NARRATOR: In an era when
dog fights are decided with long range missiles, [jet engine noise] One plane roars into
battle with an extra edge. [gunshots] The F-8 Crusader
lights up the skies of Vietnam in legendary
turn and burn air combat. Earning the title of
The Last Gunfighter. [gunshots] Using state of the art
computer animation, you're in the cockpit as the
powerful F-8 Crusader slugs it out with the deadly MiG-17. [gunshots] Experience the battle. [jet engine noises] Dissect the tactics. [gunshots] Relieve the dogfights. [explosion] [music playing] May 19, 1967, 12 F-8
Crusader fighters streak towards Hanoi, the communist
capital of North Vietnam. The crusaders escort
two A-4 bombers, which are mounting the
Vietnam war's first strike inside downtown Hanoi. The A-4s will unleash the
new television-guided Walleye missile on the city's
thermal power plant. Commander Paul Speer,
an experienced pilot on his 150th mission,
leads the fighters. The whole idea was to
get the A-4s, the two A-4s, in there on the target
and get them out. We knew it was important to
get the Walleyes in there. And it was a snarling
place to go over Hanoi. [jet engine noises] NARRATOR: With only 44 MiGs
in their Air Force in 1967, the North Vietnamese have
deployed these fighters sparingly. But today is different. The communists will
use every weapon they have to defend their capital. PAUL SPEER: And we figured that
if we were going to go there, they were going to come
up and challenge us. Crusader pilots like
Lieutenant Phil Wood welcomed the challenge. We were looking
for encounters. We were begging. We'll go to bed at night
and pray say, please, let me get involved with the MiGs. Well, they wouldn't come out. NARRATOR: As they cruised
into Hanoi airspace, Phil Wood spots a US NAVY A-6,
part of a diversionary bombing mission. He's fleeing the target
area with a MiG-17 right on his tail. [jet engine noises] PHIL WOOD: The MiG
was in the saddle. [inaudible] ready
to shoot, I think, because he was right there. NARRATOR: Wood must
get on the MiG's tail. He kicks in his afterburner
and swings his nose 180 degrees to the left. [jet engine noises] And I had this buck
fever, you know, first time. NARRATOR: He fires too soon. [jet engine noises] The heat seeking sidewinder
loses lock and turns higher than 2Gs. [jet engine noises] The MiG spots the missile
trail and pulls hard right. [jet engine noises] And the MiG broke off the
A-6 and he heads for the deck. He turns to the right and he's
descending in afterburner. I'm chasing this
guy away from Hanoi. [jet engine noises] PHIL WOOD: We're
down on the treetops and I'm right on his
tail and I'm gunning. [gunshots] I have to actually lower the
nose to get the pipper on him. Well, guess what that does? I'm now descending into the top. So I can only fire a
short burst, get back up, and do it again. I could see some of the shells
hit the wings because they sparkle when they hit. [explosion] And I'm so hungry to
kill this guy, I forgot what my primary mission was. I should be out there
protecting the A-4s. [jet engine noises] PHIL WOOD: So I broke off and
I headed in to the Hanoi base. NARRATOR: Meanwhile, the A-4s
pull out of their attack run and head for home. PAUL SPEER: That was their
only mission left in life now is to get out to the water
and get back to the ship. NARRATOR: But suddenly,
a squadron of MiG-17 streak in behind the
American formation. [jet engine noises] Commander Paul Speer and his men
break away to engage the MiGs. [jet engine noises] The F-8s and MiGs
close on each other. [music playing] The last gunfighter's
lethal reputation will soon be put to the test. [jet engine noises] With the arrival of
the supersonic age in the early 1950s, the US
Navy needed a heavily armed carrier-based jet fighter
capable of breaking the sound barrier. In June of 1953,
Chance Vought Aircraft won the contract to design
and build the new fighter. Within two years, the first
prototype F-8 crusader was airborne. Equipped with a Pratt
and Whitney J57 engine, the new plane was fast. On its maiden flight, it
broke the sound barrier. Soon after, it became
the first American plane to top 1,000 miles per hour. [jet engine noise] On July 16, 1957, an F-8 piloted
by future astronaut John Glenn set the transcontinental
speed record, streaking from Los Angeles
to New York in three hours 23 minutes. The plane was not just fast, it
was maneuverable and versatile. A fine dog fighter that
could also serve as a bomber and photo reconnaissance plane. In fact, an F-8 snapped
incriminating intelligence photographs during the
