Ode To The P-38

livingwarbirds · **Joined:** Mon Jul 07, 2008 10:01 pm **Posts:** 33

Ode To The P-38

Oh, Hedy Lamarr is a beautiful gal, and Madeleine Carroll is too,
But you'll find if you query, a different theory amongst any bomber crew
For the loveliest thing of which one could sing (this side of the pearly gates)
Is no blonde or brunette of the Hollywood set -
But an escort of P-38s.

Yes, in the days that have passed,
when the tables were massed with glasses of scotch and champagne,
It's quite true that the sight was a thing of delight us,
intent on feeling no pain.
But no longer the same, nowadays is this game
When we head north for Messina Straits
Take the sparkling wine-every time,
just make mine an escort of P-38s.

Byron, Shelley and Keats ran a dozen dead heats
Describing the views from the hills,
of the valleys in May when the winds gently sway
In the air it's a different story;
We sweat out our track through the fighters and flak
We're willing to split up the glory
Well, they wouldn't reject us, so heaven protect us
and, until all this shooting abates,
Give us courage to fight 'em - one other small item -
an escort of P-38s.

— Frederic Arnold Quote, 'Kohn's War'

Dan K · **Posted:** Wed Nov 25, 2009 12:48 pm

Word to the Wise

The P-38 is a smooth little crate
That will go as though chased by the devil.
It will do loop-the-loops, alone or in groups,
And it rides like a dream on the level.

But the P-38 is a plane that I hate;
Its tail is, I must say, askew.
If you’re caught in a slump, and called on to jump,
Here’s what P-38’s do to you:

They chop you in pieces up there where the fleece is
(You are cut quite in two when you bail);
The reason for this is, the same as with kisses,
You can’t jump two pieces of tail.

So pilots beware when you take to the air
And through the bright blue blithely sail;
You can handle its rudder unlike any other,
But you can’t jump two pieces of tail.

anon

Holedigger · **Posted:** Wed Nov 25, 2009 1:26 pm

Don't give me a P-38 with props that counter-rotate
They'll loop, roll and spin but they'll soon auger in
Don't give me a P-38!

Just make me Operations
Way out on some lonely atoll
For I am too young to die
I just want to go home.

Mudge · **Posted:** Wed Nov 25, 2009 2:39 pm

Hadn't thought about it before but...how did one safely bail out of a P-38?
I've got ideas but would like to hear some "straight scoop".
I can see where it might be a rock and a hard place.
Jump and you're likely to be killed by the tail section. Ride it down and your odds of survival are considerably less. Or are they?

Mudge the curious

Dan K · **Posted:** Wed Nov 25, 2009 3:54 pm

Mudge wrote:

Hadn't thought about it before but...how did one safely bail out of a P-38?

One early pilot training film suggests:

1) Roll inverted and drop out, or

2) Crouch on wing root and slide off trailing edge, dropping between the booms. Stand & jump would pretty much ruin pilot's entire day.

Cking · **Posted:** Wed Nov 25, 2009 6:16 pm

IF it was by a B-24 gunner (IF) that last line

Give us courage to fight 'em - one other small item -
an escort of P-38s.

is quite special.

Now how about my "Franken racer" idea.. A P-38 with two RR Griffon's out of a Shckleton???

Rgds Cking

Ken · **Posted:** Tue Aug 02, 2016 7:51 am

Now the ultimate tribute - must-see video:

https://youtu.be/lMBh7t9G6Fc

Eric1001 · **Joined:** Sat Feb 19, 2011 11:58 am **Posts:** 51

In an amazing coincidence the Lest We Forget: The Mission exhibit mentioned in the video has been finished and is opening on 08-06-2016 in the Wings over the Rockies Museum in Denver:

http://wingsmuseum.org/event-calendar/lest-forget-mission-exhibit-opening/

http://lestweforgetsculpture.org/

Eric

JohnB · **Posted:** Tue Aug 02, 2016 4:45 pm

For many years, the first poem was displayed alongside the P-38 at the Air Force Museum.

Mark Sampson · **Joined:** Tue Jan 25, 2011 3:02 pm **Posts:** 302

My wife's father was a P-38 squadron commander in the ETO in 1944-45. He's long gone, I never met him, but her family history says that he bailed out of a P-38 twice, successfully each time (obviously). They still have his parachute, or part of it anyway, preserved at the family home.

Lynn Allen · **Posted:** Tue Aug 02, 2016 10:11 pm

Growing up in San Antonio, Texas I knew a Col. Welch and didn't know what he did in the war only to find out later he was a P-38 ace in Italy. He passed away several years ago but I was able to get him to autograph a painting I have with many important names involved with the P-38. I knew another Col. Tanner who was a P-40 ace and Col. Hanzel who told stories of flying B-29's to Japan. So many good people gone now...

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