Glacier Girl and Good Progress | F-4 Phantom

This week I have a special featurette on a visiting airplane over at Lone Star Flight Museum, a P-38F Lightning named "Glacier Girl". I hope you all enjoy that. Big thank you to ‪@LoneStarFlightMuseum‬ for the event!
For the Phantom we put the test bench to use and tested the ground power T/R. Will be looking into the output voltage a bit more after thinking on it and how parallel power supplies can behave.
Links:
Lone Star Flight Museum: lonestarflight.org/
Air Legends Foundation: lewisairlegends.com/air-legen...
Video of the 1992 recovery expedition: • GE Aviation Lecture --...
Glacier Girl's first flight after her 10 year restoration in 2002: • Glacier Girl First Flight
Our maintenance work and flight operations are funded entirely by donations. If you'd like to help keep these iconic aircraft operational, please consider donating!
Main website:
www.collingsfoundation.org/
Donate Online:
www.collingsfoundation.org/gi...
Sponsor the F-4D or other specific aircraft in the collection:
www.collingsfoundation.org/gi...
Become a member of the Collings Foundation and American Heritage Museum:
www.americanheritagemuseum.or...

[@danielcoburn8635]

Spent five years as a weapons troop, ( Load Toad) on the E models. Been forty years and i can still hear the F-4 in the form of tinnitus! Brings back so many memories watching this, if i was there, I'd probably get in the way trying to help😊

[@DieselThunderAviation]

That's awesome, thanks for your service! We're always looking for volunteers, especially those that worked on F-4's!

[@danielcoburn8635]

@@DieselThunderAviation Live in the frozen tundra of Ohio....

[@trespire]

The sleek aerodynamic cowling and flush exhausts on the P-38 looks highly detailed and very well designed, especially for that period. Really impressive !

[@DieselThunderAviation]

I agree, a really interesting aircraft!

[@joeblow5037]

Since being a wee laddy, the P-38 has been my favorite aircraft of all time...EVEN though I became a Phantom wrench later in life (19 lol). Kelly Johnson sure knew how to design em 😁 Thanks, Mister Diesel!

[@terrallputnam7979]

You can always tell the sound of radial engines. It is very distinct. I have wanted to see Glacier Girl up close for a long time. I have followed the story for years. I even met one of the volunteers that worked on the restoration project. I have an Ercoupe which is one of the only twin tail single engine GA planes.

[@DieselThunderAviation]

For sure! One that will always catch my ears are the Wright R-1820's found on a B-17. Very distinctive and nearly unmistakable for anything else. Ercoupe? That's a neat looking aircraft!

[@troyledbetter6597]

Love seeing the Phantom and Glacier Girl with the other planes! If you are in the Ft. Worth area around Christmas check out GGA, Greatest Generation Aircraft. They have thirty minute flights looking at Christmas lights and decorations in a C47 that flew in Europe during WW2! It is a fund raising project to keep these planes flying. Thanks so much for taking care of our Phabulous Phantom and sharing it with us!

[@ldmurphy6649]

I heard you say the words I’ve been waiting for. Engine runs! I was engine run qualify on F-4E models. Can’t wait to hear those J 79’s alive and breathing!

[@DieselThunderAviation]

Yeah, I'm looking forward to that too! If you haven't seen it already, one of my early videos featured her being started up and taxied before we dove into the maintenance. kzbin.info/www/bejne/qH7Lc6BuqaiZbLc

[@ldmurphy6649]

Wow! That was awesome. Thanks for including the link to that earlier video. Was nice to hear her running and see her moving under her own power. So cool!

[@physicsphirst191]

Interesting to see the "rebates" in the fuselage skin for the Sparrow missiles, including a slot for the tail fin. Just like the plastic model!

[@DieselThunderAviation]

Pretty unique for sure! They made the forward ones multi-purpose. Can hang and operate jammer pods and the Pave Spike targeting pod there. Pretty sure there's other stuff that was tried too.

[@jr0815_aka_gulredrel]

Also saw this detail. Does the oddly shaped thing, which can be seen next to the access panel you were working on, pushes the missile away from the jet? If yes, is this working and can be tested or is it non functional als some form of demilitarization? Thanks for all the insights.

