Snatch a Sabre! The 1951 Soviet Operation to Steal America's Latest Fighter 

The fact alone that no Robo-Voice is used in Mark‘s videos deserves a subscription. And then there is the high quality content... I‘m glad I found this channel. Keep up the good work.

"F86 is faster, rolls, dives and turns better." Literally next sentence: "Mig15 is more maneuverable"

I've always loved cold war era jets

The key factor in the F-86 ability to operate in transonic flight was the all moving horizontal stabiliser(HS). The Mig had a fixed HS and would go out of control in a supersonic dive speed. This is all covered in Chuck Yeager's book, and was the key to supersonic flight. The F-86 also had an engine with axial compressors, while the Mig had the old style centrifugal compressors. The axial compressor jet engines were first used on the ME-262 WW2 German fighter and are now used on all large jet engines.The axial compressor engine for the ME-262 was designed by the forgotten great man Anselm Franz.

Nothing better than hearing that intro in the morning

They should've just asked CJ to steal a jet.

I believe operation moolah was an accidental success, the pilot of the mig was merely tired of North Korea and decided to fly too the South. I'm sure the money was welcome as well however.

i dont know how i got so hooked to this channel this is much better than every other documentary ive ever watched

MiG-15s SUCCESS WAS BASED ON BRITISH ENGINE TECHNOLOGY A big part of the MiG-15's success was its engine, the Klimov VK-1, which was a reverse-engineered and modified design of the Rolls-Royce Nene engine, in 1946, the British Labor government allowed the sale of the Nene to the Soviets. This made the MiG-15 deadly fighter that was flown against the Allies durring the Korean War. With all due respect to the UK and US governments, often times our worst enemy is our own leadership, Joesph Stalin commented on the sale saying, “What fool will sell us his secrets?”

They were not Martin B-26 Marauders, they were Douglas B-26 Invaders. Immediately after WWII the Martin B-26 was retired - a process that began late in the war by the A-26 Invader. No B-26 Marauders were used in the Korean War. Postwar the A for Attack designation was discontinued and the A-26 Invader was redesignated the B-26 Invader. I know, confusing, eh? It gets better. In 1962 the A for attack designation was revived (Think A-1 Skyraider , Douglas A-6, Vought A-7, etc.) and the Invader became the A-26 again for Vietnam.

*... The sabre can turn, dive and roll faster. The mig on the other hand was more manouverable" LoL

In Chuck Yeager's book he talked about the time he got to test fly a MiG-15 and Flew it to the very edge of its envelope of flight

By far, this channel brings great joy to my heart. Your voice is like a soothing song a mother sings to her child, to lay him to sleep

Those jets are 70 years old yet they still look sleek, beautiful and deadly.

The North Korean pilot who defected was No Kum-Sok. He received his reward, which was $100k despite the figure stated here. He moved to the United States and became a professor of aeronautical engineering. He's still alive and lives in Florida.

Just as s side note. The USCG calls those flying boats “Albatross” they have one on display here at the clearwater air station

Great cat-and-mouse story. So many elements of deception and evasion.

blimey, that was exciting! I didn't know about the crashed Sabre and had no idea what happens at the end! 😲

We always here about the defecting NK MiG-15, but we never hear about the stories of U.S. aircraft captured by the Russians. Great story!

Really superb work. These are not your usual "click-bait" nonsense, and despite being rather a history, aviation, and ephemera aficionado, I always find Mark's videos interesting and educational. Very well done, and most highly appreciated!

This is an elite channel, content and quality at its very best, you can’t help but be riveted by it

Another great informative video about something I did not know about.

I’ve heard about the Soviet Sabre in Wikipedia but I didn’t know that the Soviets went through all the trouble to get it and the U.S. doing everything they can to stop them from getting it! Thank u for this fully detailed video Mark!

Those sneaky Soviets, do anything for a Saber.

