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Wingman to the Aces (Lt. Floyd Fulkerson: Ultimate Wingman-475th FG (P-38s))
Flight Journal ^ | 21 SEP 12 | John Dejanovich

Posted on 10/11/2012 4:38:06 AM PDT by DCBryan1

Lt. Floyd Fulkerson: Ultimate Wingman

By John Dejanovich

There are no great aces without great wingmen and young Lt. Floyd Fulkerson from Little Rock, Arkansas, was one of those wingmen. Although he had four confirmed victories, so he was nearly an ace himself, he sees his primary contribution to the war effort to have been the protection of his lead pilots, some of whom were America’s leading aces. During his time with the 475TH Fighter Group in the Pacific, Floyd flew with such notables as Major Richard Bong, Major Tommy McGuire, and even the much-celebrated “Lone Eagle,” Charles Lindbergh. Cover the shooter, that’s what wingmen do. They protect the shooter from surprise attack. In this role, Fulkerson helped some of our great aces achieve their successes.

(Excerpt) Read more at flightjournal.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Technical; Testing; US: Arkansas; Unclassified
KEYWORDS: aviation; aviationping; banglist; bong; charleslindbergh; dejanovich; fulkerson; ggg; loneeagle; majorrichardbong; majortommymcguire; mcguire; worldwar2; ww2; wwii
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Lt. Floyd Fulkerson: Ultimate Wingman

The "forked-tailed devil" herself, the Lockheed P-38 Lightning.

1 posted on 10/11/2012 4:38:17 AM PDT by DCBryan1
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To: EveningStar; Paleo Conservative; ShadowAce; 04-Bravo; 1FASTGLOCK45; 1stFreedom; 2ndDivisionVet; ...
Adding aviation and banglist to the pings. Bong and Maguire were very fond of both aerial and ground shooting.

This article is written by my good friend, and FREEPER LURKER John Dejanovich. He has never registered, but I am trying to get him to register as DEJATUN.

John and I used to sell cars together and both got fired for poor car sales probably because we were talking about World War 2. This is an amazing article that, to me, I could hear the Allison engines humming, and the .50 cal.s vibrating in the nose.

Where did we find such great men and humble men as Fulkerson? I 'm glad he is a hometown boy here in Little Rock. Right now he is in the hospital under a spell. Age 92.

Prayers for Floyd and all of those of the greatest generation.

2 posted on 10/11/2012 4:44:32 AM PDT by DCBryan1 (If there is ever another revolution, we need to decorate telephone poles with the MSM.)
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To: DCBryan1

Yamamoto wss certainly impressed with the forktailed devil


3 posted on 10/11/2012 4:52:23 AM PDT by South Dakota (shut up and drill)
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To: Last Dakotan

ping


4 posted on 10/11/2012 5:24:32 AM PDT by GOP_Party_Animal
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To: DCBryan1

Amazing article. Thank you for sharing.


5 posted on 10/11/2012 5:24:59 AM PDT by drunknsage
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To: South Dakota

On the other hand he may have been completely unaware until he watched the film at 11.


6 posted on 10/11/2012 5:36:25 AM PDT by wita
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To: DCBryan1

Very neat article!!
41st Photo recon in the South Pacific was my Dad’s group.


7 posted on 10/11/2012 5:59:07 AM PDT by MissP-38
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To: DCBryan1
Did you ever get into Microsoft Combat Flight Simulator? There are 3 of them. (I prefer the first one.) It's old, but still VERY COOL!

Hook it up to a nice sound system and get into the sounds! The p-38's engines going in and out of sync sound GREAT! Lots of options AND enemies! There are a multitude of missions & campaigns, extra scenery, and many aftermarket planes you can download for free. You can customize the missions and add different plane/weapons combinations.

The first one has excellent playability, and while the ground scenery isn't quite as high res as the newer ones, you can still get vertigo.

I recommend the wireless Logitech Freedom 2.4 flight stick - I just got one on Ebay for $25.

Any questions, just ask. CFS1 is my main vice.

8 posted on 10/11/2012 6:01:31 AM PDT by Slump Tester (What if I'm pregnant Teddy? Errr-ahh -Calm down Mary Jo, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it)
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To: DCBryan1

Great article.


9 posted on 10/11/2012 6:18:38 AM PDT by Tijeras_Slim
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To: DCBryan1

“Fulkerson remembers, “In January 1944, I was 22 years old and was assigned to the 431ST Fighter Squadron. I began my fighter pilot career operating out of Dobodura.”

Wow...22 years old.

I wish there were more stories of these (young) heroes taught in grade school history classes.


