"Headhunters" A2 Jacket - Korea War

[Steindaddie]

After briefly digging around in my air force library I found mention that F-80C 49-1827 was written off in 1955. No details other than it happened in Alabama. I am assuming it did the usual early 1950's USAF jet fighter routine and met up with some cumulus granite

[Ricardo]

After briefly digging around in my air force library I found mention that F-80C 49-1827 was written off in 1955. No details other than it happened in Alabama. I am assuming it did the usual early 1950's USAF jet fighter routine and met up with some cumulus granite

 

Thank you so much!!!

 

My best,

 

Ricardo.

[Ricardo]

In my research I discovered:

 

Serial numbers – series 49 (F-80C lot):

 

49-1800/1899 Lockheed F-80C-10-LO Shooting Star c/n 080-2627/2726 (USAF Contract number)

 

1802 to Ecuador AF. To MASDC Jul 12, 1965

1803 (8th FBG, 36th FBS) damaged by AAA and crashed near Sinanju Jul 11, 1951.

1805 (8th FBG, 36 FBS) belly landed at K-14 May 31, 1952.

1806 (8th FBG) shot down by ground fire Apr 20, 1952.

1810 to Ecuador AF. To MASDC Jul 12, 1965

1812 (49th FBG, 8th FBS) collided with another F-80 and crashed into Ongangawa River, Korea Sep 15, 1950.

1813 (8th FBG, 35th FBS) MIA on night recon mission Mar 16, 1953.

1814 (49th FBG, 8th FBS) tip tanks came off during bombing run and crashed Huichon, NK Dec 9, 1950.

1815 (49th FBG, 8th FBS) MIA on combat mission Sep 14, 1950.

1817 (51st FIG, 16th FIS) internal explosion, pilot bailed out N of Taegu Jan 8, 1951.

1818 (49th FBG, 8th FBS) crashed after mechanical problem Jan 6, 1951.

1822 (8th FBG, 35th FBS) shot down by AAA Jan 10, 1953.

1823 (51st FIG, 25th FIS) engine flamed out, belly landed near K-50 Oct 30, 1951

1825 (8th FBG, 80th FBS) crashed into water at gunnery range Mar 6, 1952.

1828 (8th FBG, 36th FBS) shot down by AAA N of Pyongyang, N. Korea Mar 14, 1951.

1829 (8th FBG, 36th FBS) hit by AAA and crashed near Sunchon, N. Korea Jun 28, 1951.

1830 (8th FBG, 80th FBS) hit by AAA Nov 22, 1952.

1831 (8th FBG, 36th FBS) shot down by ground fire NE of Sunchon, N. Korea Jul 1, 1951.

1832 (8th FBG, 80th FBS) hit by ground fire near Kunu-ri, Korea Dec 16, 1951.

1833 (8th FBG, 36th FBS) shot down by AAA near Sunan airfield Jul 7, 1951.

1834 (8th FBG, 36th FBS) in midair collision with MiG Mar 17, 1951.

1840 (8th FBG, 35th FBS) crashlanded at Seoul South AB Apr 29, 1951.

1842 (8th FBG, 36th FBS) hit by AAA, exploded on impact near Sogu-ri, Korea Apr 12, 1951

1844 (51st FIG, 25th FIS) damaged by AAA Mar 5, 1951. Shot down by AAA with 8th FBG, 35th FBS) Apr 26, 1951.

1848 (8th FBG, 80th FBS) hit ground on strafing pass, pilot bailed out over Wonsan Harbor Mar 20, 1951.

1849 at Kulis ANGB

1850 (8th FBG, 35th FBS) crashed into Fukouka Bay Apr 15, 1951.

1852 (8th FBG, 36th FBS) crashed while on strafing run May 10, 1951.

1853 (8th FBG, 36th FIS) hit by AAA and crashed near Kujangdong, N. Korea May 14, 1951.

1854 (8th FBG, 80th FBS) tip tank came loose, crashed near Chunchon, Korea Jan 23, 1951.

