Operation Moolah
Encyclopedia
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
(USAF) effort during the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
to obtain through defection a fully capable Soviet MiG-15
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15
The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 was a jet fighter developed for the USSR by Artem Mikoyan and Mikhail Gurevich. The MiG-15 was one of the first successful swept-wing jet fighters, and it achieved fame in the skies over Korea, where early in the war, it outclassed all straight-winged enemy fighters in...
jet fighter
Fighter aircraft
A fighter aircraft is a military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat with other aircraft, as opposed to a bomber, which is designed primarily to attack ground targets...
. The MiG-15 was introduced by Communist forces on November 1, 1950 over the skies of Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
. USAF pilots reported that the performance of the MiG-15 was superior to all United Nations (U.N.) aircraft, including the USAF's newest plane, the F-86 Sabre. The operation focused on influencing Communist pilots to defect
Defection
In politics, a defector is a person who gives up allegiance to one state or political entity in exchange for allegiance to another. More broadly, it involves abandoning a person, cause or doctrine to whom or to which one is bound by some tie, as of allegiance or duty.This term is also applied,...
to South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
with a MiG for a financial reward and political freedom. The success of the operation is disputable since no Communist pilot defected before the armistice
Armistice
An armistice is a situation in a war where the warring parties agree to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, but may be just a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace...
was signed on July 27, 1953. However, on September 21, 1953, North Korean pilot Lieutenant (LT) No Kum-Sok
No Kum-Sok
No Kum-Sok is a former lieutenant of the North Korean Air Force during the Korean War who defected to South Korea...
flew his MiG-15 to the Kimpo Air Base, South Korea, unaware of Operation Moolah.
Background
The appearance of the MiG-15 Soviet fighter over the Korean peninsula in November 1950 was initially thought to have placed United Nations aircraft, especially the USAF F-86, at a disadvantage. In a dogfightDogfight
A dogfight, or dog fight, is a form of aerial combat between fighter aircraft; in particular, combat of maneuver at short range, where each side is aware of the other's presence. Dogfighting first appeared during World War I, shortly after the invention of the airplane...
, the MiG-15 outperformed the F-86 Sabre at higher initial acceleration and could outdistance it in a dive, even though the Sabre had higher terminal velocity
Terminal velocity
In fluid dynamics an object is moving at its terminal velocity if its speed is constant due to the restraining force exerted by the fluid through which it is moving....
. The MiG was also more maneuverable above 10,000 m (30,000 ft), although the F-86 was more maneuverable below that altitude. The MiG-15 was also armed with a heavy 37mm cannon that could down USAF bombers. United States military planners at the Strategic Air Command
Strategic Air Command
The Strategic Air Command was both a Major Command of the United States Air Force and a "specified command" of the United States Department of Defense. SAC was the operational establishment in charge of America's land-based strategic bomber aircraft and land-based intercontinental ballistic...
(SAC) were aware of the cannon but knew little more about the technical aspects of the aircraft, including flight performance. By the end of the war, U.N. air forces had gained ascendancy over the MiGs due to superior tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs), better-trained pilots, upgraded Sabres, and especially due to the withdrawal of Soviet pilots from the conflict.
The appearance of the MiG-15 over North Korea
North Korea
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...
led to speculation over the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
's involvement in the Korean War. USAF pilots reported hearing Russian spoken on the intercom system of the MiG-15s. Prior to the November 1950 sighting of the MiG-15s by USAF pilots, Soviet MiG-15 regiments were stationed at the Moscow Air Defense District to protect the capital against a possible NATO bombing.
Some U.N. prisoners of war (POWs) reported talking to Soviet pilots while in captivity in North Korea. According to General Mark Clark, the commanding general of the U.N. Command had enough intelligence to claim that the Soviets were covertly lending their pilots in support of North Korean forces. According to LT No Kum-Sok, by February 1951, some half dozen Russian air force pilots visited North Korean pilots at their northeast China air base at Jilin
Jilin
Jilin , is a province of the People's Republic of China located in the northeastern part of the country. Jilin borders North Korea and Russia to the east, Heilongjiang to the north, Liaoning to the south, and Inner Mongolia to the west...
. These plain clothes officers were there to investigate the ability of the North Korean pilots and determine if they were capable enough to fly the new MiG-15. By March, the Soviet 324th Fighter Air Division, led by Colonel Ivan Kozhedub, deployed to Jilin and began training the first class of North Korean air force pilots on the MiG-15. One month later, these same Russian pilots entered combat on behalf of North Korea, though internationally their involvement was never announced. The Russians
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
had gone through great lengths to hide their involvement in the war, including painting Chinese and North Korean insignia on their planes. By the end of the war, the Russians had provided half the aircraft and 5,000 pilots in support of the Communist effort against the U.N.
