Grumman Panther missions

[Mgawa]

Yo, wait a minute... if the Panther was used as ground attack machine, what was the principal Navy/Marines fighter?

[John Dupre]

Yo, wait a minute... if the Panther was used as ground attack machine, what was the principal Navy/Marines fighter?

It was the F9F Panther backed up with the F4U Corsair. Both these aircraft could easily deal with the YaK 9s and Ilyushin 10s of the North Korean Air Force. (BTW is there any truth, as in photos, of North Korea using the P-63 KingCobra?) With the advent of the MiG 15 in theater it was realized that the Corsair and Panther were pretty clearly outclassed in the air to air arena so most Navy carrier aircraft were tasked with ground attack and bombing missions. There were several air to air contacts with Panthers and MiGs and at least one Panther downed a MiG. Not sure how many Panthers were lost to MiGs.

[Mgawa]

This is it John! All I have noted on the decks of carriers are Corsairs and Panther and as well the modern Panther was used for attack on ground targets, this simply mean that role was sharply divided on Navy and Marines to give ground support and Air Force to have fighter missions (with all others).

Never hear that Panther downed MiG-15, any more info?

Thank you for attention

[Dan K]

Never hear that Panther downed MiG-15, any more info?

Quick history of Panther kills over Korea:

F9F-2s, F9F-3s and F9F-5s served with distinction in the Korean War, downing two Yak-9s and five Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15s with a loss of one F9F. On 3 July 1950, LT (j.g.) Leonard H. Plog of U.S. Navy's VF-51 flying an F9F-3 scored the first air victory of the war by shooting down a Yak-9. The first MiG-15 downed was on 9 November 1950 by U.S. Navy Lieutenant Commander William (Bill) Amen of VF-111 "Sundowners" flying an F9F-2B. Two more were downed on 18 November 1950, and the other two were downed on the 18 November 1952.

[Holedigger]

Close, my understanding is that the Panthers did well up against most everything BUT the newest MIGS. Usage evolved. When those appeared, the Sabers were called in, a much more evenly matched aircraft. The Migs had an edge on pretty much everything else in theater which was a rude awakening to the UN allies. Right plane for the right job is always a preferred way of doing it!

[Jack Cook]

It was the F9F Panther backed up with the F4U Corsair

Don't forget the F2H Banshee and the AD Skyraider.

[Mgawa]

Where to get full list of Panther vs MiG-15 air kills?

You are right Jack with Banshee but what about Phantom I ?

[Jack Cook]

No FH Phantoms served very sparingly in operational units just 1-2 squadrons and were gone by 1949.

[Holedigger]

Don't know about a list, but this book overview has a lot of good info on the air war over Korea link

http://books.google.com/books?id=omvpIF ... ar&f=false