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Good short article covering the P-38
https://nationalinterest.org/blog/re...special-173415
Winston Groom covered Lindbergh's contribution to the Pacific theater (and FDR's opposition to him) much more thoroughly in "The Aviators". If I had completed my flight training (aero club got shut down when I was about 2 flights away from soloing due to 9/11 and I've never been able to make time to pick it up again since then), the P-38 is one of the aircraft I'd desperately want to get a certificate on.
Attachment 83930
Well, there was outright badassery.....
Because they look cool. Because they sound cool. Lots of guns *and* a 20mm cannon.
And Kelly Johnson designed it. Everything he touched was gold.
It is a shame they dont race them in Reno anymore. Always the coolest plane out there along with Gary Levitzs' P-51, Miss Ashley II.
One of my first flight instructors was the first guy to successfully bail out of a P-38. Somewhere in North Africa in the early part of WWII. Two days later he was back it.
P-38, P-61 and Mosquito. They dont get cooler.
Below is one of my favorite prints. Bought it in Normandy France 2004. Once I started doing my own framing instead of paying out the nose for it, the number of airplane prints in the house started going up...
https://i.imgur.com/pl3g4LC.jpg
Kelly Johnson and the Skunk works. Hellz yeah! Ok, DeHavilland did a superb job with mosquito. Doggone plywood aircraft.Quote:
Originally Posted by Hoser
My Grandfather built P-38's back in the day. It's a shame he did not ever really tell many stories. One cool thing he told me was everyone would sign their name somewhere on the inside of the parts they were assigned to build. He built the left tail booms. He passed last year at 97.
They were cool because the cockpit was far away from the engines.
There are some great exhibits at the BUR airport, unfortunately I can not link to any of them because the locals have sold out to Zuckbook [pileoshit]
Very nice Print! Are those pilot's signatures? Air & Space mag had a nice article on P-38 aces earlier this year.Quote:
Originally Posted by Hoser
Great Plane with a sweet history!
P38 Lightning was my favorite fighter back when I was a kid. Also the B29 and B17 bombers were also my favorites especially to build with our Strombecker brand model aircraft kits.
The P-51 got most of the fighter glory in WWII...and deserved most of it.
I always liked the P-38 and the P-47. The Lightning just looked like an aerial victory waiting to happen. Beautiful and graceful with just hint of beastly brawn under "the hood" when you looked at the barrels coming from the nose.
The P-47 looked like a street brawler...ready to beat somebody's ass at any given moment. The Jug was a true badass.
I would've gladly gone to war during that time...especially if I could've flown any of those fighters.
I had a customer in Yerington NV who was a P-38 pilot in WWII, he was assigned to ferry them across the Atlantic, he was also consulted on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glacier_Girl
My Dad was a P-38 mechanic in the Philippines during the later part of the war.
Needless to say he loved the plane...
O2
"WHAT MADE THE LOCKHEED P-38 LIGHTNING SO SPECIAL?"
That is a great question. I've thought they were cool since I developed an interest in aircraft. The P-38, P-47, P-51, and some others, all very cool. I imagine it has something to do with piston engines. If you've ever been behind the wheel of a muscle car you might relate. I had a great uncle who flew a P-38 over Europe. He was shot down in 1944 and spent a year as a POW. He didn't talk about it much. All I learned was from my grandfather.
Thanks, good article. Love the plane and the history.
There is (or was) a P-38 museum and restoration group near the CO Springs airport. Our motorcycle club toured their facility some time between 2013 - 2015 (can't remember the exact year.) They were in the process of restoring a couple of P-38s there.
Definitely my favorite WWII fighter (although as a paratrooper my favorite WWII plane will always be the C-47. I actually got to jump from one at Fort Bragg in 1995.)
BTW it was a "killer flight" of P-38's that took out Yamamoto in the aptly named "Operation Vengeance."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Vengeance
https://www.worldwariiaviation.org/Quote:
Originally Posted by Martinjmpr
It's a WWII aviation museum, but it has a beautifully restored P-38 on display.
O2
My own P-38!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P-38_can_opener
Dont forget about WestPac Aircraft Restorations at the Springs Airport.Quote:
Originally Posted by O2HeN2
One movie star, Cliff Robertson, was really into collecting and flying Military prop planes. Found this article about him. “One of Robertson's main hobbies was flying and, among other aircraft, he owned several de Havilland Tiger Moths, a Messerschmitt Bf 108, and a genuine World War II – era Mk.IX Supermarine Spitfire MK923.. His first plane ride was in a Lockheed Model 9 Orion. As a 13-year-old he would clean hangars for airplane rides”. We had heard that he had stored either a Spitfire or a P51 in the St. Charles, IL or West Chicago, IL. hanger.
Quote:
Originally Posted by O2HeN2
[facepalm]
>20 years in town, closing in on two million miles to/from the airport, and I had no idea this museum existed. Why isn't there a sign along Powers?