[@DieselThunderAviation]

I think it does, and I'd have to look in one of the manuals to see what that did. Prior to the Foundation taking ownership, the Air Force removed or disabled various systems on the jet, mostly the radar and everything weapons related. We are able to hang stuff on the pylons but lack the ability to drop or fire anything.

[@physicsphirst191]

My plastic model (probably in the 1968 time frame) only had Sparrows... maybe the other stores had not yet been developed. At that time I thought the recesses for the missiles were just a feature of the plastic model.... but now I learn they're a feature of the real airplane. It's a good idea, less drag, etc.@@DieselThunderAviation

[@danielboshears6474]

I live not far from Middlesbro, where Glacier Girl was rebuilt after being extracted from the ice. Was fortunate to be part of the crowd that saw her first flight.

[@DieselThunderAviation]

That's really cool! Certainly drew quite a crowd!

[@keithnoneya]

Glacier Girl is a fantastic restoration of a great airplane, actually one of the earlier P38's, as you can tell by the smaller sloped intakes, the later models hung way lower and were bigger. Thanks for sharing it and the Phantom. I love the Phantom episodes. Keep up the great work. Keith Noneya

[@TenDegrees]

THANK YOU Diesel! Excellent video. The P-38 is my absolute favorite WW2 fighter. So cool that she is 99% original. A piece of history for sure. Keep the videos coming!

[@Cubrooski]

Thank you for the video! Glacier girl is truly a work of art. One day years ago I walked into the hangar, and Glacier Girl was sitting in our hangar. She'd come in to do some sunset photos with the F-15s.

[@DieselThunderAviation]

Wow, that's awesome!

[@Cubrooski]

I thought more about it after commenting. I think I'm not 100% sure as it was a few years ago. I think one of phantoms was in the photo shoot as well

[@Bergstaller01]

Fun fact, the Lockheed Constellation's wing is a scaled up version of the P-38's wing.

[@DieselThunderAviation]

Didn't know that, thanks! Definitely is a strong resemblance between the two.

[@Subie-Driver]

I saw the doc on the recovery of this aircraft but did not realize it was being restored. The Germans called this the fork tailed devil…the fifties in the nose were nothing to be trifled with.

[@DieselThunderAviation]

Yeah, they are unique aircraft for sure! From waht we learned, they started the restoration in 1992, and estimated that it would be 2 years. The 2 years ended up being 10.

[@trespire]

@2:40 Quite a bit of pilot induced oscillation there !! Good effort, I'd probably crash the thing.

[@DieselThunderAviation]

I noticed that as well, but he made a good decision to go around instead of trying to force the landing. I'm working on that with him in DCS!

[@trespire]

@@DieselThunderAviation I'm don't have a pilots license, but I think you're supposed to set up and stabalize the approach. Learned a lot from watching air crash videos !

[@SkyhawkSteve]

Glad that the T/R tested good! Also glad that you mentioned that no-load output could be different than when loaded. It's a subtle detail, but can be important. As part of testing the T/R, could you have also used the diode check function of the meter to verify which terminal is positive and negative? Seems like it should work. As for Glacier Girl, I saw it at Oshkosh in 2010. Neat story behind it!

[@thomashollinger1418]

I would love to see how Glacier Girl was extracted from the ice? As a Phantom mechanic myself, MA shop. I love your adventures fixing all the aches and pains of that fine bird.

[@DieselThunderAviation]

Here a video that the Smithsonian has out and goes over the various expeditions, recovery, and restoration: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hZa7qmN_mah4gs0si=Mt142RZNd0iVrORE And thank you! Quite an honor to be able to work on a Phantom!

[@robertschuler279]

Check the TO and see it the defuel switch in the hyd panel. Talk to (crew chief) Al and he can tell you what we did with it. Since ground power is put on the jet to defuel it it might have something to do with it.

