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P-38 Lightning found buried on a beach 65 years after crash landing!

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Thats Really cool, it's a lot of fun to restore those I helped out on an A-6 in whidbey island a little bit it was a blast.
 
onepixel said:
Cool. I wonder how they knew it ran out of gas?
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I wondered that myself. I suppose a data plate or serial number was retrieved (from the fuselage, either engine, or any of several .50-cal guns) and then compared against a WWII-era U.S. Army Air Corps aircraft database. Everything that I have read about any american military aircraft lost in WWII and later conflicts is that the U.S. government is very meticulous in tracking the how-and-why any national asset gets folded, bent, spindled, mutilated, or destroyed.

I am sure someone with a military aviation background (past or present) can add more to the conversation.

Then again, I may be wrong. Just my 2 cents worth.
 
SAE2922 said:
I wondered that myself. I suppose a data plate or serial number was retrieved (from the fuselage, either engine, or any of several .50-cal guns) and then compared against a WWII-era U.S. Army Air Corps aircraft database. Everything that I have read about any american military aircraft lost in WWII and later conflicts is that the U.S. government is very meticulous in tracking the how-and-why any national asset gets folded, bent, spindled, mutilated, or destroyed.

I am sure someone with a military aviation background (past or present) can add more to the conversation.

Then again, I may be wrong. Just my 2 cents worth.
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Yes, from serial numbers. Here's a longer article
http://www.military.com/NewsContent/0,13319,156222,00.html?wh=wh

The guns were removed by the military, and supposedly the plane was salvaged according to records, but it wasn't... interesting!!!
 
similost said:
Yes, from serial numbers. Here's a longer article
http://www.military.com/NewsContent/0,13319,156222,00.html?wh=wh

The guns were removed by the military, and supposedly the plane was salvaged according to records, but it wasn't... interesting!!!
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Great article. With the astronomical abundance of U.S. military hardware parked all over the English countryside during that era, I wonder if pencil-whipping salvage reports were a common occurrence?

Maybe it went something like this: "Hey Sarge, we got the 50's off her. Look, the tide is comin' in and it's gettin' dark!"
 
Very cool! As a kid I lived 10 miles from the Conferdrate Air Force museum. Now located in Midland-Odessa. Just about every year with the exception of a few I attended the yearly airshows. Got to see up close all the planes I admired. They did several re-enacments like Pearl Harbor raid, Hiroshima A-bomb, even a mock one landing gear down pass.
Although I don't condone war or killing as entertainment it was a great privilege to witness close up some very rare aircraft. At the time they had the only flying Sea Fury and Japanese 'Zero'. My favorites were the Flying Tigers, Mustangs and P-38 Lightnings.
One year they had the 'Sonic' Drive-in mini jets team doing arieal acrobatics. Another they had the Blue Angels, once they had a team of RC flyers that had some of the coolest planes I have ever seen. Very detailed with working landing gear and a few jets that were very cool.
Got to see the Hawker Harrier do vertical take offs. Go over the gulf of Mexico and do sonic boom then do a fly over faster than sound Wow!
Some times they had Cobra helicopters and such. In the end they were taking donations to finish off a Maurader to flying condition. Then the museum was broken up and some ended up in Odessa. It was a drag but I understand they needed to get all those rare aircraft away from the salt air for better preservation. I still have the found memories as a kid.:thmbsp:
I hope this P-38 deal is done right.
 
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