Captain Joseph Christopher McConnell Jr.

On a cold, wintery day in Dover, Stafford County, New Hampshire, on January 30th, 1922, Joseph Christopher McConnell Sr. and his lovely wife Phyllis W. Brooks McConnell welcomed their second child, young Joseph Christopher McConnel Jr., into the world.

After graduating from high school, on October 15, 1940, Joseph McConnell enlisted in the United States Army at Concord, New Hampshire. Private McConnell wanted to become a pilot, however, he instead was assigned to Fort Devens, Massachusetts, for training in the U.S. Army Medical Corps. At that time McConnell was 5 feet, 9 inches tall and weighed 134 pounds.

In 1941, McConnell married Miss Pearl Edna "Butch" Brown of Fitchburg, Massachusetts. During their time together they had three children, Patricia Ann, Kathleen Frances, and in 1947 a boy named Joseph Christopher McConnell III. During their marriage Joseph called his wife "Butch." The importance of this comment will become clear later on in this posst.

Finally, in 1943, McConnell was admited to the U.S. Army Air Forces Aviation Cadet Program during World War II. However, McConnell's dream of becoming a pilot did not come true. Instead, he was assigned to navigator training. On Septermber 18, 1944, McConnel received his commission as a 2nd Lt. and received his navigator wings.

From there McConnel was sent to Consolidated B-24 Liberator training, followed in January 1945 by being statiiond in the 448th Bomber Group in England. He then flew a number of combat missions over Europe as a B-24 Liberator navigator. One article claims he flew 60 missions in the B-24; however, there is some question as to whether that is the correct number of missions he flew. Towards the end of the war, as losses diminished, the number of missions for air crews increased from a maximum of 25 to 35, then later on to 50.

A Consolidated B-24H Liberator of the 448th Bombardment Group, circa 1945.

The 448th Bomber Group was part of the 8th Air Forced based at Seething RAF base, located about 10 miles southeast of Norwich, near the cities of Seething and Kirkstead Green, serving with the American 448th Bombardment Group (B-24 Liberators) from late 1943 to mid-1945.

Seething Royal Air Force Base Southeast of Norwich, near the cities of Seething and Kirkstead Green.

B-24 Liberator Specifications:

• Crew: 11;
• Wingspan: 100 feet;
• Length: 67 feet 2 inches;
• Height: 17 feet 11 inches;
• Empty weight: 36,500 pounds;
• Gross weight: 56,000 pounds;
• Powerplants: 4 each 1,200 hp Pratt and Whitney R1830 supercharged radial engines;
• Maximum speed: 303 mph;
• Ceiling: 28,000 feet;
• Maximum range: 3,700 miles
• Armament: 10 x 0.50 inch calibre machine guns;
• Bombs: 8,000 pounds

After the war, McConnell decided to remain in the U.S. Army Air Forces, and on Spetember 18, 1947, the U.S. Army Air Forces officially became the United States Air Force.  At some point McConnell went through pilot training in the AIr Force, finally  achieving his goal of becoming a pilot and earning his USAF pilot wings on February 2, 1948, at Williams AFB in Arizona. 

By now the USAF was transitioning into all-jet aircraft, and McConnell trained in the North American F-86 fighter jet. McConnell then served with a number of different USAF fighter squadrons, accumulating hours and honing the skills he would need later on in his career.

The Korean War 

The Korean war started on June 25, 1950, when North Korea invaded South Korea in an attempt to take over the entire Korean peninsula. As the war continued to spread throughout the peninsula, McConnel got the itch to join the fight. In Septmber 1952, he was assigned to the 39th Fighter-Interceptor Wing in Korea. flying the F-86. McConnel was gifted with exceptional eyesight, making him an aggressive MiG hunter.

In 1952 McConnell did not shoot down any enemy aircraft, but starting in 1953 things really changed. From January 14 to May 18, 1953, Captain McConnell went on to become an exceptional aerial combat pilot, scoring 16 kills of MiG 15s during that short period of time.

A photograph of McConnell in the cockpit of his F-86, named the "Beauteous Butch II," after his wife. Note the 16 red stars showing his 16 kills of North Korean MiG 15s.

His first 8 kills were scored in an F-86E-10 (serial number 51-2753, buzz numberr FU-753).

Capt McConnell with his ground crew explaining a dog fight he had just been in.

Specifications for the North American F-86E:

• Crew: 1 pilot;
• Wingspan: 37 feet 1 inches;
• Length: 40 feet 4 inches;
• Height: 14 feet 12 inches;
• Empty weight: 12,500 pounds;
• Maximum takeoff weight: 17,100 pounds;
• Powerplant: Genereal Electric J47-GE-17B producing 5,216 pounds of thrust;
• Range: 835 miles;
• Maximum speed: 685 mph;
• Service ceiling: 54,600 feet;
• Armament: Six .50 calibre machine guns and eight 5-inch rockets or 2,000 pounds of bombs.

The most notable of his 16 kills was when McConnell shot down a MiG 15 piloted by none other than Soviet Ace Semyon Fedorets. What follows is Fedorets' account of the dog fight:

" My No. 3 and No. 4, Aleksandrov and Shorin, lost track of me during my sharp maneuvers, but my wingman V. Yeframov stayed with me. When I was closing on the Sabre, I heard Yefremov saying, “A flight of Sabres behind!” He radioed such info and he went away to the left, leaving me alone without cover. As soon as I stopped looking through the gunsight and turned my head, a short burst struck my cockpit from the right and above.

