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MiG Alley Map

"MiG Alley" is the name given by United Nations (UN) pilots to the northwestern portion of North Korea, where the Yalu River empties into the Yellow Sea. During the Korean War, it was the site of numerous dogfights between UN fighter pilots and their opponents from North Korea (including some unofficially crewed by Soviet airmen) and the People's Republic of China.

Soviet-built Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 were the aircraft used during most of the conflict, and the area's nickname was derived from them. It was the site of the first large-scale jet-vs-jet air battles, with the American F-86 Sabre.

MiG Alley in The Hot War[]

When Hank McCutcheon's B-29 flew its mission to drop an atomic bomb on Harbin, it took a dogleg to the east to skirt MiG Alley. As soon as they passed the Yalu River, radio traffic in Russian and Chinese exploded since the flight was doing something new.[1]

References[]

  1. Bombs Away, pgs. 55-56, HC.
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