Warbird Information Exchange

About 20 years ago I was down in Florida on vacation. Stopped in at Tom Reilly's museum. While there the guide showed a fair number of P-38 parts that were stored inside the museum. Any body know what might be there current status? Did West Pac buy what was there as I think they have perhaps the largest known cache of original P-38 parts? Just curious after all these years where this stuff went.

I don't know where Reilly's stuff went to, but don't forget HARS - they are currently restoring 3 P-38's. I would say they would probably be the second largest cache of P-38 parts after WestPac.

After WestPac's and HAR's P-38 supplies dry up we probably won't see any more P-38's being restored to airworthy condition unless another one comes out of the jungle. Other than that, the best hope would be to see one of the static P-38's being sold to a collector who can restore it to flying condition.

Don't forget the complete example found in the weeds at Guadalcanal a couple years ago. It had an MIA in the cockpit.

I was poking through the Registry recently for labelling information for some 1970s P-38 pictures, and ran across several entries indicating that Planes of Fame owned the wreckage. Has all that stuff moved on, or been used for the two airplanes they've restored?

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Neal Nurmi

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I was intentionally not counting those two.

Kermit Weeks has over 140 aircraft in his collection, the vast majority of which need a complete restoration. His P-38 has not begun the restoration process, as it's still in the same dilapidated condition as when he obtained it. Unfortunately, his museum is suffering from financial difficulties and his restorations are not exactly known for being speedy. Some of his aircraft have been in restoration for over 30 years. I seriously doubt we will see Kermit restore the P-38 in his lifetime, imo.

As far as the Guadalcanal example, I've heard that it hasn't left the island and that there is no intention of restoring it to flying condition. I actually agree with this. That aircraft is a "time-capsule" and the best place for it is on display at the NMUSAF at Wright-Pat, imo.

Which P-38 wreckage are you referring to?

Didn't the Reilly stuff end up with Jim Frye and go to Colorado?

T J

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Make my day, punk!

https://m.warhistoryonline.com/war-arti ... vered.html

https://www.pacificwrecks.com/aircraft/ ... 28570.html
"During the middle of July 2017, the P-38 was placed into a container and exported to Australia where it is to be restored to airworthy condition free of charge."

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45-47=-2

Thanks for the update Mike, I wasn't aware of that. That's pretty big news, if true, and I'm surprised it hasn't made the rounds on the internet yet, other than the pacificwrecks site. One thing bothers me about that statement however. It says that it will be "restored to airworthy condition free of charge". Nobody does that unless a National government is involved. If a National government is involved it would be EXTREMELY unlikely to be restored to airworthy condition as the vast majority don't fly their aircraft. Very few governments have a National collection that flies warbirds, the one exception I can think of at the moment is the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight. To restore that P-38 to flying condition would probably require 4 to 6 Million USD. Nobody does that for free, especially private individuals. Unless a trade is offered - something like the 2 A-20's that came out of PNG, with one being restored by the Australian government to return to PNG in exchange for approving export of the aircraft - I don't see how this could be true.

It just sounds fishy to me.

Can somebody confirm that the Guadalcanal P-38 is indeed being restored to flying condition? Anybody have details?

Isn't this the one where the PNG government is really irked at the guy that hauled it away? Seems like the guy had a reputation for "helping" people out of aircraft and turning them into big profit for himself on the promise of a 'free' restoration ?

Tom P.

Yes there is rumours that the P-38 from Guadalcanal is going to Jungle Bob in Sydney, Australia. The guy from the 60 minutes program.

The last P38 that came out of Auss was from the Classic Jet Museum.It ended up in the Uk.

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If the CO ask,s you to be Tail End Charlie...Just Shoot Him..A Piece of Cake

Thanks for the info. Hey, if he's restoring airworthy airplanes "for free" now, I've got some projects for him, lol!

One of my contacts from Australia told me that P-38 was disassembled, in storage, and had not left yet for the U.K. That was from earlier in the year. Has it finally left for the the U.K.?

It has been in the UK, at the former A-10 base of RAF Bentwaters, for a couple of years now.