10 posted on 10/11/2012 6:35:22 AM PDT by moovova (Obama was Swiftboated...er... Big-Birded by Romney.)
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To: DCBryan1
Thanks for the post. A few p-38 pics for the thread :-)

Front shot

Rear Shot

No comment required

An early "F" model IIRC

And an "L" model, flying low cover with an "F" model on high cover

Regards

alfa6 ;>}

11 posted on 10/11/2012 6:41:06 AM PDT by alfa6 (...Moderation is for monks RAH)
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To: alfa6
I remember seeing an article in Air & Space - Smithsonian about the number of aircraft scrapped at the end of the war. Quite a large number of P-38s appear to have gone directly from the factory to the boneyard, so plenty of attrition was obviously expected during the planned invasion of the Japanese home islands.

Now the Lightnings are so rare that people will dig one out of arctic ice:


12 posted on 10/11/2012 7:18:27 AM PDT by Charles Martel (Endeavor to persevere...)
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To: Charles Martel

just imagine if the 3d printer conversation here a few days ago was redirected towards building P-38 lightnings.

A real deal printed airplane.


13 posted on 10/11/2012 7:20:43 AM PDT by longtermmemmory (VOTE! http://www.senate.gov and http://www.house.gov)
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To: 04-Bravo; 1FASTGLOCK45; 1stFreedom; 2ndDivisionVet; 60Gunner; 6AL-4V; A.A. Cunningham; ...
Aviation and Aerospace ping

Image and video hosting by TinyPic

Please ping me to aviation and aerospace articles. Thank you.

If you want added to or removed from this ping list, please contact EveningStar or Paleo Conservative.

Image and video hosting by TinyPic

Image and video hosting by TinyPic

Image and video hosting by TinyPic

Image and video hosting by TinyPic

Image and video hosting by TinyPic

14 posted on 10/11/2012 11:33:10 AM PDT by EveningStar
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To: South Dakota

One of the more interesting features of the P-38 was that its counter rotating props both rotate in a direction that shifts the resultant thrust outboard on the wing. Evidently this was to improve accuracy in gunnery, but it would make flying on a single engine more difficult.


15 posted on 10/11/2012 11:40:50 AM PDT by USNBandit (sarcasm engaged at all times)
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To: USNBandit

I’ve never seen a p 38 in person but I’ve seen pictures of one along side
Of a p51. The p38 was huge in comparison


16 posted on 10/11/2012 12:07:24 PM PDT by South Dakota (shut up and drill)
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To: USNBandit

I’ve never seen a p 38 in person but I’ve seen pictures of one along side
Of a p51. The p38 was huge in comparison


17 posted on 10/11/2012 12:08:49 PM PDT by South Dakota (shut up and drill)
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To: DCBryan1
During his time with the 475TH Fighter Group in the Pacific, Floyd flew with such notables as Major Richard Bong, Major Tommy McGuire, and even the much-celebrated “Lone Eagle,” Charles Lindbergh.

Impressive list. Lot of people forgot that Lindbergh saw quite a bit of combat and was a helluva combat pilot - very accurate. His time flying combat with the 475th (and Lt. Fulkerson) is probably best remembered for Lindbergh rewriting the book on flying the P-38 over long distances, adding 400 miles to the range of the P-38 by adjusting RPMs, fuel mixture, and manifold pressure.
18 posted on 10/11/2012 2:28:14 PM PDT by af_vet_rr
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To: USNBandit

Give Me Operations
(As recorded by Oscar Brand)

Don’t give me a P-38; the props, they counter-rotate
She’s scattered and smitten from Burma to Britain
Don’t give me a P-38, NO!

CHORUS:
Give me operations way out on some lonely atoll
For I am too young to die; I just want to grow old

Don’t give me a P-39; the engine is mounted behind
She’ll tumble and spin, and she’ll auger you in
Don’t give me a P-39

CHORUS

Don’t give me a Peter-four-oh; it’s a hell of an airplane, I know
A ground-looping bastard, you’re sure to get plastered
Don’t give me a Peter-four-oh

CHORUS

Don’t give me an 86D, with rockets, radar, and AB
She’s fast, I don’t care; she blows up in mid-air
Don’t give me an 86D

CHORUS

Don’t give me an F-84, she’s just a ground-loving whore
She’ll whine and she’ll wheeze and make straight for the trees
Don’t give me an F-84

Just give me operations way out on some lonely atoll
For I am too young to die; I just want to grow old


19 posted on 10/11/2012 2:35:47 PM PDT by ArrogantBustard (Western Civilization is Aborting, Buggering, and Contracepting itself out of existence.)
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To: ArrogantBustard

One of my all-time favorite WW II aviation songs!

Thanks for the memories!


20 posted on 10/11/2012 5:01:54 PM PDT by Taxman (So that the beautiful pressure does not diminish!)
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