The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 is a jet fighter aircraft developed by Mikoyan-Gurevich for the Soviet Union. The MiG-15 was one of the first successful jet fighters to incorporate swept wings to achieve high transonic speeds. In aerial combat during the Korean War, it outclassed straight-winged jet day fighters, which were largely relegated to ground-attack roles. In response to the MiG-15's appearance and in order to counter it, the United States Air Force rushed the North American F-86 Sabre to Korea.
Richard Ewing Powell was an American actor, musician, producer, director, and studio head. Though he came to stardom as a musical comedy performer, he showed versatility and successfully transformed into a hardboiled leading man, starring in projects of a more dramatic nature. He was the first actor to portray private detective Philip Marlowe on screen.
The North American F-86 Sabre, sometimes called the Sabrejet, is a transonic jet fighter aircraft. Produced by North American Aviation, the Sabre is best known as the United States' first swept-wing fighter that could counter the swept-wing Soviet MiG-15 in high-speed dogfights in the skies of the Korean War (1950–1953), fighting some of the earliest jet-to-jet battles in history. Considered one of the best and most important fighter aircraft in that war, the F-86 is also rated highly in comparison with fighters of other eras. Although it was developed in the late 1940s and was outdated by the end of the 1950s, the Sabre proved versatile and adaptable and continued as a front-line fighter in numerous air forces.
The Bridges at Toko-Ri is a 1954 American war film about the Korean War and stars William Holden, Grace Kelly, Fredric March, Mickey Rooney, and Robert Strauss. The film, which was directed by Mark Robson, was produced by Paramount Pictures. Dennis Weaver and Earl Holliman make early screen appearances in the film.
Iven Carl "Kinch" Kincheloe Jr. was an American pilot. He served in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War, in which he was recognized as a flying ace. He continued as a test pilot after the war, participating in the Bell X-2 program, in which he set an altitude record of 126,200 feet (38,470 m) in 1956. For this suborbital flight above most of the atmosphere, he became known as "The First Spaceman". He was selected for the Air Force's program to put a man in space, but was killed in a plane crash in 1958.
Joseph Christopher McConnell Jr. was a United States Air Force fighter pilot who was the top American flying ace during the Korean War. A native of Dover, New Hampshire, Captain McConnell was credited with shooting down 16 MiG-15s while flying North American F-86 Sabres. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, Silver Star, and the Distinguished Flying Cross for his actions in aerial combat. McConnell was the first American triple jet-on-jet fighter ace and is still the top-scoring American jet ace.
James "Jabby" Jabara was the first American and United States Air Force jet ace. Born in Oklahoma, he lived in Kansas where he enlisted as an aviation cadet at Fort Riley after graduating from high school. Jabara attended four flying schools in Texas before he received his pilot's wings and was commissioned as a second lieutenant. Jabara flew two tours of combat duty in Europe during World War II as a North American P-51 Mustang pilot, and scored 1.5 air victories against German aircraft.
Manuel John "Pete" Fernandez, Jr. was the third-leading American and United States Air Force ace in the Korean War. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for extraordinary heroism in Korea on March 21, 1953.
"MiG Alley" was the name given by United Nations (UN) pilots during the Korean War to the northwestern portion of North Korea, where the Yalu River empties into the Yellow Sea. It was the site of numerous dogfights between UN fighter pilots and their opponents from North Korea and the People's Republic of China. Soviet-built Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 were the aircraft used during most of the conflict, and the area's nickname was derived from them. It was the site of the first large-scale jet-vs.-jet air battles, with the North American F-86 Sabre.
Battle Hymn is a 1957 American war film directed by Douglas Sirk and starring Rock Hudson as Lieutenant Colonel Dean E. Hess, a real-life United States Air Force fighter pilot in the Korean War who helped evacuate several hundred war orphans to safety. The cast also includes Anna Kashfi, Dan Duryea, Don DeFore, Philip Ahn, and Martha Hyer. The film was produced by Ross Hunter and filmed in CinemaScope.
The Hunters is James Salter's debut novel and a tale of USAF fighter pilots during the Korean War, first published in 1956. The novel was the basis for the 1958 film adaptation of the novel starring Robert Mitchum and Robert Wagner with a different storyline.
Jet Pilot is a 1957 American Cold War romance film directed by Josef von Sternberg and starring John Wayne and Janet Leigh. It was written and produced by Jules Furthman, and presented by Howard Hughes. Filming lasted more than eighteen months, beginning in 1949. The last day of shooting was in May 1953, but the Technicolor film was kept out of release by Hughes due to his tinkering until October 1957, by which time Hughes had sold RKO. Universal-International ended up distributing Jet Pilot.
One Minute to Zero is a 1952 American romantic war film starring Robert Mitchum and Ann Blyth, set during the opening phases of the Korean War, and produced by Howard Hughes as his last film as producer. Victor Young's score for the film includes the first appearance of "When I Fall in Love", as the instrumental titled "Theme from One Minute to Zero". The film showcases the contributions of the U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force, the South Korean Army, the United Nations, the British Army and the Royal Australian Air Force during the early days of the Korean War. The effects of air power in the Korean War were also vividly depicted through the use of combat footage.
Yevgeny Georgievich Pepelyaev a Soviet fighter pilot in the Korean war; most Russian sources credit him as the second-highest scoring pilot in the war with 19 shootdowns, placing him only below Nikolai Sutyagin. However, some Western sources indicate him to be the top ace of the war, and he claimed to have 23 victories in his memoir, which would put him above Sutyagin's 22 shootdowns.
The McConnell Story is a 1955 dramatization of the life and career of United States Air Force (USAF) pilot Joseph C. McConnell (1922–1954) directed by Gordon Douglas. McConnell served as a navigator in World War II before becoming the top American ace during the Korean War and was killed on August 25, 1954, while serving as a test pilot at Edwards Air Force Base in the Mojave Desert, California. The Warner Brothers production, filmed in CinemaScope and Warner Color, stars Alan Ladd as McConnell and June Allyson as his wife. Longtime Warners staff composer Max Steiner wrote the musical score for the film.
Sabre Jet is a 1953 American drama war film set during the Korean War, directed by Louis King and starring Robert Stack, Coleen Gray, Richard Arlen, Julie Bishop and Leon Ames. It was shot in Cinecolor using United States Air Force footage. Sabre Jet was based on a story by the producer Carl Krueger with the screenplay written by the husband and wife playwright and screenwriting team of Dale Eunson and Katherine Albert. The opening credits state: "This picture is dedicated to the air force wives who shared their men with a world made desperate by the most brutal aggressor in history."
Sky Commando is a 1953 American war film released by Columbia Pictures, directed by Fred F. Sears and starring Dan Duryea, Frances Gifford and Mike Connors. The Cold War period provides the background, although the plot concerns a flashback to World War II aerial action.
Jet Attack is a 1958 American aviation war film set in the Korean War, featuring United States Air Force (USAF) aircraft.
Henry "Hank" Buttelmann was a fighter pilot of the United States Air Force in the Korean War and Vietnam War. He achieved seven victories over enemy aircraft in Korea, making him a flying ace. He gained his fifth kill on June 30, 1953, just after his 24th birthday, which made him the youngest ace of the war.
Major James Frederick Low was a United States Air Force officer who served in the Korean War achieving Flying ace status and in the Vietnam War where he was shot down and captured.
