File:F4S MiG17 San Diego Aerospace Museum (4687697064) (2).jpg

MiG 17 (NATO name "FRESCO") and F-4S Phantom II painted to commemorate the battle in which Randy "Duke" Cunningham and his RSO, "Willie" Driscoll, became the only US Navy aces in the Vietnam war. Cunningham and Driscoll shot down three MiGs on one mission. Their F4J was so badly shot-up that they had to bail out before the could get back to land on their carrier, but they were rescued and arrived after a swim.

As is fairly common, the plane they were flying that day wasn't "their" plane, the one with their names marked at the edges of the cockpit. It was the squadron commander's, so to be completely authentic his and his RSO's names should be painted on this one. The real #100 is, of course, at the bottom of the South China Sea, and all three of the MiGs they shot down became scrap metal. So these stand-ins have to serve.

The MiG 17 was slower than an F4 but unquestionably more agile. It also had two or three very hard-hitting cannon, while the F4J had NO gun, but 8 missiles. A lot of the F4's potential advantage, firing AIM-7 Sparrow missiles that would home-in on radar reflected from a target, was canceled by rules of engagement which required visual confirmation that a suspected enemy was, in fact, an enemy. (Neither a new problem nor a negligible one- part of our military's problems in Viet Nam was that our cold-war weapons were designed, more or less, for WWIII, total war, with the possibility of nuclear weapons. Its *possible* AIM 7s would have been fired without visual confirmation of the target, in WWIII. Weapons and tactics aligned with the mission from day one could have reduced US casulties in VIet Nam, but it wouldn't have won the war.)

Confident and aggressive, as all fighter pilots must be, Cunningham and Driscoll had practiced and tested tactics which used the strengths of the F4 against what they knew of the MiG's weaknesses. They succeeded in applying shock, fire and maneuver to win three separate fights in a single mission. Success-oriented, as all fighter pilots must be, they also preferred to shoot-down an enemy who was unaware of their presence and made no moves to defend themselves, but it didn't always work out that way.

At the time, it was believed that their last opponent was North Vietnam's highest scoring ace, a shadowy "Col. Tomb". I don't know what modern light throws on the question. Without a doubt, the last pilot they fought was himself a confident and aggressive individual, who's luck, skill and equipment were just a little weaker that day. He could be reasonably credited for destroying Cunningham and Driscoll's Phantom II.

After his military service, Cunningham ran for Congress and served as the Representative for the San Diego area. Aggressive, confident and success-oriented, he crossed the line in accepting gifts and rewards from companies, primarily defense contractors, who benefited from his official activities. After conviction and sentencing, he apologized, in tears, and is serving time in Federal prison today (2010)