The Unknown Tale of John Yingling: P-51 Mustang pilot makes history during Korean War
Mike
The Unknown Tale of John Yingling
P-51 Mustang pilot makes history during Korean War
by Staff Sgt. Matthew Rosine
photos by Tech. Sgt. Larry Simmons
Nestled comfortably in his plush leather chair, he sits quietly,
devouring another book from his favorite author. Only the gentle,
steady tick, tock from the pre-Civil War wall clock breaks the peaceful
silence.
He slowly turns the page and runs his weathered but strong fingers down
the center of the book. It's a good book. Based during the Korean
War, the story uses real people and real-world events to add a sense of
depth and realism to its tale. That's what he likes most about this
author - the way he writes.
And retired Maj. John Yingling knows his stuff. A veteran of both World
War II and the Korean Conflict, he has been a part of many historical
military events. In fact, during his tour in Korea, he made fighter
pilot history.
The major is the only known P-51 Mustang fighter pilot to ever shoot
down a MiG-15.
But his story doesn't appear in many, if any, books. No Internet
searches or Web sites chronicle his historic action. The only testament
to his mark on history is a slightly faded Distinguished Flying Cross
kept in a worn picture frame hanging in his home.
But that is OK with him.
"None of us realized at the time what kind of impact we would
have," the major said. "We were just doing the job we were trained
to do."
His training began in 1941 at the age of 16. His father had been caught
up in Officer Candidacy School and missed fighting in World War I -
something he always regretted. So he gave his son permission to join
the Navy so he could fight in World War II. They invented a fake
birthday to make him old enough to join and before he knew it, he was a
Navy aerial gunner.
After flying and fighting over the Pacific, his service was up and the
major went home.
"I never intended on making the military a career," he said.
But after enrolling in college at the University of Connecticut, the
$20 dollars a month the ROTC paid was just too tempting to resist.
While in college he witnessed the birth of the Air Force. As an Air
Force ROTC cadet, he would become one of the Air Force's first
officers. He graduated college on June 6, 1950, and the Korean Conflict
began a few weeks later.
Control of the skies
As the war in Korea raged, Major Yingling began flying the P-51
Mustang. The single-seat prop fighter entered military service during
World War II and became highly successful as a bomber escort in raids
over Germany. The Mustang also served against Japanese air forces in
the Pacific and began the Korean Conflict as the fighter of choice.
Then the skies over Korea erupted with a new age in airpower as the new
Mikoyan Gurevich 15, or MiG-15, grabbed control of air supremacy in the
region. The MiG-15 was a modern-age jet fighter originally developed in
the Soviet Union, and one of the first jets to successfully use a
swept-wing design. China began receiving the jets in 1950, and it was
Chinese MiG-15s that seized control of the Korean skies during the
conflict. Its superior design, speed and powerful cannons outclassed
all other enemy fighters. Its presence caused a redeployment of United
Nations aircraft in Korea. The U.S. Air Force began utilizing the F-86
Sabres to combat the MiG threat.
As the MiG-15 was changing the skies of aerial warfare, Major Yingling
eventually landed with the 18th Fighter-Bomber Wing in Korea - the
last wing flying the P-51s in the war. Because of the MiG presence, all
of the previous P-51 units had been pulled out and replaced with jets
like the F-86 Sabre. By the end of the war, the Sabres racked up an
impressive 10-1 aerial kill ratio versus the MiG. The P-51's role was
also changed to focus on missions like providing downed pilot air cover
and bombing.
It was on a routine bombing mission that the major made history.
The flight of Miss Dee
One early morning in late May of 1952, then-1st Lt. Yingling climbed
into his P-51, "Miss Dee," - named after his wife - and
prepared for take off. At 8 a.m., a dozen Mustangs lifted off and began
their aerial trek north.
After two hours at 14,000 feet, the fighters reached their target -
the rail lines below the Yalu River, which separates North Korea and
China. Major Yingling had never been this deep in enemy territory
before.
According to the major, they usually dive bombed their targets from
4,000 to 5,000 feet at speeds of more than 300 miles per hour. This run
was different, and as "Miss Dee" roared downward, his speedometer
raced up to 400 miles per hour.
