Warbird Information Exchange

The latest FlyPast has an article on the “Victorious Fatherland Liberation War Museum” in Pyongyang North Korea.
Unfortunately, their writer took everything he was told by the North Koreans at face value....perhaps he should have asked Sony pictures about that.

A photo shows a H-23 Raven helicopter...reportedly captured in the war.
It's in one piece unlike the rest of the American aircraft in their trophy room, I mean museum.
For the historically challenged, the Korean War ended in 1953.
But it's a H-23D....a variant introduced in 1957. It looks quite a bit different than earlier models.
Okay, I might be able to forgive a writer for not catching that. But they wouldn't have make the mistake about a Spitfire or even some very obscure British type.
But, they then publish, not just once but twice, the ac serial of 61-3094.
Even the most junior of UK aviation fans know how to read US serials and know the first two digits refer to the year it was contracted in.

Their editors must have taken a long lunch break....

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Remember the vets, the wonderful planes they flew and their sacrifices for a future many of them did not live to see.
Note political free signature.
I figure if you wanted my opinion on items unrelated to this forum, you'd ask for it.

Ironically, I just spent the last hour trying to narrow down the possible identity of one of the F4U-4 Corsairs on display at the Victorious Fatherland Museum. What I'd give to have ten minutes in that museum to verify some serial numbers!

Is there any chance the Fly Past article made any mention of the Corsairs on display?

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

No, but they did give the serial of a F-86D. While not specifically saying so, the article gives one the impression it was shot down in the war.

All in all, I'm surprised the author didn't refer to Americans as "Running dog Yankee imperialists".


He does mention that the museum also hold the "spy" ship U.S.S. Pueblo, but doesn't bother to say it was captured in international waters.

_________________
Remember the vets, the wonderful planes they flew and their sacrifices for a future many of them did not live to see.
Note political free signature.
I figure if you wanted my opinion on items unrelated to this forum, you'd ask for it.

Of course, no F-86Ds were flown in the Korean War.

They were indeed! - they were just a looooong way away.

And the fault isn't really one of the magazine being unaware of US topics: Flypast is not much more than a tabloid rag and its production (both in editorial and presentation) is in a similar vein. Sadly there are few quality, UK-produced historical aviation magazines now.

Content is UK-biased, but so are US-produced mags, so not really an argument.

Interesting Quemerford, how you view "Flypast" and the other British magazines, It's nice to see other points of view. Let us hope that your post it is read by those concerned and that they take note.

I doubt it, but we live in hope. I suspect those concerned are more interested in selling in quantity, rather than in quality...

I thought that the Korean War had an armistice but never a peace treaty so technically continues to this day.
Both sides have armies either side of a demilitarized zone, the North has fired artillery into South islands and sunk a South naval ship not that long ago, the conflict may have cooled but it is not resolved.
Could the helicopter and Sabre come from later encounters after the 1950 to 53 conflict?

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Chris Mellor

The Sabre came from a (if memory serves) 1968 shoot down.

My complaint isn't with FlyPast or UK aviation magazines in general. I've read (and contributed to) FlyPast for years and generally, they do an excellent job covering US military aviation. While they haven't done deep type histories like we used to see in Wings and Airpower, Thye've done a very good job at telling stories about combat operations.

Just in this one case, the editors were out to lunch to miss something so glaring...especially the serial number.

As far as a 1968 (or whenever) F-68D shootdown...that would have been a ROK aircraft. USAF 86s were out of theater by then.
BTW: no mention of the EC-121 (1968, IIRC) shootdown either.

_________________
Remember the vets, the wonderful planes they flew and their sacrifices for a future many of them did not live to see.
Note political free signature.
I figure if you wanted my opinion on items unrelated to this forum, you'd ask for it.

My gripe is firmly with Flypast and now, Aeroplane too: cheap paper, scruffy, dated presentation and wayyyyy too many Spitfire articles across the board. Plus not much imagination in terms of other stories. Plenty of amazing restorations underway across the globe, but you just get the usual, predictable stuff. The Database thing is a pale imitation of the Aeroplane version, back a few years when Aeroplane was more of a quality mag.

And yes, the Dog was RoKAF.

ooops - posted twice!

Indeed, the Koran war never ended. It is still ongoing!

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Magister Aviation
It's all in my book

There's a Koran War now? It just goes on doesn't it?

Yep, they just shot down one of our movies!

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All right, Mister Dorfmann, start pullin'!
Pilot: "Flap switch works hard in down position."
Mechanic: "Flap switch checked OK. Pilot needs more P.T." - Flight report, TB-17G 42-102875 (Hobbs AAF)