Through The Looking Glass
Oh, me want so bad, for long time! What a fantastic airplane. I think there might be all of 5 of them flying in all the world, maybe less. I’ve been following this rescue/rebuild story for several years now.
If I remember correctly, they pulled one of the .50’s out and cleaned and oiled it and locked and loaded (don’t remember if it was “vintage” ammo or new stuff) and it fired without a hitch.
Posted by MOMinuteman
02/05/2007 at 11:01 PM
Yes being a warbird fan bigtime I have been keeping track of Glacier Girl’s restoration for many years. The job was incredibly difficult because so many of the parts that would normally be reuseable were bent and crushed by the incredible weight of of 268ft of ice. You can check the whole restoration and completed perfect P-38 at thelostsquadron.com.
They really did a great job regardless of cost and who knows how many millions were spent to make it flyable again. It may or may not be mentioned somewhere I just can’t remember right now.Posted by Paul "No Fear" Weir
02/06/2007 at 12:27 AM
These war planes are an awesome find and my hats off to the people working to salvage them. I would hope to see a book or PBS special soon detailing not only the salvage effort, but the history & story behind these frigid relics.
What is even more interesting are the harsh conditions which dumped 300 feet of snow & ice on top of these things during the last 64 years.
~Must be all that global warming~
Posted by Locomotive Breath 1901
02/06/2007 at 10:58 AM
It is odd that in a known time nearly 300 feet of compressed ice burried these planes, and moved them quite a way yet elsewhere mammoths keep sticking their feet out of the permafrost, one might think that the climate is unpredictable or something!
Posted by cornish chris
02/06/2007 at 01:51 PM
Nice. I think I recently read the story of this squadron in the book Forked-Tailed Devil, about the P-38 program through WWII. The Lightning is one of my favorites of all time; I’d love to see one close-up sometime.
