightlownalcom SabreaceLt.Col. George. Jonesin frontofhis trusty mount. One of these Sabre aces was Lt. Col. George L Jones (65 kills), who had an unusual track record while serving in Korea, He scored victories over the MiG-15s while flying with the 4th and Sst Fighter Wings. He was also one of the most successful pilots to fly the top secret GUN-VAL Sabres against the MiGs (15, Kills) ‘There were, he recalls, several exciting dogfights, and one of the most stirring happened early in November 1951. By this ate, the cold weather from Manchuria was being felt all the way down the Korean, Peninsula Lt Col, Jones remembers all the events of the day in question: “About an hour before dawn, Lwas awakened by someone from operations reminding me that Iwas leading the early mission, My tent mates, who inchuded ace Bill Whisner, were stillasleep and weren't scheduled to fly until later in the day. It was bitterly cold as Iput on my long johns and my flight suit before stepping outside. The ground frost was heavy;it looked like snow. The first range glints showed in the east, and it would bea cloudless day, which meant that the MiGs would probably be up inlarge numbers,” ‘The early mission was power sweep and covered a major strike against rail yards and supply dumps just south of the Yalu River by our fighter bombers. This type of strike always brought out the MiGs, The group would Jaunch three fights of four: Red, Blue and White fights, and Red flight was ed by Jones. “After the weather and intel briefings, briefed my flight. In the target area, Red Flight was to fly at 38,000 feet, Bue down at 25,000 feet and White at 20,000 feet. Itold the pilots to keep their speed up and that under no Gircumstances should they let the MiGs hare us away from our bombers, For the most part. the pilots were experienced and had many missions into the Alley under their belts." The plan was tomeet up with the bombers about halfway to the target, pass them and be on station by the time they arrived to set up for their bomb drops. Jones emphasized that in attacking a MiG, the fight or element leader isthe shooter! The job of the wingman is to keep himself and the shooter clear. "The shooter is absolutely padlocked to his target—totally focused on the pipper. If happen to be the shooter, donot want any surprises! Now, time for a time hack: in 15 seconds, it will be 0645 hours, We will start our engines at precisely 0730, That's it” few minutes later in Personal Equipment, Lt. Col Jones met his wingman, Lt. Richard Pincosks, who asked him about the likelihood of encountering MiGs. ones replied that there were two things that would always hure a MiG up: B-29s and fighter bombers! The next stop was the fightline, where a walk-around was in order. Then into the cockpit and time to strap in, Everything checked out, and now it was time to wait several long minutes until 0730, ‘My eyes were focused on my watch, and ‘when that final second ticked off, [pressed the start button, and the engine whine gradually became a steady hum Ipushed the throttle just enough to start taxing out with ‘my Red flight. Blue and White were stacked in close behind, It was an impressive sight as 12Sabres moved to takeoff position—ready for serious business, A few minutes later, ‘we were airborne and heading north. We passed over our fighter bombers just north of Pyongyang;this gave us time for one sweep in the Alley before the slower formation got {nto the target area. No MiGs in sightso far. Asthe bombers lined up for their runs, the triple-A opened up on them and our lower White flight got some of it.” Al12 Sabre pilots kept one eye peeled for signs of the MiGs; with the other, they watched the columns of smoke and fire from the exploding fighter-bomber ordnance. Suddenly, a huge ground explosion showed that one of their bombs had hit the middle of an ammo dump. A few minutes later, the first wave of bombers had finished, and they headed back to the south as the second wave came into view. Within seconds, the scene changed drastically, and it wasn't by accident, “Asthe second wave began their attack, the triple-A completely disappeared, andl new it meant that the MiGs were coming in after the bombers. lust as the last one finished his run,a swarm of