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After eluding the additional MIG-17s and 19s, Showtime 100 rejoins
his wingman and observes another group of MIG-17s in a "Wagon wheel"
defensive formation. Unfortunately, several F-4s were also engaged
with the MIGs within the "wheel", and thus were at an extreme
disadvantage, due to their low energy state, with the more
maneuverable MIGs.
Seeing the XO's F-4J(Showtime 112) in danger from a MIG-17 that is
in the XO's blind six, he calls for him to "break"(to clear the hotter
F-4's twin J-79 Engines from the Sidewinder missle's heat seeker and
therefore obtaining a clear lock on the bandit). Unfortunately this
initial call goes unheeded(due to the XO thinking the warning was
about two additional MIGs out of range on his six o'clock).
After being forced to disengage by additional threats and then
evading them, Cunningham re-engages the MIG-17 threatening his XO's
Phantom. Again calling for him to break, and adding... "If you dont
break NOW you are going to Die" the XO finally accelerates and breaks
hard right leaving "Duke" clear to fire on the pursuring MIG-17(Image
3). The MIG attempted to follow the XO's aircraft but could not turn
at that higher speed[MIG-17s have control problems over 450
knots].
Calling "Fox Two" Cunningham fires his second AIM-9 Sidewinder
missile, which guides into the engine of the MIG-17, blowing it
up(Image 4). The shot was actually taken with the MIG still inside the
minimum firing range but due to the high speed of the Fresco the
Sidewinder had time to arm and track to the target. Forced to then
disengage again due to attacking MIG-21s, Showtime 100 finds itself
alone in a sky full of bandits and changes course to head back out
east to the Constellation....
Quoted directly from Randy "Duke" Cunningham from his book "Fox
Two"
"As we
headed for the coast at 10,000 feet, I spotted another aircraft on the
nose, slightly low, heading straight for us. It was a MIG-17. I told
Irish [Willie Driscole, my RIO] to watch how close we could pass the
MIG to take out as much lateral separation as possible so he could not
convert as easily to our six o’clock. We used to do the same thing
against the A-4s back at Miramar since the two aircraft were virtually
identical in performance. This proved to be my first near-fatal
mistake....A-4s don’t have guns in the nose.
The MIG s entire nose lit up like a Christmas tree! Pumpkin-sized
BB s went sailing by our F-4. I pulled sharply into the pure vertical
to destroy the [enemy’s*] tracking solution. As I came out of the
six-G pull-up I strained to see the MIG below as my F-4 went straight
up. I was sure it would go into a horizontal turn, or just run as most
had done in the past. As I looked back over my ejection seat I got the
surprise of my life: there was the MIG, canopy to canopy with me
barely 300 feet away!…I began to feel numb. My stomach grabbed at me
in knots. There was no fear in the guy’s eyes as we zoomed some 8,000
feet straight up.
I lit the afterburners and started to out climb my adversary, but
this excess performance placed me above him. As I started to pull over
the top, he began shooting. My second near-fatal mistake-I had given
him a predictable flight path, and he had taken advantage of it. I was
forced to roll and pull to the other side. He pulled in right behind
me.
Not wanting to admit this guy was beating me, I blurted to Willie,
"That S.O.B. is really lucky! All right, we’ll get this guy now!" I
pulled down to accelerate with the MIG at my four o’clock. I watched
and waited until he committed his nose down, then pulled up into him
and rolled over the top, placing me at his five o’clock. Even though I
was too close with too much angle-off his tail to fire a missile, the
maneuver placed me in an advantageous position. I thought I had out
flown him-overconfidence replaced fear.
I pulled down, holding top rudder, to press for a shot, and he
pulled up into me, shooting! I thought, "Oh, no maybe this guy isn’t
just lucky after all!" He used the same maneuver I had attempted,
pulling up into me and forcing an overshoot-we were in a classic
rolling scissors(Image 5). As his nose committed I pulled up into
him.
In training I had fought in the same situation. I learned if my
opponent had his nose too high I could snap down, using one G to
advantage, then run out to his six o’clock before he could get turned
around and get in range.
As we slowed to 200 knots, I knew it was time to bug out….The MIG's
superior turn radius, coupled with higher available G at that speed,
started giving him a constant advantage. When he raised his nose just
a bit too high in anticipation of the next roll, I pulled into him.
Placing my aircraft nearly 180 degrees to follow, Willie and I were
two miles ahead of him, out of his Atol missile range, at 600 knots
airspeed.
With our energy back, I made a 60 degree nose-up vertical turn back
into the pressing MIG. He climbed right after us, and, again, with the
Phantom’s superior climbing ability, I out zoomed him as he squirted
BB s in our direction. It was a carbon copy of the first engagement
seconds earlier as we went into another vertical rolling scissors.
Again we were forced to disengage as advantage and disadvantage
traded sides. As we blasted away to regain energy for the second time,
Irish came up on the [intercom], "Hey, Duke, how ya doin up there?
This guy really knows what he’s doin’. Maybe we ought to call it a
day."
This almost put me in a blind rage. To think some [bogey*] had not
only stood off my attacks but had gained an advantage on me twice!
"Hang on, Willie. We’re gonna get this guy!"
"Go get him, Duke. I’m right behind you!"
