Word: interceptor
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Last week's big day belonged to the aces. Back in harness was Major James Jabara, who became the first jet ace in 1951, to shoot down his 13th and 14th MIGs. Colonel James Johnson, 37-year-old commander of the Fourth Fighter-Interceptor Wing, destroyed his tenth. Another oldster, Lieut. Colonel Vermont Garrison, 37, who shot down eleven Nazi planes in World War II, got his ninth MIG the same day. Among the younger aces who added to their scores was Captain Ralph Parr, 28, who flew 165 fighter-bomber missions on his first Korean tour...
Above all, the Sabre is versatile. The MIG was designed as a shortrange, fastclimbing bomber interceptor to defend Russia. It is ideally suited for Korea. But the Sabre was designed for air-to-air combat - and light bombing - anywhere in the world...
...lost the feel" of the ship because of the new power control system; to supply "artificial feel," a spring and a bob-weight were built in so that the pressures on the stick would vary with changes in speed and altitude. The nose of one model, the F-86D interceptor, was loaded with special radar equipment which will track down an enemy plane, figure its speed and angle of approach, automatically steer the F-86D on an intercepting course and fire its load (24 "Mighty Mouse" rockets) before diverting the F-86 so it won't collide with...
...record, the Sabre jets now meeting the enemy's MIG-155 in Korea are the finest fighters in combat, and Air Force men are no longer dazzled, as they were at first sight, by the nimble performance of the enemy's No. 1 interceptor. Over the past twelve months, the ratio of MIGs downed to Sabres lost in air combat has soared from about 8 to 1 to upwards of 15 to 1. For several days this month, when the MIGs offered battle in numbers, they were being knocked down like grouse on a Scottish moor...
Leading one element of the Sabres was a Texan named Royal N. Baker, who had flown British Spitfires against the Luftwaffe in 1942, was now, at 34, a colonel and commander of the Air Force's 4th Fighter-Interceptor Wing. Nearly 40,000 ft. up, Baker and his followers ran into a flight of eight MIG-15s. Two of the MIGs turned tail and headed for the Yalu. Taking out after one of them, Baker edged close, fired one short burst. The shots "just sprayed the air because I was caught in his jetwash." From 1,200 ft. away...