He Won the IMPOSSIBLE Fight | Royce Williams Interview | Legends of Aviation #2
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- Опубликовано: 5 авг 2023
- We believe Royce Williams' dogfight to be one of the greatest military engagements of all time. Join us as this legendary pilot recounts how he took on seven MiG-15s, and won!
Was he an ace? He was initially credited with one victory. He was later thought to have downed four MiG-15s from this battle. In light of recent evidence however, some believe five, possibly six, were downed because of this engagement thereby making him an unofficial fighter ace. If so, he is the last surviving ace of the Korean War (Forgotten War).
In this episode, he will discuss how his flying career began, his ascension to becoming a fighter pilot, and describe his big showdown in great detail!
Recording Date: 23 September 2022
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Credits-
Animated Visuals (SBD and F6F): Showtime 112. Please check out his channel and be sure to subscribe to his content.
Footage: US Archives
Photos: US Archives / Royce William's Personal Collection
Artwork by Jack Fellows
Thumbnail: Ariel Horton
Director: Andrew Horton
Editor: Shawn Zhen
Narrator: John-Michael Sedor
Special thanks to Scott Brown, founder of Bullseye Decals, and CJ Machado, CEO and Founder of Force-Con, for making this interview possible.
What an impressive story and he did it in the F9F, a plane inferior in almost every way but durability! Plus he's 98 years old and sharp as a tack!
37 minute dogfight? That is unbelievable, he must have been exhausted after that! Royce Williams is a hero!
Given that he seems ten years younger than his actual age, my guess is that he could have jumped back into a cockpit in an hour. need be.
Good God, how’d this guy fit in the cockpit with stones so large?
A truly remarkable gentleman. As a tour guide at the National Naval Aviation Museum, I was given the honor of escorting Captain Williams through the museum in November 2022. It was a great experience. Captain Williams gave me more information on the exhibits than I gave him. Thank you for posting his account of the battle. Several months after my tour I learned his award was upgraded to a Navy Cross. Should have been a MoH. His combat was an "Eddie Rickenbacher-like" fight; one against seven higher performance MiGs and four confirmed kills.
Thanks for sharing.
The greatest generation no doubt about it. Thank you for getting this recorded for history.
Thanks for watching! That's all we ask for.
That's an incredible story. This guy should get the Medal of Honor.
Agreed! There was a big push for that but instead he was awarded the Navy Cross just recently. He is still looking for the gun camera footage. Last he saw is when they took it as evidence and classified it.
He served 37 years. That's incredible.
Agreed! He wasn't afraid to work haha.
I could sit & listen to guys like Capt. Royce for hours. Not only is he humble about his exploits but remembers all the technical details like it was yesterday. What an honor.
Yes, he is still very sharp indeed.
LOL, 7:19 when he says "torque" and his head goes the other way... like he can still feel the torque twisting the aircraft. Awesome interview.
Thanks for watching! Many more to come.
I was lucky enough to have a Dad like that.
What great story. Glad you were able to preserve for posterity. I'm sure he had many such stories. The thing is, this generation did not talk about thier experiences until the end of thier years. Somehow I find this admirable. Many were traumatized and endured these battles over and over again. God bless all the branches for thier service and God bless the USA.
Navy covered this up!! Medal of Honor should be given!!
Considering the obstacles he faced, hard to disagree!
Back in April 1977 I was 20 years old and in a plane on my way to Navy boot camp in Great Lakes IL. I told the man next to me that I had just joined the Navy and was on my way to boot camp. He directed my attention out the window and said "See how high we are now? That's about the altitude we were when we came upon the Japanese in the Pacific. " I didn't know how to react at that time but, whoever you were sir, I salute you.
Maybe a SBD pilot or gunner...?
Or maybe Helldiver.
A real hero
Thanks for watching!
I love how he proudly wears his uniform. He makes it look great.
Bonus points that he still fits in it after several decades haha.
Maverick, buy this guy a beer ! Telling the story so well at his age, you can tell he is a superman. So glad he had a wonderful life outside of the cockpit too.
Maverick's got nothing on this guy hahaha.
A true American legend
Thank you for your service sir..
What an interview, so detailed. Saluting you Captain, Go Navy! Thanks for the great history channel! BTW, Captain, the other reason why they fired on you was because when your Radar went out so did your IFF, identify friend or foe signal. I was a tech in the Navy on that which started to be used in WW2. Too bad there was no comms to prevent friendly fire, I'm happy that worked out for you!
Thanks for watching! We have many more to come.
Greg’s Airplanes and Automobiles sent me .. !
Thanks for checking out our video. Greg is a good friend.
@@flightlinemedia when I saw the words Flight Line.. I had to subscribe.. It was my MOS ..
What an amazing story, thank you Royce for sharing it with all of us. I love the attitude these men often take on feats that seem to defy all of the odds - that of just another guy doing his job. No wonder they will always be the "Greatest Generation."
Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for watching.
His fight reminds me of Captain "Swede" Vejtasa's fight with 5 Japanese A6M "Zero" fighters while flying the SBD-3 dive bomber. Vejtasa shot down 3 fighters while flying a dive bomber.
