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Unveiling the Mysteries of Aerial Combat: From Dogfights to Legendary Aces

The domain of air-to-air combat has, since its very inception, been steeped in myth and fact, with stories of dogfights and legendary aces capturing the imagination of many. The History Channel’s “Dogfights” series brings viewers on an unprecedented ride into the heart of adrenaline-fueled aerial warfare, richly explaining how to handle aircraft and perform the basic fighter maneuvering used during engagements. It does a great job of showing just how much brutal physical work is involved in high-G flying-how superhuman the feats of pilots that fly for hour after hour, and continuously maneuver.

But it does have its weaknesses, the most common usually being that it simplified the problems of the formation “sorting” targets and roles within a two-ship element and situational awareness radio calls are barely discussed throughout this series. That might lead viewers to the conclusion that breakdowns in formation integrity and flight discipline are standard in aerial combat.

One of the most intriguing points in the series is the historical engagements portrayed by the series, such as the Gulf of Sidra incident of 1981. Involved in the encounter was Vice Admiral David J. Venlet, who later took his post as Program Executive Officer for the F-35 Lightning II Program. The somewhat melodramatic account of this incident, above, is supported by artist drawings of, first, Fast Eagle 107’s AIM-9 Sidewinder en route to intercept a Libyan Su-22 and, second, Fast Eagle 102 on the deck of the USS Nimitz after the engagement.

Up to now, the legend of this mystery fighter christened “Colonel Tomb” has been one of the most interesting stories that historians and enthusiasts of the Vietnam War have ever been presented with. Several hypotheses have been advanced to unmask the identity of this character. For some, “Tomb” was an alias used by two pilots: Din Tonh and Dang Ngoc Ngu, both flying MiG-21s. Yet others said it was the callsign of Vietnamese ace Le Thanh Dao with six kills, misinterpreted by SIGINT.

This the Vietnamese air force identifies as Nguyen Van Tho, who it says survived the loss of his plane, but this contradicts the explosion witnessed by Cunningham. The best candidate, though, is Nguyen Van Coc, Hanoi’s top-scoring ace with nine air-to-air kills in his MiG-21. Thirteen stars representing the victories of various pilots thus appeared on Van Coc’s aircraft, number 4326, reflecting the shared credits common within the Vietnamese Air Force.

Nguyen Van Coc turned out to be pretty successful. In 1966 he went for training in Russia, and in just one year, he became a top gun in the sky when he scored his first kill in 1967, plus eight more up to the end of 1969. Besides air combat, he later concentrated on training new Vietnamese pilots, among them Nguyen Doc Soat, who later scored six victories.

Another ace well-recognized in Vietnam was Nguyen Van Bay, who scored seven kills flying the older MiG-17, including shooting down Korean War ace Maj. James Kasler and a pair of Navy F-8 Crusaders. In contrast with the majority of American pilots, who returned home when one tour of duty was complete, the pilots emanating from North Vietnam-such as Van Coc and Van Bay-flew throughout the war, compiling an impressive number of aerial victories.

In any case, the legend of Colonel Tomb simply reinforces the valor and skill on both sides of the pilots. The identity of the elusive Tomb may remain just that, but a legacy remains of these Vietnamese aces vouching for a fearsome reputation now the stuff of legends.

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