A radar gunsight is a type of gunsight for aerial combat that combines a gyro gunsight with a small radar. They were introduced just after World War II and used into the 1960s. After that, more complex sighting systems and heads up displays replaced these designs. The APG-30 gunsight is credited with giving the North American F-86 Sabre the edge over the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 in the Korean War, the two types being similarly matched otherwise but the gunsight allowing longer range accurate fire. The MiG, with its 37mm cannon and two 20mm cannons, could outgun the Sabre, which carried six 0.5-inch machine guns. However, the Sabre was fitted with a radar APG-30 gunsight compared to the MiG’s less advanced optical gunsight.

@@fredbell6237 Yes, I understand what a radar ranging gun sight does. When my dad went through initial check out on the F-86A at Nellis AFB they had the current A-4 sight for the time. However, the F-86A assigned to him when he arrived in Korea with the 4th FIW, 336th FIS it had the older K-18 sight that was used on P-51 Mustangs as well as a number of other American fighters of WW II. Even though he had an assigned aircraft there were more pilots than aircraft and he flew what was available and assigned to him per the operations officer for any particular mission. At the time the 336th FIS had a variety of F-86s to include F-86As, F-86E-6s (Canadian built) and F-86E-10s. F-86As were faster than F-86Es as they were lighter (no hydraulics in the tail for the all moving control surfaces) and as such performed differently. As a result F-86As never flew in the same flight of 4 aircreaft as F-86Es. Having said that, "assigned" aircraft didn't mean a whole lot. It was common for any one F-86 to fly north of the Yalu River 3-4 times in a day with a different pilot in the cockpit each time.

The first F-86Fs reached Korea in June and July of 1952, and they were issued to the 51st Wing's new 39th Squadron. F-86Fs were provided to the 335th Squadron of the 4th Wing in September of 1952. The arrival of the F-86F quickly boosted Sabre victories in Korea. The 4th Wing's 335th Squadron scored a total of 81 victories during the remainder of 1952, while the other two 4th Wing squadrons (which were still operating F-86Es) got 41. With a record like that, it now seemed that EVERYONE in Korea wanted an F-86F, and so to prevent the morale of F-86E pilots from declining, a decision was made to have F-86Fs distributed more or less equally among all the squadrons in the 4th Wing. To meet the increased demand, all the F-86Fs still in the US were immediately shipped to Korea and exchanged for F-86Es which were then returned home.

@@fredbell6237 Some F-86Es remained in Korea as late as early1953. As for F-86As, they were in theater as late as October of 1952. While it is true that the F-86F had arrived in Korea, it was the fighter bomber units that needed them as they'd worn out their F-80s and F-84s. As to the up tick in kills it wasn't the arrival of the F-86F that caused it. It was the fact the enemy finally decided to come up and fight. For much of 1952 the MiGs were simply not coming up to fight very often. I'm sure you've read the book "The Hunters" (forget the movie, that's just a Robert Mitchum flick. Much of what Horowitz (the author's real name) wrote about were based on actual stories. While many names were changed to protect the "innocent" some really people are mentioned, one in particular is Drury Callahan who was a classmate of my Dad's and who became a life long friend. Drury passed a few years ago but had been a docent at the Cavanaugh Air Museum for many years. In fact their F-4C was Drury's assigned aircraft during his tour during the Viet Nam war. If you would like to talk to my Dad about Korea 1952 I'm sure a phone call can be arranged. He has time on his hands these days and would love to talk about the various missions and pilots he flew with.

Give a shout to education@palmspringsairmuseum.corg and we can get an interview for our oral history program. Cheers,

I will try and mix it up a bit