Tuesday, July 9, 2024

I wonder how many, if any at all, of these are still airworthy?

 


18 comments:

  1. More than I thought.
    Glacier Girl is a great story.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_surviving_Lockheed_P-38_Lightnings

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  2. Wikipedia says 26 surviving, 22 in the U.S., of which 10 are airworthy.

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  3. Right engine is feathered.

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    1. Looks like he knows: Never turn into a feathered engine.

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    2. Why, what would happen? Spin?

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  4. You will usually see a couple at the EAA Airventure airshow in Oshkosh WI. Coming up in a couple weeks!

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  5. Interesting. Flying on one engine with starboard prop feathered.

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  6. I remember seeing one of these over my grandmother's house back in the 40's. It had to be before '48. Could have even been during the war.

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  7. When Jack Erickson was asked what planes he added to his collection, his reply was "Only ones I like to fly". He was speaking specifically of his P-38L, 'Tangerine'.
    https://www.ericksoncollection.com/aircraft#/p-38-lightning/

    And thanks to all for the list of survivors. I hadn't thought of researching that before.

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  8. Is that Ottawa Kansas or Canada?

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  9. There is a most outstanding WW2 Air Museum near the Colorado Springs airport. All of the planes that they have on display are working aircraft. They have a program where they isolate one aircraft, put on a didactic presentation and then fly the plane for the audience to marvel at. One of their planes is a P-38.

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    1. Which is scheduled to fly July 13th. It's a combat veteran.

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  10. In 2016, there were six airworthy. A seventh nearly so. I know this because I helped marshall at the Planes of Fame airshow which featured the Lightning that year.

    Since then there are a small handful being brought along.

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  11. In the war, General Kenney (MacArthur's air commander) got wind that Hap Arnold was going to end production of the P-38. Pilots in Europe preferred other designs like P-51 and P-47. Kenney pushed back hard: he needed the long range of the P-38. Also, with Richard Bong and other aces flying under his command, he knew it was an effective dog fighter.
    ~ Doctor Weasel

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  12. I have a picture of me sitting in Lefty Gardner's P-38. I was admiring it at an air show and he told me to get in. He was quite a gentleman. Sadly, both Lefty and White Lightnin' are silent. The plane is back in the air, but she's sporting a new name and a new look. https://p38assn.org/white-lightnin/

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  13. The Richard I. Bong museum is great. Tragic end to a P 38 ACE. I donated an artifact to the museum on behalf of my father. USAAF.

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  14. "It's a P-38, the Cadillac of the skies!", from one of the BEST war movies ever made, "EMPIRE OF THE SUN".

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