Cuban Missile Crisis. [shutter sounds] In 1957, the Crusader was
deployed to the aircraft carrier fleet and quickly
established itself as the Navy's premier
air superiority fighter. [jet engine noises] BARRETT TILLMAN: The crusader
was a landmark aircraft. It was a tremendously
capable dog fighter. In fact, pilots
were fond of saying, when you're out of F-8s,
you're out of fighters. NARRATOR: Loaded
for combat, the F-8 could still reach 1 and 1/2
times the speed of sound and climb to 40,000 feet. The J57 engine was so
powerful that the plane could climb at an unprecedented
21,000 feet a minute. PAUL GILLCRIST: I fell
in love with the engine because so many
times it saved me. It pulled me out
of deep trouble. It could withstand
all sorts of abuse, and Crusader pilots abused
that engine probably more than they should have. They call it
graceful degradation. It's a fancy buzzword but
it's an important one. And that is a very important
factor in a tactical airplane. It can take battle damage
and continue to operate. NARRATOR: When pilots
strapped into a Crusader, they knew they were
at the controls of a thoroughbred dogfighter,
capable of downing enemy aircraft with missiles. [jet engine noises] [explosion] And guns. [explosion] They like to say that it was
the last of the gunfighters because with its 20
millimeter cannon, it was really the only close-in
fighter that the Navy had for the entire Vietnam War. NARRATOR: The other
fighter in the Navy's fleet was the F-4 Phantom,
which was a two-seater and was armed with
only missiles. [jet engine noises] When Lieutenant Phil Wood
finished his stateside training and was given his choice
of the two fighters, he picked the Crusader. PHIL WOOD: And I said, you
know, I'm a gunfighter. I'm a fighter pilot and I
want to have an airplane all by myself. And it had a reputation for
being a kickass and take names. NARRATOR: May 19, 1967. That reputation is
tested as never before. With a squadron of
MiG-17s streaking in, Commander Paul Speer
and his Crusaders splinter off and
target their own MiGs. The fight quickly escalates. And the airspace above Hanoi
turns into a swirling furball, flak anti-aircraft fire and the
main event, Crusaders and MiGs in full throttle aerial combat. [gunshots] Paul Speer is in the
middle of this chaos. He twists his head to the left
and spots a MiG at his seven o'clock closing fast. Speer turns into his attacker. Soon the combatants are locked
together in a rolling dogfight. A single mistake could
mean the difference between life and death. May 19, 1967. [jet engine noises] A squadron of F-8 Crusaders,
the Navy's only gunfighter, fly escort for A-4 bombers
on the first US bombing raid on downtown Hanoi. [jet engine noises] MiG-17s are scrambled to attack
the retreating Americans. Paul Speer soon
finds himself locked in a complex aerial maneuver
with one of these MiGs. It's called a rolling scissors. [jet engine noises] In a scissors,
pilots cross canopy to canopy, reverse their turns,
and cross again, over and over. Each trying to position their
nose behind the enemy's tail for a shot. The feeling then is that
you're going to get him, you know, and you're going to
take that F-8 and turn it every which way but Sunday
to get behind him. NARRATOR: The maneuver makes it
nearly impossible for the MiG to get an effective cannon shot. The aircraft cover one
mile every three seconds as they close. [jet engine noises] PAUL SPEER: You're constantly
pulling G's, constantly working, rolling the airplane. And bear in mind also that
you're trying to look. So you're constantly twisting
your body back and looking. You're constantly moving
around in the cockpit. NARRATOR: As they
descend, the much lighter MiG-17 is able to pull
tighter turns than the heavier Crusader. He'll eventually get
on Speer's 6 o'clock. Speer must break
out of the scissors. PAUL SPEER: I remember
thinking, that guy's intent upon killing me as much as
I'm intent upon killing him. NARRATOR: On the
next turn reversal, he pitches up in a high G
climb, breaking out of the MiG's fight, going vertical where the
Crusaders powerful engine will even the odds. Speer is now perched above the
MiG waiting for the next move. The MiG rolls back
expecting to see Speer still in the scissors. PAUL SPEER: I think when he
rolled back then expecting me to be here, I wasn't there. And it got him
startled for a minute because he rolled
his wings level. And I know he was
taking a look around. [inaudible] afterburner and
then he dove for the deck. And of course, that sets me up. Because when he did that,
he's ending up in front of me. NARRATOR: Speer and his wingman
