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00:00December 1950, jet fighters roar across the skies above Korea.
00:07For half a century, dogfights have been won or lost with propeller planes driven by piston engines.
00:14Now, for the first time in history, swept wing fighters with jet engines slug it out at extreme altitudes and
00:21near supersonic speeds.
00:23American F-86 Sabres head to head against the communist MiGs.
00:28Their contrails will write a new chapter in the annals of air warfare in a place called MiG Alley.
00:39Experience the battle. Dissect the tactics. Relive the dogfights.
01:03August 5, 1952.
01:07Four U.S. Air Force F-86 Sabres move into the hostile skies of MiG Alley above Northwest Korea.
01:17For over two years, nimble Russian-built MiG-15 fighters have been darting from sanctuaries in China, challenging American bombers
01:26and fighters.
01:29The Sabre flight is led by Captain Robinson Reisner. His mission is to find the MiGs and kill them.
01:42All eyes are outside the cockpit, scanning, searching for a contrail, a telltale flash of metal.
01:49Suddenly, there they are.
01:51Eight silver MiGs passing left to right, 1,000 feet below.
01:56Perfect setup.
01:58Too perfect.
02:02I can still remember seeing those MiGs below me. That was unusual.
02:08Any time you saw a MiG below you, it was an exciting thing.
02:12But we learned quickly to suspect the situation.
02:19Reisner instinctively calls, check six.
02:22His wingman responds.
02:25Lead, we've got MiGs at 3 o'clock.
02:27Six MiGs scream in from overhead, lethal cannon flashing.
02:33The Sabres are in a trap.
02:35Now they are the prey.
02:38Reisner calls a right break.
02:40The Sabres stand on one wing, pull hard around.
02:46Neck muscles strain to keep heads upright against the heavy pull of G.
02:52The Sabres turn into the face of the enemy.
02:55Reisner is screaming headlong into his first life and death encounter
03:00in MiG Alley.
03:04Two years earlier, on June 25, 1950,
03:07the North Korean People's Army swarmed across the 38th Parallel,
03:13the dividing line between the Communist North
03:15and the Republic of South Korea.
03:19US armed forces under United Nations auspices
03:22are committed to the fight.
03:25The North Koreans have the manpower and tanks,
03:28but their primitive air force is quickly shot to ribbons.
03:33American aircraft are free to roam the skies.
03:38Communist troop concentrations and supply lines
03:41are relentlessly pounded from the air.
03:44It had a great effect because we were able, in a lot of circumstances,
03:49to either curtail or certainly decrease the amount of enemy army activity.
03:57But then, in November 1950, the Americans are stunned
04:01by the appearance of new Soviet-built MiG-15 jet fighters.
04:08With a top speed of 670 miles per hour,
04:12the MiG is 100 miles per hour faster than older F-80 and F-84 jets in Korea.
04:23The critical air supremacy achieved early in the war is now in jeopardy.
04:29The MiG was built as a point interceptor.
04:31It was light.
04:33It had a lighter wing loading.
04:35It didn't carry as much fuel, which limited the range,
04:37but made it very good for climbing purposes and turning purposes.
04:42It was optimized to shoot down B-29s.
04:45That's why it had the heavy cannon armament that it did,
04:49two 23 millimeters and a 37 millimeter.
04:56The cannon was really a surprising weapon.
04:59If the guy was within about 700 or 800 feet behind you,
05:03and he fired it, you could feel the vibration with your rudder pedals.
05:07When that happened to you, you knew you better do something
05:09pretty quick, left or right, but don't stay where you are.
05:13The MiG-15s dash from bases in China,
05:16just across the North Korean border.
05:20Any aircraft venturing into a 6,000 square mile slice
05:24of airspace above Northwest Korea is vulnerable.
05:31American airmen call it MiG Alley.
05:34It is here that the fiercest air battles of the Korean War
05:38will be etched across the cold blue sky.
05:43The US Air Force rushes the 4th Fighter Interceptor Wing to Korea.
