On October 26, 2002, 60 years after landing on the glacier in
Greenland, this sole remaining example of a P38F flew in Middlesboro, KY.
In spite of the sparse crowd the following day, Glacier girl flew again.
This 30 minute flight
included a slow roll.
From the EAA on 1NOV02
Glacier Girl Makes First Flight In 60 Years
An estimated 20,000 spectators, enthusiasts and well-wishers turned out on October 26 to see the long-awaited first flight (in 60 years) of the restored P-38 Glacier Girl in Middlesboro, Kentucky. This is the aircraft that was recovered from under hundreds of feet of ice in Greenland in 1992, 50 years after ditching there during WWII. That same year, the airplane's recovered parts were displayed at the EAA Oshkosh fly-in. It took 10 years to restore the aircraft to pristine, flying condition. Glacier Girl is on display at the Lost Squadron Museum in Middlesboro, and EAA would love to see the aircraft attend AirVenture Oshkosh 2003. The History Channel will chronicle the flight for its documentary on Glacier Girl, set to air March 3, 2003 at 9 p.m. ET.
http://thelostsquadron.com/
By David Wecker, Post staff reporter
MIDDLESBORO - It's mostly a matter of paperwork now that Steve Hinton has been selected as pilot, before the Glacier Girl can head down the runway and, for the first time in 60 years, sail off into the wild blue yonder.
When that glorious day arrives, Clyde Royse will be here to see it happen.
Royse, 81, has made the four-hour pilgrimage from his home in the Price Hill neighborhood of Cincinnati 15 times to update himself on the progress of the Glacier Girl's restoration.
With each visit, Royse gets a lump in his throat. She has that effect on the old veterans who come here from across America to reminisce and pay their respects.
Royse, retired from Cincinnati's city maintenance division, made his first trip in 1992, shortly after the plane was salvaged a section at a time from under 268 feet of glacial ice in Greenland. He'd seen a report about her recovery on the Discovery Channel.
During World War II, he was assigned to a Railway Operating Battalion with the U.S. Army. In Africa, Royse remembers P-38s like the Glacier Girl protecting the harbors, escorting B-17 bombers and eventually helping to turn the tide of the war.
Back in her day, Royse says, there was something big at stake. It's why she was created, and everyone knew it. The P-38 was more than just a plane; she was a symbol of courage and determination and American know-how.
If not for the P-38, Royse says, we'd probably be holding this conversation in German or maybe Japanese. Indeed, it was a P-38 that shot down Admiral Yamamoto, the man who engineered the invasion of Pearl Harbor.
Then when you take into account the tale of this particular P-38 - from her role in the legendary Lost Squadron to her recovery from beneath a half century of accumulated snow and ice to her complete restoration - Royse is betting old soldiers from all over will be on hand when the Glacier Girl takes to the skies again late this summer.
''I know I'll be here,'' he says. ''I got a son and two grandsons who can drive me down if I ain't able.''
The Japanese were bombing Pearl Harbor when Lockheed put the P-38 into production.
The Luftwaffe was hammering London when the first P-38s rolled off the line.
Designed with two tail booms and twin 1,225-horsepower engines, the new plane could fly 400 mph - faster than any other plane at that time.
Four 50-caliber machine guns and a 20-millimeter cannon were mounted in the nose, so that the shells of that awesome artillery, able to punch holes through an enemy's engine block, followed precisely the pilot's path of vision.
In summer '42, six brand new P-38s accompanied a pair of B-17 bombers on a flight from the United States to England. They were to fly into history as the Lost Squadron.
Near Iceland, they encountered a massive storm system. With ice building on their wings, their fuel running low and the clouds growing thicker, the pilots turned back for the safety of the Army's air base in Greenland. Still far from their base, they were forced to crash land in the frozen wasteland.
The first P-38 deployed its landing gears and flipped over. The pilot was unhurt, but the pilots who followed him learned from his mistake and brought their planes down on their bellies. They were 10 miles south of the Arctic Circle.
One of them, Lt. Harry Smith, piloting the plane that would half a century later be dubbed the Glacier Girl, had the presence of mind to shut down his engines and feather back his propellers before landing. All the planes landed without any serious injuries to the 25 pilots and crewmen.
It was the largest forced landing in Air Force history.
It took 11 days to locate and rescue all 25 fliers. The planes were left behind.
When the first snow fell, they disappeared from view.
Twelve expeditions attempted to find the planes of the Lost Squadron.
The first, staged in 1981 by an Atlanta-based group calling itself the Greenland Expedition Society, used radar and succeeded in pinpointing the planes' locations, roughly at the depth of a 27-story office building, at a point in the glacier where the ice was 2,500 feet thick. The glacier had moved the planes a mile closer to the sea.
