A good landing is one you can walk away from

NO, THIS IS NOT A SCENE FROM A MOVIE where the hero staggers away from a “good landing” on Mindoro, Philippine Islands, after being shot down by a Japanese Zero.

Warren M. Bodie

It is an actual photo of Lt. S. F. Ford walking away from a virtually new Lockheed P-38L-5-LO Lightning that he crash-landed probably some time after January 1945. The lieutenant was almost surely newly assigned to combat in the Pacific, but with his plane on fire, he managed to break away and pancake the burning fighter somewhere on Mindoro Island. He was quickly rescued by Army tank corps troops, largely indicated by the fresh signs of tanks having passed quite recently. Although the outer wings were completely torn off as the engines and tail booms were totally demolished, it seems that the central gondola (with a welldesigned cockpit) survived with remarkable integrity. Ford, obviously dazed and certainly in need of medical care, was able to exit the cockpit and stagger…

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Flight Journal (Digital) - 1 Issue, September/October 2023

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