05:49The 4th is equipped with the new F-86A Sabre Jet.
05:54It is the only airplane in the Western arsenal
05:56that approaches the MiG's capabilities.
06:01The F-86 was my very favorite plane that I've ever flown,
06:06which I used to kiddingly call my little sports car.
06:13The F-86 was a pure fighter.
06:15It was not intended to intercept or shoot down enemy bombers,
06:19but it was meant to take on enemy fighters,
06:22destroy them, and achieve air superiority.
06:26The Sabre is a strong, maneuverable,
06:29and stable gun platform,
06:31the very qualities needed in a good fighter aircraft.
06:37Although the Sabre is slightly faster
06:40in the crucial areas of rate of climb and altitude,
06:43the MiG is superior.
06:46That's assuming that you've got the same pilots
06:48operating both of them.
06:50One of the main things that we enjoyed
06:51over the communist aircraft
06:53was that our pilots were better trained,
06:55and we had better tactics eventually.
06:59F-86s launched their first combat air patrols
07:03into MiG alley in December 1950.
07:06Captain Bruce Hinton takes first blood
07:08for the Sabre on December 17th.
07:14The F-86s do well,
07:18but there are 400 MiGs based across the Yalu.
07:22In 1950, there are fewer than 50 Sabres in Korea.
07:27Even though outnumbered,
07:29the experience and esprit of the Sabre pilots
07:32makes the critical difference in MiG alley.
07:37It's called flight suit attitude.
07:40Robbie Reisner has it.
07:44Arriving in Korea in the spring of 1952,
07:48Reisner's flying skills are quickly recognized.
07:52He soon advances to flight lead status.
07:59Today, in MiG alley, Reisner's Sabre flight
08:02has just been jumped by eight MiG-15s.
08:07They normally had high escort.
08:10My wingman called out.
08:11We had more MiGs coming in on our 3 o'clock position,
08:16making a pass on them.
08:20The MiGs are higher
08:22and have the speed advantage.
08:24If the Sabres continue straight and level,
08:26they present broadside targets to the MiGs.
08:31If they turn left,
08:33the MiGs will attack from the rear.
08:37Reisner's only option
08:38is to turn directly into the attackers,
08:40presenting a smaller cross-section
08:42while forcing the MiGs to overshoot.
08:48Reisner calls a hard break into the MiGs.
08:53Being a typical fighter pilot,
08:55flying that wonderful F-86,
08:58we weren't really concerned about these guys.
09:00We didn't want them to hit us, though.
09:01So we broke into them,
09:04made a high G turn into them.
09:06The abrupt maneuver derails the ambush.
09:08Two MiGs overshoot and streak by.
09:17The F-86s reverse.
09:24As the MiGs dive at the Americans,
09:27the Sabres make a hard climbing turn directly into them.
09:31The MiGs overshoot.
09:32The Sabres then reverse their direction,
09:35putting them on their attackers, 6 o'clock.
09:44The tables have turned within seconds,
09:46the hallmark of jet-age combat in MiG Alley.
09:50I took Taley and Charlie,
09:52because he's the closest one to me.
09:54And I put the paper on the tailpipe,
09:57pulled the triggers.
09:59He lit up like a Christmas tree.
10:04You see, we had armor-piercing incendiary bullets
10:07in those 6.50 caliber machine guns.
10:10The burst riddles the bandit's engine.
10:12The MiG pulls into a climbing turn
10:14in a desperate attempt to shake his tormentor.
10:21Trailing smoke, the MiG claws for altitude.
10:28The smoke suddenly stops.
10:30His engine quits.
10:31The MiG coasts upward, bleeding off airspeed.
10:37Reisner's F-86 shudders as he chops power
10:41and pops his speed brakes to stay in trail.
10:45The MiG hangs suspended, motionless,
10:48then drops off into a spin.
10:53The F-86 buffets as it, too, loses energy
10:56and enters a stall.
