three MiG's which moved him (16 air victories) ahead of both Fernandez and Jabara. On 15 July 1953, Jabara earned his last kill bringing his total to 15, and slightly ahead of Fernandez. When Fernandez returned to Nellis, he lamented that had the Air Force permitted him the two additional months, he would have maintained his #1 spot. Such was the state of their competition. Fernandez returned home at the same time as his friend Joe McConnell, the "ace of aces" who had finished the war with sixteen kills. The two fighter pilots enjoyed a hero's welcome, and were feted in city after city with parades and ceremonial keys. The newly elected president, Dwight Eisenhower, wanted to bask in their reflected glory and invited them for a private "debriefing" in the White House. The fighter pilots' next duty station was California. McConnell got into flight testing, a coveted billet for its excitement and career-enhancing potential, and was sent to newly christened Edwards AFB. Hollywood movies A major Hollywood production was in the works about Captain McConnell called Tiger In The Sky. Fernandez, stationed near Los Angeles at the time, was an obvious choice to be the film's technical advisor. This billet included flying many stunts. Movie production was gearing up for shooting when suddenly, the top air ace was killed in a test accident in the Mojave Desert on August 25, 1954. The film project was retitled The McConnell Story with the tragic ending added and released in 1955. It starred actor Alan Ladd and actress June Allyson as Joe and "Butch" McConnell, with a cinematic result more love story than war saga. The film's tale is made more poignant knowing the movie stars fell into their own star-crossed romance—both were married to other people—even as they portrayed forlorn lovers. Allyson diligently chronicled the whole story in her 1982 autobiography. Fernandez befriended Allyson on the set and after production ended, she and her husband, actor/director Dick Powell invited the ace and his family to their California ranch. There, Pete shared his battle experiences with filmmaker Powell, whose next project was a Korean War air combat picture titled The Hunters, starring legendary actor Robert Mitchum and Robert Wagner. Powell's final film was released to good reviews in 1958, and it contains much more realistic combat sequences than The McConnell Story. Fernandez and two other top Korea aces, James Jabara and Royal