F-86 Sabre Aces of the 51st Fighter Wing

I had purchased previously Osprey Publishing Aircraft of the Aces Korean War and F-86 Sabre Aces of the 4th Fighter Wing and in order to get the complete picture of Korean War aviation, this was a logical purchase. The 51st Fighter Wing, under the command of WWII ace Francis Gabreski, was the second F-86 Sabre fighter wing posted to Korea and based at Suwon, the first one being the 4th Fighter Wing based at Kimpo. The "MiG menace" was such that the need for a second fighter wing of advanced model Sabre jets was required! Like other Osprey Publishing volumes, it covers "a lot of ground" in a short space with great aircraft profiles and archival photos many in color! Also included is a Nose art gallery of the wing's Sabres which is a definite bonus! Warren Thompson is recognized as being the foremost authoritative aero historian of the Korean War. If you are studying the Korean War's aviation, you need to obtain Aces of the Korean War and Sabre Aces of the 4th Wing along with this volume to get the complete picture. I highly recommend all three volumes! They are awesome!

Warren Thompson can lay claim to being THE historian of the Korean air war. In the last 15 years he has written many fine, well-researched and well-illustrated books on various aspects of that long-ago war for Osprey, Specialty Press, etc. along with articles for 'Airpower,' 'Flight Journal' and other mags.In this Osprey 'Aircraft of the Aces' book he chronicles the combat exploits of the 51st FW from late 1951 to war's end. The 51st was 'Brand X,' the second F-86 wing to go into combat but its pilots were second-to-none in killing MiGs. Wing aces included 'Gabby' Gabreski, the unit's first CO, Bill Whisner, Cecil Foster, Hal Fischer and top ace Joe McConnell. Thompson does a marvelous job of charting the wing's combats, including many first-person narratives from the MiG killers themselves that put the reader right in the cockpit.Visually the book is a delight with many color photos and 14 pages of color profiles including 3 pages of nose art close-ups by Mark Styling. Very nicely done!All in all, it's a fine tribute to the fighter jocks of the 51st FW well worth the $20.95 price tag.

Very interesting and helpful to understand the reasons various missions were flown. Fairly good knowledge of the pilots themselves.

I met one of the service members while camping last summer. Amazing man.

Good item, good shipping.. everything fine.. Thanks

Excellent Book!

Interesting

Good read.

As with Warren Thompson's other Korean War books, this is a must have, especially if like me the F-86 Sabre is your favourite Jet fighter.For those of you who may not already know, the 51st Fighter Wing was the unit that the 1958 film 'The Hunters' which starred Robert Mitchum, was based on. Indeed, F-86 pilot James Salter, pen name of James Horowitz, no doubt based parts of the book on what he had seen as a Korean War serviceman.As with the 4th FIW book by the same author, lots of great pictures and recollections from the pilots who flew this great Jet.

this is a great book on the F-86 SABRE JET.great photos great combat stories great color artworks.also very good for some modelling ideas if building eduards or hasagawa F-86.model kit.

Fast shipping,great book,great service thank you kindly

第51戦闘ｊ航空団は朝鮮戦争緒戦からＦ80シューティングスターで戦ってきた部隊ですが、1951年暮れ、Ｆ86Eに機種転換し制空戦闘任務に従事します。それまでハチロク部隊として一手にミグを相手にしていた第4航空団だけでなく2個の強力なハチロク部隊が揃うことになりました。戦争が長期化し、アメリカもいよいよ本腰をいれるということになり、この部隊はすでに予備役入りしていた者も含む多くの第二次大戦経験者のベテランを召集しました。その出自は空軍のみならず、海軍、海兵隊、同盟諸国にも広がり事実上の多国籍部隊となっていました。このエリート飛行隊ともいうべき航空団の戦史として要領よくまとめられたのが本書です。戦争後半、同盟諸国空軍の部隊教育にも携わり、他のハチロク使用国のパイロットたちの母校ともなったこの部隊史、写真は第4航空団本同様鮮明で素晴らしいものが多いのもお勧めです。ミグエースも多く、派手なパーソナルマーキングの多い”51”のこと、チェッカーテイルのプロファイルを眺めていても楽しいですね。