10:58Reisner kicks in left rudder, nose is over,
11:01fires another burst into the spiraling MiG,
11:03only 300 feet away.
11:08It was a thrill to hear those guns chattering.
11:11Because something was going to happen up in front.
11:14And sure enough, it did.
11:1650 caliber armor-piercing incendiary rounds
11:19slam into the MiG's aft fuselage.
11:22The vertical stabilizer is blown clear away.
11:35The MiG pilot ejects.
11:37The fight is over.
11:40It is Reisner's first kill.
11:44I'll tell you, that was a grand feeling.
11:46We were doing what we were assigned to do,
11:48and that was to knock every big down we could.
11:51And that's what I did.
11:55This fight is just a prelude.
11:58Four months later, Reisner will lock horns with the best pilot
12:01he's ever seen in one of the most heart-stopping encounters
12:04of MiG Alley.
12:10September 15, 1952.
12:14Captain Robbie Reisner is leading a flight of four F-86s into MiG Alley.
12:19It's four months since his first kill.
12:23In the effort to maintain air supremacy in the MiG infested area,
12:28the Sabres are escorting F-84 fighter bombers
12:31to an industrial area near the mouth of the Yalu River.
12:37The mission profile puts Reisner's flight into a protective orbit
12:41over what is normally prohibited Chinese airspace
12:44and directly above the largest concentration
12:47of MiG airfields in Manchuria.
12:51Midway into their protective sweep,
12:53the Sabres run into four MiGs.
12:57The MiGs bank away as if retreating from the area.
13:10But Reisner suspects a trick.
13:13He continues tracking the enemy fighters.
13:16Sure enough, the MiGs turn back.
13:19They're heading for the bombers.
13:22The MiGs are initiating one of the Korean War's
13:25most remarkable encounters.
13:27Although at maximum range,
13:29the Sabres radar ranging gun sight finds the target
13:33with deadly efficiency.
13:39One of the technological advantages that the F-86 had over the MiG,
13:43as opposed to aerodynamic features,
13:46was that the 86 had a radar ranging gun sight.
13:49And that meant that Sabre pilot could get a fast,
13:53accurate tracking solution on a maneuvering enemy target
13:57and it would automatically compensate for the ballistic drop
14:00of those .50 caliber rounds.
14:02And when it was working properly, it was deadly accurate
14:04because the first round would likely impact on target.
14:09Reisner's machine guns shatter the MiG's canopy.
14:22The other three MiGs run away.
14:30Reisner, covered by his wingman, counters the MiG's turn,
14:34fires another burst.
14:40The MiG initiates violent evasive action
14:43in an attempt to get Reisner off his tail.
14:45He noses over into a dive, rolls inverted, then rolls again.
14:51The MiG pilot demonstrates superb mastery of his machine.
14:54He will put Reisner's flying skills to the ultimate test.
14:59This is a special breed of aviator.
15:03When MiGs first encountered Sabres in 1950,
15:07they usually made diving attacks from higher altitudes.
15:10They rarely maneuvered or turned into the F-86s
15:13to fire another burst.
15:15This was largely due to the inexperience
15:18of the Communist pilots, as well as the MiG's limited range.
15:22But there was another reason.
15:24Moscow and Peking needed to hide the identities of their airmen.
15:29The Soviets were using MiG alley
15:32as a clandestine training arena.
15:34Russian pilots couldn't fly within 60 miles of UN lines
15:38or over the Yellow Sea for fear of being picked up
15:41and their true identities revealed.
15:44The Russians even strafed one of their own pilots
15:48who had parachuted into the ocean.
15:54In the summer of 1951, the Soviets changed their tactics,
15:58replacing trainees with instructors and high-time fighter pilots,
16:03veterans of the Great Patriotic War.
16:08The Americans call them honchos, Japanese slang for big shot.
16:14And they are good.
16:17Today, Reisner is tangling with a honcho he will never forget.
