Re: Panther V Mig Redux

["Diego Zampini" <dzampini@hotmail.com>]

Mr. Brennan:

>Williams' Panther BuNo. 125459 suffered class damage code d-2, >restored to 
>service. Your info means overall type score was: Panther >4, MiG 1, 
>admitted total loss each side. Easier than Saber-MIG!

Certainly the Phanter pilots gain the upper hand in Nov 1950 and 1952, a 
testimony of his good training and skills.
But from my point of view it is premature to establish the margin of 
superiority. On July 21 1951, when the MiG-15 pilot Boris Abakumov (196th 
IAP, 324th IAD) shot down the F9F of 1st Lt. Richard Bell (POW), several 
other Soviet pilots claimed kills, and despite I don't think 6 more kills 
were scored, I have serious reasons to believe that at least 2 more F9Fs 
were shot down that day (both by the MiG-15 of the unit's commander, Col. 
Yevgeni Pepelyayev). Apparently in both cases the wreckages were found (with 
their pilots killed in their cockpit) and in one of them they found a serial 
number: "109I405116". Such details are mentioned in the 1059 document of 
Cookie.
Addittionaly, many F9F losses match in date with Soviet claims of 'F-84' or 
'F-80' kills (the Soviet pilots usually missidentified the Panthers with 
Thunderjets and Shooting Stars), and despite such losses are offically 
credited at flak fire or a failed pull after a bomb diving, it must be noted 
that the loss of the F-84Es of Bernard Seitzinger on Oct.8 1951 and James 
Wills on Apr.12 1953 were originally credited to such causes, when they were 
actually shot down by MiG-15 pilots (Col. Pepelyayev and Capt. Semyenov 
respectivelly). Similar circumstances could be told about Panther losses.
Despite that, it is clear that the clear technical superiority of the MiG-15 
against the Panther, regarding the key factor (pilots' skills) the Panther 
pilots had an edge against most of MiG pilots.
Just my 2 cents,
Diego Zampini.

_________________________________________________________________
Con MSN Hotmail súmese al servicio de correo electrónico más grande del 
mundo. http://www.hotmail.com/ES