nose down and draw a bead on the MiG-17. I fired a missile
but I hardly saw it because of the G's on the
airplane, the missile separated and immediately went ballistic
and it didn't track at all. [jet engine noises] PAUL SPEER: Then I kind of
settled down a little bit and pulled around and I
realized that I was in range. Then I fired a second sidewinder
which went up and detonated by his tailpipe. NARRATOR: The sidewinder streaks
in at twice the speed of sound, shredding the MiG's tail. [jet engine noises] PAUL SPEER: The expanding
rod warhead on the missile got him and took his tail off. He ended up rolling
over and going into the ground in a fireball. [jet engine noises] NARRATOR: If it
found its target, the heat seeking sidewinder
could be devastating. It was often fitted with an
expanding rod warhead, which consisted of yard-long steel
rods that on detonation would fan out into a giant
spinning steel ring. The missile only had to
get close for the rods to buzz saw through
the enemy aircraft. [explosion] PAUL SPEER: I was a
fighter pilot in Korea. And I was a fighter
pilot a long time. But this is the first time
you do what people think fighter pilots do all the time. NARRATOR: It is Commander
Paul Speer's first kill. An exhilarating achievement
against a worthy adversary. [jet engine noises] The MiG-17 was a full generation
older than the Crusader. Due to its longer
wing and taller tail, it had much greater stability
at near supersonic speeds than its predecessor,
the MiG-15. It was also the
first Soviet fighter equipped with an afterburning
engine, the Klimov VK-1F. Crusader pilot Paul Gillcrist
flew a captured MiG-17 to detail its flight
characteristics for the defense department. PAUL GILLCRIST: The MiG-17 is
a wonderful turning airplane at speeds below 450 knots. If you were in
excess of 450 knots, it takes Arnold Schwarzenegger
to turn the airplane. I had all I could
do pulling to make it turn at about 500 knots. And the control column,
which was made out of steel, was actually bending. I looked down and it had a
little bit of a curvature to it so I decided I better
not break anything. NARRATOR: This glaring weakness
could be exploited by Crusader pilots. At high speeds, the F-8 could
turn as tight or tighter than the MiG-17 due
to its sturdy airframe and hydraulically
boosted control surfaces. But at low speeds
below 450 knots, the MiG-17 still reigns supreme. The key in a dogfight
for any Crusader pilot was to keep the
MiG at high speed. May 19, 1967. Crusader Pilot Paul Speer
has just downed one MiG-17 as the churning dogfight above
Hanoi reaches a fever pitch. Lieutenant Phil Wood, who
had been chasing a MiG returns to the fight. PHIL WOOD: I mean,
it was just surreal. You couldn't believe it. Surface to air missile
trails and the magenta pink explosions, the 57
millimeter, the dark black, and the gray 37
millimeter going off. I see MiGs on fire going down
after having been shot down. And I see F-8 being shot down. NARRATOR: Wood speeds into the
action searching for a target. PHIL WOOD: The next thing you
know, I hear the bullets coming by the canopy. And when they come by, they're
breaking the sound barrier and you hear the pops. [gunshots] And I turned and looked back,
and there was a MiG-17 right on my tail. NARRATOR: Wood breaks hard
left and lights his afterburner for extra speed. But in doing so, he crosses
right through the MiG's sights. Two cannon shells explode
directly behind his seat, blowing out some of the plane's
most important electronics. And that's where
your avionics are. And that's where your navigation
equipment, where your air conditioning is because
it's turning into a heated capsule now. And then it
[inaudible] the engine. Meaning it took some of
those parts and stuff down in the intake which
got sucked into the engine. Now I've lost part
of my engine power. NARRATOR: Wood is now in a
high G left turn with a MiG-17. The speed of the turn is
too high for the MiG-17. And the enemy pilot is
forced to loosen up. This allows Phil Wood to get his
nose inside and gain a firing angle. But there are so many
G's on the airplane, his sidewinder missile will
never be able to maintain lock. PHIL WOOD: So I was losing
altitude to keep up my energy. And I kept getting
some angles on him. And I finally, when I was almost
around, like 30 or 40 degrees in his tail, the stupid
guy reversed course and was now running for his life. Fully solved my problem. [jet engine noises] NARRATOR: The MiG's
break from the spiral allows Wood to straighten out
and take G off the airplane. His missile can now lock on. PHIL WOOD: And I'm setting
