Posted on 11/14/2007 2:27:34 PM PST by NormsRevenge
NEW YORK - Sixty-five years after an American P-38 fighter plane ran out of gas and crash-landed on a beach in Wales, the long-forgotten World War II relic has emerged from the surf and sand where it lay buried.
Beach strollers, sunbathers and swimmers often frolicked within a few yards of the aircraft, unaware of its existence until last summer, when unusual weather caused the sand to shift and erode.
The revelation of the Lockheed "Lightning" fighter, with its distinctive twin-boom design, has stirred interest in British aviation circles and among officials of the country's aircraft museums, ready to reclaim another artifact from history's greatest armed conflict.
Based on its serial number and other records, "the fighter is arguably the oldest P-38 in existence, and the oldest surviving 8th Air Force combat aircraft of any type," said Ric Gillespie, who heads a U.S.-based nonprofit group dedicated to preserving historic aircraft. "In that respect it's a major find, of exceptional interest to British and American aviation historians."
Gillespie finds romance as well as historic significance in the discovery of the aircraft, long forgotten by the U.S. government.
"It's sort of like `Brigadoon,' the mythical Scottish village that appears and disappears," he said. "Although the Welsh aren't too happy about that analogy — they have some famous legends of their own."
Gillespie's organization, the International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery, learned of the plane's existence in September from a British air history enthusiast and sent a team to survey the site last month. The group plans to collaborate with British museum experts in recovering the fragile but nearly intact aircraft next spring.
The Imperial War Museum Duxford and the Royal Air Force Museum are among the institutions expressing interest.
"The difficult part is to keep such a dramatic discovery secret. Looting of historic wrecks, aircraft or ships, is a major problem, in Britain as it is worldwide," Gillespie said.
British aviation publications have been circumspect about disclosing the exact location, and local Welsh authorities have agreed to keep the plane under surveillance whenever it is exposed by the tides of the Irish Sea, he said. For now, the aircraft is again buried under sand.
Officially, the U.S. Air Force considers any aircraft lost before Nov. 19, 1961 — when a fire destroyed many records — as "formally abandoned," and has an interest in such cases only if human remains are involved.
The twin-engine P-38, a radical design conceived by Lockheed design genius Clarence "Kelly" Johnson in the late 1930s, became one of the war's most successful fighter planes, serving in Europe and the Pacific. About 10,000 of the planes were built, and about 32 complete or partial airframes are believed to still exist, perhaps 10 in flying condition.
Another P-38, part of a "lost squadron" of warplanes marooned by bad weather in Greenland while being flown to Europe in 1942, was recovered and extensively restored with new parts. Dubbed "Glacier Girl," its attempt to complete the flight to Britain earlier this year was thwarted by mechanical problems.
The Wales Lightning, built in 1941, reached Britain in early 1942 and flew combat missions along the Dutch-Belgian coast.
Second Lt. Robert F. "Fred" Elliott, 24, of Rich Square, N.C., was on a gunnery practice mission on Sept. 27, 1942, when a fuel supply error forced him to make an emergency landing on the nearest suitable place — the Welsh beach.
His belly landing in shallow water sheared off a wingtip, but Elliott escaped unhurt. Less than three months later, the veteran of more than 10 combat missions was shot down over Tunisia, in North Africa. His plane and body were never found.
As the disabled P-38 could not be flown off the beach, "American officers had the guns removed, and the records say the aircraft was salvaged, but it wasn't," Gillespie said. "It was gradually covered with sand, and there it sat for 65 years. With censorship in force and British beaches closed to the public during the war, nobody knew it was there."
It was first spotted by a family enjoying a day at the beach on July 31.
The discovery was stunning news for Robert Elliott, 64, of Blountville, Tenn., the pilot's nephew and only surviving relative. He has spent nearly 30 years trying to learn more about his namesake's career and death.
All he knew of the Wales incident was a one-line entry saying Elliott had "ditched a P-38 and was uninjured."
"So this is just a monumental discovery, and a very emotional thing," said Elliott, an engineering consultant. He said he hopes to be present for the recovery.
Yep, I’m a fast woman - with gifs, lol.
THAT (!) is my favorite flying machine, bar none.
I’m just a never-served non-aviator...but did get a buzz out of the
“Dogfight” episodes that included some of Robin Olds handiwork.
