15 to 1

On the record, the Sabre jets now meeting the enemy's MIG-155 in Korea are the finest fighters in combat, and Air Force men are no longer dazzled, as they were at first sight, by the nimble performance of the enemy's No. 1 interceptor. Over the past twelve months, the ratio of MIGs downed to Sabres lost in air combat has soared from about 8 to 1 to upwards of 15 to 1. For several days this month, when the MIGs offered battle in numbers, they were being knocked down like grouse on a Scottish moor (36 in six days).

Last week for four successive days, the mauled Red squadrons stayed north of the Yalu, and the Sabres had the North Korean air to themselves. So did the Navy, Marine and Air Force fighter-bombers, which are doing the unglamorous work of ripping away at the enemy's supply, communications and troop centers.

Captain Manuel Fernandez Jr. of Miami, who was the leading jet ace for a while (TIME, May 18), was overhauled by a hawk-eyed pilot who was once Fernandez' gunnery student: Captain Joseph McConnell Jr., 27, of Apple Valley, Calif. For a brief while last fortnight, Fernandez and McConnell were tied at 13 kills apiece. Fernandez got one more; then, in one busy day last week, McConnell raised his total to 16, thus becoming the first "triple jet ace" in aviation history.*

The proud but nervous Air Force grounded the pair, with the impressive total of 30 MIGs between them. They were decorated in Seoul by President Rhee, then by the Air Force in Tokyo, then shipped home by four-engine air transport. Both aces, still spoiling for battle and for bigger records, said that they would ask for another tour of Sabre duty in Korea, rather than take desk jobs.

Up to this week, 30 U.S. flyers had become aces in Korea. One cocky pilot snorted that the requirement for acehood ought to be raised to ten kills; then added: "Ten--hell, make it 15 or 20, and put 100 pounds of cabbage in our tail assemblies as a handicap."

*Five kills make one ace.

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