16:22The MiG was so aggressive, he also was so well-trained,
16:27he did not intend for me to get right behind him
16:30and shoot him down.
16:31So what he did was, he turned that thing upside down
16:34and split S.
16:35That means he reversed his direction.
16:38The split S is a commonly used fighter reversal technique.
16:44The aircraft rolls inverted and dives,
16:47pulling out in the opposite direction.
16:52He was so low, and I was sure he wasn't going to make it.
16:56And I said to my wingman, this is going
16:58to be the easiest kill I ever had.
17:00Well, it turned out this guy made it.
17:04There should have been a fireball, but the MiG recovers,
17:07miraculously, into a dry riverbed.
17:13Reisner watches in disbelief as the MiG twists and turns,
17:17right on the deck.
17:19He was so close to the ground, he kicked rocks and debris up.
17:23I, meanwhile, had managed to get in behind him.
17:25I got dents all over my airplane where he knocked rocks,
17:29blew rocks up off of the riverbed.
17:31Well, from there on, it wasn't a real fight.
17:34This guy was some pilot.
17:37Reisner can barely keep the stick in his hands
17:40as he's thumped hard by the MiG's jet wash.
17:44The MiG flies like a banshee.
17:50He chops power, pops out his speed brakes.
17:55The MiG is trying to force the Sabre to overshoot,
17:58which will expose Reisner to the MiG's cannon.
18:04Reisner counters by rolling his jet over the MiG,
18:07bleeding off airspeed while keeping
18:09on his adversary's 6 o'clock.
18:13Then, the MiG firewalls the throttle
18:16and accelerates away in a hard turn, pulling maximum G.
18:21He took me on a mad race.
18:24And I'd get in the shot of him every once in a while.
18:28We were tenacious as a bulldog.
18:31We just didn't want to turn him loose.
18:34The MiG reverses his turn.
18:36Another burst from Reisner.
18:39Parts of the tail fly off.
18:41The fuselage begins to smoke.
18:45Reisner can't believe his eyes.
18:47The MiG goes inverted, pushes vertically up the side
18:51of a mountain and over the top.
18:53When that happens,
18:55you're putting negative G's on your body.
18:57Your eyeballs pop out about this floor.
19:00The blood rushes to your head, you can get red out.
19:02I wouldn't even attempt it.
19:04I have to do a half roll and pull down.
19:07Down again in the riverbed.
19:17The MiG chops power.
19:21Reisner reacts instinctively to slow with the MiG.
19:25I coasted right up beside him, wing tip to wing tip.
19:28I looked into his cockpit.
19:30He looked into my cockpit.
19:31He raised his fist and shook it at me.
19:34And I thought, man, this is like the movies.
19:38But it's not a movie.
19:40The MiG suddenly banks to the right.
19:45Reisner is snapped back to the moment.
19:47Black puffs of anti-aircraft fire fill the sky.
19:53The honcho has led them directly over a Chinese air base.
20:02September 15th, 1952.
20:05A desperate but enormously skilled MiG pilot
20:08has led Robbie Reisner and his wingman
20:11on a wild, twisting chase all the way to his home base,
20:15Tak Tung Kao, 35 miles inside China.
20:20Anti-aircraft fire surrounds the Sabres.
20:26He was so low, he was blowing dust off the runway.
20:29He must have called ahead and said,
20:31shoot these guys off of my tail.
20:33The wingman's name was Joe Logan.
20:37Then he said, hey, lead, they're shooting us.
20:39Well, they certainly were.
20:40And the guns were shooting from everywhere.
20:42Black explosions all around us.
20:44But it didn't concern me enough to turn him loose.
20:48I'll guarantee.
20:49OK.
20:50I was behind him and that's where I was going to stay.
20:52And I did.
20:53Reisner can't drop low enough for a clean shot.
20:56The MiG runs out of options,
20:59pulls up sharply into a climbing turn.
21:02When he ran out of runway and he pulled up,
21:06I was able to get an angle off, which I needed.