Keeping a critical eye on his speed, he swooped in and Miss Dee dropped
her 500-pound bomb payload over the target. Fire and smoke erupted
across the ground. The major quickly scanned his speed indicator before
jerking his head around to visually confirm the target's hit as he
began cruising skyward.
As he swung his gaze back forward, he noticed a "specter" in the
sky ahead of him. A second later the specter materialized. It was a
MiG-15 and they were flying straight at each other - head-on like two
aerial gunslingers.
A shockwave washed over Major Yinging and he breathed, "Oh my God."
His training kicked in and his steely grip pulled "Miss Dee's"
sights up onto the MiG. Still head-to-head, he squeezed the trigger and
sent a burst of cannon fire toward the enemy fighter - tracer rounds
slicing through the MiG's airframe.
Making a quick acrobatic maneuver, "Miss Dee" barely screamed past
the MiG at 5,000 feet, so close that the major could see the
"ruddy" face of the pilot. He quickly peeled away and ran south.
Major Yingling's wingman saw the MiG pilot bail out of his crippled
aircraft - confirming the aerial kill.
As quickly as it started, it was over. The whole dog fight lasted a few
seconds. Mustangs don't shoot down MiGs - he had done the
impossible.
"It felt like sheer elation," he said. "It was the highlight of
my career."
After Major Yingling returned from the mission, recognition of his
victory was slow coming. In fact, he said 5th Air Force didn't
recognize the aerial kill for two months. Officials took the gun camera
film and evaluated it, because common knowledge said that Mustangs
don't shoot down MiGs. They assumed it must have been one of the
F-86s, but they were cruising high above at 16,000 feet.
Once the kill was confirmed, his aerial victory was still kept quiet.
It was decided that this would be bad publicity for the "MiG
Killers" - the F-86s, the major said. Also, the intelligence
community wanted him to stay quiet about the "ruddy" faced pilot
he'd seen. The Chinese were supposedly the only air force flying the
MiGs over Korea, but Chinese pilots don't have "ruddy" faces.
Russian pilots do - which would have been volatile information about
Russia's support during the conflict.
Nonetheless, Major Yingling's quick-thinking combat skills eventually
resulted in him being awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his
one and only aerial kill.
Proud of the past, future
After his time in Korea, the Illinois-native continued his Air Force
service, becoming a missile maintenance officer and eventually retiring
as a major in 1967. He began working at the Kennedy Space Center
several years later, where he retired before settling in San Antonio.
He now enjoys reflecting on his career in the Air Force Village near
Lackland Air Force Base.
"It was wonderful. It is a part of my life that will always be a high
point - it's unforgettable," the major said.
As the father of eight children and grandfather of 13, he has proudly
watched one grandchild serve and another, in his third year of college,
wants to serve in the Army and then in the Air Force.
On days like today, retired-Maj. John Yingling, the only known P-51
Mustang fighter pilot to ever shoot down a MiG-15, rests at ease doing
what he enjoys most - reading his favorite books and cooking for his
lovely wife, Corrinda. He can rest at ease because he knows America's
future is in good hands.
"Living here, in the birthplace of Air Force Airmen, I get to see the
next generation of Airmen in action," he said. "They will carry
their Air Force experience for the rest of their lives. I think it's
wonderful that so many of these great folks are willing to step
forward. They have accepted this responsibility with pride."
George Z. Bush
May-June 1944. A member of my class (44-F) was a fellow named Bill
Yingling.....nice guy who I vaguely recall hailed from someplace in
Pennsylvania. I lost track of him after graduation when we were all shipped off
to various pilot transition schools to check out if our assigned type aircraft.
It's a pretty unusual name and I wouldn't be a bit surprised if he wasn't
related in some way to John Yingling.
Mike wrote:
> http://www.af.mil/news/airman/0107/yingling.shtml
>
> The Unknown Tale of John Yingling
> P-51 Mustang pilot makes history during Korean War
> by Staff Sgt. Matthew Rosine
> photos by Tech. Sgt. Larry Simmons
>
(Snipped for brevity).
George Z.
Jack G
sent a burst of <<<cannon fire>>> toward the enemy fighter - tracer rounds
slicing through the MiG's airframe."
