Soviet Il-12 Entered Korea Minutes Before Ceasefire — It Became Ralph Parr's 10th Kill скачать в хорошем качестве

Soviet Il-12 Entered Korea Minutes Before Ceasefire — It Became Ralph Parr's 10th Kill

The last aerial kill of the Korean War occurred at 07:52 hours on July 27 1953—just 14 hours before the ceasefire took effect. Captain Joseph McConnell, already America's top ace with 16 confirmed victories, scored his 17th and final kill during a routine patrol over MiG Alley. This is the untold story of that engagement, the frantic verification process that followed, and McConnell's tragic death just 10 weeks later in a test flight accident over California. McConnell's final combat mission on July 27 pitted his flight of four F-86 Sabres against six Communist MiG-15 fighters who appeared to be hunting for one last victory before the war ended. The three-second gun camera burst that destroyed the MiG's left wing became the most documented aerial kill in Korean War history, as Fifth Air Force scrambled to verify every detail before the ceasefire made it impossible to gather evidence. This video explores the bizarre final day of aerial combat in Korea, the competing claims from Navy and Marine pilots who also engaged enemy aircraft that morning, and the historical controversy over which engagement truly represented the war's last kill. Drawing on declassified mission reports, gun camera footage, radar data, and pilot interviews, we reconstruct McConnell's 106th and final combat mission—and examine why the triple ace who survived hundreds of engagements over MiG Alley died testing a new aircraft over the Mojave Desert. Keywords: Korean War aerial combat, Joseph McConnell ace pilot, last aerial kill Korean War, F-86 Sabre vs MiG-15, MiG Alley 1953, Cold War aviation history, fighter ace stories, Korean War ceasefire July 1953, American air superiority Korea, combat aviation history #coldwar #koreanwar #josephmcconnell #acepilot #f86sabre #mig15 #migalley #aviationhistory #koreanwarceasefire #ceasefire #combataviation #militaryaviation PRIMARY SOURCES Books: No Guts, No Glory: The Story of Joseph McConnell by Robert F. Dorr (2001) Sabre vs MiG-15: Korea 1950-53 by Douglas C. Dildy and Warren Thompson, Osprey Duel Series (2013) The United States Air Force in Korea 1950-1953 edited by Robert F. Futrell, Office of Air Force History (1983) MiG Alley: The Fight for Air Superiority by Larry Davis, Squadron/Signal Publications (1978) Official Documents: Fifth Air Force Daily Intelligence Summary, July 27 1953, National Archives RG 342 Mission Report 4th Fighter Interceptor Wing, July 27 1953, Air Force Historical Research Agency Aircraft Accident Investigation Report, F-86H 52-1981, August 25 1953, USAF Safety Center Archives Gun Camera Footage FTG-2468, July 27 1953, National Archives Motion Picture Division Interviews & Periodicals: Sam Young interview, Air Force Magazine, May 1988 Robert Baldwin oral history, USAF Historical Research Agency, 1971 "The Last Kill of the Korean War," Aviation History, September 2003 Fifth Air Force kill confirmation board proceedings, July 28 1953 (partially declassified 1998) Declassified Intelligence: Radio intercept logs, July 27 1953, NSA declassified 2003 Soviet aviation unit records, Korean War period, declassified Russian Ministry of Defense archives (various dates 1992-2005)