Origins
Soviet Air Force
The Soviet Air Force, officially known in Russian as Военно-воздушные силы or Voenno-Vozdushnye Sily and often abbreviated VVS was the official designation of one of the air forces of the Soviet Union. The other was the Soviet Air Defence Forces...
, even to the extent of some desertions by disgruntled pilots, led to the belief that possible future defections by some pilots was promising. Their plan set forth an offer of $10,000 for a Soviet MiG-15 and political asylum for the pilot. The plan was marked Top Secret
Top Secret
Top Secret generally refers to the highest acknowledged level of classified information.Top Secret may also refer to:- Film and television :* Top Secret , a British comedy directed by Mario Zampi...
and requested the offer be passed by rumor through ranks of Communist forces to ensure the offer would not be attributable to the U.S. The plan was delivered to The Pentagon
The Pentagon
The Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, located in Arlington County, Virginia. As a symbol of the U.S. military, "the Pentagon" is often used metonymically to refer to the Department of Defense rather than the building itself.Designed by the American architect...
on a Monday, and by that Saturday, details of their plan were published in The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
with the title, “Gen. Mark Clark
Mark Clark
Mark Clark or Clarke may refer to:*Mark A. Clark , Arizona state legislator*Mark Wayne Clark , United States World War II general*Mark Clark , Major League Baseball player...
Offers $100,000 Reward for Russian Jet”. Abner was disappointed because the article did not mention that his organization conceived the plan.
A second version of this story originates from General Clark. According to him, the origin of Operation Moolah was from a war correspondent closely associated with the general but was not identified in Clark’s book, From the Danube to the Yalu. The war correspondent developed the idea of the metaphor "silver bullet" and its effect on the Chinese in early 1952. He then developed and wrote a fictitious interview between an "anonymous" and a nonexistent Air Force general suggesting the MiG reward. The Far East Air Force (FEAF) headquartered in Tokyo was given the fictitious interview and thought the idea was worth looking into and passed it onward to the Department of the Air Force
Department of the Air Force
The Department of the Air Force is one of the three Military Departments within the Department of Defense of the United States of America...
in Washington, D.C. The idea circulated the Pentagon and the Department of State
United States Department of State
The United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...
, until it was transmitted back to Clark from the Department of the Army through a message he received in November 1952.
According to Herbert Friedman, the unidentified war correspondent was Edward Hymoff, the Bureau Chief of the International News Service
International News Service
International News Service was a U.S.-based news agency founded by newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst in 1909.Established two years after the Scripps family founded the United Press Association, INS scrapped among the newswires...
, who he interviewed.
Execution
On March 20, 1953, the Joint Chiefs of StaffJoint Chiefs of Staff
The Joint Chiefs of Staff is a body of senior uniformed leaders in the United States Department of Defense who advise the Secretary of Defense, the Homeland Security Council, the National Security Council and the President on military matters...
approved the plan. The approved operation was forwarded on April 1, 1953 to the Joint Psychological Committee at FEAF in Tokyo, Japan, where it was staffed, approved, and advanced to Clark. He dubbed the plan Operation Moolah. The plan offered $50,000 to any pilot who flew a fully mission capable MiG-15 to South Korea. The first pilot to defect would be awarded an additional $50,000. The plan also included complete political asylum
Right of asylum
Right of asylum is an ancient juridical notion, under which a person persecuted for political opinions or religious beliefs in his or her own country may be protected by another sovereign authority, a foreign country, or church sanctuaries...
, resettlement in a non-Communist country, and anonymity if desired.
If such a defection did occur, the propaganda value would be significant to U.N. forces. The defection of the pilot would be articulated to the global audience that the pilot fled from the perils of Communism and a totalitarian regime for freedom in South Korea. The operation would also create North Korean and Chinese trepidation and mistrust of their pilots. A Russian defection would provide vital intelligence and demonstrate the Soviet Union was an active participant in the war. U.N. forces would also have the opportunity to test the MiG-15s capabilities and establish procedures against the MiG-15’s technical advantages over the F-86 Sabre.