on the saddle at 2,000 yards and I fired my missile. It took off out of
the rail it goes out and it goes right through
his tail, cuts off the tail. [explosion] NARRATOR: Wood cruises
by the stricken MiG. I could see the
color of his skin, I could see the patch
on his left shoulder, could see his oxygen mask. And then he ejected. I saw him eject. He got a seat separation
from the airplane but he didn't get seat
separation from his seat. And he just plummeted
to his death. NARRATOR: It's Phil Wood's
first confirmed kill. The furball is winding down. Paul Speer and the
rest of the Crusaders are running low on
fuel and head home. Wood streaks toward the Gulf
of Tonkin 80 miles away. But his plane is in bad shape,
his navigation equipment is out, he has no
radio, and worst of all, he's slowly leaking fuel. If he's forced to ditch,
he'll become a POW and the North Vietnamese
will show no mercy to an American pilot with
a MiG kill under his belt. May 19, 1967. Lieutenant Phil Wood
flies his wounded Crusader towards the Gulf of Tonkin. He knows he doesn't have
enough fuel to make it all the way to his carrier. But luck is on his side. He spots the rest of the
Crusader flight heading for a refueling plane. He matches speed with the
tanker and guides the Crusader's retractable fuel nozzle
into the refueling boom. PHIL WOOD: I plugged in
and got 1,000 pounds. It was enough to get
me out into the Gulf. So I just headed
out into the Gulf. I said, if I find a carrier,
I'm gonna land on it. Doesn't matter which one. And sure enough, I ran
across this carrier that was in the wind
recovering aircraft. The captain of that carrier
saw me coming in the wrong side and saw the smoke coming
out of my airplane. He knew F-8s didn't smoke. NARRATOR: The carrier's
crew quickly wave off their own planes. They clear Wood for
an emergency landing and anxiously wait on the deck. [music playing] PHIL WOOD: When I landed
and got the arresting wire, all that fuel rushed
forward, hit the burner cans, and the ass end of
my airplane blew up. But anyway, I got aboard. I didn't know what
carrier I was on. And I looked at the side number
and it had the numbers 63 and I knew I was
aboard Kitty Hawk. And what this young
lieutenant didn't know is that 17 years later, I'd be
the captain of that carrier. NARRATOR: In their first
mission over Hanoi, the Crusaders have
protected their bombers and downed four MiGs. PAUL SPEER: We get back to
the ship and everyone's kind of ecstatic about
the MiG engagement. It was the first of the
real big ones there. We had a very successful
day in the air. PHIL WOOD: That was the first
big day for the Crusaders. NARRATOR: But the
North Vietnamese can also claim some success. The Hanoi power plants survived. The walleye was supposed to fly
in a window and explode inside. But instead, it struck the thick
outside walls of the building. Also, Lieutenant Wood's
plane was a total loss. And they'd shot down two
Crusaders with ground fire. [explosion] The last gunfighter proved
itself an excellent combat plane. But at this point in the war,
one on one encounters with MiGs remain rare. The North Vietnamese
use their MiGs as just one part of a
larger anti-aircraft system, including sophisticated
Russian-built surface to air missiles and thousands
of mobile anti-aircraft guns. [gunshots] Crusaders are often tasked with
knocking out this air defense network. PAUL SPEER: The F-8 could
carry quite a bomb load. It had to wing points
where we put bomb racks. We tried to avoid that
as much as possible because we want to
be fighter pilots but we had that capability. NARRATOR: But the crusader was
most often used as an escort, protecting ground attack
aircraft like the A-4 Skyhawk. December 14, 1967. Airwing-16, flying off the
aircraft carrier Oriskany, is tasked with a unique
mission, drop mines into the Red River delta 40
miles southeast of Hanoi. Lieutenant Commander Dick
Schaffert veteran F-8 Crusader pilot escorts an A-4 Skyhawk
bomber flown by Lieutenant Chuck Nelson. Schaffert and Nelson streak into
enemy airspace over Thai Binh. The North Vietnamese don't
wait long to scramble fighters. RICHARD SCHAFFERT: We heard on
the channel, four red bandits airborne from bullseye, which
meant there were four MiGs in the air coming toward us. NARRATOR: Schaffert
thinks the MiGs are headed for the main
strike group 15 miles away. But in fact, they're
heading for him. RICHARD SCHAFFERT: The calls
kept coming, four red bandits at the 20 miles, 10 miles. When it got down to
three miles, then I was, you know, shaking
like a bridegroom. NARRATOR: Schaffert