Cannon fire from an F-51 was fairly historic in its own right...
Jack G.
"Mike" <yard...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1168441746....@i39g2000hsf.googlegroups.com...
vincent p. norris
>Yingling.....nice guy who I vaguely recall hailed from someplace in
>Pennsylvania.
>It's a pretty unusual name...
Yes, but less so in Pennsylvania. I looked up the email address of a
friend at Penn State U., so I could send him that story, and found 25
Yinglings--faculty and students-- in the Directory.
Some people think it's Chinese but it's German, and a great many
Germans immigrated to PA. Depending on where you live, you may not
have heard of Yuengling beer, brewed in Pottsville, PA, the nation's
oldest brewery, founded in 1829.
As a further aside,Yuengling sales and sales area have grown hugely.
I was recently able to buy Yuengling Lager on tap in Charleston, SC,
Savannah, GA, and in Ernie Hemingway's favorite bar in Key West.
Yingling is an Anglicization of Yuengling, the German spelling, with
an umlaut.
vince norris
George Z. Bush
Also, starts with a J.........Juengling. As in Ja Wohl!
George Z.
Typhoon502
> Depending on where you live, you may not
> have heard of Yuengling beer, brewed in Pottsville, PA, the nation's
> oldest brewery, founded in 1829.
>
> As a further aside,Yuengling sales and sales area have grown hugely.
> I was recently able to buy Yuengling Lager on tap in Charleston, SC,
> Savannah, GA, and in Ernie Hemingway's favorite bar in Key West.
Yup. It's a good, relatively inexpensive go-to beer that I can find in
most stores in the Richmond area. I also wondered if there was a
connection when I read the story.
kirk....@gmail.com
>
> Jack G.
Unless he was flying a P-51 (no suffix). Not too many of those in
Korea, I would think!
Also, how did he feel a "shockwave" from a subsonic Mig, before
shooting during a head on pass?
I think a Sea Fury also bagged a Mig during the Korean war.
And of course a Skyraider got a Mig-17 during Vietnam - with unguided
rockets, I think.
Right time, right place, golden BB, big brass ones!
Kirk
Harry Andreas
> Some people think it's Chinese but it's German, and a great many
> Germans immigrated to PA. Depending on where you live, you may not
> have heard of Yuengling beer, brewed in Pottsville, PA, the nation's
> oldest brewery, founded in 1829.
>
> As a further aside,Yuengling sales and sales area have grown hugely.
> I was recently able to buy Yuengling Lager on tap in Charleston, SC,
> Savannah, GA, and in Ernie Hemingway's favorite bar in Key West.
>
> Yingling is an Anglicization of Yuengling, the German spelling, with
> an umlaut.
Yuengling beer! Yum. I first had it about 15 years ago during a visit
to colonial Williamsburg, VA at one of those reproduction period Inns
that serve food and ale in the colonial fashion.
I can only hope that someday we get a source here on the west coast.
--
Harry Andreas
Engineering raconteur
Paul Elliot
Sure! 1/2 inch cannons! :-)
vincent p. norris
>> an umlaut.
>
>Also, starts with a J.........Juengling. As in Ja Wohl!
Yes, I should have thought of that, George. I just checked my
Cassell's German-English Dictionary. It contains 778 pages of German
words, but only four words--that's four WORDS, not four pages--
starting with Y. And at least two of those words are borrowed from
other languages.
vince norris
vincent p. norris
>
>And of course a Skyraider got a Mig-17 during Vietnam - with unguided
>rockets, I think.
And an F4U got a Mig in Korea.
vince norris
Orval Fairbairn
Diamond Jim
"Orval Fairbairn" <orfai...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:orfairbairn-A1BE...@news.west.earthlink.net...
The Shyraiders got two MiG-17's in Vietnam. The first in June '66 was a
shared kill by Lt Johnson and LTJG Hartman III was a guns kill. The second
later on in '66 was by LTJG William Patton VA-176 and IIRC it was guns also.
An A-4 flown by LCDR Swartz (VA-76) shot down a MiG-17 with an ungided Zuni
rocket in May '67.
Mike
credited with shooting down a jet fighter
since World War II."