We thought the same thing. Nerves of steel haha. We're surprised Dogfights didn't capitalize on Williams' story, but that's okay. We did haha.
@@flightlinemedia Yeah, I should have elaborated a bit, but in my mind what makes Captain Williams' fight more remarkable than just the 7 vs 1 odds, is that he managed it in an F9F against Mig-15s. The MiG-15 was an all-out air superiority fighter with "not a pound for air-to-ground" as the USAF fighter pilots say. While the F9F was limited by not only somewhat older technology, but also by it's role as an attack plane. The navy called it a fighter or a fighter-bomber, but the reality was that it was an attack plane with fighter-like performance. So it seems a mismatch as well as an outmatch similar to Swede Vejtasa in his dive bomber.
Why Captain Williams' story hasn't been made into a big Hollywood production is beyond me.
Agree. But, considering Devotion was a box office flop, I doubt we will see it anytime soon. Too bad! Devotion was an awesome movie.
These are the memories that we need to keep and share, great job. Thanks for bringing this to us
Thank you for watching. It's such a great honor just to speak to these legends. We have already recorded about 14 more episodes so we will get them out as fast as we can edit them.
Outstanding video! Thanks so much for sharing.
Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for watching.
Wow love his story and I have read alot of them ....Thank you very much for telling it !!! 👍🇺🇸
😎💪
What humble terrific US pilot. Young pilots could learn a lot by listening to him that goes way beyond the technical part of flying.
He really was super humble. We're grateful he sat down with us for 45 minutes.
One hell of a avatar! God bless him.
Thank you very much for sharing this incredible piece of history. A would have been an injustice of not recognizing Royce’s heroism, duty and honor.
Thanks for watching! 😃 We have many more episodes to come.
Another awesome Naval Aviator is Cmdr. Skid Row Massey! What he did to take on those Arab hijackers in 1987 and force their aircraft down is incredible.
Thank you for this. It is good to here these guys talk about life and experiences in the services.
You're more than welcome! We have already filmed like 14 more of them, so we hope to steadily release these episodes.
5:10 YES this guy is so Legit. Haha. I want to fly a bearcat soooo bad. Sero-tab ailerons on the 5-digit series highly tapered wing. And ~3.xx lbs per HP... Long way away, may never happen.
Fantastic life story, the man is sharp now I can't imagine his 30-something self, probably not the one you want to pick on in combat... ;)
Amazing!
Thanks!
Thanks for sharing your videos and keep them coming please.
You're welcome! We have more coming than we can count haha.
Will someone please create a video of Royce's historic dogfight. His battle is worthy to be retold in CGI.
We thought about adding the animations, but he was so lively in telling it in person that we went with that option. Honestly though, I would love to see a movie from it, but judging how Devotion did at the box office, it's doubtful...
A great American! I love his quote "it was the best I had..". 😉😸
Respect ..Salute
Wow great vdo and he is still around
Thanks for watching!
Phenomenal story!
Thanks for watching!
That was incredible
Thanks for watching!
SALUTE !
The Bob Hope story got me, had the honor in 1990 pretty much the same way
What a great fighter pilot. I'm glad he was recognized and decorated for his heroism, even if it was decades late. I also wonder if those Migs were flown by Soviets or N.K.s.
Soviets. We have the names of those four killed in action. There might have even been a fifth one.
@@flightlinemedia
Wow. The Soviets might also have been WW II vets. They had some very good aggressive fighter pilots, including some women.
A great the narrative is re: Te Fight, but perhaps the greatest airmanship was a carrier landing in a pitching see with only elevator - and maybe trim controls that he didn't mention. With USSR records he should be given credit for four destroyed - officially.
Thanks. There is actually a lot of debate about what he should be credited with. I spoke to a handful of historians at the American Fighter Aces Association. Some thought four would be proper. Apparently though, there is a very strong case for five. One even said six MiG-15s didn't return. I'm not sure we will ever know for certain.
@@flightlinemedia - I reached out to Barrett Tillman. Unfortunately my long time friend and fellow aviation historian, Dr. Frank Olynyk passed away last year. As Secy and Historian of AFAA,he would have liased with USN on the subject. Obviously the key is the Encounter Report filed by USSR.
@@drgondog Frank Olynyk was a walking encyclopedia, no doubt!
Looking at this I am wondering if he was the real life inspiration for TopGuns Pete Michael aka Maverick as Duke Cunningham was the other one.
As this hero of a pilot took down 4 enemy migs in a supposedly inferior jetfighter.
This wasn't declassified when Top Gun first came out, but I agree it could have been had they known.
Well done! Subbed!
Awesome, thank you! We've got another MiG killer episode coming out soon!
badass
I prefer half hour videos, the next is 15 minutes or 60 minutes for videos. Keep up the great job on your videos i really enjoy them and find them informative and entertaining. I'm rating your videos 5 out of 5 stars 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 your videos are the only ones I've rated five stars.
Thanks for the feedback Scott.
