F-86A Sabre: Korea 1950-51

Description

Strap in alongside the Sabre pilots as they experienced the world's first large-scale jet-vs-jet combats. Brought to life with innovative tactical artwork and dramatic first-hand accounts from the pilots themselves. The F-86A Sabre had entered USAF service in 1949, and in December 1950 three squadrons were sent to South Korea. Despite primitive basing conditions and overwhelming Chinese opposition, the Sabre pilots stopped communist air forces from attacking UN ground troops and allowed Allied fighter-bombers to operate without threat of interception. The ensuing air battles between Sabres and MiG-15s were the first since World War II, and the last in recent times to involve large numbers of jet fighters in direct confrontation. In all of them the victorious F-86 pilots demonstrated the superiority of their training and tactics and the outstanding qualities of their Sabres. Contemporary photographs and specially commissioned artwork, including a dramatic battlescene, armament views, technical diagrams and ribbon diagrams illustrating step-by-step each main dogfight explored in the book, bring the experiences of the Sabre pilots and their battle tactics vividly to life.

Peter E. Davies has published over 30 books for Osprey. He has specialised in the aircraft of the Vietnam and Cold Wars, analysing tactics, background politics and technologies in combat and relying on first-hand interviews and unpublished material. Peter has also been a contributor to Aeroplane Monthly, Aviation News and Aircraft Illustrated. The illustrators for this volume are Gareth Hector (cover and battlescene), Jim Laurier (armament views) and Tim Brown (ribbon diagrams).