"I Thought I'd Better Shoot"

Ever since the U.S. began bombing North Viet Nam in February of last year, American pilots have been puzzled at the way Ho Chi Minh has used his air force. There were always plenty of MIGs on the ground, and bomber crews occasionally reported sighting small formations of the Russian-built fighters on the horizon. But the MIGs seldom ventured to attack unless the odds seemed overwhelmingly in their favor. Never have they made a concerted effort to protect any target. Never have they been seen over the Panhandle, the vital staging area for all military units infiltrating the South. And in the past year, although markedly more MIGs have been sighted, they came in week-long spurts separated by lengthy lulls.

Last week was a week of spurt, and the biggest so far in the war. At one time or another, 29 of the Communist jets rose to challenge the Americans. On one day, surprised U.S. fighter pilots found themselves engaged in eight separate dogfights--in which two Communist jets were shot down and three others damaged, while the Americans escaped untouched.

Both kills were made by F-105 Thun derchiefs which, although faster than the MIGs, were designed more as bombers than fighters. And in both cases, the American pilots made use of their greater speed to surprise the Communist planes from behind. Lieut. Karl W. Richter, 23, of Holly, Mich., zeroed in on a MIG-17 that was chasing a flight of F-105s, poured cannon fire at it until its right wing broke off and the pilot ejected. Lieut. Fred A. Wilson, of Mobile, Ala., overtook another MIG-17 so fast that he had no time to adjust his gun sights. "I was about to hit him, so I thought I'd better shoot," he said. "It took five seconds. I was so excited I was talking to the MIG. 'Look out, look out, you're going down!' "

The next day the Communists pulled in their horns. Only one MIG was anywhere to be seen, and it stayed far away from U.S. jets. Total score in 18 months of on-again-off-again air combat: 21 Communist planes shot down v. four American.

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