In 1990, the Greenland Expedition Society melted a shaft in the ice to one of the B-17s, only to find it had been crushed under the pressure of all that ice.
A thirteenth expedition was undertaken in 1992. Roy Shoffner of Middlesboro put up the money. As a boy, he'd read about the P-38's contribution to the effort in World War II. He imagined himself flying one into battle. When his turn came, he piloted an F-89 Scorpion in the Korean War - the Defense Department had scrapped the P-38.
Shoffner had done well for himself after Korea. He owned the Middlesboro Federal Bank, the local supermarket, the KFC. He recruited Bob Cardin, a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel who had helped engineer the GES expedition, which had salvage rights to the Lost Squadron but no money. Shoffner had the money.
He wanted to bring up a P-38. The trick was to find which of the six P-38s had sustained the least damage.
Working with photos the Lost Squadron crewmen took on the ice while waiting to be rescued, Cardin's team decided to go for the one Lt. Smith had flown.
They knew from Smith's account that the plane had been landed without damaging a key piece of gear - the propellers.
A steam-heated probe attached to a 300-foot hose was developed to verify the locations of each plane. With the coordinates to Lt. Smith's plane in hand, a larger ''gopher'' device was created to melt a shaft in the ice large enough for a man to descend on a rope to the plane.
The device looked like a giant toy top, four feet in diameter, with a point at the business end. Using a system of steam-heated copper tubing powered by a 900,000-BTU boiler, the gopher melted its way down through the ice at the rate of two feet per hour. It took a week to reach its target.
Four more shafts were created, one next to the other, creating a slot in the ice that was five feet wide, 20 feet long. Crews descended to the plane below and chipped away at the ice around it.
Then they disassembled the plane and hoisted it up through the slot in pieces.
The recovery of the Glacier Girl took 14 weeks. Shoffner spent $648,000 taking the crew to Greenland and shipping her back to Kentucky. It would take an additional $2.4 million and most of a decade to restore her to flyable condition.
That fall, the Glacier Girl was lying in pieces on the floor of a hangar at the Middlesboro-Bell County Airport. Cardin had left his wife and his home in Atlanta to accept Shoffner's offer to oversee the plane's restoration.
''At first, I considered it just a continuation of the work I'd been doing, something I wanted to see through to the finish,'' Cardin said.
''Then people began coming to see her. They just started showing up. From all over. It was like the movie, where if you build it, the people will come.
''And I began to understand how much this plane meant to them.
''For me, this is much more than a job now. It's an opportunity to preserve a piece of what gave us the freedoms we have today.''
Considering the stress the Glacier Girl had endured, it was decided to completely dismantle her, change all her rivets and rebuild her, using every original piece possible. The only piece that wasn't broken, crushed or bent was the lower portion of the main spar, the rough equivalent of the plane's keel - a thin piece of metal six inches wide and 18 feet long.
The hangar became the P-38 Museum (www.thelostsquadron.com). Nearly 50,000 visitors came here last year.
Shoffner decided a long time ago not to charge admission. He believes the Glacier Girl and her story belong to everyone.
The museum is stocked with compelling displays and photographs of various stages of the recovery in Greenland and the restoration here. More than 150 50-caliber rounds, each signed by an old airman who came to pay his respects to the Glacier Girl and to recollect how he flew a P-38 in the war, are displayed in one glass case.
When the Glacier Girl flies again, Cardin will have those shells loaded in her ammo cases.
''For good luck,'' Cardin explains. ''It can only help.''
In another case is the plane's original transmitter, classified top secret at the time. You can see the bullet holes Lt. Smith pumped into the unit before abandoning the plane, to keep its secrets from falling into enemy hands. Cardin even saved what he could of the air in the original tires - technicians at B.F. Goodrich stored it in Mason jars, which Cardin keeps in his office closet.
Except for the panels around her engine, the restoration is virtually complete.
When Glacier Girl flies again, Cardin said she'll be comprised of about 80 percent of her original parts. The plan is to send her on a tour of the country. Shoffner also intends to retrace her only other flight, the one that began in July 1942 and ended in the Northeastern Arctic.
In one corner of the museum, in the shadow of the Glacier Girl, is a coin-operated airplane ride for small children, the kind you sometimes see outside grocery stores. It was Cardin's idea to put it there, put some stickers on it, do what he could to give it a World War II look.
''A kid comes here, sees the Glacier Girl, takes a ride in that little plane - maybe it makes an impression that sticks with the kid,'' he says.
