Japan's A6M Zero, Germany's Messerschmitt Bf 109, and the U.S. P-51 Mustang are all well-known ... lack of a jet engine, and it served the U.S. well in Vietnam. Read more: 14 Best Fighter Planes ...

A United States pilot who ... was piloting one of two aircraft in a nighttime armed reconnaissance mission over what was then known as the Democratic Republic of Vietnam on Sept.