Glacier Girl P-38F Lightning

The Glacier Girl P-38F Lightning video was shot on May 18th 2014 during the Warbirds Over Addison event at the Cavanaugh Flight Museum at Addison Airport. In this video, you will see Bob Cardin introduce the legendary and fully restored Lockheed P-38F Lightning World War II fighter named "Glacier Girl." Mr. Cardin will then start up Glacier Girls' pair of smooth running V-12 liquid cooled V-1710 Allison engines, and also rev them up for some happy P-38 fans to see and hear! You will also see Glacier Girl get pulled back in the museum's hanger so that people can see this fighter up close, and also be able to ask Bob questions about this amazing aircraft and its history. At the end of this video, during short slide show, you can hear Bob clarifying the type of supercharger Glacier Girl has. This was audio recorded on 5/17/14. Glacier Girl today is part of the Lewis Air Legends aircraft collection in San Antonio, Texas. Thanks for watching!

[@AlanRoehrich9651]

She's beautiful. Bob Cardin has been with her since she came out of the glacier.

[@ojsefg]

These clowns never let it fly, the just took it out of the hanger, started it up, shut it down, and put it away. Just like grandpa and his car in The lost boys movie.

[@sky4helo]

Certainly not clowns! Unlike you for saying that!

[@tn_bayouwulf2949]

I had the privilege of seeing her during the reconstruction phase and again when she flew with the P-38 from the Planes of Fame Museum. This was the first time two P-38s had flown together as a formation since the 1950s. Mr Cardin generously showed my friends and I around the aircraft and answered our questions about its recovery and restoration. A magnificent machine.

[@bobpowrie5970]

I had the privilege of seeing Glacier Girl at her home in Kentucky as she was going to be leaving for the Dayton airshow. We got to see her up close, and then they rolled her out, fired her up, and we watched her take off. She then banked around and buzzed us super low. The sight of that nose with the 4 50 cal and 1 20 mm streaking at us was amazing!... and the sound! I remember thinking that was the last thing countless enemy pilots, troops, etc. ever saw. Amazing story around this plane and its restoration and the men who made it happen.

[@mitchsterling3266]

Look how perfect and exact the nose cones are and how they are able to spin so beautifully without losing any of that flawless paint coat. What an amazing machine. Thank you for sharing your luck with so many people.

[@kwsdigitalpictures]

My Grandfather worked on the P-38 now that's good luck🥸

[@mitchsterling3266]

@@kwsdigitalpictures uberly lucky

[@mitchsterling3266]

@@kwsdigitalpictures He sounds like a uberly lucky dude ! wish my grandpa did that. . I love the p38 !

[@bufordt.justice1539]

My father, a WWII P-38 pilot in the European Theater, often said that the 38 was the best aircraft ever made! He just loved them. So glad Glacier Girl is here to show the future generations what the P-38 was all about.

[@r.r.7156]

My father also flew the P38 in World War 2. He flew in northern Italy and in Africa. You're right it is one of the best planes ever

[@bufordt.justice1539]

@@r.r.7156 Amen, brother!!

[@scark00]

I've followed this story from the beginning. OMG she turned out beautiful. what a graceful bird of prey. LOVE IT!

[@jtramm2072]

I had the great privilege of seeing her in her hanger in San Antonio. It is beautiful and cared for by the very best.

[@jayrobertson232]

I’ve seen her up close at OSH….truly a miracle recovery and restoration.

[@christopheschwartz7374]

Le P-38 F Lightning! Est un appareil magnifique et d'élégance à la fois, avec les deux Allison quelle puissance! Merci pour le partage passionnant avec les salutations de France! 😉💙🤍❤👍

[@chrisloomis1489]

I remember in National Geographic , these B-17's and P-38's being found deep in the ice , amazing history brought to life ... Amazing aircraft of American design. Beautiful. ♥🇺🇸

[@KidYuma1880]

Still one prettiest WWll twin that flew. The history of this plane is amazing. I volunteered at Planes of Fame Chino for 23 yrs Airshow and a C-47, this plane use to get annuals when needed there, of course Airshows. I don’t recognize this place? I moved 10 yrs ago.

[@jimcourtney4306]

I was able to see Glacier Girl once it was awesome to see that bird in person very nice job in the restoration congrats on all the people that restored it

[@MegaCharger9]

I can remember watching the special when they recovered her. It was truly an engineering feat to recover the aircraft.

[@kh2140]

P-38 is my favorite airplane.

[@theworldwariioldtimeradioc8676]

A beautiful aircraft. I saw her at Oshkosh in 2005.

[@jackstoyOgaugetrains]

Beautiful. Damn. Prettiest P-38 ever. A+++ on your work. Been watching the development sense you where getting her out of the ice.

[@mohammedcohen]

...I first heard about 'Glascier Girl' in a Air & Space magazine article a long time...mebbe 30 years?? ago had that magazine saved until one of or cats peed on it...great story!!!

[@henryparent1157]

That a great bird. Beautiful.😮

[@joelmacha1454]

Major Richard Bong is smiling down upon you gentlemen.

[@gilzor9376]

I remember when they took it out of the ice. Sure glad it didn't turn into a mission like the Kee Bird, the B29 marooned in '47 . . . . that was a sad affair 2 years later. But they did it! Amazing story! This P-38F looks great! So happy to hear of it's 500 hrs of flight. That bird is in better shape than the crowd around it. . . lol . . . aside from the ground crew, every last adult is either obese or so out of shape that holding their cell phone up too long is tiresome.

[@vernwallen4246]

I had the privilege of seeing her about 30 years ago at the Middlesboro,KY airport while under complete overhaul.🗽👍

[@IZOKSXZHS]

I was lucky enough to see her at an air show in Columbia MO. The pilot was kind enough to shoot a photo of the cockpit with my camera. The photo turned out great.