I sharply broke to the right underneath the Sabre, getting out of his line of fire. The Sabre overshot and ended up in front of me at my right. The American pilot turned his head, he saw me and engaged flaps, with the intent to slow down, to let me pass forward and to riddle me at short range. I realized his maneuver and sharply broke left, while firing a burst at the Sabre without aiming. The burst struck the base of the right wing, close to the fuselage. A huge hole, about one square meter, appeared in the Sabre’s wing. It broke to the right and fell downward. That was my second enemy aircraft destroyed in that combat. As soon as I got my plane out of the attack I was hit from below by a machine gun burst. I sharply pushed the stick and tried to disengage. The cockpit filled with smoke and kerosene, the instrument panel was destroyed and finally the new couple of Sabres broke any control. Using the trimmer, I leveled the plane and decided to bail out. With a tremendous effort, I was able to release the canopy and I successfully bailed out of my damaged plane at 11,000 meters’ altitude."

Unknown to Fedorets, the “new couple of Sabres” was in fact McConnell’s crippled F-86F. Immediately after being hit, Mac performed a barrel roll that put him in the 6 o’clock position behind his attacker, and exacted revenge.

“I happened to be flying the number 3 position in Captain McConnell’s flight the day he was shot down,” recalled 1st Lt. Harold Chitwood. “Mac was firing at a MiG after my element had taken a bounce. I then heard his wingman tell him to break; there was a MiG at 6 o’clock. Mac checked his tail but didn’t see the MiG as it was low at his 6 o’clock. When the MiG closed he fired, hitting Mac — Mac immediately broke and the MiG slid past; Mac reversed and fired at the MiG, shooting it down.”

At that point, McConnell turned his dying plane toward the East China Sea while Chitwood quickly put in a call for a rescue team. “When Mac’s wingman said Mac was hit, I broke off my attack, turned and immediately saw Mac’s smoke,” Chitwood said. “He had 50 to 70 percent power remaining, no radio, but control of his aircraft, and headed south to the water. A flight of MiGs followed us south but did not attack. Although Mac’s plane was emitting heavy smoke, there was no visible fire.

“I called air-sea rescue from Chodo for help,” Chitwood continued. “We spotted a chopper heading north which turned around and followed us until Mac bailed out. He was in the water only one to two minutes and back to K-13 before the day was over.”

According to his squadron mates, when asked about his experience back at Suwon Air Base, also known as K-13, McConnell responded, “I barely got my feet wet”—testimony to the expertise of Donald Crabb and Robert Sullivan, the Sikorsky H-21 helicopter crew from the 581st Air Rescue Squadron who had picked him up.

McConnell being rescued on 12 April 1953 after being shot down.

After McConell completed his tour in Korea he returned to his home in Apple Valley, California, and was stationed at George Air Force Base, CA, where he was assigned to the 445th Fighter Squadron flying North American F-86s. By now everyone in Apple Valley had heard of his exploits, and so on August 6, 1953, the people of Apple Valley gave him a new home called the "Appreciation House." Incredibly, this home was built in 45 hours with all land, material, and labor donated to the cause. 

In 1954 McConnell was assigned to the service test program for the new and updated North American F-86H Sabre jet. It was updated to become a nuclear-capable fighter-bomber. On Agust, 1954, at the age of 32, McConnell test flew th fifth production F-86H-1-NA (serial Number 52-1981) out of Edwards Air Force Base.

Sadly, an incorrectly installed bolt in the aircraft caused a loss of control malfunction, and McConnell relied on a  technique he had used in Korea by using just throttle and rudder to land. It almost worked, but ground turbulence lifted up one his wings. He ejected from the aircraft but was too close to the ground. In less than a year from being handed the keys to his new home, he was gone, leaving a community that mourned his loss.

An article published by Bob Alvis on October 29, 2021 finished up as follows:

"Now an old jet sits at an airport with a plaque, the words do not do it justice, and I’m sure some people make the journey to the cemetery in Victorville on Veterans or Memorial Day and pay respects to an American legend who achieved a greatness that will never be duplicated in modern warfare. There was a time when all this black and white was lived in color and with the passage of time, these things tend to fade to gray. We must hope that historians and storytellers will somehow find the way to bridge generations and spark the imagination with the words and pictures that will instill a passion and bring back the heroes of yesterday. These stories motivate, inspire and put the color back in the service and sacrifice of our history’s heroes; a color that serves to push back against the gray shadows of today."

Both Joseph McConnell Jr. and his wife, who died in 2008 at the age of 86, are buried together at Victor Calley Memorial Park in Victorville, California. Subsequent to McConnel's death, in 1955, Warner Brothers produced a move, the "McConnell Story." In addition, a fictionalized biography book titled "Sabre Jet Ace," was published in 1959 by Charles Ira Coombs.

I hope you enjoyed this trip through some of the history of aviation. If you enjoyed this trip, and if you are new to this blog, sign up to receive your own weekly blog post here: Subscribe here!

Until next time, keep your eyes safe and focused on what's ahead of you, Hersch!