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Frederick Blesse
| Major General Frederick Blesse (deceased) Major General Frederick C. 'Boots' Blesse, born in 1921 in Colón, Panama Canal Zone, graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1945. His first combat missions in Korea were flown in the P-51 where he completed 67 missions in the Mustang. This was followed by 35 missions flying the F-80 and 121 missions in the F-86. In all he flew 233 combat missions in the Korean conflict achieving 10 aerial victories making him the current leading Ace from that war. He later flew 157 missions in the F-4 in Vietnam. He retired from the USAF in 1975, with more than 6,500 flying hours in fighter-type aircraft and more than 650 hours combat time to his credit. Sadly, Frederick Boots Blesse passed away on 1st November 2012. |
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Hunting Party by Robert Watts. Mig Alley! That chilling destination synonymous with the dawn of the jet ages first large-scale air battles; deadly contests fought at unprecedented speeds in an aerial battleground in the thin air high above a hostile faraway land. Quick to react to the Communist invasion of South Korea, American fighter pilots, many already World War II Aces, were more than able to meet the North Korean challenge flying their trusty P-51 Mustangs, and two new jets, the F-80 Shooting Star and the F9F Panther. All that changed one bright November day: a patrol of P-51s were pounced upon by shiny new swept wing fighters bearing the Red Star of the Chinese Air Force, and as the flight of Russian-built MiG-15s hurtled past at near supersonic speed, it became evident that America would have to move its new F-86 Sabre into the front line. When the two new planes finally met in combat over Korea, so alike was their configuration and performance, it was difficult to tell them apart. The MiGs high rate of climb and service ceiling gave it an advantage, but the manoeuvrability and rock-steady response of the F-86 was an edge in a dogfight. The real difference was the pilots! Fighting with the disadvantage of having to fly 200 miles to the battle zone, the skill and courage of the F-86 pilots has become legend. With speeds often nudging the sound barrier, and performing combat manoeuvres at 600 m.p.h. imposing crushing G-forces, the F-86 pilots ran up a spectacular kill ratio of 8:1 against the MiGs. In Robert Watts powerful painting, the frosty morning air is shattered by a hunting party of F-86 Sabres of the U.S. 51st Fighter-Interceptor Wing, as they blast off the runway at Kimpo airfield, South Korea. Led by Gabby Gabreski, they are headed north to the Yalu River, and Mig Alley. |
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