On April 26, armistice negotiations between Communist forces and the U.N. began. Clark issued the offer of Operation Moolah on the 27th to coincide with Operation Little Switch. Operation Little Switch was the exchange of sick and wounded POWs between the Communist and U.N. forces. The timing was intentional, because the U.S. and South Korean president Syngman Rhee
Syngman Rhee
Syngman Rhee or Yi Seungman was the first president of South Korea. His presidency, from August 1948 to April 1960, remains controversial, affected by Cold War tensions on the Korean peninsula and elsewhere. Rhee was regarded as an anti-Communist and a strongman, and he led South Korea through the...
were not able to agree upon the conditions of the armistice. The intent of Operation Moolah was to discourage captured Communist forces from returning to North Korea or China. The effect was to demonstrate that Communist POWs were treated better under the care of U.N. forces and did not wish to return to their motherland.
Gen. Clark announced the offer on April 27, 1953 through a shortwave
Shortwave
Shortwave radio refers to the upper MF and all of the HF portion of the radio spectrum, between 1,800–30,000 kHz. Shortwave radio received its name because the wavelengths in this band are shorter than 200 m which marked the original upper limit of the medium frequency band first used...
radio transmission. The transmission, translated into Korean
Korean language
Korean is the official language of the country Korea, in both South and North. It is also one of the two official languages in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in People's Republic of China. There are about 78 million Korean speakers worldwide. In the 15th century, a national writing...
, Mandarin, Cantonese
Cantonese
Cantonese is a dialect spoken primarily in south China.Cantonese may also refer to:* Yue Chinese, the Chinese language that includes Cantonese* Cantonese cuisine, the cuisine of Guangdong province...
, and Russian, was broadcast by 14 radio stations in Japan and South Korea into North Korea and China. Clark stated:
". . . To all brave pilots who wish to free themselves from the Communist yoke and start a new, better life with proper honor . . . you are guaranteed refuge, protection, humane care and attention. If pilots so desire, their names will be kept secret forever . . ."
On the night of April 26, 1953, two B-29 Superfortress
B-29 Superfortress
The B-29 Superfortress is a four-engine propeller-driven heavy bomber designed by Boeing that was flown primarily by the United States Air Forces in late-World War II and through the Korean War. The B-29 was one of the largest aircraft to see service during World War II...
bombers dropped 1.2 million leaflets over Communist bases in the Yalu River Basin
Yalu River
The Yalu River or the Amnok River is a river on the border between North Korea and the People's Republic of China....
. These leaflets were written in Russian, Chinese, and Korean. According to General Clark, immediately after the drop of the leaflets on April 26, U.N. aircraft did not make visual contact with any MiG aircraft for the following eight days. Though weather may have been a factor, he opines that the leaflets had a direct effect and believes that senior Communist military leaders began to screen for politically unreliable pilots. Incidentally, immediately after the leaflet drop in April, a radio-jamming transmitter whose location could not be identified began to jam
Radio jamming
Radio jamming is the transmission of radio signals that disrupt communications by decreasing the signal to noise ratio. Unintentional jamming occurs when an operator transmits on a busy frequency without first checking whether it is in use, or without being able to hear stations using the frequency...
all U.N. Russian language broadcasts of Gen. Clark’s MIG-15 offer, but Chinese and Korean broadcasts were unhindered.
The night of May 10, U.S. B-29 bombers returned to the sky to drop an additional 40,000 Operation Moolah leaflets over the Sinuiju
Sinuiju Airport
Sinuiju Airfield is an airport near Sinuiju, Pyongan-bukto, North Korea.- Facilities :The airfield has a single turf runway 03/21 measuring 3250 x 213 feet . It is just south of the city, which itself is across the Yalu River from the Chinese city of Dandong...
and Uiju Airfield
Uiju Airfield
Uiju Airfield is an airport near Uiju, Pyongan-bukto, North Korea.- Facilities :The airfield has a single concrete runway 03/21 measuring 8180 x 174 feet . It is sited in the Yalu River plain, a few miles northeast of the Chinese city of Dandong. It is also a few miles northeast of Sinuiju Airport...
s. The U.N. broadcasted the same message delivered by Gen. Clark in April translated in Russian, Chinese, and Korean. This would be replicated again on the evening of May 18, with an additional 90,000 leaflets.