1855 (51st FIG, 25th FIS) tip tanks malfunctioned, crashed near Taegu Apr 9, 1951.

1856 (8th FBG, 80th FBS) external tank damaged by ground fire, could not jettison,crashlanded Apr 8, 1951.

1857 (51st FIG, 25th FIS) pilot bailed out due to engine failure near Chinnampo Sep 6, 1951.

1858 (8th FBG, 80th FBS) shot down by AAA Feb 16, 1953.

1860 (8th FBG) crashlanded after engine failure Feb 24, 1951.

1861 (51st FIG, 16th FIS) MIA on armed recon mission May 13, 1951.

1862 (8th FBG, 80th FIS) shot down by AAA over Hengchon Feb 26, 1951.

1865 (49th FBG, 8th FBS) hit by ground fire and crashed into Wonsan Harbor Apr 7, 1951.

1867 (8th FBG, 80th FBS) crashed on strafing run near Inchon, N. Korea Mar 21, 1951.

1868 to Ecuador AF. To MASDC Jul 12, 1965

1869 (8th FBG, 80th FBS) ran off end of runway on takeoff Jan 1, 1952.

1871 (51st FIG, 25th FIS) disintegrated in midair at Omora Gunnery Range, Kyushu, Japan Jul 24, 1951.

1872 to Ecuador AF as TF-872. To MASDC Jun 15, 1965. Now in Pueblo, CO museum

1873 (8th FBG, 36th FBS) shot down on strafing run Aug 1, 1952.

1874 (8th FBG, 80th FBS) shot down by ground fire May 8, 1952.

1875 (51st FIG, 16th FIS) damaged by AAA Feb 5, 1951. Crashlanded due to engine trouble with 8th FBG, 36th FBS Nov 17, 1952.

1878 (8th FBG, 25th FBS) crashed during strafing run Chunghwa, N. Korea Oct 9, 1951.

1880 (8th FBG, 80th FBS) MIA on bombing run Jan 16, 1952.

1884 (8th FBG, 36th FBS) crashed into mountain after target run Jan 11, 1952.

1885 (RF-80C, 67th TRW, 15th TRS) shot down by ground fire Jul 1, 1953.

1886 (49th FBG, 9th FBS) shot down by ground fire S of Sunan Jul 14, 1951.

1887 (49th FBG, 8th FBS) MIA due to fuel exhaustion after return from combat mission Feb 21, 1951.

1892 (67th TRW, 15th TRS) MIA Apr 15, 1953.

1895 (8th FBG, 35th FBS) crashed on bomb run Jul 22, 1952.

 

Notice: The jets 491-822, 823, 825, 828, and 829 been abated (827 was a survivor)

[korea drab]

Ricardo

The name of the pilot of FT-826 (49-1826) was Major James Stewart relieved from combat duty over Korea in 1951.

The number at the rudder should be 91827.

I don´t know if they where together.I took this information from "a photo chronicle" P-80/F-80 from David R Mc Laren Schiffer publications.Excellent book on Korean stars! 180 pages.

Saludos

KH

[Ricardo]

Ricardo

The name of the pilot of FT-826 (49-1826) was Major James Stewart relieved from combat duty over Korea in 1951.

The number at the rudder should be 91827.

I don´t know if they where together.I took this information from "a photo chronicle" P-80/F-80 from David R Mc Laren Schiffer publications.Excellent book on Korean stars! 180 pages.

Saludos

KH

 

WOW!!!!

 

Muchas gracias KH!!

 

Muy especial esta información!!

 

Saludos del Brasil,

 

Ricardo.

[Ricardo]

"E" FLIGHT FROM CHITOSE - by Cliff Winter

 

October 1952, the 'hot war' in Korea was winding down and the 'Cold War' was warming up. The occupation of Japan had ended in April, leaving the Far East Air Force responsible for air defense of that island nation. I was assigned to the 41st Fighter Interceptor Squadron at Johnson AB, having just completed a tour in F-80s; with the 36th FBS at Suwon. In a few months the 41st would convert to F-86s.

