Hello P-38 Fans!

We're a little behind the power curve this month because we've had three (count em!) big events which ate up a lot of newsletter writing time.

You can read more about that below if you'd like, but in the meantime, let's get to it!

Blue skies,

Kelly

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IN THIS EDITION

• Planes of Fame Air Show
• Yamamoto Slide Show
• How'd they Raise Glacier Girl from her Icy Grave?
• P-38 Outshines Luftwaffe
• Passing It On
• Military Channel Special
• P-38 Photos on the Web
• Boy, You Hate to See That!
• P-38 Hardstand
      by John Stanaway
• New Members
• Hot Product of the Month
• Newsletter Archives
• P-38 Association News

NEWS FROM THE PLANES OF FAME
AIR SHOW

Well, we made it through the air show, and (if you were there), you know it was HOT. Like 105° hot. But we made it through, met lots of old friends, like Bob Cardin (the project manager on the Glacier Girl recovery and restoration) and met some new ones - like Lefty Gardner's son, Ladd.

There were TWO P-38s flying in the air show this year -- "23 Skidoo" from the Planes of Fame's inventory and the silver P‑38 owned by Vintage Fighters. (You can see a few more pictures of the silver one here on our website. It's tail number is: 44-26981, and the photos were sent to us by Jeff Harris).

One of the newsletter members who stopped by to visit was Bob Jones, who took some amazing photos. You can view his entire slideshow here. (Hint, you can click the speaker icon next to the green "full screen" button if you don't want to listen to the background music.)

As I mentioned earlier, I ran into Bob Cardin at the air show. Bob is the man responsible for overseeing the excavation and complete restoration of Glacier Girl and who is now working with the new owner, Rod Lewis. I asked if there were any plans to bring her to any of the air shows this summer, and he said, at the moment, they're planning to attend Reno and Oshkosh. So, we'll keep our ears perked and let you know when we hear news on this.

I also met Todd Gardner, the man who was unfortunate enough to be at the wheel when White Lightnin' ran into problems and crash landed. I told him that, although the new paint (?) scheme was striking, that we had a soft spot in our heart for the original paint on the "P-38 formerly known as White Lightnin'." He agreed, of course, but also mentioned that the P-38 will, in fact, definitely be going over to Austria. There is some speculation that Red Bull will be adding their logo in some form on the final paint job. Although it's always sad to see a P-38 leave America, it is good that she is back in airworthy shape again.

The P-38 formerly known as White Lightnin'

We were also fortunate to have several WWII vets sharing our space, including Association Members Bruce Bauer and Bob Waggoner, both of whom were signing P-38 photos and the wings of our P-38 Hot Wings for the kids. (You can special order one of these with an autograph here.) The reception by the public was tremendous.

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Yamamoto Mission

On the anniversary of the mission to take out Admiral Yamamoto, the architect of the Pearl Harbor attack, there are lots of articles on line, but this slide show put together at military.com is worth the look.

If you'd like the DVD mentioned in the slide show, "Attack on Yamamoto," you can purchase it here. Thanks to newsletter member Bill Freitas for the link.

HOW'D THEY RAISE GLACIER GIRL FROM HER ICY GRAVE?

The History Channel has put together this very cool video and animation which explains exactly what had to be done during the excavation. It includes a shot of Planes of Fame President (and well known movie stunt pilot--read his bio), Steve Hinton, at the wheel and has a short interview with Glacier Girl Project Manager, Bob Cardin. You'll need a high-speed internet connection, I believe, for maximum viewability. Thanks very much to Aileen Lim for the link!

P-38 Outshines Luftwaffe

This very interesting blog post was sent to us by Mike Souders.

It includes a couple of vintage photos, but what I found most interesting was the newspaper clipping from Jan 28 1944 about how the P-38 outshined the best German fighters. Although a bit difficult to read, it's certainly worth the effort.

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PASSING IT ON

Here's an article and video clip that will make you smile. Minnesota held an event to celebrate the 150 anniversary of their statehood. What, you might say, does that have to do with the P-38? Well, apart from the video clip showing a P-38 flying over their capitol building, there's a conversation with a 16-year-old Commemorative Air Force Cadet, Tucker Goodwin, that will give you hope for the future of the P‑38 and other WWII aircraft.

