[DCBryan1]

Lt. Floyd Fulkerson: Ultimate Wingman

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

[DCBryan1]

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.

[South Dakota]

Yamamoto wss certainly impressed with the forktailed devil

[GOP_Party_Animal]

ping

[MissP-38]

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

[moovova]

“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.

[alfa6]

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 ;>}

[EveningStar]

Aviation and Aerospace ping

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.

[af_vet_rr]

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.