@ Dr. Felton - NO Marauders in Korea, the A-26 was re-designated a B-26. Yes this is commented previously but felt it was worth reiterating. That said, LOVE your vids sir. A breath of fresh air compared to the usual media compost.

Great video! One minor error. 5:11 The B-26 Marauder did not see action over Korea but the Douglas A-26 Invader, redesignated B-26 did. The Invader served in WWII, Korea, and Vietnam. Oh, and the Bay of Pigs invasion...

What an amazing piece of history! This should be made into a major movie I think. Great video! My favorite channel at the moment!✌️

Wounderful put together and narrative, just as interesting voice as the voice from Sir David Attenborrugh .

Once again really interesting content! Keep up the good work!

Excellent video as always and Thanks Mark Felton .

Wow your channel has grown so fast. I remember when I first subbed you had under 2k subs. Insane and well deserved my friend. I think I can speak for us all when I say we love detailed storys and info on ww2 and all the proxy wars since!

Great video👍

This guy Always puts out Good Content. Keep up the good work Mr. Felton.

The B-26 used in Korea was an Invader not a Marauder.

Mark's work is so good that, against my (cheapskate) principles, I'm going to donate to support the quality he produces. Come on, everyone, you know that you should too.

Awesome video, today they are still as crazy. Thanks for sharing

The American operation Moolah didn't actually convince any soviets or Koreans to defect. No Kum-Sok, the korean defector had no idea that the Americans were offering money and safety in return for his defection.

At eight my pride and joy was a Korean war Soveit pilots helmet complete with a .50 caliber Machinegun hole through both sides and a red star. Some pilots tropy that was sold for almost nothing at a rummage sale.

Another awesome Mark Felton Prod. Thank you.

One of the coolest videos to date and man that intro/outro song pumps me up every time!

Such great insights give a glimpse of the action and the politics in play at the time. Great work Tom.

Another interesting quick history lesson. God! I love this channel.

Funny thing is after the plane is down it was the Soviets who are defending the American plane and the American pilots who were actually trying to destroy it well thats what I call irnony :D

Operation Moolah didn't pay off. The defecting pilot did not even know there was a cash reward for bringing in a MiG15.

Thanks Mark for another great video.

A great uncle of mine served in the United States Air Force in Korea... This is a cool story!

fantastic story.thanks a lot Mark!

The F-86 and Mig-15 both owe Willy Messerschmitt a commission.

Basically, the sovets were very lucky that they managed to hit american jet in such way that american couldn’t make it to his home base nor he could drown it in water. The americans were more pragmatic. They simply offered money lol

Outstanding thank you Mark!

As Always, awesome Mark!!!

Thank you for your videos.

Been subscribed a while, really enjoy your content. A suggestion for a vid? Read somewhere about a Spetznaz raid on a US airfield in Vietnam to steal tech from Cobra gunships......not sure how much truth was in it.....

Some one should definitely make a movie on it......

Just subbed...love this channel.

Who wouldn't want an f 86? Thanks again Mark !

I look forward to that intro music just as much as I do the information in the video.

Well it was bound to happen… I guess the most important part is the pilot got away.

I believe that the first benefit to the Soviets of having studied the radar gun sight of the Sabre was then being able to build a detector for it. No more shooting the Migs down without warning, as soon as there were being targeted a sensor in their plane would give warning, and the closer the Sabre targeting them the faster the warning signal would go.

Another great video. Well done Mark. 10/10

Love your articles,formative, factual,and the music

Great Vid! I look forward to these all the time!

Excellent, as usual.

Awesome stuff, Keep them coming Mark👍

Well done. Thanks- I enjoyed it.

a lot of your Stories can be such cool Movies

Another high quality video. Keep up the good work!

The Soviet’s pitched their aircraft, developed by their German scientists, against our aircraft, developed by our German scientists, all the while the British creating their own jet developed from their German scientists. Ahh... got to live the Cold War!

