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.