In memory
Dunbar passed away December 30, 2013
Background
John C. Dunbar was born on July 25, 1919 to parents John A. Dunbar and Gertrude (Holden) Dunbar in Braddock, Pennsylvania. In June '41, graduated from Univ of Pittsburgh with BS in Aeronautical
Engineering, while at Pittsburgh, he completed Primary and Advanced CPT flight schools.
Wartime History
On September 30, 1941 Dunbar enlisted
in the U.S. Army Air Force (USAAF) as an aviation cadet with serial number 13039053. In April 1942, he graduated in class 42D at Kelly Field and was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant. Assigned
P-38 training at Paine Field in a P-38 Pursuit Group patrolling the coast of the Pacific northwest.
During September 1942 flown overseas as a passenger aboard a C-47 across the Pacific to Brisbane in Australia. Assigned to the 5th Air Force (5th AF), 35th Fighter Group (35th FG), 39th Fighter Squadron (39th FS) as one of about 26 newly assigned pilots.
Assigned P-38F "Dumbo!" 42-12847 Nose 37 that he nicknamed. As a fighter pilot in the South West Pacific Area (SWPA) he flew a total of 151 mission The nose art was a pink baby elephant with wings, about 3 or 4 feet high, which
Dunbar painted himself as an enlargement of the Disney character "
Dumbo", the flying elephant. He drew dust puffs and nuts and bolts trailing
his path and a the nickname "DUMBO!" in front. Dunbar had experience
drawing enlargements of comic page shadow drawings like "Prince Valiant".
On September 2, 1943 on his off-duty flying day, his diary
notes his plane, P-38F "Dumbo!" 42-12847 Nose 37 crashed at Terapo with one of our newly assigned pilots,
Hamilton Laing who force landed with on propeller out and low on gas. With the help of natives
he returned unharmed to base at 14 Mile Drome (Schwimmer). Dunbar was assigned another
P-38, #37 and continued missions. On November 7, 1943, another new pilot, Al Quinones, was assigned to fly his aircraft P-38H 42-66911 on a mission over Rabaul mission (his 7th mission)
as Dunbar departed for leave to Sydney. That mission, Quinones was shot down from the middle
of the formation, bailed out and became a Prisoner Of War (POW) at Rabaul and survived captivity.
Remainder of the War
After 151 combat missions
rotated home Jan '44. Received Electronic Officer rating (MOS 0141) in
radar course at Boca Raton FL, flew P-61. Then assigned to Wright Field as
project/engineer pilot, on to MIT to earn MS degree in aeronautical
engineering in June '45. Returned
to Wright Field. Married Sept '46, 7 children, 21 grandchildren.
Postwar
Between October 1946 to 1951 Dunbar was an engineer and test pilot for American Airlines and Pan American Airlines flying DC-4
and L-49. He remained in the U.S. Air Force (USAF) and served 21 months during the Korean War, Group Maintenance officer for a C-46
Wing, then a project test pilot at the Air Force Armament Center at Eglin Field.
Next, Dunbar worked
31 years at MIT Draper Labs as an engineer and test pilot. He flew the F6F, B-26, F-94,
JD-1, B-29, C-97, CH-46, CH-47. Work entailed development of inertial guidance
systems, flight control, navigation systems, weapons aiming (air to air gunnery),
dive bombing and advanced flight controls for CH-46, and CH-47 (Chinook) military
aircraft. Phased into development of space guidance and control for Apollo,
Apollo-Soyuz and Space Shuttle. Helped train Apollo astronauts in simulators
of Command Module and LEM.
Wreckage of "Dumbo!"
In October 1980, Bruce Hoy (former PNG Museum modern history curator) revealed to him that the wreckage of P-38F "Dumbo!" 42-12847 #37 force landed at Terapo Airfield remained in situ. Hoy gave Dunbar a color picture of
the wreckage. Hoy made a business trip to USA soon after and visited Dunbar's
home to give him a souvenir from the plane, one of the machine gun blast tubes. He
has it displayed in his office with other mementos.
