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Jose,
A lot of the claims on the Soviet side had to do with the fact that the first divisions deployed to Korea were almost completely populated with WWI aces and experienced pilots that had converted to the MiG-15 early on. As the war progressed and the divisions were rotated out, the new divisions had more new pilots and fewer old hands, and as a result the pilots were not as effective.
The US suffered some of the same problems, and for every Joe McConnell that was not a WWII pilot (he was a gunner from what I understand who got his wings too late to see action) and succeeded there were a large number of lieutenants who did not. At one point the USAF supposedly reduced claims to seeing three "sparkles" (e.g. hits) on gun camera film to count the aircraft as a kill, but I am not sure if that is for real or just anecdotal.
Chinese claims do not stack up well against actual losses, and as such are somewhat suspect. As noted in an earlier e-mail, the Koreans believe their own ridiculous propaganda and are not serious in actual claims. (They did have a few early on, including at least one B-29 shot down by a Yak-9P.)
Cookie Sewell
AMPS
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