Korean War air combat.

[nikimcbee]

This is one of my favorite aviation history subjects, and I've read several books regarding the Soviet pilots. The funny thing regarding this whole subject, is that both sides seem to brush off their own losses. both sides were claiming pretty high kill ratios. I wonder if most of the US kills were against Chinese fighters? It seems like the Russians liked to use them as the "bait" for the US pilots. But also, the Russians had a wider variety of planes that they were engaging. So I can see how their kill tallies would be high. I think it would be accurate to see or hear from the Chinese records.

Claims

The numbers shown above, and used throughout, are claims, and are almost certainly in excess of the actual number of MiGs downed. During the war the USAF pilots claimed over 800 enemy planes. Postwar research revised that figure downward to 379, which closely matches the admitted Russian losses of 345. The Air Force has not disclosed, perhaps does not fully know, which pilot claims to revise, so the contemporary numbers stand, although, as in all claims for aerial victories, the claims exceed the other side's documented losses.
Adjusted Claims per Soviet Data

In the years since the breakup of the old Soviet Union, records relating to the Korean War have come to light. Aviation history researchers like Cookie Sewall and Diego Zampini have pored over these records and have been able to correlate Soviet records of specific aerial battles on specific dates, and thus documented certain over-claims by the USAF pilots. As noted above, over-claims have occurred in all wars and amongst all combatant nations. John Lundstrom similarly researched American overclaims versus Japanese air forces in WW2.
The adjusted claims shown here in no way detract from the heroic accomplishments of the aces. In any historical research, accuracy is all-important; without striving for accuracy (within the limits of resources, documents, archaelogical evidence, etc.) it is not history, it is merely story-telling.
The "Adjusted Claims" column represents a work in progress. As no Chinese archives have been opened up at this time, only USAF claims against Russian air forces have been reviewed. (In other words, the claims against Chinese air forces are counted here, without any challenge.) I hope to provide more documentation, identifying the dates and circumstances of the reduced claims. The "n.a" simply means that I have no information about any adjustments for that pilot; the USAF number should stand.

Russia:
http://www.acepilots.com/russian/rus_aces.html

US:
http://www.acepilots.com/korea_aces.html