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University Daily Kansan Thursday, April 2.1953
Should U.S. Strip Down Its Fighters?
(Editor's Note: U.S. pilots in Korea last week commented that safety devices on their F-86 Sabrejets, as well as on other aircraft, are hampering their skirmishes with Communist MIG-15s. The following two editorials present contrasting opinions from students on this comment.)
The two football teams were meeting in the game that meant everything. One was the big, deep, upstart squad from the backwoods; the other, a smaller, but more polished city team. Both teams wanted badly to win, of course.
The city team had good equipment. Its weight slowed the players down, true, but the city coach felt it would be safer and better to keep his boys in good shape for use when the chips were down in the fourth quarter.
But the tough backswoods team didn't believe in taking any precautions. They threw reason to the wind in an effort to win the game. They didn't use any fine equipment to save their players. They were faster than the city team. If a player was going to get hurt, he probably wasn't any good anyway, so what did it matter.
Before the game had started--while the teams were warming up—the backwoods team already had lost some boys because of injuries, although most of them were just subs.
Today's world looks strangely like that big football game.
The two biggest teams around—one with more man-power, but the other more polished—are meeting in the game that means everything.
But there's a revolt on in the ranks of the city team. A bunch of "hot-shot" players are screaming that their fine equipment is hampering them too much, even though the tough kids are losing far more men in the warm-up.
These "hot-shots" are a small group of U.S. Air Force fighter pilots protesting that the safety devices on American planes, the F-86 Sabrejets in particular, are hampering their attempts to down Russian-built MIG-15s. They claim that the added weight in the U.S. planes (about two tons) gives the MIGs too great an advantage.
by Dick Bibler
As in any argument of this type, the flyers have some points that are well taken. But also as is usually the case, they have gone off the deep end to prove their point.
Besides wanting to do away with a few luxuries like a motor to close the canopy and parking brakes, these men want to use less ammunition, cheaper gun sights or no gun sights at all, do away with self-sealing gas tanks, and the like.
These same weight arguments were voiced by many so-called "experts" in World War II, but in the end the Japanese planes (that reportedly flew circles around the Americans) were in burning heaps on the ground while the U.S. planes were home sitting on the runways.
This was due partly to superior numbers, sure, but also to the fact that the American planes could make it home when in trouble.
The Communist theory is that if a pilot crashes or gets lost, he wasn't a very good pilot anyway. Not so with the United States. After putting up the enormous sum and time it takes to train a pilot, the Air Force high brass can't see putting them in a cheap plane that might not get back.
A man who is willing to fly in an airframe with a motor and a gun isn't any braver than one who would just as soon have a better plane under him that he doesn't have to worry about.
Throw away the numerals on the uniform if they are in the way, but don't be too hasty to do away with the helmet because it is a little too heavy. It might come in handy some day.
Clarke Keys
Gen. Carl Spaatz, who has retired from the Air Force, returned last week from a tour of Japan, Korea, and Formosa and said that the Chinese Communist air force could be driven back to airfields so far behind the lines that it would be no major threat.
The men who fly our jets in Korea say this isn't so. The Red jets can rub us out of the air there any month they want to, our pilots believe.
This points up a serious difference of opinion, for Gen. Spaats believes our air force is the only force carrying the war to the enemy as well as being an invulnerable force against air attacks on our rear installations.
He raved about our air forces. "They're the best trained in the world," he said. "They are using techniques unthought of in World War II. Their morale is high and they are fully competent to perform their mission in that area."
He said that if the American people could be fully informed about what our airmen are doing, they would have the utmost pride and confidence in these men and their commanders.
The airmen acknowledge that they are competent and well trained, but they're discouraged with the results they are getting.
The MIGs are so much faster, our pilots say, that they can begin and end an air battle at their own pleasure. The fliers say the MIGs can outclimb them at any altitude and outmaneuver them at the high altitudes.
The reason they aren't lies in the superiority of the MIGs over our F-86 Sabrejets. And the reason for this superiority, the pilots say, is the extra tons of weight that the Sabrejet carries. It weighs eight tons. The MIG weighs six tons.
They say that only one thing saves them and makes them look good—superior training. They assert that with the poor quality of Chinese Communist pilots, they should be scoring hits at will.
This weight is in such safety devices as parking brakes, emergency landing gears, an armor plate in front of and behind the pilot, an elaborate electronic gunsight system in three sections permitting automatic firing on the enemy in the air, enabling the pilot to release his bombs on a ground target, and permitting automatic firing of his rockets to strafe railroad trains and gun emplacements, and a self-sealing fuel tank.