21:08I hit him heavy.
21:10The MiG's wing is shredded by the Sabres' guns.
21:18His only chance for survival is to land immediately,
21:21forcing or spiking the jet onto the ground.
21:25And hope for the best.
21:27Reisner has another idea.
21:30He never put his gear down.
21:32He made a 180 degree turn.
21:35And when he was headed back down,
21:37it looked like he was laying beside the runway,
21:40not on the runway, in the grass.
21:42Well, I poured all my ammunition into him at that time.
21:48Every .50 caliber I had was chattering.
21:51He never completely leveled off.
21:53The MiG slams into the ground and explodes.
21:57Hot shards of burning metal and debris
21:59slice through a line of parked MiGs.
22:01Reisner's wingman exults at the fiery spectacle.
22:06I know Joe Logan was so enthusiastic.
22:09He said, hey, Lee, you just destroyed the Air Force.
22:15What a wonderful sight.
22:18The whole engagement has lasted some five minutes.
22:22The MiG is destroyed, but the mission is far from over.
22:28The Sabres must run a gauntlet of deadly radar controlled anti-aircraft
22:33artillery to get across the Yalu and back to home base.
22:42Throughout the war, crossing into Chinese airspace
22:45was officially forbidden, except in cases of hot pursuit.
22:50But aggressive flight leaders routinely violated orders
22:53so they could engage the MiGs on their own turf.
23:03Cruising for MiGs in Manchuria was conducted within a conspiracy
23:06of silence.
23:08Flight leaders chose wingmen who would play along and keep quiet.
23:14Squadron commanders didn't discuss it,
23:16and many rolls of incriminating gun camera film mysteriously disappeared.
23:25Leaving a trail of flaming MiG wreckage in their wake,
23:29Reisner and his wingman turned south, out of China.
23:35Joe Logan got hit in the belly with anti-aircraft fire.
23:40He started losing fuel, and I ran over and got under him to check him out.
23:48Well, it was evident he was not going to make it,
23:51because he was really pumping that fuel overboard.
23:54The jets are over hostile terrain.
23:56The closest rescue point is Chodo Island, 100 miles to the south.
24:00It's too far away.
24:03Reisner is going to do something unprecedented.
24:06I had him throttled back gradually, and I let the nose down.
24:13And I don't know where I got the wild idea.
24:16Nobody had done it before.
24:18What I did was I hooked my nose in his tailpipe.
24:24In a display of superb airmanship,
24:26for over half an hour, Reisner repeatedly nudges his wingman's lifeless jet over the sea.
24:37With rescue planes in sight, Logan tells Reisner he'll see him back at Kimpo.
24:42Then he ejects.
24:46Now, Joe landed in the water.
24:48The choppers and the amphibians were having an argument who got to rescue him.
24:53Well, the choppers finally won by saying, it's my turn.
24:58You got the last one.
25:00The helicopter attempts to use its rotor wash to fill Logan's parachute and blow him to shore.
25:08The young pilot is ensnared in his parachute lines.
25:12Some of the rip cords tangled around Joe's neck, and he drowned.
25:20So after all that effort, we lost Joe Logan.
25:25There is a war to be fought.
25:27Two days later, Robbie Reisner scores another kill in MiG alley.
25:32He'll leave Korea with a total of eight MiGs to his credit.
25:39Robbie Reisner will return to combat in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War,
25:44flying F-105 Thunder Chiefs into the heavily defended north.
25:51In September 1965, he is shot down and sent to the infamous Hanoi Hilton.
26:00Seven years later, Reisner will emerge, battered, but with spirit unbroken.
26:10It is the same flight suit attitude that led him to vanquish his enemies 20 years earlier
26:16in MiG alley.
26:22June 30, 1953.
26:25By now, the ground fighting in Korea has seesawed back and forth for three years,
26:31grinding to a virtual stalemate.
26:34Cease fire talks have dragged on for two years.
26:38There is a palpable sense that peace could break out at any moment.
