Looking for info on a P-38 crash from August 31, 1947. Probably a P-38L?
Crashed after port engine fire during the Bendix Air Race from L.A. to Cleveland. Pilot Jim Ruble, financed by Texas oil wildcatter Glenn McCarthy, crashed the "Flying Shamrock" P-38 in Northern Arizona.
He bailed out and was picked up by Navajos on horseback at 11:22 AM. He was flown out of a small airfield at Cameron, Arizona. Another article says he was flown out of Flagstaff?
Newspaper accounts give various crash locations from north of Winslow to north of Flagstaff or Kingman. The P-38 was destroyed and abandoned. Warbirds were aplenty at that time...
Newspaper article says he was topping 525 mph (Wow!) when the plane caught fire. He was unhurt.
Where the heck would I find a report on this crash? We are attempting to locate the site and document it.
In a side article from September 4th it says that two Bendix employees escaped death in a crash of an unspecified small plane crash after a forced landing in a cow pasture near Platville, Illinois. The plane exploded and burned but both on board escaped. Destroyed on board was the film of Paul Mantz receiving the trophy for winning the 1947 Bendix race in his P-51 (the Excalibur III, I believe).
Ruble apparently gave the crowd a thrill when he took off and dropped a flaming drop tank off the P-38 (doesnt say whether this was intentional or not).
I am finding it hard to find information on Ruble or this P-38…
--> Chris B.
www.arizonawrecks.com
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