sweptwing MiGs crossed south of the river. I counted at least 16 in trail formation, We had a slight predicament Oneof the ath Wing's Sabres etuens froma ‘combat a patrlover MiG Aley without its trop tanks. Thelack of black residue around the gun ports indicates that MiGs were spotted, the external tanks Were dropped, butits guns were not fired. Photoby Houston Tuel) Marchispnt 2029 29ADVENTURES OF A SABRE ACE in that Ihad just sent Red 3 and 4 back to base because they were low on fuel. That left just me and my wingman. | signaled him to follow me down as we made a head-on passinto the MiG formation, scattering them in every direction, They shot at us.as we came in, and ‘we shot back, Suddenly, they changed tactics; they all pointed their noses straight up and zoomed for an altitude advantage” It didn’t take long for an astute F-86 pilot torealize that as soon as the MiGshad the altitude advantage, they would come back down withall guns blazing. Using this momentary diversion, therest of the fighter bombers headed south—all but one,He had been cut off by the MiG-1S leader who was closing in on him for the kill. This happened about 5,000 feet below the two Sabres from Red flight, Jones dived at full throttle towards his attacker, hoping to distract him beforehe got into range. He fired a quick burst of 50- caliber rounds from far out of range, and apparently, the MiG pilot saw the tracers; he whipped his aircraft up to the right, climbing hard. In the meantime, his quarry beat a path out of thearea, ‘MiG pilots lew that they could easily outclimb the F-86 because they didit every day. This guy was climbing lle hell, but fortunately, Ihad had a lot of zoomleft over from the dive! had just come out of, and! was gaining on him fest! We were going straight upand, fora second, thought he was going {nto a loop. But knew that before [ran out of airspeed, Td be in range to fire and would have him dead in my sights. The MiG pilot obviously new this, too, because he kicked over into a screaming wingover and asteep dive. At that point, knew Iwas up against ‘honcho. Ifollowed his every move; my eyes were glued to my target. From then on, Iwas fiying strictly by instinct. My wingman called out, ‘You're clear! Onthe fightine at Kimpo, summer 1953, Crew chiefs and maintenance types await the return oftheir assigned Sabres froma morning ‘combat air patrol Thesemen were the reason for Athand Stst Fighter Wings! high n-servicerates. (Photo by Don Thiel viaauthor) 80 Flightlouma.com FACT OR FICTION For the past 50-plus years, one of the most intriguing stories to come out of the early jet age is that the XF-86, flown by WW IT fighter pilot/North American test pilot George Welch, actually broke the sound barrier before Chuck Yeager did in the Bell XS. Officially documented is that Yeager broke the sound barrier in the XS-1 on. October 14, 1947. Also, North American records state that Welch brake the sound barrier in the Sabre on April 26, 1948. There is a glaring ray erea in this, hawever. North American tech rep John Henderson stone of the mast knowledgeable Sabre experts, and he recalls that then Secretary of the Air Force Stuart Symington in 1947 told North American's top management not to report any of the XFEB's speeds in excess of the 0.93 Mach number. Many former employees who worked in testing and engineering believe that Welch did beat Yeager’s date. Henderson recalls that North American tast pilot Charles "Bud" Poage stated he had bean out clase ta the range, when Welch, flaw the XF-86 on October 1, 1947, He ‘and others heard the first sanic boom and knew what it was. Welch hhad requested and been given permission to retract the landing gear tn the flight (only for clean configuration flight for Welch to analyze) He separated fram the F-82 chase plane, climbed to 32,000 feet and pushed the agile Sabre into @ dive directly over an area Poage was in, Poage (and others) realized what had happened, but no official ‘announcement ever came out. Afterward, Welch rajained his chase plane end experienced nase-gear trouble on landing; the next flight in the XP-86 was nat until October 4, after repairs had been made. Between October 4 and November 4, Welch made at least 19 test flights in the XF-86, and at least