Sabres over MiG Alley: The F-86 and the Battle for Air Superiority in Korea
Editorial Reviews
Book Description
Combining hardware and personnel, design and operations, a former U.S. Air Force pilot and aviation historian focuses on the one clear American victory of the Korean War, the jet fighter battle between the F-86 and the MiG-15. Kenneth P. Werrell explains how, despite being outnumbered, the USAF won air superiority in Korea with an aircraft that was initially inferior to its opponent. His book examines the Sabre's design and development, its combat service, and efforts to improve its performance. In addition to describing the difficulties encountered with the aircraft, he details the problems with rules of engagement, friendly fire, and personnel. He shows how numerous Air Force pilots, including almost all the aces, abetted by their leaders, violated restrictions and engaged and destroyed MiGs over China.
Werrell is first to take such an indepth look at the F-86, its pilots and operations, in this the first jet versus jet war. One of the few bright spots in the "forgotten war," it is the story of how an outnumbered force, flying an aircraft at the limits of its range, decisively defeated its foe. The author attributes the undisputed aerial victory-the U.S. claimed an eight-to-one air-to-air victory-to-loss ratio-to the skill and aggressiveness of the American pilots, a mixture of World War II veterans and recently trained young men. The winning and retention of air superiority gave UN forces a critical edge in the war, allowing them to fight without fear of air attack while the communists were battered by air power. The study is based on the latest scholarship, including a number of previously untapped sources, and interviews with Sabre pilots.
About the Author
Kenneth P. Werrell, a 1960 graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, piloted a weather reconnaissance aircraft over the northwest Pacific before resigning his commission. After earning his Ph.D. at Duke University, he taught history at Radford University until his retirement. This is his seventh book on aviation history.
Sabres over MiG Alley: The F-86 and the Battle for Air Superiority in Korea,Kenneth P. Werrell,Naval Institute Press,1591149339,Aerial operations, American,Airplanes, Military,History,History - Military / War,History: World,Korean War, 1950-1953,Military - Aviation,Military - General,Military - Korean War,Sabre (Jet fighter planes),United States,Air forces & warfare,American history: postwar, from c 1945 -,Asian / Middle Eastern history: postwar, from c 1945 -,Korea,The Americas
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