Mohawk takes down Fresco

From avgeekery

The MiG struck first.

As Ken Lee tells it, “When I felt the hits on the aircraft I told my wingman to break south as there was no point in both of us getting shot down. I was still a bit jumpy in that area- I didn’t want another .51 caliber round in my side, so I started a right turn to put some distance between me and the AAA batteries in the valley. I looked out the right side of the airplane to clear my turn and then just as I began the turn the MiG flew past me. I had only 170 knots of airspeed as we were heavy.”

Ken continues, “At first I thought the MiG might have been an Aussie F-86 (RAAF CA-27 Sabres were based out of Ubon in those days) but then I saw the red star on his tail. When he passed me he just about lined himself up. He just happened to be right on my targeting pipper, so I have to say there was no great skill involved in leading him or anything. I just started shooting.”

While his right-seater deposited the contents of his stomach in his helmet bag, Lee fired most of his 38 rockets at the MiG in several four-shot salvos, believing he hit it with four of them. He also claimed to have hit the Fresco with approximately 100 rounds from the .50 caliber gun pods, observing tracer fire light up the MiG’s fuselage. After the attack the two aircraft lost sight of each other in a cloud bank but by then the MiG was well ablaze and although Lee did not see the stricken MiG impact the ground he was confident that it had gone in, having last seen the Fresco entering a valley he knew was boxed in by the weather.

When the two Mohawks returned to Phu Bai Air Base, an expectant Captain Lee found quite a few 23 millimeter holes in his aircraft from the MiG. He had a few rockets and a few .50 cal rounds left. Because the Army wanted to avoid any issues the Air Force might have had with a Mohawk or any other Army aircraft shooting down a MiG, Lee and his wingman were ordered to keep his victory quiet. In truth he didn’t really know for certain he had shot the MiG down. Either way Ken never received either credit for the MiG or any kind of recognition- from the Army anyway.

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