Strana 33
#84202
BOXART STORY
From May 9, 1972, to October 23, 1972,
the USAF conducted an operation called
Linebacker. This operation was planned
as a systematic air campaign with the aim
of destroying North Vietnam's transport
infrastructure and eliminating its capacity to
support military operations. It was the first
continuous bombing of North Vietnam since
the end, in 1968, of the earlier operation called
Rolling Thunder. The specific objectives of this
campaign were to isolate the logistics centers
in Hanoi and Haiphong by attacking the anti-
aircraft defenses of both cities, followed by
the destruction of the railway network. These
were mainly important railway bridges and
train stations. Further air strikes were aimed
at destroying all military facilities, including
supplies in these areas.
In the late afternoon of May 10, 1972, the US
Navy carried out the second strike that day.
Nearly a hundred aircraft took part, mainly from
the aircraft carriers Constellation, Kitty Hawk,
and Coral Sea. The target of this particular
large-scale coordinated attack, called Alpha
Strike, was the city of Hai Duong, 30 miles east
of Hanoi. Hai Duong lies on the railway line
to Haiphong and was home to an important
railway station with ammunition and weapons
depots, as well as a strategic railway bridge.
Among many other aircraft, an F-4J Phantom
belonging to VF-92, operating from the aircraft
carrier USS Constellation, took part in the raid.
This aircraft was piloted by Executive Officer
Cmdr. Harry Lee Blackburn Jr. and Lt. Stephen
A. Rudloff. The crew used the call sign Silver
Kite 212 and was patrolling as part of a CAP
(Close Air Patrol) mission over the target, flying
at a higher altitude than the attacking aircraft.
The task of CAP aircraft is to patrol the combat
area of bomber aircraft, locate enemy fighters
in time, and then engage them in aerial combat.
An encounter with enemy aircraft was
almost certain that day, and so the Phantoms
were spotted approximately 18 km north of
the town of Hai Doung by a pair of Vietnamese
MiG-21 PFMs belonging to the 927th Fighter
Regiment operating from Noi Bai Airport. The
pair was guided by a ground station. The lead
aircraft was piloted by 28-year-old Le Thanh
Dao, with Vu Van Hop as his wingman. It should
be added that Dao already had one confirmed
kill and one half kill to his credit. He was
therefore one of the more experienced pilots in
the Vietnamese Air Force.
The ensuing two-on-two dogfight between
the MiGs and Phantoms apparently took place
shortly after the last aircraft attacking ground
targets left the combat zone. The American
and Vietnamese accounts differ significantly,
and the following section is based on the
statements of the Vietnamese pilots. As soon
as the Phantoms spotted the danger of the
MiGs approaching from behind, they broke
formation. The lead aircraft turned left and flew
under Dao's MiG. The second Phantom began to
turn in the opposite direction from its leader,
followed by a climb. Vu Van Hop performed
a sharp maneuver behind him and for a moment
pursued the second Phantom in the “six o'clock”
position. However, Le Thanh Dao was already
pursuing “Silver Kite 212” commanded by Harry
Lee Blackburn. When Dao got behind the lead
aircraft at a distance of approximately 1,500
meters, he heard the excited voice of his friend
Vu Van Hop shouting “He's on fire, he's on fire”
in his headphones, as well as the high-pitched
tone of his R-3S missile indicating that it had
locked onto its target. He immediately fired
and hit Blackburn's Phantom in the tail section.
An engine fire broke out, followed by a power
failure. The aircraft became uncontrollable.
The two American crew members had no choice
but to eject. They landed in their parachutes
only about 100 meters apart. Lieutenant Rudloff
was temporarily blinded during the incident and
was taken prisoner to the Hanoi Hilton “hotel.”
Subsequently, contact with his commander
was lost. Stephen Rudloff, who was on his
third combat tour and 295th combat mission,
was released from captivity on March 28, 1973.
He later became an instructor pilot for F-14
Tomcat aircraft.
Cmdr. Harry Lee Blackburn Jr., the squadron's
executive officer, was probably killed during
captivity. His remains were handed over by the
Vietnamese government on April 10, 1986, and
were positively identified in November of the
same year.
The scene depicted on the boxart of the
MiG-21 PFM kit is the moment when Le Thanh
Dao begins pursuing the passing Phantom,
according to the Vietnamese description of the
situation. The dogfight itself probably lasted
less time than it takes to read this article.
“Check six”!
Illustration: Piotr Forkasiewicz
Hai Duong Patrol
Text: Zdeněk Nožička
INFO Eduard
33
June 2025