MiG-15 flights were rumored to have decreased drastically or ceased after the April leaflet drop and radio broadcasts of the offer. However, it has been reported that MiG-15 sorties were suspended for eight days, though a large formation of approximately 166 MiG-15s were sighted on April 30. Thirty MiG-15s were sighted on May 1, forty-four on May 2, and from May 3 to 7, not a single MiG-15 was sighted almost certainly due to poor weather conditions. One noticeable change was the paint pattern of the Communist aircraft. Prior to April 27, all MiG-15s were painted the same pattern as the Soviet air force, with the red star, but after the 27th, all Communist aircraft had Chinese and North Korean markings. On May 27, North Korean leader Kim Il-Sung
Kim Il-sung
Kim Il-sung was a Korean communist politician who led the Democratic People's Republic of Korea from its founding in 1948 until his death in 1994. He held the posts of Prime Minister from 1948 to 1972 and President from 1972 to his death...
gave a radio speech to the “heroes” of the North Korean Air Force that their country would assume a larger role in the defense of North Korean airspace. Kim also exhorted his countrymen to ensure military discipline and equipment is fortified to ensure victory against the U.N. forces.
According to LT No Kum-Sok
No Kum-Sok
No Kum-Sok is a former lieutenant of the North Korean Air Force during the Korean War who defected to South Korea...
, the North Korean pilot who defected after the Korean War, his vice battalion commander, Captain Kim Jung-Sup was summoned to Sinuiju, the North Korean Air Force headquarters in early May 1953 for one week. The purpose of his trip was unknown to No, but rumors had circulated throughout the command that LT No was under investigation, questioning his loyalty to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. No continued to fly and assumed that his vice battalion commander had defended his loyalty to the Communist regime. Coincidentally, with the death of Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
on March 5, 1953 and the significant loss of Russian aircraft, the Soviet Union grounded and recalled their pilots from the Korean theater. The Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
had gone through great lengths to disguise their involvement in the Korean War. Russian pilots were taught Mandarin in order to deceive U.N. pilots. USAF pilots noted after the 27th, they had not heard any Russian chatter on the intercom's of MiG-15's from the Soviet Union’s “Honchos” pilots.
Between May 8–31, 56 MiG-15s were destroyed with only one F-86 loss in the same period. USAF pilots noticed that Communist pilots who observed USAF aircraft flying near their airspace prior to any engagement, bailed from their aircraft to ensure their personal survival.
Gen. Clark received reports of the poor quality of Communist pilots after the leaflet drops of Operation Moolah, their worst piloting of the war. Communist pilots flew fewer sorties in the 90 days after Operation Moolah than in the 90 days before the first leaflet drop. U.N. pilots shot down 155 MiG-15’s to three F-86 aircraft in that period.
The Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
armistice
Armistice
An armistice is a situation in a war where the warring parties agree to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, but may be just a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace...
was signed on July 27, 1953, ceasing all combat operations. Not one single pilot had defected to South Korea. The effectiveness of Operation Moolah was difficult to assess. Though U.N. forces did not recover a single MiG-15 aircraft, Operation Moolah did have residual effects on Communist forces. There is some evidence to believe that the Soviet Union feared a defection from its pilots more than the Chinese or North Korean regimes. U.S. intelligence reports indicated that Soviet Far Eastern audiences were shown films depicting the failure of U.S. intelligence agents bribing the crew and passengers of a Czech plane into defecting to the west. Presumably the Russians may have well believed that the U.N. reward offer would appeal to airmen from their satellite countries in the Warsaw Bloc.
The leaflets used in Operation Moolah carried the photo of LT Franciszek Jarecki
Franciszek Jarecki
Franciszek Jarecki was a pilot in the Polish Air Force, who became famous in early 1953 when he escaped Soviet-controlled Poland in a MiG-15 jet, which was one of the best planes owned by the Soviets at that time.Jarecki was born in 1931 in Gdów, a town near Kraków...
, who had flown his MiG-15 (trainer aircraft) from Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
to political asylum in Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
in March 1953.
Aftermath
Early in the morning on September 21, 1953, LT No Kum-Sok flew a MiG-15bis, bort number 'Red 2057', of the 2nd Regiment, Korean People's Air Force, from Sunan Air BaseSunan International Airport
-Cargo destinations:-Facilities:The airport contains a car park, a business centre, disabled facilities, a duty free shop, Business Class lounge, a taxi stand, a Korea Trade Bank, and several souvenir shops. The airport also has a baggage storage facility; service hours are from 08:00 to 21:00 and...
, just outside of Pyongyang
Pyongyang
Pyongyang is the capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, commonly known as North Korea, and the largest city in the country. Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River and, according to preliminary results from the 2008 population census, has a population of 3,255,388. The city was...