The pilots say they don't use the parking brakes, would prefer making a belly landing to carrying the additional weight of the emergency landing gear, and that the MIGs never shoot at the front of our planes.
Also, they say their self-sealing tanks are no good against the shells of the 23- and 37-mm cannons carried by the MIGs. These shells rip holes in the tank too big for the self-sealing rubberized material to close.
These are the planes that make up the air force Gen. Spaatz said could drive the MIGs clear out of the air.
It doesn't look good for us. If the Russians decided to send their best pilots to Korea, we would be out of luck. With pilots equal to ours and planes far superior, our fliers would be as good as dead before they left the ground.
The solution is simple. Take off some of the safety devices. As the pilots aptly phrased it: "The U.S. plane has become so safe, it's liable to kill us." —Bob Nold
Ike Regime Appears Solid But Bland
A view of the first two months of the Eisenhower administration reveals a government surprisingly solid—yet unspectacular.
President Dwight D. Eisenhower laid a firm footing for a strong Republican administration through wise cabinet appointments. The intellectual integrity and realism of these key men are important characteristics of this governing group.
Cabinet members, faced with the cold war, slumping farm prices, no solution of the Korean problem, little prospects of tax cuts, and other unfullfilled campaign promises have been realistic in examining and analyzing the facts.
They charged that Ezra Taft Benson, secretary of agriculture, had created a psychological recession in the farm belt with statements indicating he did not favor indefinite continuation of the present system of farm-price supports.
Stubborn attitudes of sticking to judgments and decisions made under misleading partisan propaganda have found no home in these leaders. They thus far have revised their judgments accordingly as situations
Unwilling to give up their national political positions with ease, Democrats have made political capital from new and seemingly radical steps of the Republicans.
arise and knowledge on the subject increases.
But Mr. Benson, probably the victim of GOP circumstance, stuck to his beliefs along with other cabinet members facing similar situations.
Although the administration has spent a great deal more time in planning than in action, its strongest characteristics appear to be a set of carefully thought-out objectives, principles, and a strategic plan.
However, it probably will take much more planning to transform plans effective on paper into feasible and working operations.
The Eisenhower administration is insisting upon orderly development of a co-ordinated, coherent policy. But a firmer approach and intensive instruction in world affairs and defense problems is needed before the President can control members of his own party.
The job that lies ahead cannot be brushed aside. This important job in one of the most critical moments in history will require even more hard work and co-operation of national leaders bolstered by the confidence of the people of this country in a much greater degree than has been demonstrated in the past two months. —Shirley Piatt
Little Man on Campus
It is titled Brief and is an obvious copy—the same catch titles ("Miracles at Your Fingertips," "My Night with a Killer," "Can a Baby Save a Marriage," )five or six picture stories, a snappy cover featuring a pretty woman with a suggestive glance, and good printing on semi-slick paper.
All this makes for an easy-to-read, easy-to-write, and easy-to-sell periodical. Some of the articles may lack taste, some of them may be devoid of it, but many of them offer delightful leisure reading.
Brief states that it has "Thirty Exclusive Articles—the Best News Photos!" and pretends to give Brief reports, interviews, entertainment and features. The photos undoubtedly are new but not in the same class with those of Coronet, with which we might compare it.
Its biggest selling point is the "how to do it" angle that is written into many of the stories: how to learn Russian; how to find psychiatric help; and how to make cheese-cake, the Hollywood variety.
Most of them, it seems, are printed to lure buyers, not readers. Its appeal is directed to the "average" person who may look over a magazine rack and be attracted by the cover, and the pretty girl's glance.
'Brief' Flirts With Readers
Something new has been added to the magazine field—a poor man's Coronet.
These, coupled with some good features and picture stories make the magazine attractive and readable. There is better fare on the market.
—Chuck Zuegner
Daily Hansan UNIVERSITY
University of Kansas Student Newspaper News Room KU 251 Ad Room KU 373 Member of the Kansas Press Assn., National Editorial Assn., Inland Ann Dress, Professional Association Represented by the National Advertising Service, 420 Madison Avenue, N.Y. City,
Mail subscription rates: $3 a semester or $45 a year (add $1 a semester if in Lawrence). Published in Lawrence, Kan., every afternoon during the University year except Saturdays and Sundays, University and examination period0. Entered second class class 17, 19(1) at Lawrence, Kan., Post Office under act of March 3, 1879
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