Two Beautiful Gals............

[jon_norstog]

Louis, guys,

Those are great pictures, and I'm glad I'm not the onlyone who appreciates those old 'planes.

Here's on for you. After the war ended, the Soviets started getting really aggressive. They had interned some b-29s that landed on their soils after raids over Japan, and copied them bown to the last bolt as the Tu-4. Tu-4's started showing up in Alaska airspace, looking for a way in.

The new jets of the day, mainly the F-80, didn't have the range or endurance to deal with the threat. We used the p-61 black Widow as a long-range interceptor even though most of them were about worn out. There was a new 'plane, though, the P-82 that was designed for the invasion of Japan, then canceled. We had a few and the AF ordered about 350 right away.

They weren't fast as a jet, but they were faster than the Tu-4 and had long range and loitering capability. They were called the "twin mustang" 'cause they looked like 2 mustangs joined. They did the job in 1946,47,48 until the US built some better jets.

After the Chinese drove us out of Korea, the jets didn't have the range to carry out missions from Japanese bases. That job fell to the F-51s and F-82s. They were there mainly for ground attack and tactical missions, contributing greatly to the fighting after Inchon. Once the UN forces had secured some territory, the jets were brought back into the fight.

Our jets (but not our pilots, thank God) were outclassed by the MiGs until the F-86 started arriving. The Sabre was the first U.S. jet IMHO that could be placed in the same company with the great 'planes of WWII.

Once our pilots got the F-86, they would literally fly up to MiG alley looking for a fight, usually find one, and usually win. I was just a little kid then, but I still remember listening to the radio and hearing each day another story about the Sabres fighting the MiGs.

jn