Friends -
I'm planning to devote my weekly opinion column in Air Force Times to
the Yingling issue. My deadline is opening of business on Monday
(which, for people with regular hours, means, in effect, close of
business on Friday). My hope is that the column will be a feel-good
story about how the Air Force discovered an error in its official
magazine and acted to retract it. My fear is that the column will be
about how the Air Force's official magazine published a deeply flawed
article about something that never happened. I would like someone to
speak to me on the record on behalf of the Air Force and of the
magazine. I would hope the following could be shared with the editor of
Airman magazine.
I'm an author of books, magazine articles and newspaper columns about
the Air Force, a veteran of
Air Force service in Korea shortly after the Korean War, and a retired
U. S. diplomat who served as a
Korea specialist. Among my books are "P-51 Mustang," "MiG-15," "Korean
War Aces," and "The Korean Air War." I am a life associate member of
the Korea-era 18th Fighter-Bomber Group Association, have attended
several of its reunions, and have spoken to the group's resident
amateur historian. In addition to being an Air Force veteran who had
his first paid magazine article published in Air Force magazine in
1954 at age 15, I am very much a friend of the Air Force. Last week
(before learning of the Yingling story), I spent two hours with chief
of staff Gen. T. Michael Moseley and was impressed with the chief's
interest in history. I have spoken to Yingling.
Here are some of the problems with the Airman magazine story:
1. The article does not report correctly the date on which Yingling
claims the shootdown happened.
2. The Mustang should have been identified as the F-51, not the P-51.
3. The Mustang was never armed with cannon. Yingling told me he never
said it was.
4. The aerial victory is not included on aerial victory credit lists
published by the Air Force in 1973, in 1988 (the "telephone book") or
in the current on-line version.
5. I have had hundreds of conversations with veterans of the 18th
Fighter Bomber Group. None has ever mentioned hearing that they had a
Mustang pilot who downed a MiG. Remember that Yingling told me the
shootdown was not a secret, although he also told me the Air Force did
not want to publicize it.
6. I have talked to the top U.S. expert on aerial victories, Dr. Frank
Olynyk, and he is skeptical (at least) that the shootdown happened.
7. I have talked to another author on the Korean Air War, Warren
Thompson (who has also spoken to
Yingling). Thompson does not believe the shootdown happened.
8. The author of the article appears not to be familiar with basic Air
Force terminology and no one
seems to have done any fact checking.
Your help is much appreciated.
Best wishes,
Bob Dorr
Robert F. Dorr
(Author of "Air Combat: An Oral History of Fighter Pilots")
Robert F. Dorr"
My e-mail message to the editor:
Dear editor:
I am stumped by this story (title above). In more than 50 years of
writing for publication about the Air Force and about the Korean War, I
have never heard of any instance in which an F-51 (the correct term)
Mustang shot down a MiG-15 in the Korean War. As far as I can
determine, no such aerial victory appears in any history book. As far
as I can determine, the aerial victory does appear on the Air Force's
own list of aerial victories. The story is of great interest but is
also frustrating for a number of reasons --- the absence of an exact
date (crucial to any aerial victory record), the incorrect term for the
U.S. aircraft (the P-51 became the F-51 in 1948), and the absence of
any explanation as to how we are learning about this only now. I'm not
seeking to stir controversy, only to determine whether the main points
in your story are accurate. If so, the story makes a monumental
contribution to history and should have been handled with greater care.
I expect to write about this in my weekly column in Air Force Times, so
I would appreciate your help in responding to this
message. While I hope the story is accurate, I wonder
whether you have been sold a bill of goods.
Best wishes
Bob Dorr
Jack G
I addressed your concerns #2 and #3 in an early post on this thread. The
use of "P-51" instead of the correct for the time of the incident "F-51" is
probably just sloppy journalism by a person who is a primarily writer and
not an aviation enthusiast / historian. The use of "cannon" is more of the
same although probably more a case of writing for impact rather than
carelessness. I would not use either of these in building a case
questioning the accuracy of the article.
Those of us who spend considerable time reading aviation web sites, forums,
books, journals, and magazines are accustomed to spotting errors such as
these and usually give a shake of our head and continue reading.
Jack G.
"Mike" <yared...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
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