Irish was all over the cockpit, straining to keep sight of the MIG
as I pitched back towards him for the third time. Man, it felt good to
have that second pair of eyes back there, especially with an adversary
who knew what air fighting was all about. Very seldom did U.S. fighter
pilots find a MIG that fought in the vertical. The enemy liked to
fight in the horizontal for the most part, or just run, if he didn’t
have the advantage.
Once again I met the MIG-17 head-on(image 6), this time with an
offset so he couldn’t use his guns. As I pulled up into the pure
vertical I could again see this determined pilot a few feet away.
Winston Churchill once wrote, "In war, if you are not able to beat
your enemy at his own game, it is nearly always better to adopt some
striking variant." My mind simply came up with a last-ditch idea. I
pulled hard towards his aircraft and yanked the throttles back to
idle, popping the speed brakes at the same time.
The MIG shot out in front of me for the first time(image 7)!, the
Phantom’s nose was 60 degrees above the horizon with airspeed down to
150 knots in no time. I had to go to full burner to hold my position.
The surprised enemy pilot attempted to roll up on his back above me.
Using only rudder to avoid stalling the F-4 with the spoilers on the
wings, I rolled to the MIG’s blind side. He attempted to reverse his
roll, but as his wings banked sharply he must have stalled the
aircraft momentarily and his nose fell through. Placing me at his six
but still too close for a shot. "This is no place to be with a
MIG-17," I thought, "at 150 knots...this slow, he can take it right
away from you."
But he had stayed too long. We later found out that this superb
fighter pilot, later identified as "Colonel Tomb"(Initially misnamed
as 'Toon') of the North Vietnamese Air Force, had refused to disengage
when his GCI [Ground Control Intercept] controller ordered him to RTB
[return to base]. After the war we found out that "Tomb" presumably
with 13 American aircraft to his credit, had to run for it if he were
going to get down before flaming out.
He pitched over the top and started straight down. I pulled hard
over and followed. Seeing he was attempting to disengage I rolled the
lift vector over onto him and decreased the lateral seperation to
obtain a firing position. Though I didn’t think a Sidewinder would
guide straight down, with the heat of the ground to look at, I called
"Fox Two" and squeezed one off. The missile came off the rail and went
straight to the MIG. There was just a little flash, like bees flying
off the MIG, and I thought it had missed him. As I started to fire my
last Sidewinder, there was an abrupt burst of flame. Black smoke
erupted from the Fresco. He didn’t seem to go out of control... the
fighter simply kept descending, crashing into the ground at about 45
degrees angle."
Randy "Duke" Cunningham was now the first ACE of the Vietnam
War.
In a twist of fate, Showtime 100 was not to survive this mission
despite being victorious in combat. While egressing the battle area
Cunningham's F-4 was hit by a SA-2 SAM [surface to air missle].
Despite extensive damage, including the loss of both hydrolic systems,
Duke was able to maintain a minimum of control by continually rolling
the aircraft with the rudders[when a F-4 loses hydrolics it
immediately pitches nose up and the only remaining utility system is
the rudder] to enable them to stay with the crippled F-4.
Fire warnings sounded in the cockpit, but all Cunningham and
Driscole could think about was the real threat of becoming
POWs[prisoners of war]. Each second longer in the cockpit was that
much closer to the coast and rescue. Finally the last utility system
failed and the Phantom went into a spin. Cunningham deployed the drag
chute, "I could see Ocean then land then Ocean then land. We were in a
flat spin. I thought "Wind blows from Ocean to Land if we eject now we
will be POWs". I told Willie to stay with me just a few more seconds
as my radio filled with pleas from the other pilots to Eject!" Seeing
that the drag chute was ineffective, Duke finally gave Driscole the
order to eject,"I told Willie never to eject until he heard me say
'Eject! Eject! Eject!... I got out the word "Eje..." and BAM Willie
was gone out of the aircraft!".
After staying with the burning F-4 for over 30 miles, both pilots
exited Showtime 100 just as it crossed the coast. The remainder of the
strike group flew RESCAP[Rescue Combat Air Patrol] over them,
discouraging several North Vietnamese vessels from entering the area
as Marine helos plucked them both from the water and after a quick
medical exam on the Hospital ship(where Cunningham discovered he had
injured his back during ejection)returned them to the
Constellation.
Thus ended the Triple Kill mission of Randy "Duke" Cunningham and
Showtime 100... The "ACE's" (both front and back seaters are creditied
with the kills) both made it back but sadly CAG's "Double Nuts" F-4J
didnt, exploding moments after Cunningham ejected....
One other aspect of this fight that has been overlooked in history
is the fact that Cunningham went 3 for 3 with his Sidewinder missile
shots scoring kills with all three hits. He credited this to the
superb training he got at Topgun[The Fighter Weapons School... at
Miramar Naval Airstation at that time]. Cunningham disliked using the
AIM-7 Sparrow due to its unreliability but was well trained in
employing the AIM-9. "The Instructors at Topgun had taugh me to "press
for the Kill". To close to the optimum firing position so the bandit
has less of a chance to evade." From his score on this mission I would
say he learned his lessons well.....
So well infact, he returned to Topgun later to become an
Instructor...
Image 8 click to enlarge
* Politically corrected by the publisher... Initially read as
"Goomers"
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