26:45The communist air training program in Manchuria is rotating as many students and instructors
26:50through MiG alley as possible for combat experience.
26:58On this clear June day, Captain Ralph Parr is only too willing to oblige.
27:06He's part of a four-ship saber sweep into the hornet's nest.
27:11Today, on his very first flight into MiG alley,
27:15Parr will be locked into an extended, adrenaline-pumping duel with a MiG honcho.
27:31The flight leader is Vermont Gary Garrison, 335th Squadron commander.
27:39The flight moves into combat spread.
27:44Parr sees movement at his 1 o'clock position.
27:47They called the flight out, and we had a flight of 16 MiGs flying almost opposite us.
28:00Undetected, the four sabers stalked the 16 MiGs like cheetahs moving through tall grass.
28:09The MiGs don't know we're there.
28:12And we're closing on them, slowly.
28:16I'm doing everything but pushing my airplane by hand,
28:20trying to get it to go faster.
28:22I'm quietly saying to myself,
28:25don't shoot yet, Gary.
28:27Gary, don't shoot.
28:29Don't shoot yet.
28:39Saber tactics in MiG alley emphasize the finger four.
28:42Two pairs of two sabers, with each pair, or element, providing mutual support and protection.
28:51If I spotted a MiG, my number two man, he knows that from that call on,
28:56I'm not going to be looking around at all.
28:59Only the flight lead, the most experienced pilot, would fire on a MiG.
29:05The second most experienced pilot was number three, or element lead.
29:10He was the alternate shooter in case the flight got separated.
29:16Numbers two and four were wingmen, newer pilots,
29:19who at all times were to protect the flight leads or element leads' rear end.
29:28The high-speed combat of MiG alley demanded hawk-like awareness and concentration.
29:33The key to winning and surviving was flight integrity.
29:40When we're talking about tactics, integrity doesn't have anything to do with telling lies or things of that nature.
29:45It has to do with maintaining a cohesive force.
29:48A flight goes out, and it's trained to go out and fight as a four-ship flight.
29:53It sees the enemy, it fights as a four-ship flight, and it comes back as a four-ship flight.
29:57That's integrity.
30:00Before they arrived in Korea, new Saber pilots went through grueling F-86 training
30:05at the Air Force Fighters School at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada.
30:10So many pilots were killed at Nellis in simulated dogfights
30:14that new arrivals were told only half-jokingly.
30:17If you see the flag at full staff, take a picture.
30:22Even the greenest F-86 pilot arrived in Korea with a high level of training.
30:28Captain Ralph Parr was more than ready.
30:32He knew Korea well, having flown F-80s in support of ground troops in 1950.
30:41After his F-80 tour, Parr returns to the States and to the cockpit of the F-86.
30:50He earns a reputation as one of the most skilled and aggressive Saber instructor pilots.
31:04In fighter pilot lingo, Parr is a good stick, and he's champing at the bit to kill MiGs.
31:12In the summer of 1953, with the fourth fighter wing, Parr will demonstrate his deadly prowess.
31:22Four F-86s are tracking 16 unsuspecting MiGs.
31:28Vermont Garrison, the flight leader, is the shooter.
31:33Ralph Parr is hoping upon hope that Garrison will hold his fire.
31:41Wait till I get into position, and we'll get two at the same time.
31:45And of course, I can't say this on the open radio, because it would tip the enemy off.
31:51Garrison doesn't wait.
31:53He shoots.
31:55One MiG is hit, goes inverted, dives away.
32:00Garrison stayed on him, cut the corner, swung in behind him.
32:06It's going to be an easy kill.
32:13Garrison, followed by his wingman, dives after the smoking MiG.
32:22And the next thing I hear, I hear a voice, and it's Garrison, and he says,
32:26my guns won't fire.
32:31The stricken MiG is here.
32:34Garrison, whose guns have jammed, is here.
32:40Suddenly, the MiG leader, moving to protect one of his stricken flock, jumps into the fight.
