Whatever happened to this P-38?

[Mark Allen M]

The shark teeth P-38 in the forground. Used to be a favorite of mine. Saw it once I believe at Oshkosh or Reno, can't remember where now. But I liked the scheme. A quick scan in the Registry turned up nothing.



Whoops! This one now. Answered my own question.

Last edited by Mark Allen M on Mon Mar 26, 2012 7:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[B-17 Buff]

*deleted*

[Mark Allen M]

Nope! the P-38 in the forground, I already know that's the 'Red Bull' / 'White lighting' P-38 in the background.

[Lynn Allen]

I do believe that is the late Gary Levitz's P-38 which is the one show in Chuck Gardner's picture..

[Lightjug]

This one?
http://www.warbirdregistry.org/p38regis ... 53193.html

[Mark Allen M]

This one?
http://www.warbirdregistry.org/p38regis ... 53193.html

Nope!

[Mike]

viewtopic.php?p=300007

http://www.warbirdregistry.org/p38regis ... 27053.html

[John Kerr]

Yes it is N345 when owned by Gary Levitz: Photo taken at Reno, NV.


P-38L 44-27087 NX65485 Russell C. Reeves, Tulsa OK 4.46/50
F-5G (purchased ex War Assets Admin., Kingman AZ)
N65485 Tennessee Valley Authority TN: survey ops. 11.50/53
Aero Service Corp, Philadelphia PA: survey 7.53/57
op: World Wide Surveys Inc (fleet #2) 54/55
(ferried to Europe for survey work via Prestwick,
Scotland 3.5.54, returned to US via Shannon 23.10.54;
Keflavik-Prestwick 6.7.55, to USA via Prestwick 10.55)
N345 James M. Cook, Dallas TX: weather research 1.57/69
Gary R. Levitz/ Confederate AF, Dallas TX 6.69/83
(race #55; #38 "Double Trouble")
dam., undercarriage collapse, Reno NV 9.83
N345DN Invader Aviation, Wilmington DE 11.83/84
John MacGuire, MacGuire Ranch, El Paso TX .84/87
N577JB John MacGuire, El Paso TX 4.87/94
John MacGuire/ War Eagles Air Museum,
Santa Teresa NM: del. .90/08
(displ. glossy black, "N345 Relampago")
(USCR quotes c/n 8091)
________________________________________________________________________________________

[Mark Allen M]

Anyone know why the particular reason for the 'all black' scheme with silver prop blades? just curious

[Speedy]

Anyone know why the particular reason for the 'all black' scheme with silver prop blades? just curious

Because Levitz wanted it that way?

As I recall, and it has been a long time mind you....Gary had it painted in the Pseudo-warbird scheme "Double Trouble" as in the photo above and the intention had been to restore it and donate it to the Confederate Air Force--of which Gary was a player at the time. They stripped all the paint off it in 1978 and spent the next two years 'kind of' restoring it in Phoenix. But at the same time Gary was becoming more and more disenchanted with the CAF so about 1980 or so he decided he was going to keep the P-38 and when he moved to Fort Lauderdale it came with him and just sat in a hangar.

Gary bought a P-51 (Kangaroo) from the Whittington brothers and raced it in 1981, with the intention of running it in 1982 as well. But a couple weeks before the races, he sold the plane to Wiley Sanders (would become Jeannie Too). So for 1983 he decided to haul out the P-38 again. He 'got the band back together' (Ralph Payne, Rotten Richard, Big John, Big John, and Ron Fortune) and they got the plane airworthy again. It was still unpainted, so Gary decided he wanted to run something completely different...and after tossing around ideas, they settled on an all gloss black scheme with polished blades and gear doors, with #38 on the tail in red and white 'Japanese-style' font. It looked badass, but it made the plane look really small for some reason.

So at Reno '83 they were getting ready for qualifying, and Rotten Richard got up in the cockpit to do a ground runup. In the process of getting in, he somehow managed to move the landing gear selector to the up position, so as soon as he started the right hand engine up, the main gear started to retract....in slow motion on the ramp. As it was relayed to me, Gary turned to Ralph Payne who was standing next to him watching it happen and said "If I had a gun right now I'd shoot him....."

The P-38 had a bent prop and tail boom on the right side and Gary was fed up with what had happened, so he left it at Stead and sold it to a guy in Delaware. They restored the plane back to airworthy (I have photos of it sitting on the ramp in '84 still dressed in black but with zinc chromate replacement parts), and ultimately sold it to John MacGuire in New Mexico....and as far as I know all they did at the museum was take the race number off the tail, paint the zinc parts black, flew it a couple times, and it's been sitting in the museum ever since......

I know that in later years, Gary very much regretted having sold it and as he put it 'still missed that old girl'. But by then he was running his red Mustang and was about to buy into the Lear-stang racer project, so.....

I'm glad War Eagles kept it black. Just wish they'd put the #38 back on the tail.

[cwmc]

I was there when Fish and Tony flew those together. I've got to find that magazine!
Do you remember the reason it ended up in the swimming pool? I remember that is the reason it was getting restored in Scottsdale, and when I saw it it looked deep and fully in the resto department , especially with the chrome gear, which I love.
Chris...

[Mark Allen M]

I was there when Fish and Tony flew those together. I've got to find that magazine!

1976 Mojave Air Races program centerfold photo, Mojave, CA

Do you remember the reason it ended up in the swimming pool?

Please do explain

[cwmc]

I was there when Fish and Tony flew those together. I've got to find that magazine!

1976 Mojave Air Races program centerfold photo, Mojave, CA

No wonder,
I drove by myself and so little money Lyle gave me 5 bucks on Sunday before we left to eat and buy gas to get to Huntington Beach.

[Speedy]

After the repair work on the ramp at Reno '84.

[Mark Allen M]

Just not sold on the 'all black' scheme. You are correct it does look a bit smaller in black. Even the photo looks smaller I would have loved to see a few red trim lines or even the shark teeth added to the black though, and with the red #'s on the tail, a few red trim lines would have been a nice touch, but that's just me ... and yes I know, not my plane.

I would imagine it was extremely hot around that plane at Mohave or Reno.