Description
ABOUT THIS PRODUCT
By the time the Korean War erupted, the F-51 Mustang was seen as obsolete,
but that view quickly changed when the USAF rushed 145 of them to the
theatre in late 1950. They had the endurance to attack targets in Korea from
bases in Japan, where the modern F-86 fighters and other jets did not.
Rather than the interceptor and escort fighter roles the Mustang had
performed during World War 2, in the Korean War they were assigned to ground
attack missions - striking at communist troop columns advancing south. This
is the chronicle of the Mustang units that fought in the Korean War,
detailing the type's involvement in a series of intense actions, its
successes and its considerable losses. Drawing on meticulous research and
gripping first-hand accounts from aircrew, this book explains how the
faithful Mustang was able to roll back the years, fight, and prove itself in
a new era of aerial warfare.
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
Warren Thompson has had numerous books and magazine articles published over
the past 30 years. His interest in the Korean War has spanned almost this
entire length of time. Thompson has written books for Osprey since 1990,
with his latest contribution being the Combat Aircraft volume on the F9F
Panther Units of the Korean War.Chris Davey has illustrated more than 30
titles for Osprey's Aircraft of the Aces, Combat Aircraft and Elite Units
series since 1994. Based in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, and one of the last
traditional airbrush artists in the business, he has become the artist of
choice for both USAAF/USAF piston-engined fighters.
CONTENTS
The very early days of the war with a make-shift unit out of Clark Air Base
and the arrival of 145 Mustangs from the states
Mustang numbers become large enough to slow down the North Korean advances
on the Pusan Perimeter
Breakout from Pusan and the Inchon Landing
The war becomes stagnant and the Mustangs range all the way up to the Yalu
River hunting for targets. The South Africans attach their F-51 squadron to
the 18th Fighter-Bomber Wing.
USAF winds down its Mustang operations and slowly converts the squadrons
over to new F-86F fighter-bombers
Republic of Korea Mustang operations in the war
Appendices
