I saw an article in the Houston Chronicle, one that disappeared soon thereafter and I was glad I’d taken the time to clip and save it to my files; it has since reappeared and hopefully the link provided below will work. Tricia Cortez of the Laredo Morning Times wrote, “Warplane tries to finish mission – 65 years later”, about a plane from the Lost Squadron, reclaimed from an icy grave in Greenland and fully restored. Here’s a line from the article:"People think old planes are like old Model-T cars and trucks, but not at all," he said. "They are like Porsches and Ferraris. They are responsive and can go very fast. This plane is no exception."
I watched a documentary on this on going story a while back which provided considerable insight as to how such an undertaking was carried out. “The Hunt for the Lost Squadron” and “Glacier Girl”, as this one particular aircraft has come to be called, was very similar to, “The Secret Lies with Charlotte”, a line from the movie National Treasure; complete with eccentric motivated treasure hounds, incredible odds for success and lots of nasty extremely cold weather.
Maybe this story wouldn’t be so stimulating if there were lots of P38’s left over for us to see; but from what I gather this is one of only three working P38 aircraft to have survived WWII. ( click on image to enlarge ) I’ve been to the Smithsonian where the Wright Brother’s plane and The Spirit of St. Louis hang from the ceiling; just being near them sends goose bumps down my back. These are more than pieces of wood, metal and spit holding the fabric down; they are reminders of struggles faced by real people, struggles either won or lost; but which testify of our never ending desire to come out on top.
References/Links: ( I couldn't get my HTML language to work; sorry )
Warplane tries to finish mission — 65 years later
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/metro/4914095.html
Glacier Girl Flies Again
http://www.geocities.com/stearmanlady/ggf.html
Time Machine: The Hunt for the Lost Squadron
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0408268/
AETN proudly presents, The Lost Squadron, a documentary that profiles the restoration of a World War II P-38
http://www.aetn.org/lostsquadron/
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