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Annual Holiday Party
The P‑38 National Association is having it's annual Holiday Party on
Dec 13 in San Diego, CA. For full details, or to register for the
event, just
hop over to this page of our website.
return to top Pacific Wrecks Celebrates 15th
We received a note that Justin Taylan's
Pacific Wrecks
website is celebrating its 15th year online, a true pioneer in terms of
the internet. If you're not familiar with Pacific Wrecks, they document
and detail World War II stories and Pacific theater airplane wrecks.
We first met Justin when he came to our 2004 P‑38 National Convention
in Ontario, and he is clearly passionate about his work. Proof? He
had a scary few weeks back in 2007, when he was held in custody by
Solomon Island authorities while checking out a WWII crash site. You can
read his story and check out the many P‑38 wrecks he has documented,
such as
this one, which he includes on his non-profit Pacific Wrecks
website.
Now THAT'S a War Story
 We've
just passed Veteran's Day, when we honor our military past, present and
future, but I thought
this
harrowing story from someone who was there during the Yamamoto
mission as well as in one of Patton's missions is well, well worth the
read. The article is amusing, mesmerizing and poignant and you
should read it. Lloyd Andes has earned your time and interest. New
Photos/Videos on the Web Here's a nice video of the Heritage Flight
from the recent air show at Nellis AFB in Nevada. Includes some
beautiful close-up shots. Kevin Eldridge was at the wheel.
See
Full Sized Video
VIDEO: Army Air Corp
close-up footage of some of the P-38s awesome armament (in this
case, the rockets). The P-38L model was the first Lightning fitted with
zero-length rocket launchers (7 under each wing).
 VIDEO:
If
you're a fan of the P-38 you have no doubt heard of Richard I. Bong, the
top-scoring ace of WWII (called "America's Ace of Aces"). Even if
you've never heard of him,
this 3-1/2 minute video is worth watching. It
outlines his career and shows General Douglas MacArthur pinning the
Medal of Honor on Bong.
PHOTO:
Very cool picture of the Red Bull P-38 in the air found on the
airplane-pictures website.
return to top
VIDEO: P-38 Flight Characteristics
Nice video of the
P-38
Flight characteristics. This video is a shortened version, but if
you'd like a copy of the entire DVD, we
do have
these available on the website.
PHOTO: Tangerine
 New
Tangerine photo sent over by Christian Gurling, Museum Curator at the
Tillamook Air Museum, the owners of Tangerine.
You can click on it to enlarge the picture, THEN click
the "Back" button on your browser.
Christian sent us several new photos of Tangerine, which will be going
up on our website shortly. We'll keep you posted.
VIDEO: 5-Part Series
Here is a very good 5-part series of videos on the Lightning, from its
beginning, including the famous Lockheed Burbank "camouflaged"
production plant and the blue "haze" paint scheme, which made the 38
nearly invisible from the ground (both in Video 4). They are
thorough and will take you some time to view.
Part 1 |
Part 2 |
Part 3 |
Part 4 |
Part 5 return to top |
New P‑38 Built from
scratch
If you're a fan of the P‑38, you have GOT to admire the handiwork of
Jim O'Hara. We received so many emails about this fantastic project
that it's not possible to mention everyone who sent them in. But,
with our thanks, here is one of the verbatim messages we received about this
amazing feat:
 Jim O'Hara is a member of EAA chapter 493 in San Angelo. He is a
retired college professor (I believe in Aeronautical Engineering) who
learned to fly when he was about 60 years old. He's now 81 years old.
15 years ago, he began construction of a 2/3 scale P‑38. Using
information he obtained from various sources about the P‑38, he drew up
a set of plans using a computer aided design program. Jim and his wife
Mitzi built the entire aircraft by themselves. I've been fortunate
enough to know Jim for almost the entire 15 years that he's been working
on his "project." He first flew his plane in July of last year, and has
just completed flying off the time (I believe it was 50 hours). He
designed the plane to have a small jump seat behind the pilot for his
wife. She's tiny, and it's a good thing; the jump seat doesn't have
much room.
He made his first cross-country with Mitzi from San Angelo to
Fredericksburg Saturday, accompanied by many of his friends from Chapter
493.
We've posted
the photos here. return to top
P‑38 Replica Kit?
 We
just received word that there is a P‑38 replica build-it-yourself kit on
the market. Although it has a few modifications so it will fit in
a modern hangar and, sadly, no Allison engines, it's something that
sounds very exciting on paper. We'll keep you posted when we find
out more details. return to top P-38 Zippo Lighter One of our readers, Alan Reeve,
has sent over this photo of a Zippo lighter from his collection.
The photo shows the lighter in great detail, and Alan is trying to find
out more about it. If any of you have ever seen one like it (or
know anything about "G.M. Hoy, who must have owned it), Alan would love
to hear from you. Send any replies to us
here.