eight of those flightsall in a diving made-praduced a sonic baom, These flights weren't publicized because of earlier directives from the Secretary of the Air Force. The F-86 was a subsonic fighter in level flight, but in a dive, it was very capable of exceeding the speed of sound. Believe what you like, but the official record baoks credit the XS-, which brake the barrier in level fight,[AMIG-15 fos at the Duxford Air Festival the UK in 2017. (Photo bby Wallycasabre via Wikimetta) COMPARING THE F-86 WITH THE MIG-15 ‘Tewas fate for these two aircraft to be adversaries during the early years of the jet age, They were the first mass- produced sweptuing jt fighters praduced by the US. and the Soviet Union. During the Karean War, each aireraft went through several modifications {upgrades}, and both fought it out over MIG Alley. In airspeed at 40,000 feet, they were ‘evenly matched. The MIG-15bis was the most advanced version, and its speed at this altitude was approximately GO0mph, about equal to the F8BF's, ‘In twwo areas the MiG-15 held e definite edge: it flew at much higher altitude, and it had a more rapid rate of climb {zoom On most combat air patrols (CAP), the F-86s entered MiG Alley at about 40,000 feet, only to discover MiG formations high above them at 50,000 feet. When the MiGs dived to make firing passes on the F*B6s or fighter-bombers, they could climb back an their perch quickly before their intended targets could shoot st them, The 86, being the heavier of the two, had « faster, more stable diving speed, hawever, and both fighters cauid reach Mach 1.0 ina dive. Firepower iso posed a distinct difference. The MiG-15 was armed with two 23mm and one 37mm cannon. This, ‘gave it the more potent firepower, but the cannon fired at 6 much slower rate than the F-86's six 50-caliber ‘machine guns. This allowed the Sabre ta get out of the way quickly, but if the 37mm scored just one hit, the Sabre was critically-if not fatally-damaged. But if the Sabre pilots got in close, they could put a heavy concentration of firepower into @ MiG, and this accounted for the F-86's impressive kill ratio. Once all the assets of each fighter are compared, the biggest difference boils down to the superior training and experience level of the American pilats versus those of the MiG pilots. “Iwas pulling so many G that my gunsight another miss! couldn't believe what was had sunk out of view on the windscreen, happening! Thenit came tome exactiy gradually got my eye back on the pipper and fired quickly, hoping for a lucky hit that would slow him down before my airspeed bled off, and the hard turn we were in was also slowing me down, Suddenly, for somereason, the MiG pilot slackened his turn, and that gaveme the chance to put my sight on his fuselage. Ipulled enough lead and fired, but my tracers went right under his belly, and at that, he tightened his turn again, We were holding on to some ‘g00d airspeed, and! could out-turn him just alittle. [put the sight on him again and fired— what he was doing, He was skidding in his turn, which meant that his aircraft wasn't going where its nose pointed!" Jones kept his throttle wide open, and the image of the MiGin his sights gradually grew larger. Knowing that the target was skidding, he compensated for this before he fired along burst. Holding the trigger down, he hased the MiG from one end to another. He said that it looked like a high-voltage line grounding out onapiece of metal; huge sparks came off its ‘ail, wingtip and fuselage. Marchisprii2029 81ADVENTURES OF A SABRE ACE 007 During the final weeks ofthe war, the 335th painted the noses of their Sabres in the bright yellow finish seen here. This wal probably taken just after the war endl because the drop tanks have a special paint job, ane this was very seldom done during the fighting because the tanks were usually Jettisoned ye Ay oncontac wit enemy gta Pete courtey of The rags Collection sc.om-Inthe top-secret GUN-VAL program, severalF-86Fs were converted from the usual si ,50-calber machine guns to four 20mm cannon. This Sabrehas one ‘of the gun ports sealed while the 20mm ports remain open. These fighters were assigned tothe 4th Wing at Kimpo in early 1953, (Photo by PaulPeterson) nove Lt. Col Robert Dixon, shown here flaw combatmissions with the ath Fighter Wing in Korea. He remainedinthe Ar Force and eventually became the commander of Tactical Ale Command. Heretired fromthe Air Force with the rank of igeneral. (Photo by Norman Green) £82 FightournalcomAllthree squadrons in the 4th Wing pled equal timeon the alert pads, Whilea few scrambles were ordered, most of the duty was very dul, anda game of horse- ‘shoes was oftenthe centerpiece ofthe shit, ‘The MIG-15s ddn't make valid attempts to at tack either of the Sabre ‘Wings, andonly biplane right hecklers proved ‘tobeathreat.