Ralph D. 'Hoot' Gibson | Korean War ace, 84

Ralph D. "Hoot" Gibson, 84, a Korean War ace and former lead pilot for the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds flight demonstration team, died Jan. 2 in Tucson, Ariz.

Col. Gibson, who founded a Tucson real estate firm after he retired in 1974, died after striking his head while showing a buyer a piece of property, son Scott Gibson said.

Col. Gibson, born in Keensburg, Ill., and raised in nearby Mount Carmel, joined the Army Air Forces in 1943 and went to flight school, but did not see combat during World War II. During the Korean War, he flew 94 missions in the F-86 Sabre and downed five MiG-15 fighters to become the nation's third jet-fighter ace.

In the 1960s, Col. Gibson led the Thunderbirds for two years and flew 104 missions in F-4 Phantoms over Vietnam as a squadron commander, according to an Air Force biography. - AP