Horsefly Posted November 17, 2007 Report Share Posted November 17, 2007 A P-38 Lightning was found on the beach in Whales.I saw a piece of a news clip that showed it from the air,and it looked complete.I sure hope it's restoreable.I love WW11 fighter aircraft,and the P-38 was always my favorite.I've only seen one flying,and that was at the Confederate Air Force Air Show at Midland-Odessa Air Show. Jerry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swamprat Posted November 17, 2007 Report Share Posted November 17, 2007 Jerry, Here is the story. WWII P38 Found in Wales -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WWII Fighter Plane Discovered on Beach By RICHARD PYLE,AP Posted: 2007-11-14 19:09:09 Filed Under: Nation News, World News NEW YORK (Nov. 14) - 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. Photo Gallery: Buried for 65 Years TIGHAR / AP An American P-38 fighter plane was found on a Welsh beach in July after unusual weather caused the sand on top of it to shift and erode. A fuel problem forced the aircraft to make an emergency landing in 1942. 1 of 3 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. Swamprat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
724wd Posted November 18, 2007 Report Share Posted November 18, 2007 anybody else picture a whale eating an airplane? made the story more interesing... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AzRednek Posted November 18, 2007 Report Share Posted November 18, 2007 anybody else picture a whale eating an airplane? made the story more interesing... I pictured a whale eating the WW2 German pistol!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsefly Posted November 18, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 18, 2007 Sorry about the whale thing.I caught the spelling after I hit send.Now,if they'd just find a plane in Chili,Grease,or Hungry,I could make a complete fool of myself.Nope,reckon I already have! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AzRednek Posted November 18, 2007 Report Share Posted November 18, 2007 Sorry about the whale thing.I caught the spelling after I hit send.Now,if they'd just find a plane in Chili,Grease,or Hungry,I could make a complete fool of myself.Nope,reckon I already have! Fly don't feel bad about the Moby Dick story. If I didn't rely heavily on dictionary.com and MS Word, my posts would be full of errors. English and spelling weren't exactly my favorite or best school subjects. About 20 years ago somebody turned up a WW2 crash here in Arizona in an area known as Four Peaks. Somebody along the way discovered it, as the machineguns, ammo and other items were missing. The human remains were scattered by coyotes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
724wd Posted November 18, 2007 Report Share Posted November 18, 2007 jerry, all in jest, my friend! that's quite an interesting story. i like the WWII fighters, but dont know a lot about them. i honestly didnt make the whales / wales misspelling until you pointed it out! for some reason, whales seemed perfectly fine for the spelling of Wales! huh, guess maybe i should look at spellcheck, myself! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AzRednek Posted November 19, 2007 Report Share Posted November 19, 2007 Fly hope you have a good sense of humor and can take a razzing, I didn't want to do this but 724wd made me do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsefly Posted November 19, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 19, 2007 AZ,you dang sure have a sense of humor.I'm still laughing at the fish with flowers on it.Nice P-38 too! You dudes can jack with me all you want,'cause that's what friends are for.I thought the fighter find was breaking news and didn't realize it was months back and the Limies were keeping it quiet so looters wouldn't find it.Jerry PAYBACKS ARE HELL!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fritz Posted November 20, 2007 Report Share Posted November 20, 2007 About 20 miles from the ranch where I was born and raised, there was a training base for WW2 pilots. They flew the AT-6 Texan (I believe it was called) but it has been a long time ago. Like 1944. They would practice dog fights over our ranch, and at least three of them crashed, two on our place and another on a neighbor's farm. My dad had an old Mexican ranch hand (he was legal) living close to where one of them came to rest. The pilot got out by 'chute, but the other pilot didn't make it. They came and carried his body out on sheets. The old Mexican lived about a half mile from the ranch house, and my dad said he came running up saying something in Spanish that sounded like "Caramba! Aeorplano!" It crashed within yards of his house, and he was really shakened. It happened often that two planes would collide, and there are still two craters (from different crashes) on that place. We sold the land years ago, but I found many pieces of the old planes in the craters. The Army Air Force would remove as much as they could find, but I found parts scattered arround the ranch for years. One part was a complete radial cylinder from the engine. Far from the crater. Those were dangerous times, here as well as overseas, for the pilots who trained for combat. Many of them did not make it to where the war was fought. fritz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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