(Photo by Bert Beecroft) Totally engrossed in what he was seeing, he was brought back to reality when the loud staccato of his six, firing, 50-caliber guns ended-total silence. He had run out of ammunition! ‘The MiGwas stil fying, and [had empty ‘guns sol radioed for Pincoskitomovein andfinish him off. He moved up intomy slot andmoved even closer to the stricken MiG. Imoved out and dropped backtomake sure hee was protected whilehe concentrated on the ill Iscanned our area, and there weren't any MiGs in sight, so gave him the all-clear. His first burst went wide, as the target wasin adiving turn—skidding and inking Itold him toclose the gap before he fired again. Seconds later, he fired a second burst that hit the MiG dead-center. By this time, the enemy pilot had turned his fighter to thenorthand the safety of Manchuria, Time was running out; the river was in plain sight, Pincoski fired another long burst,and then he was out of ammo, too!” Probably quite a few F-86 pilots found themselves in the same predicament: out of ammo, low on fuel and the enemy aircraft almost over the Yalu and heading north, But for Lt. Col. Jones, the MiG encounter had evolved into a personal fight. He radioed his ‘wingman tomove aside because he was ‘coming back in to lead position. By this time, the MiG's airspeed had slowed significantly and jagged pieces of its wing and fuselage stuck out, creating tremendous drag, Jones's losure rate wasiin excess of 100 knots. By now, the action was almost over theriver, and time wasrunning out. {decided that [would run my wingtip through his vertical stabilizer and knockshim out ofthe air, or bring my wingtip down hard con top of his canopy. The MiG pilot hadbeen watching my closure rate and, to avoid me, he pushed over intoa steep dive and snap- rolled tothe left; that did it! Evidently, the shot-up airframe couldn't take the stress, and something broke. The pilot lost control, and seconds later, he bailed out. watched the empty MIG go straight into the ground 15 000 feet below. Weimmediately turnedto the south, climbing for altitude with the hope of sliding back tobase with our critically ow fuel supply. We were about 100 miles away, and we ‘werepreparedto tryadead-stick landing if ‘we had to. Needless to say, we didmakeit back safely. My wingman had about 15 gallons of fuel left, and Thad about 20 gallons, thad beena ‘memorable mission, and we shared in the Kil: Many Sabre pilots flying combat in Koreahad the same skills and fighting instincts as George Joneshad. Many were in the right place atthe right time and had an opportunity tomake kills while others had very few encounters with MiGs. The North American tech reps who ‘worked withthe 4th and Sist Wingsin Korea got toknowmost of the Sabre plots. John L. Henderson, the first Tech Rep to go over with, the 4th Group in 1950recalls Jones: “Lt. Col George Jones was one of the most aggressive achievers among the F-86 pilots knew. He always wanted to be on top of al things and conditions that affected his line of work in the nilitary:” After finishing. stint in the dt, Jones moved over tothe Sist Wing to become their group commander. He later returned to the 4th, {nJanuary 1953 to fly combat in the top secret GUN-VAL project for which 20mm cannon had beeninstalled in some F-86Fs, > Marchispit20e3 33f I French pilot Marcel Albert ba Soviet Yaks against the Luftwaffe Gade AU aa A ” oe . sl flew and fought under three flags during World War II: First with the air force of his native France, then with the Royal Air Force in Britain, before becoming a high-scoring fighter ace flying Sovi fighters against the Germans on the Eastern Front with the Normandie-Niémen Regiment.