P-38s

[RALPHIE]

There are only seven P-38 Lightnings in flying condition left in the world out of over 10,000 built.

Five of the seven were at this show

Pictures -

1) Nice old guy next to a P-38. Actually there's quite a bit more to the story than that - This is Colonel Bill Harris, now 94 years old.

He was in a wheel chair and had great difficulty walking the few steps to the plane. He's a WWII Ace with fifteen aerial kills of Jap aircraft and flew on the mission that shot down and killed Japanese Admiral Yamamoto. This plane is painted exactly like the one he flew in the Pacific - the "Honey Bunny"


2) All five of the P-38s.

3) "Honey Bunny"


4) The two WWII aces with the greatest number of kills both flew Lightnings - Majors Richard Bong (40) and Thomas McQuire (38). These guns may explain why they got around 40 kills each!

 

[RALPHIE]

More Pictures

1) P-38 nose wheel - look at all the zerk fittings for grease!

2) Ducting to the turbo charger and radiators for the Allison V-12 engines, each with around 1,400 horsepower. The final variants, the P-38L, had engines putting our 1,725 hp each!

3) A sign on the side of the cockpit says, "MAXIMUM CREW WEIGHT 200 LBS"

 

[jrz]

Thanks for sharing. We, at best only see one P 38 at a time at EAA.

 

[2112]

Beautiful aircraft.

It is amazing how form and function worked so well together on the aircraft from 1930-1945.

sad there are only 7 left. Does that include the Greenland ice rescue?

 

[djs]

What a wicked plane! Is it me, or does "Honey Bunny" resemble Rita Hayworth?
I love the quality of nose art on all those old warbirds.

 

[Shelby#18]

3) A sign on the side of the cockpit says, "MAXIMUM CREW WEIGHT 200 LBS"

I guess I wont be getting in anytime soon....

 

[RALPHIE]

...sad there are only 7 left. Does that include the Greenland ice rescue?

Seven in flyable condition. I know of 2 in the Tillamook Air Museum (an old WWII coastal defense blimp hanger) and an absolute beauty in the Evergreen Museum near McMinnville, Oregon.

By the way, the Evergreen Museum is one of the finest air museums I've ever been to - it's the current location of the Spruce Goose.

 

[Triheart7]

Thanks for posting Ralphie, nice pictures. Last night on the news there was an article about the B-17. There is one that comes to Sacramento area about this time every year. They open it it up for viewing and also give rides from Sacramento over Folsom Lake. The cool thing is that they often fly over my house, so I get to see them up close while it is in town.

 

[Fast Freddy]

i Luv P-38's :usa

 

[PeakCompletions]

Always one of my favorite planes! Thanks for sharing the pics!!!! :cheers

 

[HHGT]

Great post Ralphie. Another one of my favorites; B-29 aka FiFi

http://vimeo.com/17388627

 

[MNJason]

What was the show?

 

[RALPHIE]

What was the show?

California Capital Airshow - Sacramento, California

http://www.californiacapitalairshow...es-historic-gathering-of-p-38-lightnings.html

Here's a video from Palm Springs -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2pgxzHwZi0

And another video from Chino -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glzG9lizkSc

They say that the Allison V-12's are identical except for the firing order and the rotation of the starter, to provide the counter rotating propellers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_P-38_Lightning

 

[RALPHIE]

By the way - one of the designers of the P-38 was a young man named Kelly Johnson.

This was the man who later commanded the Lockheed "Skunk Works" in Burbank, CA, and was responsible for both the

U-2 "Dragon Lady"
and the
SR-71 "Blackbird"​

 

[Triheart7]

Ralphie,

Those videos are great. The passovers at Palm Springs and Chino look like modern jets. They were ahead of there time. Of course so was the SR-71.

 

[timcantwell]

Wow, thanks for sharing, that has always been one of my favorite planes. As a former O-2 pilot, I really appreciate the twin booms. Too bad the O-2 was only a quarter as fast!