Lockheed P-38 Lightning found 60 years later...

My father sent me an interesting article about a Lockheed P-38 Lightning that ran out of fuel 60 years ago. It recently resurfaced almost intact after being buried in the sands on a Wales beach.

Here is the article my father sent me in Danish, has a great picture of the plane.

Article

Here is the article in English for those of us who can't read Danish.

English Article, no great pic.

reply to post by Rhain


Neat article. Thanks for posting it, especially in both languages for someone like me. Great pictures and great read. Just to add though...

Wouldn't it be very cool if the story of who was flying it, where they were headed, and what the mission might have been were published?

My favorite WW2 warbird. I haven't seen one in the air yet but hope to someday. Maybe someone will restore this old bird like Glacier Girl.

reply to post by sigung86


The pilot 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 problem forced him to make an emergency landing

He belly landed in the shallow water, and Elliott escaped unhurt. Elliott was shot down about 3 months later, in North Africa. his body and plane were never found.


Elliotts nephew Robert had spent nearly 30 years trying to learn more about his uncles career and death and he knew all about the crash in Wales. He is hoping to be at the recovery of the plane

reply to post by sigung86


I will check with my father if it is mentioned in the Danish article or not. We always exchange interesting stories like this. Last one we enjoyed was the airplanes found deep in ice after years missing.

Story

Hopefully they can restore it enough to display, the P -38 is one of my all time favorite looking aircraft. It produced America's top ace of WWII. I'd love to see one up close or even flying. I saw some Mustangs at and Air show and they just rocked.

My great uncle was shot down by previously unknown anti aircraft fire in the pacific on a convoy straffing mission. I've been partial to it ever since I was a little kid, and was probably the reason behind wanting to be an A-10 pilot. Beautiful plane.

having been stationed as a radar operator onboard (o.s. 2/ e5) a carrier for four years (uss nimitz, cvn 68 87-91) i have seen too many jets! LOL! i now enjoy the old warbirds like this. when i saw this story, i thought it was pretty cool that this piece of history was unearthed. amazing that so many ww2 planes were built by the 1000s, yet now there are only a handful left. sad to see that this guys is his ONLY living relative though. kind of strange how a family line can die off like this.

reply to post by ajsr71


Thank you for the information, very much appreciated.

The Glacier Girl has pictures all over the internet (when I googled her for the above link). I wonder if she is doing the air show rounds. Would be a grand thing to witness, that long wing span cutting into the air with all her grace.

[edit on 19/11/07 by Rhain]

Awesom article! I've always thought th P-38 looked cool. Of course, aything about te P-38, P-51D, and Me262 WWII aircraft is always intresting to read about and study.

I've always been puzzled by the fascination with the P-38, from an aesthetic point of view, as I have always found it to be one of the most unappealing looking planes ever made, For me the most attractive looking twins of WW2 are the Breguet 690 series and the Bristol Beaufighter, maybe its me that is odd.

Originally posted by waynos
I've always been puzzled by the fascination with the P-38, from an aesthetic point of view, as I have always found it to be one of the most unappealing looking planes ever made, For me the most attractive looking twins of WW2 are the Breguet 690 series and the Bristol Beaufighter, maybe its me that is odd.

Blasphemy!

She's a Beautiful plane. The P-38 had a slim and smart design for a twin engine aircraft, it had outstanding performance, and it could carry an amazing load of weapons into combat.

Get's my vote for best warbird WW2 every single time.

reply to post by on_yur_6


In complete agreement!


The P-51 was beautiful too, but the lightening just has "something" about it. Just a mean old warbird!