List of surviving Lockheed P-38 Lightnings
Lockheed P-38 survivors highlights the history of many well known flying and static displayed P-38 Lightnings in the United States. A list is also provided of other P-38s on display around the world; including location, model and serial numbers, brief history, nicknames/markings, and conditions.
Background
In late 1945 when the last P-38 came off the production line, 9,923 aircraft had been delivered to the USAAF. The P-38 was quickly declared obsolete in 1946 and the last USAF flight was in 1948.
This was an extremely complicated aircraft to maintain. The P-38 Lightning has been consistently on the civil registry since 1946 since the first aircraft were released from the military. It does remain a demanding aircraft with numerous crash incidents; several of the surviving planes have been rebuilt many times.
A considerable number of late model Lightnings which had been converted by Lockheed to Photo Reconnaissance (F-5) models found a niche with photo mapping companies and until the middle 1960s these aircraft earned their keep through photo mapping assignments around the globe. Additionally, the latest military use of the P-38 was with several South American air forces, the largest of these being Fuerza Aérea Hondureña which operated the Lockheed Lightning until the early 1960s. There were also a small number of P-38s that were purchased after the war for civilian air racing. It is from these sources that until the early 1980s all the remaining stocks of the P-38 Lightning could be drawn from.
One historic note was that in 1948, representatives of the then-new country of South Korea attempted to purchase the brand new P-38L Lightnings stored in the Philippines (approximately 100 aircraft). Instead, the USAF persuaded them to accept AT-6s modified to ground attack role as well as worn out P-51D Mustangs; the brand new P-38s were destroyed.
As with all remaining warbirds, collectors began scouring the world for forgotten aircraft. From the jungle of New Guinea, the wildness of Alaska and under the ice of Greenland are but some of the places previously-unrestorable wrecked airframes are being recovered and being restored for both static display and airworthy exhibition.
Individual histories
- Glacier Girl (41-7630), this P-38F-1 flown by 1st Lt. Harry L. Smith, Jr., 94th Fighter Squadron, was one of six P-38 fighters of the 1st Fighter Group escorting two B-17 bombers on a ferry flight to the United Kingdom as part of Operation Bolero on 15 July 1942. While en route over Greenland, bad weather caused the eight aircraft to turn back, the entire flight attempting to land together before they ran out of fuel. Although one P-38 overturned, the flight successfully belly-landed. The crews were rescued within a few days, but the airplanes were abandoned and, over the years, covered by ice. A few attempts to salvage the airplanes were made but were unsuccessful. Eventually, Roy Shoffner—a businessman from Middlesboro, Kentucky—acquired the salvage rights and in 1992, 50 years after the planes landed, a P-38 recovery mission was undertaken. Using photos taken by the original crews while they were awaiting rescue as well as modern seismographic equipment, the salvage workers located the buried squadron and selected the least damaged of the planes. They reached it by boring a hole using hot water through the layer of ice 268 feet thick. The airplane was transported to Middlesboro, where a ten-year restoration began using many parts from late model aircraft. Nicknamed Glacier Girl, the restored P-38F Lightning made its first post-restoration flight on 26 October 2002.[1]
- Maid of Harlech (41-7677) P-38F-1LO ex-49th Squadron, 14th Fighter Group, 8th Air Force, in the summer of 2007 this aircraft was discovered on a beach in Wales, having been buried in the sand for 65 years. A wingtip had come off the aircraft during its belly landing, but the pilot—Second Lt. Robert F. 'Fred' Elliot—escaped unhurt. Elliot was on a gunnery practice mission when a fuel supply error forced him to make an emergency landing. American airmen salvaged the nose guns but were unable to fly the fighter off the beach, abandoning it in place where it became covered by naturally shifting sand. Elliot was shot down less than three months later while flying combat missions over Tunisia. His body and aircraft were never found.[2]
Survivors
Australia
- On display
- P-38H Lightning, s/n 42-66841 is on display at the Classic Jets Fighter Museum in South Australia.[3]
United States
- Airworthy
- P-38F Lightning, s/n 41-7630 is airworthy and owned by the Lewis Vintage Collection LLC in San Antonio, Texas.[4]
- P-38L Lightning, s/n 44-26981 is airworthy and owned by the Vintage Fighters LLC in Sun Valley, Idaho.[6]
- P-38L Lightning, s/n 44-53095 is airworthy and owned Commanche Fighters LCC in Houston, Texas.[12]
- P-38L Lightning, s/n 44-53254 is airworthy and owned by Aircraft Guaranty Title Corp. Trustee in Onalaska, Texas.[15]
- On display
- Under restoration
- P-38H Lightning, s/n 42-66534 is under restoration to airworthiness by Artemis Aviation Group LCC in Wilmington, Delaware.[24]
- P-38J Lightning, s/n 42-104088 is under restoration to airworthiness by Vulcan Warbirds Inc. in Seattle, Washington.[26]
See also
References
Notes
Bibliography
- United States Air Force Museum Guidebook. Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio: Air Force Museum Foundation, 1975.
External links
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