  
CLICK ON PHOTOS TO ENLARGE
(Opens in New Window) return to top
Something to Look Forward To Sometimes we get so
caught up with the P-38s well-deserved place in aviation history that we
might forget about the people who are helping to keep alive the memory
of this great plane, including the present-day P-38 pilots. To
make sure this doesn't happen, we're planning to include
interviews/videos in future issues of this newsletter with these fellows
- including Steve Hinton, Jeff Harris and Kevin Eldridge, to name just a
few. So, keep your eyes peeled. You may be surprised at what you
find out. JayGee 63, too -- or
tattoo?
 We've done stories in
the past about P-38 tattoos, but this one has a special significance for
one of our regular readers. One of the fun things about doing this
newsletter is all the great stories and photos we receive.
Here is
one such story about a P-38 pilot by the name of Milton Anderson from
Buffalo, MN, sent to us by his son Charlie. return to top |
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return to top
Hardstand
By John Stanaway
Recently, I had the opportunity to view the 1998 DVD,
ROARING GLORY-- P‑38 LIGHTNING, and came away with some new
perspectives on flying and fighting in the old standards of World War
II. Perhaps it is just advancing age and accumulated wisdom that struck
me, but I now appreciate just how reckless and devil-may-care a young
pilot had to be in flying a hot fighter type.
Our late friend, Jeff Ethell, did the honors of describing the P‑38
and its flight characteristics. Of course it was proper that he did the
narrative, but it was almost eerie watching him describe the very
procedures that played a part in his death while trying to land a
veteran P‑38 from the same Oregon skies shown in the film. If anything
should have emphasized the dangers of flying a World War II combat
aircraft it was that fact.
From the beginning the difficulty of flying the P‑38 was illustrated
by the complex starting process. In reading the
pilots manual it would
seem that only a few steps were required to get a P‑38 up and running.
However, in the film narrative the pilot would have to be sure of at
least a dozen factors in the checklist to ensure that the aircraft was
properly trimmed and engine-primed to even start the complicated
machine. Once the engine was primed, energized and started, the person
sitting in the cockpit would be able to manipulate the 10,000 pound
giant onto the runway.
If everything goes well the P‑38 could be properly coaxed into a
roaring takeoff from which the pilot would defy the laws of physics by
leaving the ground at about ninety-five miles per hour. If all
hydraulic, oil, fuel systems and the canopy is closed properly to avoid
buffeting, then the P‑38 takes off smoothly in comparison to other
single or multiple engine aircraft, and glides into the air against all
logic regarding heavy metal being hurled through space. The film gives
the impression that the pilot is fortunate to negotiate simple flight
conditions, much less successfully oppose hostile aircraft or ground
objectives. I marveled at the determination and fortitude of all those
single-place jockeys who managed to survive a tour in an active combat
zone.
As it is, I remember the phone call with 82nd Fighter Group ace,
Gerald Rounds, in which I mentioned that I was learning to fly. He asked
how old I was, and I answered that I was thirty-eight. He said simply
that I was old enough to know better.
(You can get a copy of the original here
through Amazon for about $47 or you can get a
repress here for about $20.) |
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P-38 ASSOCIATION
NEWS
so long, bruce
We are extremely sad to have to report that Bruce Bauer,
whose 97th birthday we covered in the August 2009 issue of this
newsletter, has passed away.
Bruce was an avid supporter of the P-38 Association and
showed up at virtually every function, right up until the end. In fact,
he was with us at the Chino Air Show this year, signing autographs and
answering questions like a real trooper. He was a good friend and will
be missed by all of us.
 Bruce requested
that donations be made in his name to the P-38 Association, which
says more clearly than anything how special he was to our organization.
Safe journey, Bruce.
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 We've scheduled our Holiday party, and in order to save Ron & Marilyn
Smith the tremendous amount of work involved in hosting it again
this year, and in light of the increasing number of people who attended
last year, we're changing venues. You can read all the details,
and make your reservations here. See
you there! |
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Steve Blake's
Move
Most of you may know by now, but our Membership Chairman
has relocated to Prescott, AZ. This seems to have created some
confusion among the members, who are now mailing P-38 Association mail
directly to Steve's home. Please note that the P-38 National
Association & Museum is still in the same location, and all business
correspondence should still be mailed to us at our same business address
at March ARB and not to Steve's home address. Our address remains:
P-38 National Association
PO Box 6453
March ARB, CA 92518
If you need to reach Steve personally with a membership
question, his new email address is:
steveandmarjblake@cableone.net Any specific membership questions you
have can be sent there or to his new home address in Prescott, which is listed on
the masthead of the November issue of Lightning Strikes.
Sorry for any confusion this has created.
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2010 GENERAL
MEMBERSHIP MEETING
We're all pretty involved between now and New Years with
our friends and family, but shortly after Old Man Time rings in 2010
we're going to hit the ground running for the next General Membership
Meeting in June. We can't spill the beans just yet, but suffice to
say that we've got some pretty tremendous surprises in the hopper this
time, and it's not something you'll want to miss. We'll keep you
posted, but keep the middle of June in mind and on your calendar. return to top |
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