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[[File:63d Fighter-Interceptor Squadron North American F-86A-5-NA Sabre 49-1223.jpg|thumb|right|F-86A-5-NA Sabre ''49-1223''. This aircraft served with the 335th F-I Squadron, 4th F-IW in Korea. It was shot down by MiGs near Wonsan on February 3, 1952; the pilot ejected.]]
[[UN Command]] standing orders forbade pilots from crossing the Chinese border. On December 17, Lieutenant Colonel Bruce H. Hinton led a [[finger-four]] formation of Sabres from the [[336th Fighter Squadron]] on a patrol, a {{convert|485|mi|adj=on|round=5}} round trip, along the [[Yalu River]], in an attempt to draw the MiG pilots into combat. The Sabre pilots stayed below {{cvt|475|mph|round=5||}}, to create the impression on radar screens that the Sabres were a slower aircraft. The slower speed and two {{convert|120|usgal|adj=on||}} [[drop tank]]s on each F-86 also provided maximum air time. Forty minutes after take-off the Sabres were approaching the Yalu at {{convert|32,000|ft|m|}}. Four MiGs were spotted {{convert|7000|ft|m|}} below the Sabres and about to pass beneath them. The Americans jettisoned their drop tanks and as the MiGs passed below, the Sabres turned to the left and dived down at the Soviet fighters. When the MiG pilots realized that their adversaries were not older jets that they could
On the morning of December 22, a Sabre was destroyed by a MiG-15 pilot for the first time. Captain Lawrence V. Bach's F-86 was hit in the wing root by cannon fire from an unknown MiG pilot and Bach was captured after ejecting. That afternoon, eight Sabres from the USAF [[4th Fighter Wing|4th Fighter-Interceptor Wing]] (4th F-IW), operating out of a forward base at [[Gimpo International Airport|K-14 Kimpo]] (Gimpo), attacked an estimated 15 MiGs at {{convert|30,000|ft|m|}} and pursued some to the Yalu, claiming six without loss.
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