F-86 Sabre Aces of the 51st Fighter Wing
A compact guide to the aces of this American wing, under the command of ace Colonel Francis Gabreski.
The 51st Fighter Wing initially flew the F-80C in the Korean War, but in 1951, the 51st brought in high-scoring World War 2 ace Colonel Francis Gabreski to assume command when it converted from the F-80 over to the newly arrived F-86E. His recruits included his elite 4th Wing pilots, and by the end of the war, the 51st had two pilots who achieved the status of “Double Ace” as well as the highest scoring ace of the war, Joe McConnell.
Featuring illustrations throughout, this book describes the 51st Wing’s tenure with the Sabre that led to their high scoring sprees of 1953.
Warren Thompson has written three books on the Korean War for Osprey in the past, including Aircraft of the Aces 4: ‘Korean War Aces’. He is also an official historian of the P-61 aircrew association. He lives in Tennessee.
Mark has illustrated several books in both the Aircraft of the Aces and Combat Aircraft series. He has produced some of the best profiles Osprey has used to date in Combat Aircraft 18: B-17 Flying Fortress Units of the Eighth Air Force' (part 1) and Combat Aircraft 22: Mitsubishi Type 1 Rikko Betty Units of World War 2. He is based in Dorset, UK.