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.Too low to bail out, Snr Lt Hoang Ioh was killed whenOne of two MiG-17Fs modifiedhis MiG hit a hillside and exploded.This two-on-one tactic was recommended byfor short-field landings andarmed for anti-shippingTopgun instructors.attacks, this aircraft hasMay 1972 was a remarkable month for Seventh Fleet F-4 units, as they destroyedresided in the VPAF Museum11 MiG-17s, three MiG-21s and two MiG-19s in just 18 days of combat.VF-51 s Ltin Hanoi for many years.Cdr Jerry Houston and RIO Lt(jg) Kevin Moore scored the first of three kills (theRussian PROSAB-250 bombswere hung on underwing remaining two were MiG-21s claimed by VF-114) on May 6.A former F-8 expert,pylons and a braking Devil Houston had flown Have Drill MiG-17s, and was therefore fully conversantparachute was added inwith the jet s control problems at low altitude and high speed.With fellow seniora bullet fairing at the baseflight leader Lt Cdr Chuck Schroeder, he heard strike leader (and Topgun pioneer) Ltof the fin.Large numbersCdr Jim Ruliffson call out a MiG-17 that was closing on the tail of an A-6A Intruderof torpedo boats set outto attack the Higbee after itflown by CVW-15 CO Cdr Roger Sheets.Both the US Navy bomber and the MiGwas damaged by Le Xuan Di swere flying at low altitude down a karst valley.Accelerating to a position behind theMiG-17, but they were driven Fresco , Houston waited for the A-6 to break and give him an AIM-9 shot.off by gunfire from the CAG Sheets decided not to break until he saw that my missile had fired thedestroyer Sterett.(Dr István Toperczer) ultimate decoy , explained Houston. It worked, but only because at the last minute62 (approaching minimum firing range, and in total frustration) I decided to fire, despitethere being a chance that the weapon could have been locked onto CAG s A-6.I didn tknow that he couldn t hear my frantic calls to Break and get the hell out of there ! All he heard was the transmitted Sidewinder tone.Our ex-US Marine Corps F-4Bwas old, and had a history of radio problems.On this particular occasion the Sidewindertone was also transmitted, effectively blocking out the rest of our transmission. Fortunately, Sheets broke at the right moment, but the MiG pilot (probablyNguyen Van Bay the Younger) could not make his control-locked aircraft turn.TheAIM-9 blew off its tail at an altitude of just 100ft and the Fresco crashed.Cunningham and Driscoll s first MiG-17 victory followed 48 hours later.As hiswingman Lt Brian Grant described it, the engagement was a classic over-water CAPNguyen Phi Hung wasinvolved in the shootingvectored onto an overland MiG target , except that the latter had set a trap which Grantdown of two VF-151 F-4Bs ondetected in time to make a course reversal that placed Randy Cunningham behind meNovember 19, 1967, when fourin a position to down his second MiG, conveniently trapped at my six o clock .923rd FR fighters, operatingAs the MiG pilot opened fire on Grant s Showtime 101 , Cunningham fired anfrom the forward airfieldat Kien An, successfullyAIM-9G to distract it while RIO Driscoll monitored two MiG-17s that had reversedbounced the US Navy jetstheir course and started to fire shells at Showtime 112 .Having this time acquiredas they provided TARCAP fora missile lock tone, Cunningham quickly loosed off a second AIM-9 that disintegratedaircraft attacking targets nearthe MiG. It was as classic a mutual support textbook fight as we had practised inHaiphong.(VPAF Museum viatraining , recalled Brian Grant.Dr István Toperczer)63 May 10 yielded 11 claims by US fighters, with seven of them being MiG-17 killscredited to US Navy Phantom IIs.Five VPAF pilots were lost.The first two fell to LtsMatt Connelly and Lt Tom Blonski (see cover art caption for full combat description).During the same Alpha strike, Cunningham and Driscoll, armed for flak suppression,ran into MiGs from three VPAF bases over the Hai Duong target.They were in searchof revenge for an audacious MiG-21 kill achieved by VF-92 s Lt Curt Dosé and Lt CdrJim McDevitt over Kep s main runway that morning.Within a minute Cunningham s Showtime 100 had downed an attackingMiG-17, having forced it to overshoot into his AIM-9 range.Minutes later he spottedfour F-4s trapped in a wagon wheel with eight MiG-17s.As VF-96 XO Cdr DwightTimm emerged from the wheel with three MiGs on his tail, Cunningham attemptedto come to his rescue, but was in turn set upon by two MiG-19s from above and fourmore MiG-17s from behind.Manoeuvring violently to shake off his pursuers,Cunningham got Timm to sharply break away from the Frescos that were trailinghim.This cleared the way for Showtime 100 to down a second MiG-17 withanother AIM-9 shot.Cunningham s tail was protected by Lt Steve Shoemaker and Lt(jg) KeithCrenshaw, who saw another Fresco moving into a firing position behind Showtime100 .They destroyed the VPAF jet with a single AIM-9.Yet another MiG-17 thenbegan to fire cannon rounds at Cunningham in a head-on pass.The latter used hisTopgun training to deal with the new threat, pulling the F-4 in a vertical climb inorder to throw off the Fresco pilot s aim.Surprisingly, the MiG pilot followed suit,and two further vertical climb and rolling scissors manoeuvres left both fighters shortof speed, but with the MiG behind the F-4J.Lt Matt Connelly usesthe universal pilots handlanguage to run throughhis double MiG kill whileRIO Lt Tom Blonski lookson thoughtfully.In MattConnelly s opinion, The F-4was actually ill-suited toclose-in dogfighting due to itslimited g available below 420knots and the lack of a Gatlinggun.The MiG-17 and MiG-21had one full g advantagebelow 420 knots
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