LAOS
Vietnam War
NAME VICTORIES AIRFORCE Khamphanh 1 Royal Laotian Air Force
Comments:
- In April 1961 four T-6Gs were deployed to Luang Prabang airfield, in order to support an operation by what was now the Royal Laotian Army (RLA) in the northwest of the country. During their patrol, a Lao pilot, Lt. Khamphanh, spotted a Soviet Il-14 over the jungle. Since the plane had no guns mounted, the Laotian pilot aimed his unguided rockets at the transport, one from a salvo of his rockets hitting the right engine. The Il-14 made several wild turns and fell finally into the jungle, killing a crew of two Soviets in the process.
In response to the Soviet airlift the United States decided in December 1960 to set up the RLAF first combat unit, or the Reconnaissance and Cooperation Squadron, by delivering 10 T-6G Texans. The planes were drawn from the RTAF stocks and served mainly in ground attack role. In April 1961, Lt Khamphanh even scored the only RLAF air-to-air victory by shooting down a Soviet Il-14. (Photo credit: Albert Grandolini Collection, via Troung - Grandolini, Albert - Cooper, Tom: Laos, 1948-1989; Part 1, http://www.acig.org/artman/publish/article_347.shtml)
Sources & Literature
- ACIG Team: Far East Air-to-Air Victories, List of confirmed, claimed, and probable air-to-air victories scored by various pilots and air forces in the Far East since 1945., http://www.acig.info/CMS/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=49.
- Gleize, Jean-Paul: Aces, http://www.igleize.fr/aces/homeaces.htm.
- Royal Lao Air Force, Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Lao_Air_Force
- Troung - Grandolini, Albert - Cooper, Tom: Laos, 1948-1989; Part 1, http://www.acig.info/CMS/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=237.
