I don't want to upset the author of the post, but the conscientious MiGs were much more maneuverable than the American Sabres. they were banally lighter and faster, and for some reason the author also forgot about the dozens of downed B-29s, which were protected by these Sabres from MiG attacks.

Floppa04 said in comment #2576110:

they were banally lighter and faster

Barely?

Floppa04 said in comment #2576110:

I don't want to upset the author of the post, but the conscientious MiGs were much more maneuverable than the American Sabres. they were banally lighter and faster,

Eh, to an extent. While it's true the MiG was faster in a straight line and more maneuverable in the horizontal, the Sabre was much better in the vertical with more power and better control surfaces. In terms of raw characteristics, the two were rather evenly matched. The major difference was pilot quality, and this was an area in which the Sabre had a massive leg up, as American pilots were all trained by (and frequently led by) WW2 veterans who imparted all the lessons learned from that conflict. It's telling that the balance evened out only when the MiG was also being piloted by WW2 veterans.

Also, the early-war B-29 raids were escorted not by Sabres but by F-80's and F-84's, against which the MiG had definite qualitative advantages. In fact, the MiG-15's appearance against those raids is actually what caused the F-86 to go to Korea at all. The Air Force (and the Army) viewed Korea as a sideshow to the showdown in Europe, preferring to send their best to Germany and the dregs to the Far East, hence why it was such a nasty surprise that the Soviets sent their newest and best fighter to Korea.