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Andrew Salmon

For the group of elderly Americans  landing at South Korea's Incheon  airport this month, the skies were familiar, but the last time they flew them it was not in a ponderous Boeing 747; it was in the sleek fighters that fought the world's first jet-on-jet battles.
The 60th anniversary of the US Air Force fell on September 18.    Eight veteran fighter pilots returned on a week-long tour to visit US troops, pay respects at the National Cemetery and attend a  US Air Force ball as honoured guests.
During the second world war, air units were part of the US Army. Korea was the first major war the service fought independently.
'I  grew up with a strong desire to fly and began to have a curiosity about the big picture, the future of the nation,' says  former colonel Edwin 'Buzz' Aldrin, who would gain fame as the second man on the moon.
'Good musicians make good pilots, as they are co-ordinated and have quick reflexes,' says  former colonel Ralph  Gibson.
A more unusual case was  former lieutenant colonel Harold Fischer, who believed he had, in a past life, been a German pilot with four kills - and wanted a fifth.
In 1950, the US Army, softened by occupation duties in Japan, was unprepared for the savagery of the Korean war. The US Air Force had also suffered cutbacks - second world war numbers were slashed from a million to 300,000 men.
But there was no shortage of enthusiasm among the pilots. 'We were young and stupid; we were invulnerable,' says  former major general Carl Schneider.
Early missions were flown with various instruments missing, including gun sights.  On Okinawan airbases, peacetime flying conditions - 'a 1,500-foot ceiling and 3-mile visibility' were, once hostilities began, changed to 'a 200-foot ceiling and half-mile visibility - in the rain', recalls  Mr Schneider.
Even so, they  achieved results. 'Our air force destroyed the North Korean Air Force in three weeks,' says  former lieutenant general Charles Cleveland. 'After that, we had air superiority.'
When the Chinese plunged into the war, however, so did MiG 15s  and Russian pilots.  Supersonic duels between American F-86 Sabres and Russian-built MiGs began.  The MiGs could climb higher, but the Sabres were more nimble.
Along the  Manchurian frontier was a 160km strip of land the US pilots dubbed 'MiG Alley'. Beyond it lay the North Korean, Chinese and Russian  squadrons. From those airbases, MiGs sallied forth to attack the  bombers striking North Korea.
For the American pilots, MiG Alley was a hunting ground. In the 25 minutes their fuel allowed them over the area,  they tore through the clouds at   1,000km/h.
Even 50 years later, their eyes  glisten, and their hands mimic the motions of the dogfights.
In his most successful encounter over MiG Alley,  Mr Gibson was leading eight Sabres when he spotted tiny specks and condensation trails -  50 MiGs.
'We met 'em head on. I started a right turn to manoeuvre behind one; I barrel-rolled behind their 'tail-end-Charlie'. He was about 1,500 feet ahead; I engaged and got a couple of bursts on him.'
He could see  pieces flying off the MiG, then his wingman joined the attack. The MiG fell.   'It felt good. I'd done what I'd been trained to do,' Mr Gibson says. He would be awarded five kills, making him, in air force parlance, an ace.
Mr Fischer, one of the top guns,  chalked up 10 kills before being downed and captured across the Yalu.  The war's highest scorer was Joseph McConnell with 16 kills.
The aces, fighting in the deep blue, got the glamour, but  the ground-attack pilots were the ones who had the most dangerous missions: an estimated 80 interceptors were shot down.
Chinese anti-aircraft  tactics were ingenious. Steel cables stretched from peak to peak could shred a jet flying along the valleys.  Decoy trains, when attacked, fell apart to reveal flat cars bristling with anti-aircraft guns.  And pilots flashing down the valleys were sometimes fired on from the peaks above them.
Pilots went home after 100 missions, one achieving that total in three months. That was exceptional, but three sorties a day was common.
Some didn't want to give up the excitement of the war, but those who flew beyond their quota were pushing their luck.  Mr Schneider recalls advising one pilot not to fly his 102nd mission. The man flew anyway, was shot down and spent two years as a POW.
They met years later. 'He told me, 'I used to sit up there day after day, wishing I had listened to you',' says  Mr Schneider.
Former colonel Robert Moxley came upon an enemy column wading the Yalu. 'I went up that stream of human beings with my guns, did a lot of damage  ... I knew what they'd do if they got hold of me - and I don't blame 'em.'
Not all were so icy.  Mr Fischer recalls a wingman who incinerated an ox with napalm: 'It affected him tremendously, because he'd killed an animal.'
Today, old enmities have softened.  Mr Fischer has met his Russian and Chinese adversaries. At an Air Force reunion in Las Vegas in 1997, the Russian Air Force chief of staff pinned  a Russian medal on  Mr Gibson's chest. 'He knew I'd shot down five MiGs,' says  Mr Gibson.
US data claims 800 MiGs were downed; Soviet figures say 389. 'It's probably somewhere in between,'  Mr Schneider concedes.
'I think it is very important to see the appreciation of Koreans,' says  Mr Aldrin. 'To see the development along western lines indicates the improvements that can be made if they have the principles and support of free nations.'
Mr Schneider adds: 'It's the only country we've defended where even cab drivers shake your hand.'



Dogfights and daring in Korea's deep blue yonder