32:49The leader of the 16 MiGs does a very fast turn reversal and heads straight for Garrison and Garrison's wingman.
33:04Garrison is impressed by this aggressive move.
33:08He's done this before.
33:10He's pretty highly experienced.
33:14Garrison quickly sizes up the situation.
33:17Garrison and his wingman are now vulnerable to the MiG leader's guns.
33:21Garrison maneuvers to cut off the aggressive MiG.
33:26He slams the stick over in a hard left turn.
33:29Blood rushes from his head.
33:31The G suit instantly inflates, squeezes his abdomen and thighs in a python grip.
33:38Though out of range, Parr fires a short burst to scare the MiG off Garrison's tail.
33:44It works.
33:45MiG leader breaks away.
33:53Parr gives chase maneuvers for a clean shot.
33:58I latched onto this guy at about a ballpark of about 1,800 feet and brought my pipper up, put
34:08the pipper on his fuselage.
34:11Getting ready to shoot him.
34:14And he started his maneuvering.
34:16And we had a dogfight that lasted six minutes before the first shot was fired.
34:22MiG lead is a honcho and one hell of a pilot.
34:27He jinx frantically, turning hard left, then right.
34:30He throws his jet around the sky, rolling and twisting.
34:34The red pilot tries multiple split-S reversals, anything to shake Parr off his tail and turn the tables on
34:41his attacker.
34:45The MiG leader is skilled and not ready to die.
34:49Parr hangs in but can't draw a bead.
34:52This honcho may live to fight another day.
34:55It had reached a point whereby I didn't know whether I was going to let him go or not.
35:01The MiG is sliding out of reach, but the Sabre has a technological edge that will decide the contest.
35:14June 30, 1953.
35:17In MiG Alley, the battle has turned into a giant swirling furball, like something out of World War II, but
35:23faster and higher.
35:26Captain Ralph Parr is in the thick of it.
35:32We went into just a roaring gunfight between 20 aircraft, four of them ours.
35:42Fortunately for Parr, the machine in which he's staking his very existence had reached its ultimate expression by 1953.
35:53The F-86A models that first went to Korea in December 1950 were excellent gun platforms.
36:00But they were heavier than the MiGs.
36:02And their 5,400 pound thrust engines couldn't get the Sabre up to the MiG's 50,000 foot altitude.
36:12They were also outnumbered, eight to one.
36:15In December 1951, the 51st Fighter Interceptor Wing joins the fight in MiG Alley.
36:23It's now roughly 130 Sabres to 350 plus MiGs.
36:30The 51st arrives with F-86Es, which introduce the so-called flying tail to the Sabre.
36:40On earlier models of the F-86, the elevator, or up and down control surface on the tail, was unresponsive
36:48near supersonic speed.
36:50The force of air made it impossible for the pilot to move the stick, a serious handicap in air combat.
37:00The E-model's totally new flying tail is hydraulically boosted, providing positive elevator control, even at maximum airspeed.
37:13In August of 1952, yet another, and the most lethal version of the Sabre, streaks into MiG Alley.
37:23The F-86F.
37:26The F has a more powerful 6,090 pound thrust engine, bringing the Sabre nearly equal to the MiG in
37:34two critical areas.
37:38Rate of climb, over 9,000 feet a minute, and service ceiling, 49,000 feet.
37:50The Sabre's wing also undergoes a significant change.
37:54The movable leading edge slats, originally designed for greater control at low airspeed, disappear.
38:02Most jet combat, not all, but most, tended to occur at higher airspeeds, where the slats were really of not
38:10much advantage.
38:11The slats are replaced with a new non-movable leading edge that's extended six inches at the wing root and
38:19three inches at wing tip.
38:26The so-called hard, or 6-3 wing, increases the Sabre's maneuverability at high speeds.
38:37The F model was a tremendous improvement.
38:40We had a better turning capability.
38:42It was faster, better climb, and more closely assimilated those characteristics of the MiG that we liked so much.