 

My family had arrived in Japan about three months before, and we were looking forward to a couple of years without separation, when suddenly I received orders placing me TDY with Flight E (Provisional). I had no idea that the great flying would almost compensate for the new separation.

 

Flight 'E' was hatched because of Japanese concern over the intrusion of Russian MiGs over Hokkaido. MiG flights were coming down from bases in the northern Kuriles and on Sakhalin. FEAF air defenses consisted of a single squadron of F-84s at Chitose, and an early warning radar at the northern tip of the island. Major James Stewart, CO of the 41st, was given the job of creating the unit and selecting personnel, including pilots with F-86 experience. Luckily, I had 150 hours in the F-86 right out of flight training.

 

We were based at Chitose. Lacking experience in formIng such an organization, Maj. Stewart dug out a TO&E, and drew the organizational chart in the dirt of the hanger floor. He called us together and had us stand in our assigned slot so he could tell which jobs were still open and assigned them on the spot.

 

I was eager to get a chance at the MiGs in a competitive Fighter like the '86 after some frustrating encounters flying F-80s in Korea. My flight then, had a few guys who, like me, had an itch to tangle with the MiGs. The prospect of air to air combat seemed like a ball 'in comparison to the impersonal ground fire we faced on our interdiction minions.

 

We conserved our fuel after 'working on, the railroad', so we could stay in the area a little longer. We'd discovered that after the '86s had left for home, a few MiGs would come looking for the defenseless F-80s. On a few missions, we managed to find each other. All we had to do was see them and turn into them and they were unable to get into position for a decent shot. Of course, we seldom got a shot at them either. But the game was a ball!! Natunilly, if they kept attacking, we had to keep turning and couldn't head for home, using up what was left of our fuel. They never figured this out and a couple of times we landed on fumes.

 

I cine very close to scoring on one mission. After doing our usual shoot 'em up along the MSR, we were jumped by what appeared to be a single MiG. I called

"Break right!", but my wingman called "Red Lead, roll out, you've got one passing under you." Sure enough, less than 200 feet ahead and low, a MiG had tried to slow down to match our turn. He misjudged and now realized he'd just made an "Oh s--t!" blunder. He was so close that he filled 1/3 of my windscreen.

 

In an instant I had the pipper centered on his tailpipe. He was dead meat! I squeezed the trigger and waited to hear the chatter of the six .50s. What I got was "Pop! Pop!". I was out of ammo! And the MiG pilot was out of there too soon for my wingman to slide over for a shot. So much for the highlight of my Korea tour.

 

After getting Flight E organized, our first task was to pick up twelve new F-86Fs at Kizarazu. The F model was new to me on top of the fact that I'd flown nothing but

F-80s; in over a year. So I did a lot of smiling during the refresher check-out. In early December, the pilots and aircraft flew to Chitose.

 

Upon arrival, the first thing I noticed was the snow. The second was the temperature. I had come face to face with the fact that we had moved a lot closer to the Arctic Circle. Snow fell often, and almost always in the form of short intense showers lasting 10-20 minutes. The shortage of alternates, combined with the snow showers, made for many a 'pucker moment'- By the end of December, the taxiways and runway were like tunnels. Mammoth snow blowers capable of getting the snow to the tops of 35 foot high piles, kept Chitose open most of the time.

 

An F-84 pilot found the deep snow to be a blessing when he landed short and wiped out the main landing gear. My wingman, Pat McGee, watched the '84 approach and landing. It became obvious that the '84 was going to land short. Pat said it was a spectacular sight when that '84 disappeared into the snow about 1000' short of the over run, remaining hidden until it bunt into sight with snow flying in all directions, and sliding more than 2000' straight down the runway. That left us with two choices, one was poor and the other lousy. We could land over the '84 and try to stop on the remaining 3000' of ice runway. Or we could try and make one of the alternates on what was left of our fuel. Being cocky fighter pilots, we chose the former. We'd have 2500' of runway, plus the over run to get stopped in. And if that wasn't enough, the big snow bank at the end "looked pretty soft"! As it turned out, I was actually able to turn off on the last taxiway. Pat also got stopped but blew a tire when he hit one of the few dry patches of runway.