braces for the fight. He rolls inverted above the A-4. It allows him to keep his
airspeed up without overtaking the slower bomber. But while inverted, something
catches Schaffert's eye. RICHARD SCHAFFERT: And I saw
something glisten over there. And I looked back at Chuck
and then I looked again and two MiGs flew
right between us. NARRATOR: The MiGs streak
through and banks slowly left to come around on
the A-4's tail. They could be baiting
Schaffert for an ambush. He knows there are two other
MiGs somewhere in the area. But he has no choice. He must engage the
immediate threat. He kicks in his
afterburner, noses down, and dives after the MiGs. RICHARD SCHAFFERT: This was a
setup for the beginning of so many air combat maneuvering
flights that I did. Here the fight starts. NARRATOR: Ahead of
him, the MiG leader pulls into a tight left turn. The move protects him, but
his less experienced wingman can't keep up, and drifts into
Shaffert's firing envelope. RICHARD SCHAFFERT: And
I got my nose on up and it was a clear northern sky,
with the sun off to the west and that brand new AIM-9D
sidewinder with a supercoolant was just growling beautifully. And I fired out at about
a mile and a quarter. It just looked like
a thing from a movie. It flew just under
his right wing tip. [jet engine noises] And that's where it passed
under without fusing. Flew off into the wilderness. And I could not believe what had
happened at that point in time. It's like having a whole
flock of ducks came over and you shoot and nothing falls. NARRATOR: The MiGs dive. Schaffert sets up another shot. But suddenly, from nine o'clock
high, another MiG element is diving on him. It's the ambush
Schaffert was afraid of. [gunshots] Two more 17s really had
me in their gun sights and were coming down in a
perfect run on me like this. Holy mackerel. And then it brought
me back to focus. There's no more getting an
easy kill, all that stuff. You're going to have to
fight with these guys. NARRATOR: It's the setup to one
of the longest dogfights ever recorded. [gunshots] While the average Vietnam
dogfight lasted 45 seconds. [jet engine noises] Schaffert relentlessly
pursues four enemy MiGs for a gut wrenching 10 minutes. er . [jet engine noises] Four MiG-17s have ambushed an
F-8 Crusader piloted by Richard Schaffert. The 10 minute dogfight
that is about to unfold will push Schaffert to the
limits of human endurance. As two of the MiGs
dive in, Schaffert rolls into a maximum 8G left
turn to defeat the ambush. The MiGs are going too fast to
match the turn and overshoot. Four bandits are in the air. The situation is
quickly unraveling. The A-4 he was
escorting has fled. And now Schaffert
faces 4 to 1 odds. He must play to his
aircraft's strength. RICHARD SCHAFFERT: And I just
stood the Crusader on its tail and did what it does best,
and that is just climb. Climb like hell. Then I went over the
top at about 25,000 feet and turned upside down to
see what was down there. [jet engine noises] NARRATOR: The first
pair of MiGs are here in a descending left turn
trying to regain airspeed. The second pair are
here, trying to climb to Schaffert's altitude. In his first move, he'll
dive past the ascending MiGs, then attack the other pair, who
are vulnerable targets given their low airspeed. Outnumbered but unafraid,
Dick Schaffert noses down. The Crusader screams past the
ascending MiGs at 450 knots. At 10,000 feet, he
begins to pull out. The heavy G of
the dive rips away his oxygen mask and microphone. He can no longer radio for help. RICHARD SCHAFFERT: It just keeps
pulling and pulling and pulling on your face as
you're doing this. And mine now was
down under my chin. So I couldn't talk with anybody. I don't think I would've
needed the microphone. If I had opened the canopy,
they could've heard me. NARRATOR: Schaffert guts it out
and pulls up on the first pair of MiGs' 6 o'clock. The MiGs turn hard left
trying to shake the Crusader. [jet engine noises] Schaffert maneuvers for a
sidewinder missile shot. To gain a missile lock, his nose
must be no more than 20 degrees off the MiG's tail pipe. He barrel rolls to the
outside and then descends. In doing this, he gets
in missile position without losing airspeed. Schaffert gets good tone on
the sidewinder and fires. But he never gets the chance
to see if the missile hits its target. At that very instant,
a stream of tracers snap over his canopy. The second pair of MiGs have
now reversed their climb. [gunshots] Once again, they're diving on
him from eight o'clock high. The tables have turned. [gunshots] Schaffert is here. The second MiG element is here. He'll need to fly