Too bad he received the cross so late after his exploit. This man is a fine example of an officer to follow to the gates. Fair winds and following seas from a ship driver.
Thanks for watching!
Cool
Balls of steel.
No kidding!
“Just a normal landing, sorta .”
Hahaha. Well, he walked away from it.
awesome, Give GOD the Glory, I take it Capt. Royce is a Believer in the Sovereignty of the LORD God,
Grace and Mercy won the day.
Glad you liked it!
God's sovereignty allows for a free will.
God's sovereignty doesn't mean that He foreordained everything.
He simply knows the beginning from the end ( foreknowledge ).
Royce is lucky he was flying Navy--the Airforce Sabre had only 6 12-6 MM Machine guns; the MiG had one 37 MM Cannon plus two 23 MM Cannons; But Grumman fitted the F9F with 20 MM Cannons.....which, with a great pilot at the trigger, would blast the Mikoyans out of the sky.
The integrity of the Gentleman. My mother was in Crypto in WW2 . I found out 4 months before her passing. A big surprise for her children. I asked her to tell us more about exactly what she did in Crypto. He response , " I haven't been released...I signed a paper...under penalty of death.... even though we were watching the PBS Special program about the topic, and she recognized her supervisors .She took her secrets to her grave.
Wow... Unfortunately, it happened very, very often. We would love to help stop a drop of it, so to speak. We're going to release interviews of people who have never spoken about their experiences before. Your mom's story sounds fascinating.
“Where do we find such men?”
just wow. American hero. too bad we don't have anymore like him! we need them to single out who is male or female
I get what you're saying. Royce Williams is a gift to American history. But I assure you we have many more heroes whose interviews we're going to release soon. : )
What were seven MIGs trying to accomplish ? They can't hurt the ships. So what are they doing that far out at sea?
My understanding is the action (regarding air strikes) was too close for comfort along the Soviet border and they sent MiGs up to gain air superiority, or at the very least, assess the situation further. The fight was dragged out further over the water through its duration. I imagine they thought a lone Panther would be a low hanging fruit, so to speak.
@@flightlinemedia okay. It's just that the mig-15 don't have any like anti ship capability. It just seems odd that they would be out there. But if they were responding to air strikes near their territory. That kind of explains things.
@@flightlinemediaI don't think I got what made this fight "classified"... He couldn't have ID ' d them as Soviet pilots, .. wasn't the Mig15 already known by then ?..
No matter, its a pure example of The pilot, not the plane, wins air battles.. this man being one of the greatest of all time. 👍💪
@@alfrede.newman6626 Agreed! Royce said they classified it to deescalate tensions with the USSR. They even knew then that they were probably Soviets based on where they were coming from. After the fall of the USSR, and after the names of the four Russian pilots who were killed in this dogfight were published, were their suspicions confirmed.
@@flightlinemedia , long hanging it certainly wasn't! Amazing story!
a true pilot in the largest sence .....the ability experience perception, twill never happen agian #-'*:>-< `°~○☆
Thanks for watching! Another amazing episode inbound soon.
Incredible. Where was his wingman
Went after the first MiG and got lost.
An incident in the last days of ww2...american pilots were involved fighting germans when russian planes appeared
The americans ceased with the germans and began
Attacking the russians!
As patton said we were fighting the wrong enemy!
The era of real men. As a older woman, I really miss these guys.
Thanks for watching. We have several more episodes coming up from individuals even older than Williams. : )
I'm wondering if his Panther was armed with 4-20 mm or 6-.50 cal.
4 x 20mm. That's one of the few advantages it had over the F-86 (most variants).
No wingman?
the SEAL's are on there own.
Medal of Honor requires very specific criteria. Most likely, the criteria was not met to award the Medal of Honor.
It will most likely not go further than what he was awarded this year.
@@flightlinemedia With the lack of records and witness statements, I expect there will be no further action. The Medal of Honor has very strict guidelines and criteria that must be met to award the Medal.
This early in the Korean War when the Mig 15 arrived, the Mig pilots were Russian.
turn around and fly fast out.
???
take you up in an f-18 and you fly. some drop over there. fly outside the grid and drop, 500phd.
Forgotten my ass. Watch the bridges at toko ri. That's an f9f panther
Hahaha. We're talking about Royce Williams' claim to acedom. That movie you mentioned doesn't include Williams and is a work of fiction. I still think the movie is worth watching for the F9F footage though.
Captain US Navy, alright.
CIC radar.
The Japanese never attacked Pearl Harbor.
???
Wait! Don't tell me. I know, it was Project Blue Beam, right?
I wrote to my senators, Secretary of Defense and Biden to award him the Medal of Honor . Not one of the Washington DC clowns answered me.
That's too bad. I'm not too surprised though.
they are fine. eat a snack.
An ace needs five aerial victories. Williams only had four. He is a hero, but not an ace.
Look at the last few minutes of the video again. It is possible there was a fifth kill. He even has the name of the pilot flying the MiG-15 in the possible fifth kill.
COMBAT APPROVED
On RUclips!
👍👍