Chapter 597 Jet Fighter (1)

The first large-scale jet war in human history broke out on a battlefield on a certain peninsula in later generations. The protagonists were the Soviet MiG-15 and the American F-86 Sabre.

Both fighters are first-generation jet fighters, and each has its own advantages in performance.

One of the strengths of the MiG-15 is that its available ceiling is higher than that of the Sabre. When the Sabre flies at an altitude of 12,000 meters, their opponents are circling at an altitude of 15,000 meters. The Sabre has no way to deal with this. Whether to engage in battle can only be decided by the MiG-15. The MiG-15 can choose the time and place of the battle, and when the situation is not good, it can use the speed advantage of the high altitude to escape.

The Sabre is heavier than the MiG-15 and has a higher dive speed. Both aircraft can enter supersonic speeds when diving, but the Sabre is more stable than the MiG-15 in the transonic section. The best way for the Sabre to get rid of the MiG-15 that is biting its tail is to dive at full power and lead the MiG-15 into a low altitude that is favorable to the Sabre. When the MiG-15 exceeds Mach 86, the MiG-15 will have unstable nose, making aiming and shooting extremely difficult.

The MiG-15 will experience buffeting at Mach 91 and head-up at Mach 93. The high-speed stability problem of the MiG-15 is so serious that it rarely enters the transonic section in air combat.

The MiG-15 has a very low roll rate and poor lateral stability at high altitude and high speed. Its most fatal weakness is that it may enter an uncontrollable spiral, which is especially fatal to novices. Many of the achievements of the Sabre during the war were achieved by forcing the MiG-15 into an unrecoverable spiral.

In contrast, the Sabre has a good spiral characteristic, and most pilots can recover smoothly. When the Sabre enters a spiral, it can be recovered with simple actions.

The total number of F-86 losses announced by the US Air Force at the end of the Korean War was about 220, of which only 78 were shot down in air combat. Other losses included anti-aircraft artillery fire, accidents, mechanical failures, crashes during missions, etc. The number of MiGs shot down was 792, and the air combat exchange ratio was calculated to be 10:1.

Later, in the 1970s, the re-investigation and evaluation adjusted the number of shots shot down upward and the number of MiGs shot down downward, becoming 103 shots shot down in air combat and 379 MiGs shot down. This later number should be closer to the truth, but due to political considerations, this report was later published but not widely known, and the official figures of the US Air Force have never been officially changed.

The so-called shot-down figures represent the number of enemy aircraft that pilots can have sufficient evidence to prove. Since all coalition aircraft were on missions over North Korea, the wreckage of enemy aircraft could not be verified, and the results could only be supported by pilot reports, witnesses of other teammates, and camera guns. If a pilot reports shooting down an enemy aircraft but has no sufficient evidence, it will be listed as a possible shootdown, but not included in the calculation of results or merits. Of course, another category is wounding.

However, no matter which category, pilots usually overestimate the number of shootdowns, and enemy aircraft listed as possible shootdowns, woundings, or even no signs of injury at all may crash on the way back to the base due to injuries, and naturally cannot be credited at this time. This is also the origin of the number of 379 MiG aircraft shot down above. It is the result after eliminating the insufficient evidence, and it is naturally possible that it is lower than the actual number of losses of the enemy, because possible shootdowns, woundings, etc. may actually be real shootdowns.

Yannick was somewhat hesitant about which fighter to use as the main model of the German Air Force's future fighters.

Based on the experience of World War II, the Soviets are good at interception and short-range air combat, high altitude, high speed and high climb rate, and use vertical maneuvers to hit and run. Like the German Air Force BF-109 in World War II, the disadvantages are short legs and poor combat ability. The later MiG-29 even got the shameful nickname of "Airport Defender".

The Americans focus on longer range and maneuverability. Although the vertical maneuverability is slightly worse, it has a more advantageous dogfighting performance; after all, in order to cover their bombers, a long range is necessary.

Although Yannick prefers long-range performance, the German pilots' fighting style is high-altitude and high-speed dives, and this assault style of running after hitting and running, combined with the performance of Soviet fighters, may be better after using the MiG-15.

After struggling for a long time, Yannick simply decided to develop and produce two fighters at the same time. Which one is better to use, let the pilots choose for themselves.

The group came to the apron. Although he had never seen the F-86 Sabre in the original time and space, there was a MiG-15 in the park near his home. Seeing this familiar aircraft now, he couldn't help but feel a little dazed, as if time and space overlapped.

