Summary Col. Patrick Fleming made history as a fighter pilot and bomber pilot. He was the first SAC pilot to fly the B-52 Stratofortress.
Tragically, he also perished in the first-ever B-52 crash. Fleming, a WWII USN ace and later a USAF bomber pilot, earned numerous accolades in his short but illustrious career. Col.
Patrick D. Fleming was an American combat aviator who made history as both a fighter pilot and a bomber pilot (and in two different services to boot). Alas, the bomber pilot phase of his storied career turned out to be fatally tragic.
Simple Flying now delves into the story of this great aviator. 4-engines were mainly the purview of strategic bombers during WWII. The Allied examples were more famous, but the Axis also made their fair share.
Patrick Fleming's early life and initial military career Patrick Dawson Fleming was born in New York City on January 17, 1918. As Samantha Franco writes in her article for War History Online detailing Patrick Dawson's military career: "Patrick Fleming fell in love with flying early on in life, and he worked nights at a filling station to pay for lessons. In 1935, he enlisted in the US Navy, serving onboard the USS Hull (DD-350), a Farragut-class destroyer.
He was then transferred to the USS Saratoga (CV-3), where he became a second-class seaman responsible for repositioning the arresting hooks of aircraft after they landed on the aircraft carrier." Fleming attended the Naval Academy Preparatory School, where he was fast-tracked with other young men as the prospect of war became evermore eminent; by early 1941, he'd already graduated. Fleming was dedicated to aviation, but sea duty was mandatory for new graduates and, as such, he spent the next two years working as a torpedo and catapult officer on the light cruiser USS Cincinnati (CL-6).
WWII USN fighter pilot career Fortune finally smiled upon Patrick's career ambitions in 1943 when he graduated from flight school at Naval Air Station (NAS) Pensacola, Florida. In March of the following year, he was assigned to Fighter Squadron 80 (VF-80) – better known as "Vorse's Vipers" – onboard the aircraft carrier USS Ticonderoga (CV-14), where he began to prove his worth as a fighter pilot at the controls of the Grumman F6F Hellcat, the ultra-deadly USN fighter plane that absolutely ravaged Imperial Japanese aviation, and was flown by a number of naval aces, including the USN's all-time most successful air ace, CAPT David "Mac" McCampbell (January 16, 1910 – June 30, 1996), who racked up 34 aerial victories. Mr Fleming scored his first air-to-air kill on November 5, 1944, bagging a Mitsubishi A6M Zero in the skies over the island of Luzon during the battle to recapture the Philippines from the tyranny of the Imperial Japanese occupation.
According to an April 2024 article in We Are The Mighty : "It was the only single kill he scored during his time in combat." Learn more about the Mitsubishi Zero . The Battle of the Philippines Sea was nicknamed "The Great Marianas Turkey Shoot.
" The primary turkey hunter was the F6F Hellcat. Hungry for more, he would soon start tallying up multiple extra kills in a short space of time. As Franco writes: "On December 14 of that year, VF-80 shot down 19 Zeros and Nakajima Ki-43 Hayabusa 'Oscars,' with Fleming credited with four of the aerial victories.
On January 3, 1945, he shot down three more aircraft while manning Ticonderoga's anti-aircraft guns." Learn more about the Nakajima "Oscar ." "Bomber Fighter Squadron 80 (VBF-80) split off from VF-80, with Fleming named its executive officer.
Over the span of two days, while leading an attack, the pilot shot down nine enemy aircraft. By February 17, 1945, he'd only flown six sorties but had taken out 19 planes - 10 with VF-80 and nine while flying with VBF-80." Thus, then-LT Patrick Fleming finished the war as the USN's fourth highest-scoring ace of all time.
His 19 victories left him one shy of quadruple ace status, Post-WWII USAF bomber pilot career (and tragic death) After the war ended, LT Fleming was promoted to Lieutenant Commander and given command of a fighter squadron, transferring to the carrier USS Boxer (CV-21). Immediately afterward, LCDR Fleming was sent to NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, for test pilot training. At this point, Fleming decided to resign from the Navy and transfer to the US Army Air Forces (USAAF), becoming a test pilot.
He remained in that role as the USAAF became a separate and independent branch of service, the US Air Force (USAF), on September 18, 1947. Fleming started flying new jet fighters in the USAAF/USAF arsenal, namely the Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star and the Republic F-84 Thunderbolt. The 70-year-old B-52 isn't just the most successful strategic bomber; it's also an American military and cultural icon.
Eventually, he would be transferred to Strategic Air Command (SAC) flying bombers. He also earned a promotion to "full-bird" Colonel (pay grade O-6). Indeed, he became the first SAC pilot to fly the new B-52 Stratofortress.
Alas, this would eventually prove to be Col. Fleming's death warrant. On February 16, 1956, Col.
Fleming's B-52, carrying a crew of eight, departed from Castle Air Force Base (AFB), California, at 10:34 a.m. on a routine training flight.
At the time, the Colonel, who was now the Deputy Commander of the 93rd Bomb Wing (BW), had completed 130 flying hours over the previous 90 days. Despite this, he accepted the job. Roughly seven hours into the flight, the right forward alternator began to falter at an altitude of approximately 38,000 feet (11,582 m).
Shortly thereafter, the three other alternators also began to experience issues. The aircraft's commander, Maj. Edward L.
Stefanski lowered the landing gear as the crew compartment lost cabin pressure. A fire soon broke out in the lower compartments, compelling three crew members to eject. A violent explosion occurred at around 8,000 feet (2,438 m), destroying the warbird.
Of the eight crew members onboard, four were able to parachute to safety, while three died of injuries resulting from the explosion. As Franco writes: "Fleming was able to successfully eject from the B-52 at 22,000 feet [6,705 m], but was badly burned. However, the heat from the blast had melted away the shroud lines in his parachute, causing them to detach from the canopy.
When he pulled his ripcord, it never opened. At first, he was reported missing, but his body was later found eight miles from where the bomber had crashed." This was the first-ever B-52 crash.
Col. Patrick Dawson Fleming was only 38 years old. In his short life, he earned multiple decorations, including the Navy Cross , a Bronze Star, three Silver Stars, four Air Medals, and five Distinguished Flying Crosses.
He is interred at Cedar Cemetary in Jamestown, Newport County, Rhode Island..