like a man possessed to escape another ambush. RICHARD SCHAFFERT: MiG
fights are in nanoseconds. Not seconds, but nanoseconds. One second the guy is a dot
in your canopy and the next he's past you. NARRATOR: Instantly, Schaffert
improvises a unique maneuver. He pitches the crusader
down then rudders left, cutting under
the MiG's turn. From the MiG's
point of view, it's as if Schaffert simply
disappears as he dives and cuts under them. Schaffert endures the
grueling maneuver. The attack is derailed. But now he plummets
toward the ground. He jams the stick back and
lights his afterburner. Raw jet fuel sprays
into the F-8's exhaust, doubling his thrust. He soars past the MiGs. [music playing] The MiGs try to follow,
but their weaker engines can't match the
Crusader's rate of climb. They stall out below. Schaffert levels
off at 25,000 feet, hoping for a quick
break in the action. He scans the area once again. The stalled MiGs are recovering,
still very much in the fight. He looks west, hoping to catch
some sign of friendly planes. His hopes are dashed. Yet another pair of
MiGs at 3 o'clock high. This time, MiG-21s
coming right at him. RICHARD SCHAFFERT: Well,
just for a moment in time, kind of halfway frozen said,
what in the world is going on? NARRATOR: As Schaffert
turns into them, they fire their
infrared-guided Atoll missiles, a reverse engineered copy
of the American sidewinder. Four contrails streak
towards the lone Crusader. None of the missiles lock on. They fly harmlessly
over Schaffert's head. And as quickly as the
MiG-21s arrived, they depart. It's a guerilla tactic often
employed by MiG-21s in Vietnam. MiG-21s are a rare commodity
for the North Vietnamese, and they're used sparingly. In 1967, there are only
16 in their air force. Using their speed, they
streak into the area, fire all their missiles
hoping to score a lucky kill, and streak out, avoiding any dog
fights with American aircraft. For Dick Schaffert, exhaustion
from the physical strain from several minutes
of high G combat is starting to take its toll. [jet engine noises] BARRETT TILLMAN: Put yourself
in the cockpit of that F-8, subjecting yourself to positive
and negative G's, gray out, blackout, grunting, straining
against the physical oppression of many times the
force of gravity. Your 20 pound head
in a 5G environment suddenly weighs 100 pounds. But if you don't keep
your head moving, you're probably going to die. That's what Dick Schaffert
did for 10 minutes. NARRATOR: But Schaffert has
sunk his teeth into the MiGs and he's not letting go. The fight goes on. He shifts his attention to
the MiG-17s 10,000 feet below. RICHARD SCHAFFERT:
They were coming around underneath the
position that I was. And this was my chance to make
gunfighter mean something. NARRATOR: The MiG17s are here. Schaffert is above them. He can bank left and
begin a dive on them. He'll gain tremendous
energy in the dive, ensuring that he doesn't get
locked in a low speed turning fight, the MiG-17's strength. Schaffert noses down and
dives on the MiG element. They bank left hoping
to force an overshoot. Schaffert must break
up the MiG element. First, he will execute a
barrel roll to the outside. Then, as he descends,
he'll fire on the wingman. But instead of watching
the missile to the target, he'll roll again. Positioning himself on
the MiG leader's tail. Schaffert rolls. [jet engine noises] Then fires his last missile on
the wingman, He rolls again. As he descends, he
switches to guns. The wild maneuver works. [jet engine noises] The wingman is now
out of the fight. And MiG leader is in
Schaffert's gun sight. Already in a high G turn,
Schaffert tracks the MiG. He closes on him, 2,000 feet. He tightens his turn even
more, leading the target. RICHARD SCHAFFERT: I pressed the
trigger and boom, boom, seven rounds out each gun. And the link broke. NARRATOR: The pull of G is so
massive, it has jammed all four of his cannons. The last gunfighter is now
out of guns and missiles. A new mission emerges
from the adrenaline rush of combat, survival. ed G fighters. Now he's one on one
against the MiG leader. But he's out of missiles
and his guns are jammed. RICHARD SCHAFFERT:
It did cross my mind that I'm not going to
be shooting anybody out of the sky. But in this Crusader core thing
that become so ingrained in you that you are better
than anybody else. When you are in your
Crusader, you're the king. So I'm going to
beat this guy just to show him I can beat him. No other reason. I'm just going to take him
on like he was a student. NARRATOR: Schaffert may not
be able to kill his opponent but he can instill a
