Lords of the Sky: Fighter Pilots and Air Combat, From the Red Baron to the F-16 (51 page)

F4F Wildcats fly in “tactical formation,” circa mid-1943.

(U.S. National Archives and Records Administration)

Okinawa, June 1945: “Corsair fighter looses its load of rocket projectiles” (NA).

(U.S. National Archives and Records Administration)

A Lockheed P-38J.

(National Museum of the U.S. Air Force)

Chuck Yeager’s P-51.

(National Museum of the U.S. Air Force)

U.S. pilots star in posters aimed at increasing wartime industrial production.

(left, U.S. Army)

“F4Us and F6Fs fly in formation during surrender ceremonies; Tokyo, Japan.” September 2, 1945.

(U.S. National Archives and Records Administration)

MiG-15s. The Soviet-designed jets gave the North Koreans an edge in the early stages of the Korean War.

(National Museum of the U.S. Air Force)

“Leaflet offering a $100,000 reward to any pilot who delivered a MiG.”

(National Museum of the U.S. Air Force)

A North Korean MiG-15 pilot who defected to the south in 1953.

(National Museum of the U.S. Air Force)

Rows of F-86Es being readied for a mission over Korea.

(National Museum of the U.S. Air Force)

U.S. pilots headed to “MiG Alley,” the nickname given to the enemy-controlled area on the North Korea–China border.

(National Museum of the U.S. Air Force)