Warbird Information Exchange

The latest issue of Air Enthusiast has a awesome 21 page article, "The 100 Hour War: Honduras versus El Salvador", with lots of pictures and color drawings of Corsairs and P-51s. Some of the pictures were provided by Tulio Soto! This issue is worth purchasing at your local newstand for your files.

Dennis

Which came out on top, the Corsair or Mustang.

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Wow, has it really been that long since I last visited?

The Corsair, of course!

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Rob Mears
'Surviving Corsairs' Historian
robcmears@yahoo.com
http://www.robmears.com

We are talking here about two fine aircraft engaged in deadly aerial combat. The F4U-5N (FAH 609) and the P-51D (FAS 404?) Cavalier Mustang.

We are also talking about some fine pilots trained to fly in the U.S prior to 1969. During the F4U/FG-1D duel over Salvadoran skies FAH 609, (July 1969), was bitten on the right wing by the attacking/pursuing FG-1D poss FAS 204 and yes, after some intricate maneuvers F4U-5N FAH 609 came on top! Alt fm apprx 15000 ft to 5000 ft.

Whoever has the best defensive/offensive skills I believe will always come on top. In this particular case Capt. Fernando Soto Enriquez did!

Included for you F4U Folks and courtesy of www.catrachowings.com one of the planes involved in the '69 war F4U-4 FAH 617 c. 1977. Photo J.B via C/w.com

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FAH619®

Situational awareness has a lot to do with it, as well. A superior pilot who is "jumped" may have allready soaked-up bullets before he's ever able to begin maneuvering.

On July 17, 1969, two Salvadoran Cavalier F-51 Mustangs (tail numbers have not yet been officially disclosed by Salvadoran authorities) 'jumped' Honduran F4U-5, FAH 604, which managed to evade the incoming bursts of .50 caliber machine gun fire. Seconds later, after having called for assistance, another F4U-5, FAH 609, maneuvered behind the attacking Mustangs and was able to hit one of them with it's 20mm cannons. Although the Mustang pilot managed to bail out (but given the low altitude of this combat), he was unable to open his parachute and was killed in the process. The other Mustang did not further engage in combat, and interned into Salvadoran territory, less than a mile away.

"Situational awareness". Being a combat pilot himself, Randy knows exactly what he is talking about. This is a strong possibility in the following cases:
Both Salvadoran pilots engaged the enemy without releasing their load of two 250 pound bombs, disregarding a very important fighter pilot's combat principle.
In a similar situation a few hours later, Captain Fernando Soto H., again flying Corsair FAH 609, shot down two Salvadoran FG-1Ds, during the same combat, for a total of three 'kills'. After being hit, one of the FG-1Ds exploded in mid-air (pilot was killed) due perhaps, repeat perhaps, to having forgotten to de-pressurize the gasoline tanks before or while engaging air-to air combat.

Once I register in 'photobucket.com', I may be posting some photos of the Mustang bomb and wreckage, I took back in 1969.

Cheers,

Amado

FAH 503:

Welcome to the big leagues & photobucket! We see you lately spreading your wings from the former 01 at TNT.

I heard the term "situational awareness" before specially among combat pilots of F-15/F-14 aircraft doing maneuvers over the Gulf of Mexico. I'm sure the term is already included in their defensive/offensive skills.

Capt. Soto mentioned in one of the his interviews that FAS pilots were good for acrobatics during '69 however, when it came time to do the Tango at 20000 ft either they engaged or turned away. The ones that did engaged paid the price. He also mentioned that the total aerial combat time seemed to last an eternity when in fact both encounters were very brief. A bit of luck is also involved...like Yerex said "it favors the bold!"

More shots to come of these fine F4U birds in www.catrachowings.com (now under construction). F4U Buff/FAH619

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FAH619®

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FAH619®

Hmmmmnnnn....problems FAH 619?

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He bowls overhand...He is the most interesting man in the world.
"In Peace Japan Breeds War", Eckstein, Harper and Bros., 3rd ed. 1943(1927, 1928,1942)
"Leave it to ol' Slim. I got ideas...and they're all vile, baby." South Dakota Slim
"Ahh..."The Deuce", 28,000 pounds of motherly love." quote from some Mojave Grunt
DBF

Airnutz:
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FAH619®

I'm not sure what is going on here. I will look into it and notify Scott and see if we can get this resolved.

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Dan Johnson

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FAH619®

Dan: Tks for looking into it ! FAH 619

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FAH619®

I'm not sure what else to do so I'm going to temporarily lock this thread untill we can get the multiple posting issue worked out.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

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Dan Johnson

I have deleted the extra posts. Not sure if it was an internal or external problem but I will keep an eye on it.

Thanks.

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Scott Rose
Editor-In-Chief/Webmaster
Warbirds Resource Group - Warbird Information Exchange - Warbird Registry

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