''You never know when you might plant a seed. That's the way it was for a lot of kids when they first saw the P-38 back in the '40s. I know because a lot of them have come here and told me so.
''That's the thing about the Glacier Girl. She's proof anything in possible.''
N38002 is Assigned
Serial Number L407 Type Registration Corporation
Manufacturer Name HACKER JAMES O Certificate Issue Date 12/19/1983
Model P-38 Status Valid
Type Aircraft Fixed Wing Single-Engine Type Engine Reciprocating
Pending Number Change None Dealer No
Date Change Authorized None Mode S Code 51056675
MFR Year None Fractional Owner NO
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Registered Owner
Name LACKAFF CATTLE CORP
Street 3214 N MADSEN
City SANGER State CALIFORNIA Zip Code 93657
County FRESNO
Country UNITED STATES
N147CS
LC-5162 U S CUSTOMS SERVICE 1300 PENNSYLVANIA AVE NW STE 6.2C
WASHINGTON DC 20229
N148CS
LC-5256 US CUSTOMS SERVICE 1300 PENNSYLVANIA AVE NW STE 6.2C
WASHINGTON DC 20229
Serial Number 152735 Type Registration Government
Manufacturer Name LOCKHEED Certificate Issue Date 02/12/1991
Model P-38 Status Valid
Type Aircraft Fixed Wing Multi-Engine Type Engine Turbo-Prop
Pending Number Change None Dealer No
Date Change Authorized None Mode S Code 51211426
MFR Year None Fractional Owner NO
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Registered Owner
Name NATIONAL AERONAUTICS & SPACE ADMIN
Street HANGAR D 1 ATTN LES BUNTING
City WALLOPS ISLAND State VIRGINIA Zip Code 23337
County ACCOMAC
Country UNITED STATES
N138BB
Serial Number 2001 Type Registration Corporation
Manufacturer Name LOCKHEED-BOUGHTON AIR REP INC Certificate Issue Date 07/15/1981
Model P-38 Status Undeliverable Triennial
Type Aircraft Fixed Wing Multi-Engine Type Engine Reciprocating
Pending Number Change None Dealer No
Date Change Authorized None Mode S Code 50114404
MFR Year None Fractional Owner NO
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Registered Owner
Name BOUGHTON AIR REPLICAS INC
Street 7 EAST GIBSON AVENUE
City PORTERVILLE State CALIFORNIA Zip Code 93257
County TULARE
Country UNITED STATES
N38LL
Serial Number AAF 42-104088 Type Registration Corporation
Manufacturer Name LOCKHEED-CONFEDERATE AIRFORCE Certificate Issue Date 10/16/1991
Model P-38 Status Undeliverable Triennial
Type Aircraft Fixed Wing Multi-Engine Type Engine Reciprocating
Pending Number Change None Dealer No
Date Change Authorized None Mode S Code 51054766
MFR Year 1975 Fractional Owner NO
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Registered Owner
Name AMERICAN AIRPOWER HER FLYING MUS
Street PO BOX 62000
City MIDLAND State TEXAS Zip Code 79711-2000
County MIDLAND
Country UNITED STATES
N3221U
Serial Number L378 Type Registration Individual
Manufacturer Name MITCHELL AIRCRAFT CORP Certificate Issue Date None
Model P-38 Status Valid
Type Aircraft Fixed Wing Single-Engine Type Engine Reciprocating
Pending Number Change None Dealer No
Date Change Authorized None Mode S Code 50674114
MFR Year None Fractional Owner NO
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Registered Owner
Name SALE REPORTED
Street 1900 S NEWCOMB
City PORTERVILLE State CALIFORNIA Zip Code 93257
County TULARE
Country UNITED STATES
N38PJ
Serial Number P38-1 Type Registration Co-Owner
Manufacturer Name OHARA JAMES C Certificate Issue Date 08/26/2002
Model P-38 Status Valid
Type Aircraft Fixed Wing Multi-Engine Type Engine Reciprocating
Pending Number Change None Dealer No
Date Change Authorized None Mode S Code 51055077
MFR Year None Fractional Owner NO
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Registered Owner
Name OHARA JAMES C
Street 3106 OAK MOUNTAIN TRL
City SAN ANGELO State TEXAS Zip Code 76904-7425
County TOM GREEN
Country UNITED STATES
N3942B
Serial Number L-192 Type Registration Individual
Manufacturer Name TURNER LESLIE Certificate Issue Date 08/10/1983
