MiG Alley

alternative MIG Alley

1. historicalinformal1950s Korean WarA region of North Korea, close to the Yalu River, where MiG-15 fighters would typically be encountered.

   3 more examples

   This first mission had not gone into the section of northwest Korea soon to become known as “MiG Alley.” December 17 saw the 4th FIW F-86As make their first foray into that area.[…] Because of fuel concerns, Hinton’s planes entered the combat area at a leisurely Mach 0.62. It became apparent that this speed was too slow to effectively counter the MiG-1 5s. After the first encounters, the 4th FIW pilots realized this fact and began entering MiG Alley at speeds above Mach 0.85.

   2000, William T. Y'Blood, MiG Alley: The Fight for Air Superiority, Air Force History and Museums Program, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 13

   Along the Manchurian frontier was a 160km strip of land the US pilots dubbed 'MiG Alley'. Beyond it lay the North Korean, Chinese and Russian squadrons. From those airbases, MiGs sallied forth to attack the bombers striking North Korea. For the American pilots, MiG Alley was a hunting ground. In the 25 minutes their fuel allowed them over the area, they tore through the clouds at 1,000km/h.

   2007 September 30, Andrew Salmon, “Dogfights and daring in Korea's deep blue yonder”, in South China Morning Post, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 03 Mar 2024, Latest

   Although the ferocity of the bombing was criticized as racist and unjustified elsewhere in the world, it was never a big story back home. U.S. press coverage of the air war focused, instead, on “MiG alley,” a narrow patch of North Korea near the Chinese border. There, in the world’s first jet-powered aerial war, American fighter pilots competed against each other to shoot down five or more Soviet-made fighters and become “aces.”

   2015 March 20, Blaine Harden, “The U.S. war crime North Korea won’t forget”, in The Washington Post, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 21 Mar 2015, Opinions

1. alternativeAlternative form of MiG Alley.

   SUPER high speed, high altitude Communist jet fighters roam MIG Alley daily but as yet they have feared to venture south across the 38th.

   1951 September-October, Walter T. Ride, Jr., “Horse 'n Buggy Air Defense In Korea”, in Antiaircraft Journal, volume LXXXXIV, number 5, page 19, column 1

   3 more examples

   We fight a private little war up in MIG Alley. On our side of the Yalu river is the 4th Fighter Interceptor wing. On the other side are the Red MIG-15's.

   1951 August, James Jabara, “First Jet Ace”, in Catholic Digest, volume 15, number 10, sourced from Air Force, page 17, column 2

   This air space between the Yalu and the Chongchon, rising vertically from the snow carpet to the empty blue of 50,000 feet, is now the disputed no man's land of the Korean air war where the Chinese red air force is making its first serious challenge to American air supremacy in the jet era.[…] MIG Alley is now the “big league” of air war where two USAF Sabre wings—the 4th and 5l1st—are fighting one of the great battles of history against swarms of red-nosed Russian MIG-15s in the first large scale clash of sweptwing jet fighters.

   1952 April, Robert Hotz, “Can We Win in MIG Alley?”, in Air Force Magazine, volume 35, number 4, page 24, column 1

   Seven decades later, that plane still exists, and resides at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force near Dayton, Ohio. Its red star repainted, it is on display alongside an American F-86 Sabre jet, a remembrance of the dogfights of the Korean War in the swath of sky known as MIG Alley.

   2023 January 5, Richard Goldstein, Alex Traub, “Kenneth Rowe, Who Defected From North Korea With His Jet, Dies at 90”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 05 Jan 2023, Asia Pacific