The shooting down of the German plane while “on glide path” (not switching
for on-board tanks after ditching his drop-tank) was something else.
here’s an example of Robin’s influence..when he was at the USAFA...
After Vietnam, having promoted Robin to Brigadier General, the AirForce sought a safe place to stash him. For reasons both ironic andobscure, he was assigned as commandant of cadets at the Air ForceAcademy, where his brand of irreverent individualism could infecthundreds of future officers.Robin’s influence on the cadets was profound. One who became a FACand author was Darrel Whitcomb, who recalls,”In the fall of 1968, I was afirst class cadet at the Academy when he was our commandant. EveryFriday evening he would have the first classmen from a differentsquadron to his house for dinner. I was in Seventh Squadron. The eveningof our visit, I was late to arrive because. I had my very first solo. I walkedin as he was telling a war story. Seeing me in my flight suit, he asked if Ihad just had a flight. Needless to say, I had to share my big event.He listened and then said, ‘ This deserves something special.’ He left theroom and came back about five minutes later with one of his flyingscarves. It reeked of whiskey and cigars. He put it around my neck andsaid, ‘ Well, now we have another new Wolf cub.’”I was absolutely blown away by his act and felt at that moment, that if hehad asked, I would have flown that T-41 to Hanoi for him
Bump. And Thanks!
Back when we had leaders instead of politicians in uniform. The Good ole days per se !
I remember my solo in the T-41 Mescalero at the McConnell AFB Aero Club in Wichita Kansas. As I taxied back to the hanger I was eyeballing the KANG F4’s parked nearby thinking ......that will be easy to fly I thought.....I was 10ft tall and bullet proof !!......;o)
Great Story with regards to Olds at the Academy .....One of my old commanders was Col William Gibson who had the longest mission over Hanoi on record as a Wild Weasel in a F4. That guy was a leader . As was Gen Olds........
I suspect lots of good young leaders always come out of conflicts as they have seen the effect of bad or good leadership in the amount of lives lost or saved. And if that is all we get ....we win.
Hope yer well !
Stay safe !
Excellent post !...........Thanks !
interesting
Heat exchanger inlets
no fair. I was going to ping you. ;-)
I have a large scale model of that very same plane, the pic of “Marge” was actually a photo from a newspaper the pilot glued to the fuselage.
The P-61 Black Widow was another twin boomed aircraft used for night fighter work, it had 4 20mm guns in the wings and 4 Browning .50 guns. The major difference between this aircraft and the P-38 was that the P-61 used a pair of Pratt & Whitney R2800-25S Double Wasp radial engines with mechanically driven superchargers each but no turbo chargers.
I did not know Bill Phillips painted.....
The difference between the Smithsonian Air and Space museum and Duxford is this: the Smithsonian restores them to static display - they inject resin in the engine(s) to to protect them.
Duxford restore’s ‘em to flying condidtion - and flies ‘em. I saw them fly a Spitfire and DeHaviland Dragon there.
I met Jack, the pilot of Happy Jack’s Go-Buggy at the CAF AirSho in Harlingen TX in 1979. He was there selling his autobiography and signing autographs. A print of him and his plane over North Africa hangs in my rec room.
You must have a large rec room.................
The Soviets primarily used the P-39 for ground attack. I’m not sure whether their Lend-Lease versions had the jam-prone 37mm cannon, or if they were P-400 export versions with a better 20mm cannon. Bell tried to interest the Army in an improved P-39, the P-63 Kingcobra, and the Army wanted none of it. But the Reds did. So the Soviets ended up being the P-63’s only significant customer (although I think the Army/Air Force did use a few, there’s one on display at the USAF Museum that was used as a live-fire target drone).
The story of the Finns and the Brewster Buffalo is amazing. They took a fighter that was nothing short of a disaster with the Navy, tweaked on it a little bit, and flew it up against the Red Air Force’s best...and more than held their own. When the Germans sold them better hardware (Messerschmitt Bf 109s) they did even better. I’ve known a few Finns, and they are rightfully VERY proud of how their army and air force fought in the “Winter War” of 1939-40, and the “Continuation War” when they fought alongside the Germans in 1941-44. Those guys are hardcore.
}:-)4
No, it’s a small print! 14x20 inches
LOL!....;^)
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