, North Korea and landed before 10:00 am at Kimpo Air Base in South Korea. He was immediately taken in to the base headquarters for interrogation and physical examination. Shortly afterwards, he was taken by helicopter to a secluded U.S. military base at Oryu-dong
Oryu-dong
Oryu-dong is a dong, neighbourhood of Guro-gu in Seoul, South Korea.-External links:* at the Guro-gu official website at the Guro-gu official website...
, just outside of Seoul
Seoul
Seoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world...
, where the Fifth Air Force Intelligence Office was located. His aircraft was disassembled and loaded onto a C-124 Globemaster and shipped off the next day to Kadena Air Base
Kadena Air Base
, is a United States Air Force base in the towns of Kadena and Chatan and the city of Okinawa, in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. Kadena Air Base is the hub of U.S. airpower in the Pacific, and home to the USAF's 18th Wing and a variety of associate units.-Units:The 18th Wing is the host unit at Kadena...
on Okinawa. The next morning, South Korean newspapers mentioned the defected North Korean pilot and his award of $100,000. Kum-Sok, though, was unaware of Operation Moolah and its rewards. Kum-Sok was later advised by the Central Intelligence Agency
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
(CIA) to decline the reward money in exchange for paid education at an American college of his choosing. President Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...
did not support Operation Moolah. He thought it unethical to offer money to a defector and was concerned about the North Korean reaction to the defection due to the uneasy armistice agreement.
One of his handlers from the CIA was Larry Chin
Larry Wu-Tai Chin
Larry Wu-tai Chin was a former Chinese language translator working for the CIA's Foreign Broadcast Information Service...
, who was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
(FBI) in 1985 for spying. The aftermath of Kum-Sok's defection led to the execution of five of his fellow pilots.
According to Kum-Sok, the reward would not have motivated any North Korean pilots to defect, for a number of reasons. First, the offer made available in April 1953 was advertised through leaflets dropped at North Korean air bases on the Yalu River. However, at that point in the war, all Russian, Chinese, and North Korean MiG-15s were stationed in Manchuria, so it was unlikely that any MiG-15 pilots had seen the leaflets. Secondly, even if the USAF had dropped leaflets in Manchuria, a North Korean pilot would not have trusted the authenticity of the offer. Nor were North Korean pilots generally aware of the purchasing power of the American dollar. Had Operation Moolah instead guaranteed freedom and a job in the United States, it would have been viewed as a more tempting offer.
Even though it was not directly influenced by Operation Moolah, Kum-Sok's defection did allow the USAF insight into the aircraft and the state of the northern air forces. For the next several months, Kum-Sok answered numerous questions related to North Korea's military and the support it received from the Soviet Union and China. He also provided valuable insight to American test pilots prior to their evaluation of the MiG at Kadena Air Base. The test pilots were Major Chuck Yeager
Chuck Yeager
Charles Elwood "Chuck" Yeager is a retired major general in the United States Air Force and noted test pilot. He was the first pilot to travel faster than sound...
and Captain Harold "Tom" Collins, led by Major General
Major General
Major general or major-general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. A major general is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the ranks of brigadier and brigadier general...
Albert Boyd
Albert Boyd
Albert Boyd was a pioneering test pilot for the United States Air Force. During his 30 year career, he logged over 23,000 hours of flight time, flying an astounding 723 military aircraft...
, the commander of the Wright Air Development Center. Major Yeager later stated, "Flying the MiG-15 is the most demanding situation I have ever faced. It's a quirky airplane that has killed a lot of its pilots."
Testing of the MiG-15bis lasted 11 days. It revealed that the aircraft was a reasonably good fighter, but lacked the technological sophistication of American aircraft, such as the F-86. Major Yeager was able to fly the aircraft to 0.98 Mach
Mach number
Mach number is the speed of an object moving through air, or any other fluid substance, divided by the speed of sound as it is in that substance for its particular physical conditions, including those of temperature and pressure...
before it became dangerously uncontrollable. While the MiG-15 did have a faster climb rate and operated in a higher altitude ceiling than the F-86, it suffered from problems with oscillation
Oscillation
Oscillation is the repetitive variation, typically in time, of some measure about a central value or between two or more different states. Familiar examples include a swinging pendulum and AC power. The term vibration is sometimes used more narrowly to mean a mechanical oscillation but sometimes...
, poor pressurization
Cabin pressurization
Cabin pressurization is the pumping of compressed air into an aircraft cabin to maintain a safe and comfortable environment for crew and passengers when flying at altitude.-Need for cabin pressurization:...