Another great video 👍👍

Excellent video! I'm a amateur history buff & when I get a chance I always like to watch your video's first.

I just saw Dr. Felton on the documentary “Hitlers steel beast”... But only upon recognizing that wonderfully familiar voice!

The History Guy and Mark Felton need to collab!!

Great video!

An amazing story thank you

Good job, cpt. Константин :-)

"F-86 could turn, roll and dive faster but MiG was more maneuverable" Aren't they the same thing?

Great video as usual, thanks.

Wow! I never knew that. Thank you.

Wow!, yet another item of aviation history I had no idea about! Love the Soviet perspective. Are there many more stories mirroring famous western achievements like the capture of the Mig 15? In other words, are there many other tit-for-tat incidents where the Soviets or other adversaries gained an advantage over the West that the West doesn't care to bring up? There are so many gaps in the often repeated popular historical narrative. One example of what few Americans care to discuss is how many foreign made aircraft we have successfully employed. The British have never really neglected pointing out the usefulness of their US made aircraft. Did the US's lack of indigenous built combat aircraft in WWI inspire a sense of venerability if it were to highlight it's need to employ British combat aircraft, especially early in WWII? While we're at it, why were there so many US made aircraft that were highly effective in foreign services while we couldn't seem to figure out how to employ them successfully? Why have Americans seemingly exiled these same aircraft, not often mentioning them or acknowledging their American made contribution to the war effort?

I really enjoy this channel. I found one minor discrepancy in this video. Dr. Felton mentions that the Chinese convoy was attacked by rocket-firing B-26 "Marauder" bombers. The Martin B-26 "Marauder" medium bomber was phased out of US service almost as soon as WWII was over. Douglas Aircraft produced the A-26 "Invader" attack bomber in the later years of the war. When the Martin plane was removed from service, the A-26 was re-designated B-26. The Douglas B-26 "Invader" was extensively used during the Korean War, and remained in service, participating the Bay of Pigs debacle and into the early part of the Vietnam War.

Thumbs up mate..would suggest a longer version delivered in that Mark Felton style⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐✌👍👜

This is an amazing & little known story. There's so many secrets in every war, that it's great to learn accurate, objective accounts of them.

Wow what an amazing story

I don't know how Mark Felton uncovers these stories. He must be a wonderful researcher.

Well done, Konstantin.

Doesn’t sound like “stealing” when you shoot it down in the open and fight your way to and back. Capture is the right word. Also, “Chinese laborers”? Aren’t those the PLA volunteers that pushed the US back to 38th parallel?

I always thought that the North Korean pilot was unaware if the bounty until he was told about it after he landed.

Excellent snippet as usual.

Now that's a Korean war movie I'd actually be interested to see. Didn't the Korean pilot who defected only find out about the reward once he had landed? Think I read that somewhere.

Mr. Felton, could you please do a video about the time when a british submarine stole a soviet towed sonar?

I love your posts. A revaluation!!

Fascinating stuff. Thank you.

I love how your videos can go so long with out 1 dislike

Who, on earth, would gives these great videos thumbs down?

Also I find it funny that the defected pilot didn't even know he was going to get money, he just got tired of NC amd flew south

I remember reading somewhere what made Sabre better than Mig-15 was not gun sight but hydraulic actuation that made much easier to maneuver and all around better cockpit visibility.

Excellent video, though I must say you have made one one notable error; the B-26 Marauder was only used in WWII. I believe you have made the understandable mistake of confusing the Martin-built Marauder with the Douglas A-26 Invader, which was widely used during the Korean War and, due to the retirement of the Marauder, was re-designated the B-26. Being a student of military aviation history, I can understand why you would be confused.

1:58 The "F-86 can turn, roll, and dive faster" than the Mig 15 as well as fly faster, but the Mig 15 is "more maneuverable"? What does "maneuverable" mean if not turning and rolling?

Great vid!

What a great story !