 

Flight E's mission was to discourage the MiGs from entering Japanese airspace. This was easier said than done as them was no GCI capability on Hokkaido. The only radar in the area was an early warning station on the northern tip. They were able to tell us - by landline! - the location in latitude and longitude of the intruder, but no intercept information.

 

Once airborne we had no radio contact with the radar guys, and were left to find a couple of very tiny aircraft in a very large sky. To my knowledge, no contact was ever made as a result of any of these scrambles. Normally, we patrolled near the area where the MiGs might be. Apparently, this was successful because the MiGs stayed well cear of us. And reports of overflights dropped considerably. Occasionally, our guys reported seeing a flight of MiGs in the distance, making tracks for home.

 

To give us more patrol time, a deployment base was set up at Kenebetsu, about 200 miles north of Chitose. Kenebetsu was an old Japanese fighter base, but was now deserted. Six of our airmen, including a cook, starter unit, fuel truck, and practically nothing else, went to Kenebetsu to provide refueling and alert capability. The men slept in tents and cooked over open fires. We had to eat with our gloves on. To us pilots, it was a pretty lousy existence. But the ground crew seemed to enjoy it.

 

Wben the weather permitted, a flight of F-86s would leave Chitose, fly a patrol over the east coast and land at Kenebetsu. After refueling and lunch, we would repeat the patrol and head back to Cohost. Bemuse we were flying into the teeth of the jet stream, which often exceeded 150 knots and snow showers were a likely possibility at Chitose, fuel reserve was always a serious concern. By late January 1953, I still had sighted no more than a couple of MiG flights. I was scheduled to patrol what we knew as the MacArthur Line, a line established between Sakhalin and Hokkaido. Julian Logan was my wingman. Pat McGee and Abe Lincicome had the other element. We all liked having Pat with us because of his unbelievable eyesight. He could spot another aircraft long before anyone else. I felt that a decoy operation might bring the MiGs across the MacArthur Line where they'd be fair game.

 

I asked Pat to follow us by 15 minutes, and to fly where his flight would leave an obvious contrail. I planned to penetrate the southern coast of Sakhalin above the cons. This would allow the Russians to scramble the MiGs before we started our turn back. My hope was that the MiGs would head south, and instead of finding us, they'd see Pat's flight clearly visible heading north. And that's what happened.

 

It was late afternoon when we spotted Pat's flight clearly visible heading north. With absolutely lucky timing, a flight of MiGs was headed south, conning brightly. I called them out to Pat, who acknowledged and said he was steady at 27,000'. It was the kind of perfect setup that all fighter pilots dream about altitude advantage and surprise!

 

We punched off our tanks, hoping the bad guys wouldn't notice them flashing in the sun. I was already picturing myself painting a big red star on the side of my Sabre. We were in perfect position at about 36,000'.

 

Unfortunately, we were slightly east of their position and looking into the sun. As we started our dive, the two flights started to turn toward one another, putting them in a circle with Pat's flight turning through east and the MiGs turning through west.

 

During ourdive we were headed into the sun and I lost sight of both flights for a few seconds. I made a quick judgment as to which flight was which, and here's where I blew it. I closed on the No. 2 man with everything in my favor. I was looking right up his tailpipe from. about 2500' and closing rapidly. I was actually starting to squeeze the trigger when I suddenly realized it wasn't a MiG. It was an '86. I had come within a split second of shooting down Abe Lincicome. We still had plenty of excessive air speed so we pulled up and turned north expecting the MiGs to be headed in that direction. But they turned west and were making tracks out of there. Once again, I had missed my chance to finally get a MiG. We tried the decoy operation a few more times but the MiGs failed to fall for it again.

