Ace of Aces

On the afternoon of Friday the 13th, 48 F-86 Sabre jets took off from airfields in South Korea and headed north across the battle line. Their mission: to screen and protect a flight of fighter-bombers.

Leading one element of the Sabres was a Texan named Royal N. Baker, who had flown British Spitfires against the Luftwaffe in 1942, was now, at 34, a colonel and commander of the Air Force's 4th Fighter-Interceptor Wing. Nearly 40,000 ft. up, Baker and his followers ran into a flight of eight MIG-15s. Two of the MIGs turned tail and headed for the Yalu. Taking out after one of them, Baker edged close, fired one short burst. The shots "just sprayed the air because I was caught in his jetwash." From 1,200 ft. away, Baker fired another burst. It hit, and the MIG started smoking.

Just then, Colonel Baker's headset crackled with a warning: two more MIGs were poised high above him. He veered off to the left. "When I saw they weren't coming I went back after my original boy," said Baker afterwards. "I picked him up in a trail of smoke. But he was out beyond the range of my guns."

To catch up, Baker pushed on his throttle, forced his Sabre jet through the sound barrier. From a distance of 800.ft., he fired a long burst of his guns. The MIG started coming apart. The cockpit canopy flew off to the left, and the pilot narrowly missed Baker's plane as his ejection seat dumped him to the right. The MIG, trailing flame, crashed ten miles south of the Yalu.

That afternoon, the Sabre jet pilots shot down six Red MIGs. But the one they were proudest of was Baker's: it was the twelfth MIG he had destroyed and made him the leading jet-to-jet ace of the Korean war. Previous record holder: another Texan, Major George A. Davis of Lubbock, who destroyed eleven MIGs in ten weeks, then was shot down himself (TIME, Feb. 18, 1952). Said Baker: "I just lucked out on him." The Air Force, just to make sure that luck doesn't finally run out on its new ace of aces, ordered Baker to stay on the ground until it can send him home to McKinney, Tex. to his wife & four kids.

Baker flew just 128 missions in Korea. Last week Australian Pilot Officer Ken Murray completed his 333rd jet mission. Murray has flown more combat sorties than any other pilot in Korea. He, too, will soon be home--in New South Wales.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.