Warbird Obsession
It's an addiction. Admitting you have it is the first step.
- By Rebecca Maksel
- AirSpaceMag.com, December 03, 2008
John M. Dibbs / The Plane Picture Co.
The French writer-aviator Antoine De Saint-Exupéry considered the P-38 “a flying torpedo that has nothing whatever to do with flying and, with all its dials and buttons, makes its pilot a sort of chief accountant.” The sturdy Lightning, however, is considered the most successful twin-engine fighter ever flown—by any nation. The first P-38s reached the Pacific Theater on April 4, 1942, joining the 8th Photographic Squadron (based in Australia), and flying combat missions over New Guinea and New Britain later that month. Meanwhile, back in the United States, the Army Air Forces was trying to dispel reports that Lightnings were death traps. “[There’s a] common rumor out there that the whole West Coast was filled with headless bodies of men who jumped out of P-38s and had their heads cut off by the propellers,” Col. Arthur Ennis, chief of public relations, told a fellow officer. (Read more about the P-38's history.) More than 10,000 P-38s were built before production ended in 1945. The P-38J pictured here, Joltin’ Jose, is from the Planes of Fame Museum based in Chino, California.
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Comments (7)
Nice photo and info about the P38.
My Mother's youngest brother was a photographer in the US Army, stationed in Australia during WWII. He was killed along with the other crew while on a recon mission over New Guinea in a P38 in late 1942. The wreckage was not found until 1961 and the remains, identified by dog-tags, are buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
Posted by R. C. Rogers on December 22,2008 | 02:44 PM
Saw a Spitfire fly in Owls Head ,Maine in the late 1970s. I heard the owners last name was Rockefeller,and it was WONDERFUL to HEAR that engine going at "full chat" at about 500 ft with a pilot who was driving it like he stole it! I still have the photos of that great plane from that great day on my desk, 30 years after... The magic of that day has allowed the smells,sounds, and SIGHTs to remain with me. It was a very good day!
Posted by Brian Beauregard on August 31,2009 | 09:21 PM
In 1955 I was just back from learning to fly an Aeronca when our little remote grass field on a hilltop was buzzed by a F-51 from the New York National Guard. (This happened several times that summer.) That was it and my obsession continues. The gathering of mustangs in Ohio was sensory overload. My Air Force duty just pacified my need to be near aircraft but B-47's just didn't do it. Went to an air show once and 3 Mustangs in a tight formation picture pass with Merlins wide open, Wow! said to my adult son "damn that's better than sex", he did give me a strange look but I could see he also understood. My dream even at 71 is to someday take a ride in Crazy Horse down in Kissimmee, Fl. My finger prints are on her as she was at Ohio.
Posted by Don Brooks on December 4,2009 | 10:28 PM
Warbird aviation is an addiction that gets inside almost everyone because it stimulates all of your senses thouroughly!-"How can you not appreciate and marvel at what history has given to us as pilots,to fly or engage in at some level as crew or spectators"!
Posted by Kent Carlomagno on January 2,2010 | 12:33 PM
I bought this book for my son Jacob, who immediately spotted that his favorite aircraft of the period, the B-29, was not included. In such a comprehensive survey, one wonders why?
Posted by sam Engelstad on April 17,2010 | 11:33 AM
The P-47N model could hold two 1,000 pound bombs, one 500 pound bomb, eight .50 caliber guns, and ten HVAR rockets.
Posted by Josh on January 20,2011 | 06:00 PM
I consider myself very fortunate, I am a Docent at the Flying Heritage Collection in Everett. I get to watch these planes fly from Memorial Day until September. This is Paul Allen's private collection.
Posted by Alan Gale on March 4,2011 | 04:12 PM