Putt Putt Maru

[Chuck Gardner]

[JohnTerrell]

It is nice to see the flying P-38 population have such a recent resurgence! Thank you for the photos, Chuck! I'm definitely looking forwad to seeing it when its new paint scheme is finished.

[Mike]

Great news, so we've gone from a single P-38 flying 2 years ago (PoF's) to six.

[Elroy13]

Thanks for the pics Chuck!!!

[Nathan]

WOW! All these P-38's latley taking to the air makes me so happy! I feel a P-38 gathering coming on. How cool would that be?

[TimAPNY]

cool, Great pictures. Thanks for posting them.


Great job on the a/c to those who worked on it.
Tim

[Nathan]

Are there any more P-38's we will be seeing take to the air in the next few years?

nice to see it with air under the wings instead of a roof over'em

Steve

[Tom Moungovan]

Am curious about the origin of this name...the reason being that there was a Japanese airfield or base called Putt Putt on New Britain near Rabaul. It was not too far from Keravat. Any relation or just the name reflecting something putting along?
Thanks for any help

[steve dickey]

Thanks for sharing Chuck!

[wls3]

Chuck,

Thanks for the info and photos.
Wish I could have been there.

[Canso42]

I'm ready to see a P-38 gathering too. Ruff Stuff at LSFM airshow in April is the first P-38 I can remember seeing fly. Good to see another hangar queen getting some air.
Doug

[David_Aiken]

Charles McDonald and John Loisel... would be proud!

Charles McDonald turned his plane over to John Loisel when he left the unit...and Loisel was talking his unit down thru to land in foggy condition...while Putt Putt Maru was setting at the end of the active runway. A P-38 did not turn off the active at the final turn off and plowed Putt Putt Maru into pieces, tho John got out ...to be able to have lunch with me in May 1976.

Charles McDonald flew the first night fighter interception ...over Oahu on the night of 7 Dec 1941...he had tried to intercept the planet Venus! Of interest, his room mate in 1941 was Lt Kermit Tyler.

I had a wonderful day on 6 Dec 1991 when I introduced Kermit to Joe Lockard and George Elliott AT Opana Ridge, Oahu. They had never met prior to that day, yet their names had been connected for 50 years!

Thanks for the memory,
Cheers!

[octane130]

I am guessing that the photos are of Putt Putt Maru's first flight. If so, that would be Steve Hinton at the controls. He seems to to perform the first flights of most of the restored warbirds in recent years! With well over 10,000 hours (yes 10,000) of civilian warbird time and running a warbird restoration business of his own for many years, that is really no surprise at all.

Steve also performed the first flight of the restored Red Bull P-38 just a few days earlier in Texas (June 2, 2008). This is Lefty Gardner's former "White Lightnin', restored after a crash landing a few years earlier.

This makes a total of 6 flyable P-38s in the world today. Quite remarkable considering the complexity of the P-38, limited parts availabilty, etc.!

[corsair166b]

Which brings up the impossibility of a P-38 gathering....Steve Hinton simply can't be in 6 cockpits at one time!!

Oh, for another qualified P-38 jock somewhere...anyone willing to take THAT task on?

Mark