, unexpected pitch-up
Pitch-up
In aerodynamics, pitch-up is a severe form of stall in an aircraft. It is directly related to inherent properties of all swept wings.-History:Pitch-up problems were first noticed on high-speed test aircraft with swept wings...
at high speeds, unrecoverable spins, sudden stalls
Stall (flight)
In fluid dynamics, a stall is a reduction in the lift coefficient generated by a foil as angle of attack increases. This occurs when the critical angle of attack of the foil is exceeded...
, and a particularly dangerous emergency fuel pump that could cause the aircraft to explode if improperly activated. Despite such shortcomings, Yeager and Collins determined that the MiG-15 and F-86 were equally capable. Pilot experience and training proved to be the most important factor during dogfight
Dogfight
A dogfight, or dog fight, is a form of aerial combat between fighter aircraft; in particular, combat of maneuver at short range, where each side is aware of the other's presence. Dogfighting first appeared during World War I, shortly after the invention of the airplane...
s. Maj. Yeager said, "The pilot with the most experience will whip your ass no matter what you're flying!"
After the testing of the MiG-15bis, it was again disassembled and each part was scrutinized and evaluated by engineers. The Americans offered to return the aircraft to North Korea, but there was no response. The MiG-15 was crated and shipped to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base in Greene and Montgomery counties in the state of Ohio. It includes both Wright and Patterson Fields, which were originally Wilbur Wright Field and Fairfield Aviation General Supply Depot. Patterson Field is located approximately...
, in Dayton
Dayton
Dayton is a city in Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County, Ohio, United States.Dayton may also refer to:-United States:*Dayton, Alabama*Dayton, California, in Butte County*Dayton, Lassen County, California*Dayton, Idaho*Dayton, Indiana...
, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
, in February 1954. From March to October 1954, the MiG-15bis, was tested at Eglin AFB, Florida. It was flown extensively in comparisons with the B-36, B-47
B-47 Stratojet
The Boeing Model 450 B-47 Stratojet was a long-range, six-engined, jet-powered medium bomber built to fly at high subsonic speeds and at high altitudes. It was primarily designed to drop nuclear bombs on the Soviet Union...
, F-84 and F-86
F-86 Sabre
The North American F-86 Sabre was a transonic jet fighter aircraft. Produced by North American Aviation, the Sabre is best known as America's first swept wing fighter which could counter the similarly-winged Soviet MiG-15 in high speed dogfights over the skies of the Korean War...
before returning to Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, in October. Further evaluation of the aircraft continued until it was damaged in a hard landing in 1956. The aircraft was donated to the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force
National Museum of the United States Air Force
The National Museum of the United States Air Force is the official museum of the United States Air Force located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base northeast of Dayton, Ohio. The NMUSAF is the world's largest and oldest military aviation museum with more than 360 aircraft and missiles on display...
for restoration and display, where it remains.
Example for future psychological operations
Kuomintang
The Kuomintang of China , sometimes romanized as Guomindang via the Pinyin transcription system or GMD for short, and translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party is a founding and ruling political party of the Republic of China . Its guiding ideology is the Three Principles of the People, espoused...
, Chinese nationalists, dropped leaflets over mainland China, offering 1,000 to 4,000 ounces of gold to Communist Chinese pilots who defected to Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
. The more modern the aircraft, the more ounces of gold that the defecting pilot would receive. In 1966, the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Joint Chiefs of Staff
The Joint Chiefs of Staff is a body of senior uniformed leaders in the United States Department of Defense who advise the Secretary of Defense, the Homeland Security Council, the National Security Council and the President on military matters...
approved Operation Fast Buck, an exact replica of Operation Moolah, but to secure a MiG-21 and the Soviet Mil Mi-6
Mil Mi-6
|-Facts:*Test pilot N.B. Leshin has set the world record of speed. This event was awarded by the American Helicopter Society.*Small numbers are still in service, most in Siberia plus a small number with the People's Republic of China...
"Hook" helicopter. Other goals of this operation were also to acquire intelligence, force the government of North Vietnam
North Vietnam
The Democratic Republic of Vietnam , was a communist state that ruled the northern half of Vietnam from 1954 until 1976 following the Geneva Conference and laid claim to all of Vietnam from 1945 to 1954 during the First Indochina War, during which they controlled pockets of territory throughout...
to evaluate the loyalty of its pilots and reduce MiG sorties.