[@davek.5939]

Your maintenance knowledge is amazing. Been an aviation enthusiast since childhood days. My Grandfather was an aerospace engineer in WW2 on through the 60's and early 70s, worked with major companies: Northrop, Lockheed, worked on the Howard Hughes Spruce Goose, and towards his retirement Autonetics in Anaheim CA, working on vibration research for the Minuteman missile. The F4 is my favorite jet. When I was growing grew up as a kid in 5th and 6th grades, the F4s during the Vietnam war were constantly flying low over our house on approach to landing at Los Alamitos airfield in Orange County CA. Anything I can do to help your efforts with these hero birds. Got to sit in the pilot's seat of an F4 at the El Toro Marine Corps base in Orange County CA in 1979. BTW: What would be the cost to have a ride in your F4, or do you not give rides? If not would you be able to refer me to an owner who may?

[@f4cphantom2]

Just curious to know what's the status of getting the charges for the seats? I could see in the background the Mk92 rocket motor is still attached. I know the reason behind why Martin Baker won't sell to civilians. What's the alternative if the charges can't be acquired?

[@anonymous8780]

Hey, are you part of I/JG7 on DCS? There is some Diesel guy but not sure it's you?

[@DieselThunderAviation]

No, that's not me. Only squadron I'm part of is the 62nd Virtual Fighter Squadron.

[@nissmoguy]

theres actualy another 3 or four p38s under the ice where glacier girl was recovered and a b17

[@DieselThunderAviation]

Total complement of Glacier Girls' flight was two B-17's and six P-38's. I have read that another expedition is looking to recover a second P-38 from the ice.

[@nissmoguy]

i used to read all the aircraft magazines classic wings etc and followed the story before the expidition it was sad that only one aircraft and some 50cals were brought out and live fire tested lol ,lets get them out this time as many as possible@@DieselThunderAviation

[@WJSpies]

Your thumbnails should reflect what's really part of your content. 40% of this video's content was on crap other than the F4. My interest was on the F4 not other RESCUED WW-II aircraft. Pro tip.. when working around aircraft and in airport areas its a wonderful idea to carry a set of silicone earplig in a plastic medicine pills jar attached to your lapel button hole, or foam ear plugs in a cardboard container in you pocket. btw.. while stationed in Thailand during the Vietnam War I personally worked several times on this bird's hydraulic systems (it has three systems). I distinctly remember her tail number (from Ubon RTAFB in Thailand during the war). I even have B&W picture of her from my collection of photos taken at that particular time.

[@DieselThunderAviation]

Disagree with you on the thumbnail, though do respect your opinion on it. Not often one gets to see a flyable P-38. With you on the ear protections, I always have some nearby. That is awesome that you got to work on 63-7680! To be transparent, that is not this F-4's real tail number. That would be 65-0749.

[@Fabulousprofound168]

Wasn’t there others that were buried in the glacier with this one? Including a B-17? Were they too squashed to recover? 🥺

[@enricomandragona163]

B-29 was attempting to fly off in the 70's but to no avail 😢

[@enricomandragona163]

That documentary was narrated by the late great Lenard Nemoy !!

[@DieselThunderAviation]

No B-29's were involved in the Lost Squadron. The flight was comprised of two B-17's and six P-38's. 3 weeks before the Lost Squadrons forced landing, three B-17's (also part of Operation Bolero), one of which was named "My Gal Sal", had a forced landing on the glacier. My Gal Sal was later recovered and restored for display. A B-29 named "Kee Bird" did have a forced landing in 1947 and was lost for some time. She was almost recovered in 1995. That crew was prepping to fly her off of the glacier when a fire broke out, and despite attempts to extinguish the fire, it unfortunately destroyed the aircraft.

[@enricomandragona163]

@@DieselThunderAviation oh was it the 80's lol

[@dzgtnbz3680]

What air museum is this?

[@DieselThunderAviation]

Lone Star Flight Museum, in Houston, Texas.

[@fsj197811]

Thanks for sharing. Isn't chasing electrical gremlins fun???

[@DieselThunderAviation]

Fun and irritating all at the same time! We'll get through it. I like to say that troubleshooting isn't just finding what it is, but also what it isn't.

[@fsj197811]

@@DieselThunderAviation 100% true. Just have to work your way through it exactly as you're doing. Happy hunting and may your next attempt be fruitful. 🙂