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Ed - did you receive the last newsletter from the National Museum of World War II Aviation museum (November 2013)?
If not - here an extract - there is some interesting infos.
"P-38 Restoration in High Gear"
"The Lockheed P-38 Lightning is a legendary World War II fighter, and two -- both with distinguished combat records -- are being brought back to flying condition by Westpac Restorations at the Colorado Springs Airport. 'White 33' will be the first to fly, in a couple of years. It was flown by Kenneth Sparks, who shot down 11 Japanese aircraft as a member of the 39th Fighter Squadron in New Guinea. 'Jandina III' is next in line to fly. It was piloted by Captain Jay T. Robbins of the 80th Fighter Squadron, 8th Fighter Group, also in New Guinea.
Both planes were written off as wrecks in 1944 and buried at Finschhafen, New Guinea. But they were recovered in 1999 and shipped to Westpac in 2003-2004. Parts of three other P-38s also are at Westpac.
The P-38 richly deserves its record as an outstanding American fighter plane. Some 10,000 were built but only a few remain. P-38s were flown in Europe, but were most successful in the Pacific and China-Burma-India theaters, where they downed some 1,800 Japanese aircraft, making aces of more than 100 pilots.
P-38 'White 33,' is being restored for a customer on the west coast. The airplane, a P-38J-5, serial number 42-12652, was among the first Lightnings to be delivered to the Southwest Pacific. 'White 33' was on the first P-38 mission against the Japanese. Most of 'White 33,' which may have been flown by other aces, was recovered. 'We have the wings, it was on its wheels when it was shoved into the pit,' says Westpac's Wojciak. 'It had the tail, but it got broken off and was tucked underneath it, so we have the actual booms, and you can see on the tail it probably had at least four different buzz numbers,' which means it was repaired and returned to service a number of times. It ended up with the 433rd Fighter Squadron, a unit of the Fifth Air Force's 475th Fighter Group. The 39th was a unit of the Fifth's 35th Fighter Group. One of the last pilots to fly 'White 33' apparently was Jerry Gettler of the 475th, whose name was on it when it was recovered.
'Jandina III,' a P-38J-15, serial number 42-103988, was being flown by Capt. Jay T. Robbins on April 12, 1944, when he got his 18th kill and 19th claim. On May 7, 1944, 'Jandina III' lost nose wheel hydraulics returning from a mission. Robbins was instructed to land at an emergency airfield near Saidor, after which the plane was abandoned. It was later moved by barge down the coast to Finschhafen, where, after removal of the tail booms, landing gear, engines and outer wings, the remainder was buried. 'Jandina III' was pulled from the same pit as 'White 33'. Alongside those two was a P-47 Thunderbolt, a D-2-RE model, serial number 42-8074. It's also at Westpac and will fly eventually.'
As replacement parts are made for 'White 33' and 'Jandina III,' Westpac is making duplicates for the other three P-38s slated for restoration, Wojciak says. 'As we build parts for the first one, we're making enough for all five.' "
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