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Yup I'm still here and Rusty is right... You BET I'll
throw in two cents worth here!
Now, if I am thinking correctly, the
Brit/Canadian version of the P-38 had Allisons with no turbos and also did not
have counter-rotating props. That was one of the mods. You had to have a nearly
entirely different parts inventory for the backwards engine. I don't think there
were any backwards Merlins, either, so that makes a lot of sense in the supply
line.
This is an amazing find, Todd. Charlie is
right, too. The Navy can use maritime law to reclaim anything in any country for
an unlimited time. The Air Force doesn't care once it is written off their
inventory. Sounds like you just bought yourself a P-38 my friend!
This looks WAY too far gone to salvage as a
restoration, though. Might be nice to build a model and paint it up as this one
appeared originally. That way you could show visitors what that ball of metal
sticking out of the ground really is. The RCAF might be able to help you track
down the records if you contact their historical dept. Contact one of the
museums up there and they will probably jump at the chance to help track this
down.
The number on the clamp is really not very
useful. That would be like trying to identify a car by a radiator clamp number.
You might look for a number on that prop, though. That should be
traceable.
You can email me directly about
this if everybody gets pissy about this being "off topic". This is
extremely cool. Mike C.
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Tuesday, July 26, 2005 3:06
AM
Subject: [FlyRotary] There's a P-38
Lightning in my backyard!
Yup, that seems to
be the case. Sometime in the '50s a P-38 Lightning that was owned by a local
aerial mapping company crashed into the river cutbanks. I'd known about it for
years and even knew the general area where it was, but the few locals
that knew anything about it said that the bank had slid in the years
since and that very little of what had remained after the post crash fire was
still visible.
Well, we recently bought a place that I knew was very close to the area where
the wreck was supposed to have happened, so we went looking. A few years back
the city has routed the road ditches to drain the spring run-off down through
the ravine that crosses our property and this run-off water has begun to erode
the mud, uncovering parts of the wreck on our land! As can be seen in the
pics, there is not much left, however the story has it that only one of the
engines was ever recovered from the wreck as the other one was buried. The
propeller blade that can be seen is still solidly attached to something and
there is possible evidence of an engine below it in the mud, such as a scat
tube and baffle material. This would have been a Rolls Royce Merlin V-12, so
while restoration to operational status is beyond question it would be
interesting to excavate it and clean it up for display simply to preserve a
unique piece of local aviation history.
The wreck is located a mere 250' from my house but approx 200' down in a deep
ravine which will make any excavation very difficult. The first pic shows a
few numbers that I found on a metal band beneath the prop. The second shows
the visible portion of the prop. 3rd pic shows a control surface of some kind
- possibly an elevator? 4th pic possibly may be one of the tailcones
embedded in the bank. 5th pic is an aerial photo of my place with terrain
contours showing location of the prop in relation to my house. I'd like to
find out more about the history of this particular aircraft so I'm hoping the
numbers stamped in the metal band can be traced to provide me with
more of this info.
There is an interesting story as to how the plane wreck happened (yes Rusty,
it involves beer), however I've only heard the story and would like to find a
few more facts before I relay it. The library has the local newspaper from
that time on microfilm, but I imagine that will a be a long process to find
it, so I won't have time for it for awhile. (besides, I'll have to pay my
fine for overdue books :-)
Todd Bartrim
RV9Endurance
13B Turbo Rotary
C-FSTB
"The world will always have a place for those that bring hard work and
determination to the things they do."
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