Model P-38 LIGHTNING Status Valid
Type Aircraft Fixed Wing Single-Engine Type Engine Reciprocating
Pending Number Change None Dealer No
Date Change Authorized None Mode S Code 51112105
MFR Year None Fractional Owner NO
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Registered Owner
Name TURNER LESLIE
Street 142 PLAINS RD
City NEW PALTZ State NEW YORK Zip Code 12561
County ULSTER
Country UNITED STATES
N138AM
Serial Number 44-23314 Type Registration Corporation
Manufacturer Name LOCKHEED Certificate Issue Date 09/18/1998
Model P-38J Status Valid
Type Aircraft Fixed Wing Multi-Engine Type Engine Turbo-Shaft
Pending Number Change None Dealer No
Date Change Authorized None Mode S Code 50114365
MFR Year 1943 Fractional Owner NO
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Registered Owner
Name AIR MUSEUM INC
Street 7000 MERRILL AVE STE 17
City CHINO State CALIFORNIA Zip Code 91710-9084
County SAN BERNARDINO
Country UNITED STATES
N17630
Serial Number 41-7630 Type Registration Corporation
Manufacturer Name LOCKHEED Certificate Issue Date 10/07/2002
Model P38F Status Valid
Type Aircraft Fixed Wing Multi-Engine Type Engine Turbo-Prop
Pending Number Change None Dealer No
Date Change Authorized None Mode S Code 50231121
MFR Year None Fractional Owner NO
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Registered Owner
Name LOST SQUADRON MUSEUM
Street 1420 DORCHESTER ST
BELL COUNTY AIRPORT
City MIDDLESBORO State KENTUCKY Zip Code 40965-2227
County BELL
Country UNITED STATES
N2114L
8273 (44-27083) ERICKSON JACK A 4900 SW GRIFFITH DR STE 133
BEAVERTON OR 97005
N3800L
8342 EAA AVIATION FOUNDATION INC PO BOX 3065
OSHKOSH WI 54903
N3JB
44-53097 WINDWARD AVIATION INC 4636 FALCON CIR DR
MESA AZ 85205
N505MH
197425-501 EVERGREEN VINTAGE AIRCRAFT INC 3850 THREE MILE LN
MCMINNVILLE OR 97128
N5596V
7985 LIBERTY AERO CORPORATION 2951 28TH ST
SANTA MONICA CA 90405-2961
N718
8187 NICHOLS CHARLES F 13470 DALEWOOD ST
BALDWIN PARK CA 91706-5834
N7973
8006 PRUETT BRUCE L PO BOX 389
LIVERMORE CA 94551-0389
N9005R
44-53095 AIR-SRV INC PO BOX 3099
GALVESTON TX 77552-0099
N55929
Serial Number 42-13400 Type Registration Corporation
Manufacturer Name LOCKHEED/US HIST ACFT MUSEUM Certificate Issue Date 09/11/1984
Model P-38L (F-5G) Status Undeliverable Triennial
Type Aircraft Fixed Wing Multi-Engine Type Engine Reciprocating
Pending Number Change None Dealer No
Date Change Authorized None Mode S Code 51621632
MFR Year None Fractional Owner NO
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Registered Owner
Name AMERICAN VETERANS MEMORIAL MUSEUM
Street PO BOX 10154
City DENVER State COLORADO Zip Code 80210
County DENVER
Country UNITED STATES
N79123
Serial Number 422-8235 Type Registration Corporation
Manufacturer Name LOCKHEED Certificate Issue Date 04/05/2001
Model P-38L(F-FG) Status Valid
Type Aircraft Fixed Wing Multi-Engine Type Engine Reciprocating
Pending Number Change None Dealer No
Date Change Authorized None Mode S Code 52537166
MFR Year 1945 Fractional Owner NO
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Registered Owner
Name FLYING HERITAGE INC
Street 505 5TH AVE S STE 900
City SEATTLE State WASHINGTON Zip Code 98104-3821
County KING
Country UNITED STATES
N2897S
44-26761 WEEKS AIR MUSEUM INC 9430 SW 136 ST
MIAMI FL 33176
N6961
44-26961 DEAHL JOHN G 3130 EAST OHIO WAY
DENVER CO 80209
N25Y
Serial Number 5339 Type Registration Individual
Manufacturer Name LOCKHEED Certificate Issue Date 10/28/1993
Model P-38L-5LD Status Undeliverable Triennial
Type Aircraft Fixed Wing Multi-Engine Type Engine Reciprocating
Pending Number Change None Dealer No
Date Change Authorized None Mode S Code 50453513
MFR Year 1944 Fractional Owner NO
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Registered Owner
Name GARDNER MARVIN I
Street 203 DASHER
City AUSTIN State TEXAS Zip Code 78734
County TRAVIS
Country UNITED STATES
