Strana 41
Capt. Dallas A. Clinger, 74
th
FS, 23
rd
FG, China, May 1943
42-46220, Maj. Gordon R. Hyde, 78
th
FS, 18
FG
, Midway, 1943
Dallas Adellon Clinger was born on June 2,
1916, in Saint Anthony, Idaho. After completing
training in 1941, he was transferred to the
16
th
FS. He achieved his first victory in aerial
combat on July 31, 1942, when he shot down
an A6M. He followed this up by shooting down
a same type aircraft on November 12 of that
year and concluded his score with the 16
th
FS on
December 26, 1942, shooting down a Zero again.
He scored two more confirmed kills during the
war. Clinger remained in the service after the
war and retired in 1953 at the rank of Major.
He died on December 16, 1988 (aged 72). His
P-40K was adorned with a similar cartoon as
on his previous P-40E, i.e., the peeing cowboy
painted on both sides of the rudder. The 16
th
FS
P-40s had their wheel discs decorated with
a blue field with white star and probably with
a red circle in the middle and this coloring most
probably stayed after Clinger’s move to 74
th
FS.
The canvas with the cartoon was removed from
the rudder and Clinger had it displayed in his
pub.
18
th
Pursuit Group was organized in Hawaii in
Jan 1927 and redesignated 18
th
Fighter Group
in 1942. Before World War II the group engaged
in routine flying and gunnery training with
several aircraft types. When the Japanese
attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941,
the group, which had recently converted to
P-40s, sustained severe losses. The group,
assigned to Seventh AF in Feb 1942, had to be
re-equipped before it could resume training and
begin patrol missions. The 78
th
FS was part of
18
th
FG until March 16, 1943. After that date it was
transferred to 15
th
FG, as the 18
th
FG moved to
the South Pacific. In January 1943 the pilots of
78
th
FS conducted a historic long-range, over-
water flight to reach Midway in January 1943
and also the return flight. These routes lasted
over seven hours of flight each. The 78
th
was
providing aerial defense of the atoll. The 18
th
FG
aircraft were marked with a color bands around
the fuselage behind the canopy and also sported
big numbers behind the cabin (this plane
was 358). Both markings were overpainted
with Olive Drab when the planes were sent
to combat. This makes the camouflage of this
aircraft interesting. The most interesting though
is the large Bushmaster snake head painted
on the nose of the aircraft. First iteration of
the Bushmaster squadron emblem appeared
after the 78
th
FS began receiving Curtiss P-40K
Warhawks while on Hawaii. This aircraft was
sent to Gilbert Islands on board USS Brenton in
December 1943 as a replacement of destroyed
P-40Ns of 45
th
FS. There it crashed and Lt. Verne
B. Snyder died in its cockpit on December 28,
1943.
KITS 05/2026
INFO Eduard
41
May 2026