healthy dose of fear. With violent maneuvering,
he'll try to intimidate the MiG into a tactical mistake. And then beat a hasty retreat. He's now on the MiG's
six in a tight left turn. Schaffert breaks
out of the turn. The MiG pilot seizes
the opportunity. And for a fleeting
moment, fires on him. But the tracers miss. Schaffert goes vertical. MiG leader climbs after him. The MiG-17 and F-8
claw for altitude. [jet engine noises] Schaffert runs out of air
speed at the top of his climb and noses over. The MiG does the same. At the bottom of the dive, they
cross paths and climb again. As each pilot
jockeys for position, they find themselves locked
in a complex aerial maneuver, a vertical rolling scissors. Pilots describe it as a
self generating furball. In the vertical
rolling scissors, each pilot rolls around
the other while climbing and diving. In the climb, they lose airspeed
and the slower aircraft inches closer to his enemy's 6
o'clock, firing position. RICHARD SCHAFFERT: I
think we were thinking with the exact same mindset,
reverse it back around and get your nose
behind the other guy. This is going to get slow
real quick as you're going up like this. And if you get your nose just
a skosh behind the other guy, you're going to shoot him
out of the sky real quick. NARRATOR: They twist around
each other over and over. Both pilots fly at the
knife's edge of endurance. This grueling fight has been
going on for nearly 10 minutes, an eternity in the
world of dogfighting. [jet engine noises] RICHARD SCHAFFERT: I can
almost sense his nose coming a little farther into
me each time as he came around. In about the fifth or
sixth time on the down side of this vertical
rolling scissors, I could see the next
time up is going to be enough inside that his
guns will probably cover me and he will be able to fire. NARRATOR: Schaffert
must make a move now. They hit bottom on
another scissors and Schaffert
abruptly rolls out. The MiG pilot is
taken off guard. And Schaffert uses every bit
of his 16,000 pounds of thrust, accelerating away from
the MiG at treetop level. And as I look back
over my shoulder now, this guy had finished
his turnaround. He was coming at me and
then all of a sudden, he pulled up like this
and I could see the plan view of his airplane and he
was back about a mile ahead. So he was calling it quits too. NARRATOR: Dick
Schaffert's dogfight is a nearly flawless example
of skillful maneuvering and maximizing the
capabilities of an aircraft. Its every move is studied
by fighter pilots today. BARRETT TILLMAN: It's
really ironic to me that, arguably, the
most noteworthy dogfight of the Vietnam War did not
result in anybody getting shot down. But considering that he was
able to fly home and land back aboard the Oriskany that
evening was a victory in itself. NARRATOR: North
Vietnamese pilots had tangled with a rare
breed of fighter pilot. PAUL GILLCRIST: They probably
had a bottle of cold beer and said, we just met the
biggest maniac in the United States Navy. Because Schaffert
just was a wild man. He just, he never
gave him a chance. Even when he was out of
weapons, he was still at him. NARRATOR: In the Vietnam
War, the F-8 Crusader recorded a stellar
win-loss record. Bringing down six MiGs
for every Crusader lost. But ground fire,
SAMs, and accidents began to whittle
down their numbers. By the late '60s, it was slowly
displaced by the F-4 Phantom. PAUL SPEER: This
was Cold War time and they were
looking at the threat from the Russian bombers. The Phantom had a
bigger top speed and could get there quicker,
could climb out faster. The F-4, quite frankly,
was a better airplane for the mission. NARRATOR: There were over
1,200 Crusaders built. But in 1987, the last F-8 was
decommissioned from the US fleet. The Crusader's
success in dogfighting had a long term effect
on Naval aviation. It was known as the
last gunfighter. But it wasn't. Missiles did not supplant guns
as the dogfighter's weapon of choice as military
planners had thought. All future navy planes
would be fitted with guns. Even the Crusader's
rival, the F-4 Phantom. And close-in turn
and burn flying continues to be
taught at Top Gun. Dogfighting tactics
so skillfully executed by the F-8
Crusader and its pilots. RICHARD SCHAFFERT: I never
knew Crusader pilot that had fear of another airplane. Fear of missiles? Damn right, betcha. Fear of a guy with a lucky
golden BB like John McCain says? Yeah. But not another airplane. And that's the
Crusader legacy, to be able to fight with a clear
head because you don't fear anything.
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