After sighing in his heart, Yannick asked. "Are these fighters equipped with ejection seats?"

It was not easy for pilots in World War II to abandon the plane and parachute. If they wanted to survive safely, they had to meet the following conditions.

The first is that the plane did not completely lose control; most of the planes that lost control fell down in a spiral, at a high speed, and the centrifugal force would press the pilots to the seat and make them unable to move.

The second is that the pilots were not injured and still maintained a certain amount of physical strength to push open the cockpit cover and climb out of the cockpit. The speed of fighters in the middle and late World War II had increased to more than 600 kilometers per hour. It was quite difficult for pilots to push open the cockpit cover and escape without external force, and the fierce battle would quickly consume the pilots' physical strength.

The third is that after jumping out of the plane, you will not be hit by your own plane, which is a common accident. On September 30, 1942, Marseille, an ace pilot who shot down 158 enemy planes, had a malfunction in his plane during a mission, and he barely drove the plane back to his own airspace. The engine finally stopped, and he was confused by the toxic gas in the cabin and climbed out of the cockpit with difficulty to parachute, but his body hit the tail wing and the parachute failed to open.

The fourth is that the enemy will not shoot the pilot.

There is such a provision in the "Geneva Convention", that is: do not fire at the pilot who has lost the ability to resist and parachuted to escape. With the entry into force of the "Geneva Convention", this has almost become a rule that soldiers from all countries remember and abide by. As long as the pilot jumps out of the cabin, from the moment the parachute bag opens, basically no one will shoot at him.

However, some countries in World War II liked to shoot parachuting pilots, one was Japan, and the other was the United States.

General Doolittle, the commander of the famous 8th Air Force of the U.S. Army Air Force and a famous pilot who had fought in the expedition to Japan, was an active advocate of shooting enemy pilots after parachuting. As a commander, he privately supported and encouraged his subordinates to do so - even if the opponent's plane had been shot down, do not let go of the Axis pilots under the parachute or after landing - of course, this encouragement may be conveyed in a more obscure way, but there is still controversy about whether General Doolittle really gave this order. It is said that similar verbal instructions began to be issued to American fighter pilots around February 1944.

An ace pilot of the 8th Air Force once said: In fact, no one has ever publicly given them clear instructions to shoot those German pilots who have opened their parachutes or landed; some just emphasized over and over again in their ears: the pilots on the German planes you shot down today will change planes tomorrow and become your opponents again. The implication is obviously self-evident.

However, the reason is that some American generals and soldiers believe that with Germany's industrial base, it is not difficult to produce brand-new aircraft to replace those aircraft that were shot down and damaged in air combat. Therefore, in order to truly and effectively strike the German Air Force, killing more pilots is the key.

The fifth is that the parachute can be opened safely, but this is a matter of luck.

If these five points can be achieved, I believe the pilot will survive. Otherwise, everyone knows.

Therefore, unless it is absolutely necessary, most pilots would rather choose to force landing than parachute. Because compared with later jet aircraft, most of the propeller aircraft in World War II are very light, and the shape of the square wings is suitable for gliding and forced landing. Even if forced landing, the survival rate is much higher than parachuting.

The ejection seat can solve the first, second, and third problems mentioned above; it can greatly improve the survival rate of pilots.

Germany invented the ejection seat in World War II. They first used rubber bands as power, but due to insufficient power, they did not succeed. Later, they tried the ejection seat powered by compressed air and succeeded; and the first to develop the rocket ejection seat was the British.

Messerschmitt, who was accompanying him, said respectfully. "Yes, Your Highness, our rocket ejection seat has been successfully developed, and both fighters are equipped with rocket ejection seats."

"Not bad." Yannick nodded with satisfaction. "Can it be installed on other fighters?"

Messerschmitt looked embarrassed. "Your Highness, this rocket ejection seat is expensive, and it may be difficult to popularize it on a large scale. However, other fighters can be equipped with compressed air ejection seats, and its cost and process are suitable for large-scale production. And for propeller aircraft, compressed air ejection seats are fully capable."

"Then popularize it as soon as possible."

Everyone came to the viewing platform and took their seats. The MiG-15 fighter slowly came to the take-off area under the towing of the tractor. As the tractor left, the aircraft engine ignited, and with a deafening roar, it slowly began to accelerate along the runway.