Many of these same pilots wound up in the PLAAF and became Sabre fodder in Korea.
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Many of these same pilots wound up in the PLAAF and became Sabre fodder in Korea.Chinese Nationalist pilots take advanced training with 58th FG instructor in the US, 1943.View attachment 615006View attachment 615007View attachment 615008
Hey, I never knew Charlie Sheen was a P39 pilot!
Or is it a desperate way of resolving the COG problem?
Many of these same pilots wound up in the PLAAF and became Sabre fodder in Korea.
Maybe, according to the official version. My aunt and uncle, who worked for the US Foreign Service in Taipei 1951-54 said that large numbers of American WWII trained Nationalist pilots defected to the PLAAF before and during the evacuation from the mainland, with their aircraft, fed up with Kuomintang corruption and unwilling to leave their families behind.Not many, very few. Most of these pilots went to Formosa (Taiwan) with Chinese Nationalist AF fight with PLAAF during Taiwan Strait Crisis.
Maybe, according to the official version. My aunt and uncle, who were in the foreign service in Taipei 1951-54 said that large numbers of American WWII trained Nationalist pilots defected to the PLAAF before and during the evacuation with their aircraft, fed up with Kuomintang corruption and unwilling to leave their families behind.
That info is all post-revolution. The mainland revolution and defeat of the Kuomintang happened in 1948-49, and most of the defections happened during that time period, delivering airworthy P51s, B26s, C46s and C47s to the PLAAF."large numbers of American WWII trained Nationalist pilots defected to the PLAAF" ------- That's NOT true. Not THAT many.
Please see:
Military Aircraft Defections to China Since 1950
That info is all post-revolution. The mainland revolution and defeat of the Kuomintang happened in 1948-49, and most of the defections happened during that time period, delivering airworthy P51s, B26s, C46s and C47s to the PLAAF.