MILITARY CHANNEL SPECIAL

The Military Channel is launching a series of WWII combat re‑creations beginning on June 15 (although you can get a sneak peek on June 6). Each episode provides a rare opportunity to see a dramatic duel between some of history's most treasured aircraft, including a P‑38 Lightning pitted against the only all-original Mitsubishi Zero still flying today. More details here (or check your local listings.

P‑38 Photos on the web

Here's a new one we found with a P‑47 and a P‑38 much too close for my comfort. But beautiful. Find it here. (About half way down the page.)

Nice Heritage Flight Shot

Boy, You Hate to See That...!

Member Pat Carry sent this link with more of these sad, skeletal remains of our favorite plane.

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P-38 Hardstand
by John Stanaway

Happy Hunting over Shinchiku

The 449th Fighter Squadron had been flying its P‑38s from Ling Ling, China from the summer of 1943 and had over a dozen victories, including two for Lt. Bob Schultz (later changed to Shoals) by Thanksgiving. On that day the Squadron would demonstrate its great potential by claiming twelve Japanese aircraft over Shinchiku, Formosa (Taiwan) a distance of 425 miles from their base.

An F-4 reconnaissance aircraft had photographed many aircraft on the fields in the area on 24 November 1943, and Headquarters, 14th Air Force, saw an opportunity to use the P-38s and new long range P‑51s of the 76th Fighter Squadron to accompany B‑25s of the Chinese American Composite wing and the veteran 11th Bomb Squadron. Eight P‑51s, eight P‑38s and fourteen B‑25s would take off around 9:30 on the morning of the 25th and arrive over the target early in the afternoon.

The P-38s were flying top cover when a twin-engine Japanese transport was called out over the coastline, and Lt. Schultz immediately dropped down and shot it down. Apparently, the alarm went out and Japanese fighters and bombers were scrambling into the air. Eleven bombers were claimed by the 449th, which was in a superior position to attack the Japanese formations. Capt. Sam Palmer was the high scorer with two unidentified Japanese aircraft and a Zero claimed; Capts. Ryan Moon and Al Yorston each claimed two Sallys, while Lt. Walter Rose got a D3y Val and G3m Nell with a Zero claimed damaged, and Schultz shot down a ki‑32 Mary.

Two Japanese fighters were claimed by the Mustangs for their first 14th AF victories, and several other Japanese aircraft were claimed on the ground. All American aircraft returned home. It was a classic victory for the tiny and hard pressed American air forces in China.

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P-38 National Association News

MUSEUM PROJECT DEDICATION
As mentioned above, this month has been a busy one for us. In addition to the Planes of Fame air show and the Poppy Festival (below), we had the official ribbon-cutting ceremony on the new Ed Baquet Theater at our P-38 Museum. The theater is named after (my Dad) the late Board Member and friend of the P-38 Association, who passed away on Christmas Day 2007; and the new Docent office is dedicated to Joe Onesty, our Director of Docents, and all the men and women who volunteer their time at the Museum. You can see a photo here. The entire structure was designed to look like a bunch of the guys (sitting around waiting for their next mission or engine checkup) just grabbed whatever lumber was around and put together a "briefing room." It's a job very well done, and we have Association Treasurer, Howard Ramshorn, VP of Operations, Bob Alvis, and Association member Lowell Stacey to thank for it. It was built entirely from their volunteer hours and dollars. (If anyone would like to help reimburse them for their construction costs, you can do so here -- Donate.)

475th ARTICLE
The 475th FS had their reunion this month in Florida, and there's a nice write-up here. They make mention of Col Perry "PJ" Dahl and tell a harrowing story of one of his many missions as a P-38 ace. Well worth the read.

POPPY FESTIVAL
As many of you know, the P‑38 Association hosted a booth at the annual Poppy Festival in Lancaster, CA. Although not an "aviation" event, the Festival always sets aside a very large section of the festivities exclusively for military and aviation themed booths. The Association had a prime location and we had hundred of visitors stop by to say hello to our P‑38 veterans, who happily posed for photos with them. On the second day, we shared our space with some B‑17 vets. One of my favorites photos was one with three WWII vets (two in their uniforms from the 1940s) and a couple of young boy scouts. Priceless! Here are a couple of photos for you: P‑38 pilots Bob Waggoner signing autographs for some fans, and Fox Olsen, Barbara Galvin (Treasurer Howard Ramshorn's daughter), and the B‑17 vets.