 

But chasing Migs wasn't our only source of entertainment. Before the F-86, few of us had had the opportunity to break the sound barrier. So occasionally, we would launch with a cean aircraft to see just how fast it would go. We'd climb to about 30,000, point the nose straight down with full power, and stomp on the floor to get the Mach meter to indicate mom than 1.0. The most we could get was about 1.04. We also learned two other things - start your pullout at above 10,000' to avoid colliding with the planet, and not to use Chitose as an aiming point. How were we to know the post commander's wife lived there, and she had precious dishes in her closet. We were firmly told to find a new playground.

 

At Chitose, I had been adopted by a lovable, wooly puppy peculiar to the harsh winters of Hokkaido. With my TDY over, I couldn't leave Dusty behind. But getting her back presented a problem. I was to fly an '86 back which my replacement would return in. Dusty was pretty calm so I decided to take her with me in the airplane. In spite of his obvious doubts, the crew chief passed her to me after strapping me in. Before taking the runway, I ran the engine to full power. Dusty seemed to accept this so off we went. The flight was uneventful and both the dog and I arrived none the worse for wear. I wish I had a picture of the crew chief's eyes at Johnson when I opened the carropy and handed Dusty to him.

 

Flight E (Provisional) was a truly unique and enjoyable experience.

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

No portion of this article may be used or reprinted without permission from the President of the F-86 Sabre Pilots Association or the editor of Sabre Jet Classics magazine.

[Ricardo]

Same pilot???

 

Aces of the Eighth Air Force in World War Two

 

Name: James C. Stewart

Kills: 12.5

Medals: DSC

Unit: 56FG

Plane: P-47

[Ricardo]

One book!!!

 

Stewart, James. Airpower: The Decisive Force in Korea. Princeton, NJ, Van Nostrand, 1957. 310p.

Book call no.: 951.9 S849a

[Rattle]

Great Jacket my friend

And more important, ....great research.

 

 

Regards,

Stephan

[Ricardo]

Great Jacket my friend

And more important, ....great research.

Regards,

Stephan

 

Danke mein Freund!

 

My best,

 

Ricardo.

[Ricardo]

Hi All,

 

PLEASE USAF/USAAF collectors, help me to find more informations about this pilot or plane!!!

 

Thank you so much in advance!!

 

Regards,

 

Ricardo.

[Ricardo]

Hi,

 

I will place this jacket for sale. Please, I need some opinions in relation the value.

 

Thanks in advance! :thumbsup:

 

Best regards,

 

Ricardo.

[Ricardo]

Hi,

 

I will place this jacket for sale. Please, I need some opinions in relation the value.

 

Thanks in advance! :thumbsup:

 

Best regards,

 

Ricardo.

 

Hi,

 

No tips, fellows? :thumbsup:

 

Best regards,

 

Ricardo.

[JDK]

I don't have alot of experience with Korean War era A-2 jackets. I can tell you that from what I have seen in the past, they normally bring a fair amount less than their WW2 patched and painted counterparts. If you get a positive ID on the original owner, I'm sure the value will increase by quite a bit.

Korean war era A-2 jackets are not that common to find, so a value is normally tough to come up with.

Best of luck!

JD

[Johnny Signor]

I would suggest that you try contacting the current reunion members of the Group and post the photos of the jacket and your info about it and see if someone there can get you a pilot/s ID etc.

Air Force magazine is a good start or Air Force Times newspaper another.

[Ricardo]

Thank you, Fellows!!

 

Today the jacket returning for the United States.

 

Thanks for the interested collegues who had sent proposals for PMs. :thumbsup:

 

Best regards,

 

Ricardo.

[cudadave]

Hi, My Dad was with the Head Hunters in Korea.I was looking through his photos and two of them have the FT-827A plane in them. I don`t know why it has an A.None of the other planes in his photos(FT- 630,636,649,739,851,872) have a letter behind the number.I tried to upload a photo but it was larger than the space.They`re not photos of the plane by it`s self but runway shots with the 827 plane on the side.