Warbird Information Exchange

Howdy All

Found the following Photo's of McGuire AFB P-38L being put back on display

http://www.clubhyper.com/reference/pudgyivrd_1.htm

Keep Em Flying

Lightning

with all that work and polish doesn't it deserve to be inside a building?
paul

One would think..... Seems to me that a nice replica would be more cost effective. Every 6 months that P-38 come of it's pedistal for it's bi-annual corrosion and maintenance inspection.

Shay
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Semper Fortis

It has been sitting outside like this for the last 20+ years. Really sad to see it like this. As mentioned on this thread it ought to be situated inside! All honors to those (airmen/volunteers???) who do the work on the plane whenever it is needed, but to those in charge, shame, shame. This is really pityful "preservation"!

T J

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Make my day, punk!

My Rant:

No WWII fightershould be sitting outside!

I agree, put it inside and a fiberglass replica on the stupid post

Turned out beautifully.
All I can say is...AW CRAP... that much effort and all we have is another "Gate Guard" to sit outside and waste away. That REALLY SUCKS

Mudge the disappointed

ps. Did I ever mention that the P-38 is my favorite airplane?

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Land of the free because of the brave

Correct me if I'm wrong here, but I remember reading somewhere
that due to severe corrosion issues a lot of skin and various other
parts were replaced with stainless steel

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Don't touch my junk!!

I don't know if the Defense Department would pony up the funds for anything like that, maybe the State of New Jersey would?

Hmmm... its things like this that I can't even imagine how someone would think it is a good idea to leave a P-38 OUTSIDE

That thought wouldn't even cross my mind!

Should be replaced with a fiberglass replica and displayed indoors or even better restored to flying.

I had several coorespondence with Col. Wright, the Base Commander at the time the P-38 was installed (early 1980's). I expressed my concern as a US Citizen and aviation history buff about the merits of displaying the P-38 outdoors. He assured me at that time that it would periodically be taken down from display and refurbished. It's nice to see this has happened recently, but does anyone know if has happened prior to the most recent rufurbishment?

I only wish we had some cash and or stronger input here in CT to give the FG-1D Corsair in Stratford a similar refurbishment. It is an embrassment to the Marine Corps League, which claims ownership, and to local and state pride!

There are some strong personalities involved and I fear that the Corsair will have to fall off the pole before anything is done to save it.
Jerry

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"Always remember that, when you enter the ocean or the forest, you are no longer at the top of the food chain."

Yes Jack... I believe this is true.

Cheers,
Richard

Richard et al--

The stainless steel cladding story rings true with me too. I recall a brief item in one of the Challenge mags about it many years back.

As to making this '38 flyable...actually she was flown in for mounting on the plinth. Reg at the time was N9957F. David Tallichet exchanged this Lightning to the USAF; it was one of two he had at the time, the other being 44-27231/N79123. Interestingly both Lightnings had been racers in the postwar Cleveland National days. The now-McGuire AFB example was MacMillan Oil's "MacMillan Meteor", race #55; the other one (now in the UK) was James Harp's race #95.

"Pudgy" is one of the nicest-looking pylon birds anywhere...but the fact remains that no genuine P-38 (or any other type of that era) ought to be outdoors on a stick in this day and age. Surely she'll come in from the cold someday...as have, for instance, several Canadian Lancasters, the NAS Willow Grove Me262, etc.

S.

I saw the McGuire P-38 yesterday. I drove past it while heading onto and off of the base. I did not grab a cell-phone pic as I did not want to cause any kind of fuss.

It was up on its pole on a nicely landscaped traffic circle. Overall the plane was clean and presented well. The canopy was "blue'd" over like they do in Pima. The aircraft was polished and all the markings looks fresh.

The only thing that really stood out as odd was the lower, front portion of each boom. The metal finish did not match and there were visible panel gaps.

All in all it looked O.K. as I drove past but the job could just as easily be done by a fiberglass replica with this P-38 going indoors somewhere. It looked like a model airplane on a stick. So why not replace it with a 1:1 model.

A couple months ago I asked an acquantance of mine who is active A.F. if the P-38 was on display. He replied... "What is a P-38?" ugh.

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Share your story: Rutgers Oral History Archive http://oralhistory.rutgers.edu/

Are you kidding me??? All that effort and she goes back outside? Surely someone could pony up the funds to have a replica made? I mean if someones going to melt through thousands of feet of Ice to get one then you would think a benefactor would be able to donate towards a fibreglass pudgy?

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Cheers,
Peter

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