38:54The MiG-15 was still lighter and retained its power to weight advantage.
38:58But for the first time, the F-86 could maneuver with the MiG on equal terms up to 49,000
39:05feet.
39:08On June 30, 1953, the added thrust and maneuverability of the F-86F allows Captain Ralph Parr to stay with
39:17the MiG.
39:19But he can't get into firing position against an experienced honcho.
39:24I could bring my gun sight right up to the airplane, but I couldn't get it on the airplane.
39:32In an attempt to get Parr off his tail, MiG leader rolls into another split S and dives.
39:39Parr goes inverted, pulls down.
39:44The move keeps him on the MiG's tail, still in the chase.
39:49At 3,000 feet, the jets pull out of the dive.
39:53Parr feels the crush of G on his chest as the horizon slowly reappears.
39:58Then, MiG leader raises his nose and slams the throttle forward.
40:03He's counting on his airplane's superior rate of climb to carry him clear of the Sabre's fangs.
40:10All the right moves, but the F-model Sabre has the electronic advantage.
40:16Parr's radar-ranging gun sight can reach out nearly two miles.
40:22So I just sat there and very calmly let the gun sight settle down, gave him about a four-second
40:31burst, and shot him to ribbons.
40:35The Sabre's 650-caliber machine guns fire at a rate of 110 rounds per second.
40:4128 pounds of lead have just impacted the MiG.
40:47The airplane burst into flames. Flames are trailing way back.
40:52I throttled back a little bit, and to get a close look at this guy who'd been doing rather well,
41:01as I rolled up to look down on him, and I could see that there were slashes from those .50
41:11calibers, and they were all burning.
41:14But fire coming out of just about all of them. The canopy was broken. There was blood in the front
41:22end of the canopy and forward of the pilot, and the pilot was down sort of hanging over his stick.
41:32Parr has scored his first kill in MiG alley, but there's no time to savor the victory.
41:37About that time, I heard the distinctive 37-millimeter cannon going thump, thump, thump.
41:46If I could hear him, he was close. Too damn close.
41:52Another MiG, which had been following the fight from a distance, has moved in to avenge his leader's demise.
42:00Parr instinctively pirouettes. He snaps the saber's nose skyline into a hard-climbing turn.
42:15The MiG pilot is surprised. He overshoots.
42:19Parr reverses his turn. The MiG is his.
42:24Parr's deft maneuver has put him into a good firing position behind his adversary.
42:31He turned left about 45 degrees, and when he rolled level, I knocked him out of the sky.
42:39I hit him so I couldn't miss.
42:45Two MiGs in rapid succession.
42:52Ralph Parr will finish his saber tour with 10 victories, a double ace, an achievement matched by only 10 other
42:59F-86 pilots.
43:03Remarkably, he does it in only 30 missions during the last seven weeks of the war.
43:12Parr will stay in the cockpit, winning the Air Force Cross for heroism during the Vietnam War.
43:21In Korea, the guns fell silent at midnight July 27, 1953.
43:28The battle lines ended almost exactly where they started.
43:33No formal truce officially ended the hostilities.
43:39The F-86s scored an impressive record in MiG Alley.
43:43Against a loss of 78 of their own, the Sabres shot down almost 560 MiGs.
43:50Seven to one in favor of the F-86.
43:55In a war without winners, the battle for air superiority in MiG Alley was the only clear victory.
44:05The region remains a powder keg to this day.
44:11The sound of jets still reverberates through the mountains of the Korean Peninsula.
44:18Mach 2 capable F-15s and F-16s now take to the skies once patrolled by the F-86.
44:25In the north, MiG-15s have given way to MiG-21s and advanced MiG-29s.
44:35Long range air to air missiles are the weapons of choice for these technological wonders.
44:40Should war return to Korea, these modern-day adversaries will engage from miles away.
44:48They will never face off in flashing dogfights that were the hallmark of MiG Alley.
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