These were a couple of really beautiful birds that came for some temporary duty (show script).
Gleaming polished aluminum skin (I am guessing it was aluminum).
My grandfather was working at an airbase when a Lockheed test pilot took a random P-38 and showed what it could do. The claim was there was something wrong with the plane and they were crashing. He had them pick the plane and did all kinds of stunts on one engine. My grandfather said everybody stopped to watch this guy fly.
Your Grandfather from your description sounds like a Man’s Man. Your being proud is justified