Is Glacier Girl still flying?
Glacier Girl is a Lockheed P-38F Lightning, World War II fighter plane, 41-7630, c/n 222-5757, that was restored to flying condition after being buried beneath the Greenland ice sheet for over 50 years.
When was the last P-38 built?
The 13th and final YP-38 was delivered to the USAAC in June 1941; 12 aircraft were retained for flight testing and one for destructive stress testing. The YPs were substantially redesigned and differed greatly in detail from the hand-built XP-38.
Where is Glacier Girl now?
Glacier Girl is now owned by Rodney Lewis, a pilot and the founder and CEO of the Lewis Energy Group, and appears in select air shows in the United States.
How much is a p38 Lightning worth?
Each P-38 cost around $120-100,000, twice the price of most U.S. single-engine fighters. However, the P-38’s long range and heavy payload—up to 3,000 pounds of bombs and rockets—meant it could perform missions early-war single-engine types simply couldn’t.
Where is the Maid of Harlech?
The rare aircraft, which dropped from the skies over North Wales in 1942, is believed to be buried under the sands on the coast near Harlech in Gwynedd.
How deep in the ice was Glacier Girl?
268 feet
Roy Shoffner, invested in a project to recover the P-38, which was buried beneath 268 feet of ice in southeastern Greenland. It was an audacious treasure hunt that had been going on for 13 years by the time Shoffner got involved, and he needed a tough guy to make it happen.
How many planes did the p38 shoot down?
(In red below) The P-38 with 1,857 victories came in third place behind the F6F Hellcat with 5,160 and the F4U Corsair with 2,140. It is accurate to state that the P-38 did shoot down more Japanese aircraft than any other USAAF plane with 1,857, with the P-40 running a close second at 1,633.5.
How much does a P-38 airplane cost?
Built in 1945, this P-38 saw action as a fighter in World War II and later served as a civilian mapping platform. It came off Lockheed’s assembly line in June of 1945 as a P-38L-5-LO, serial number 44-53087, and cost $15,000.
Where is Shell Island?
Mochras (commonly known as Shell Island), is a peninsula lying west of Llanbedr in Gwynedd, Wales. It was formed after the River Artro was diverted by the Earl of Winchelsey in 1819 from its previous course where it entered the sea to the south of Mochras.
Why are airplanes buried?
An aircraft boneyard or aircraft graveyard is a storage area for aircraft that are retired from service. Most aircraft at boneyards are either kept for storage with some maintenance or have their parts removed for reuse or resale and are then scrapped.
What was the speed of a P-38J?
9,200 planes produced, starting in March, 1942. P-38J specs: 420 MPH, four 50 caliber machine guns, one 20 mm cannon By Stephen Sherman, Apr. 2002. Updated January 24, 2012. With its two engines mounted on twin booms and the pilot’s separate nacelle in between, the P-38 looked like no other plane.
Is the Lockheed P-38 still in use?
Additionally, the latest military use of the P-38 was with several South American air forces, the largest of these being Fuerza Aérea Hondureña which operated the Lockheed Lightning until the early 1960s. There were also a small number of P-38s that were purchased after the war for civilian air racing.
When did the P-38 Lightning come out?
The P-38 Lightning has been consistently on the civil registry since 1946 since the first aircraft were released from the military. It does remain a demanding aircraft with numerous crash incidents; several of the surviving planes have been rebuilt many times.
What did Robert DeHaven think of the P-38 Lightning?
In Eric Bergerud’s Fire in the Sky: The Air War in the South Pacific, Robert DeHaven, a 14-kill ace with the 49th Fighter Group, describes his reaction to the Lightning: The P-38 was very unusual. Imagine what I felt when first climbing on board that airplane. Sitting on that tricycle landing gear, it was very high off the ground.