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on june 8, 1953, the american life magazine published a series of photos taken by the f-86e sabre camera gun, showing the whole process of a pilot ejecting after a mig-15 was hit by a sabre. once the photos were published, they immediately caused a sensation.

soon people knew the photographer of the photo - 23-year-old lieutenant edwin aldrin - he would be the second person to land on the moon in the future. this series of photos was taken on may 14, 1953, when lieutenant aldrin achieved his first victory in this battle.

▲the whole process of the mig-15 pilot ejecting was photographed by lieutenant aldrin. this photo caused a sensation as soon as it was released. by the way, there are very few first-hand materials such as camera gun photos of the korean war released by my country, which is not conducive to studying the results of the korean air war.

▲during the korean war, lieutenant aldrin was stationed at suwon airport in front of his f-86e.

▲in 1969, armstrong and aldrin landed on the moon on apollo 11, becoming the second people to walk on the moon.

lieutenant aldrin enjoyed the taste of becoming famous in one battle, and even pretended to be annoyed in his 1973 autobiography: "it was an ordinary experience. there was no dogfight like in the exercise. i just calmly flew behind the enemy plane and shot it down."

aldrin was born in new jersey on january 20, 1930. his father was a pilot who participated in world war i and served in the army air force during world war ii. under the influence of his father, aldrin also fell in love with flying. he graduated from the west point military academy in 1951 with the third highest score in his class and then signed up for the air force.

aldrin received primary flight training in the t-6 texan at bartow air force base in florida. on one occasion, he performed two consecutive "immelmann flips" in a t-28 trainer aircraft, which caused him to lose consciousness. fortunately, he recovered at an altitude of only 610 meters above the ground and made timely corrections to avoid the tragedy of the aircraft being destroyed and people being killed.

▲the u.s. military's t-28 trainer aircraft was designed and manufactured to replace the t-6.

▲diagram of the "immelmann flip", created by german pilot immelmann during world war i, also known as the "half somersault".

his father suggested that aldrin choose to fly a bomber, which would help him improve his command ability and pave the way for his future career development. but aldrin didn't listen at all. he chose fighters and learned to fly the f-80 shooting star and f-86 sabre at nellis air force base in las vegas.

in december 1952, aldrin, who was promoted to the rank of lieutenant, was assigned to the 16th squadron of the 51st fighter interceptor wing, stationed at suwon base, about 30 kilometers south of seoul. since only veteran pilots were capable of hunting in the mig corridor, lieutenant aldrin did not participate in combat for a long time.

it was not until may 14, 1953 that lieutenant aldrin captured two mig-15s about 8 kilometers south of the yalu river and shot down one of them without the other side noticing. the photo he took is the scene at the beginning of the article.

▲lieutenant aldrin is boarding the plane. note the four victory marks next to the cockpit. this is more of a propaganda function. in fact, american pilots do not have fixed planes. aldrin said that after he achieved his first victory, he could not draw the shotdown mark on the plane.

▲schematic diagram of the f-86 taking off from suwon airport and heading for the mig corridor for hunting. due to the long distance and high risk, new pilots need to become proficient in flying in other areas before they can go there under the guidance of veterans. the f-86 often runs out of fuel after combat and has to glide back home.

lieutenant aldrin's second victory came quickly, but it was very hard to win. he later recalled: "if the first victory was a piece of cake, then the second victory was the most terrifying experience for me."

on june 7, 1953, the 16th and 39th fighter interceptor squadrons swept through north korean airfields. shortly after takeoff, lieutenant aldrin's wingman returned due to engine failure, and he had to go alone.

since the 39th squadron was flying f-86fs, which were faster than the 16th squadron's f-86es, lieutenant aldrin followed behind his teammates. the leader of the 39th squadron found a mig airport and descended to attack.

lieutenant aldrin immediately dropped the auxiliary fuel tank and followed closely behind. he couldn't catch up with the f-86f, but he didn't want to fall behind. at this time, the speed of the aircraft was close to the speed of sound and began to vibrate violently. this was absolutely prohibited in the flight manual. lieutenant aldrin kept dancing on the red line.

▲the f-86f drops its auxiliary fuel tank and prepares to fight with the mig-15.

when the plane in front of him changed its dive at an altitude of 1,600 meters, lieutenant aldrin caught a glimpse of a dark shadow behind him on the right, and he saw the t-shaped tail of the plane - it was a mig-15! he used all his strength to press the joystick to the right, and the mig-15 tried to keep up, but failed.

the two planes began to fly across each other, performing a scissor maneuver in a dive. lieutenant aldrin retracted the throttle and opened the speed brake, trying to fall behind the mig, but the opponent also controlled the speed well, and neither side succeeded.

the ground is rushing towards them, and there are enemies that can kill them at any time. at the same time, all operations must be accurate. this is a great test for the pilots' psychology and technical and tactical levels. they are all waiting to see who will give up and change the dive first.

▲details of the f-86 cockpit.

at this time, the altitude was already very low, and the mig-15 pilot was the first to change his dive, and lieutenant aldrin followed suit. just as he was about to aim, he found that the sight was no longer usable after the high g maneuver.

lieutenant aldrin was quick-witted and used the nose of the plane as a reference point to aim at the mig-15. he fired a burst of bullets and hit the wing of the mig-15. the mig immediately began to turn right, and lieutenant aldrin immediately stepped on the throttle and followed closely, firing a second shot, with the bullets sweeping from the wing root to the wing tip.

when the smoke cleared, lieutenant aldrin saw the mig level out and begin a shallow dive. then the canopy was blown off and a bright flash of burning ejection charge flashed in the cockpit, but the seat and pilot were not ejected.

when lieutenant aldrin flew over the mig, he saw that the pilot still had a red scarf around his neck, and in the end he never saw the opponent's parachute.

▲f-86 shot down a turning mig-15. note that the latter's canopy was ejected and the pilot was preparing to escape.

after returning, lieutenant aldrin, who survived the disaster, had no time to be happy because he was told to be careful in his words and actions because this victory was achieved on the north side of the yalu river - this was openly prohibited by the us military top brass but actually condoned.

lieutenant aldrin was well aware of the ban, so he was initially reluctant to reveal where the victory had been won, fearing that he would be deprived of the achievement if the truth came to light.

soon after, the korean war ended, and lieutenant aldrin also ended his trip to korea. he performed 66 missions and achieved two victories. later, he served as a commander and flew the f-100 "super sabre" in west germany.

▲aldrin’s photo on the moon.

in 1963, aldrin obtained a doctorate in astronautics from the massachusetts institute of technology and joined nasa's space program. in 1966, aldrin entered space on gemini 12 and walked in space for 5 hours. three years later, he landed on the moon for the first time with armstrong and became the second person to walk on the moon.