[@fredtedstedman]

.....like a formation of beautiful elipses , so gorgeous 😍😍 looking forward to seeing her (finally) in UK .

[@silverwings1843]

I had a friend....he passed away a while back....that was one of the few ordained to fly P-38s. And other War Birds. They all have to be flown to be maintained operational. To be insured the Test Pilot has to be above the rest. Funny when you realize that in WWII mere kids flew them. The youngest was in a Pacific VMF flying Corsairs at 15. Think about that !!!! I have 27,000 hours and have ferried high performance single engine aircraft as well for fun. But no insurance company would let me taxi a War Bird much less fly one !!!!

[@davidthelander1299]

Wow … 15 years old! My Grandmother was a civilian pilot during ww2. She would ferry aircraft from the factory to operational airbases. She always loved and talked about the P38, although I don’t know if she actually flew it.

[@StevenSmith-pt8rz]

Very likely. Those incredible ladies flew every thing that needed to be delivered. They were heroes. You can be very proud of her.

[@roywhitman7109]

I'd seen the documentary on PBS. Absolutely fascinating recovery!! Still more planes down there, too!

[@harryh5620]

Glaciar Girl is a beautiful example - but Bong's P-38 at the Udvar-Hazy museum in DC was left unrestored and dirty - all black with dirt, exhaust staining and wear. Absolutely mesmerizing.

[@danherrick5785]

I heard the MN guard took it to restore the thing from Bong's hometown years ago. Guess that was not true?

[@Patriots4343]

I watched the documentary on this plane,👍👍👍,got to meet Bob at Houston air show the first years she's was flying 🥰👍,

[@terrallputnam7979]

The P-38 is my favorite WWII plane. I own an Ercoupe which also has twin tails. In really want to go visit the Glacier Girl in person.

[@ethanmack4385]

My father flew the P38L model in Alaska on the island of Atu. He we as the squadron leader His plane was #100 I have picture of him flying in formation He named the plane Rosemary as it was his wife. He was there to protect the island from the Japanese from returning. We have 16 mm film of my dad strafing a ship. We still have his head set and flying jacket. Once the war ended he never flew again. He said at the end of the war for a $1000 you could own one full of fuel. But who had any money after the war. He went back to school and got his engineering degree and raised a family of 6 children. I contributed to Glacier girl back in OshKosh when it was in a million pieces. Glad to see its still flying. This is still my favorite aircraft. Just thought I would share this bit of history with you.

[@kwsdigitalpictures]

Thanks for sharing this about your Dad!

[@ricksmith4736]

is that before the JAPanese bought up Hawaii?? Over 40% JAPanese demographics in Hawaii... Why did we waste lives fighting them?

[@steveshoemaker6347]

l was part of the rebuild here in Middlesbor Ky.....Thanks

[@Tennfatmatt]

You and your team did a fabulous job rebuilding the P-38! I had the pleasure of taking my late father-in-law to watch the progression several times. He was an Army Air Corps veteran of WWII stationed in New Guinea as a crew chief on B-25s. He and Bob Cardin had some great discussions, and we were there for the test flight by Mr. Hinton. Thank you sir for your efforts in the restoration!

[@JDale56]

I saw her her every year at the Middlesboro airport from when they first recovered her from the ice until her first flight. I have a piece of aluminum scrap from her that was sold at the gift shop to raise funds for the restoration.

[@kilcar]

My father, a Navy Seabee Chief, was on Woodlark Island , Papua in WW2. Woodlark was bombed regularly despite a P-39 contingent, which was of no use against high flying Japanese Bombers. The arrival of a group of P-38' s changed all of that, and the arrival of 90 mm anti-aircraft artillery .The P-38 group and the AA artillery shot down 25 of the 27 attacking bombers. Morale on Woodlark Island soared.I still have bits of a Japanese bomber hacksawed off a crash my father collected from that event.

[@cdncitizen4700]

Very HOT for such a frigid specimen ! ... awesome early version of this twin tailed devil ! Love the minimalist nose art, but respect to the period she was born in !

[@musicairplanes4884]

Happy to have been in Chino to see her fly.

[@davidlanfranchi8955]

Love the sound of the twin Allisons. Wish the announcer woukd have let me listen to them.

[@jst4curiosity704]

Awesome reconstruction and rebuild... Perhaps better than new?

[@WilliamSmith-vk4hj]

hello bob, we spent time in viet nam together, bob built the whole thing…good job!,,

[@potrzebieneuman4702]

I have the original cutting somewhere from either a news paper or magazine. Incredible story if I remember correctly there was a B17 leading the P38's but the weight of ice had broken it's fuselage. They used high pressure hot water to bore a hole down to the planes. Interesting to see the startup and that the plane has handed props and an inertial starter that I was unaware of.

[@mohammedcohen]

...I kept that Air & Space magazine for years until my cat peed on it...

[@pilotmiami1]

Bravo.perfect.thenks

[@jamesmusisca7547]

this is one of the coolest planes out of WWll very aerodynamic

[@chuckbayman7960]

My dad would have loved this video. His squadron “The Headhunters” flew the P38 in the Pacific Corridor during WWII.

[@stlrockn]

I was standing at the end of the runway with my father when it made it's first flight (since restoration) in Middlesboro Kentucky in 2002.

[@jerryumfress9030]

Such a monumental effort to get her out of the ice!

[@a-fl-man640]

saw her at Sun and Fun static and in formation with 2 other aircraft. years ago.

[@bartsimpson6767]

I would have liked to see the "safety spotter" with a large fire extinguisher!

[@walterbriggs272]

I always wanted to fly one of these when I was a kid

[@scottwooster4102]

Super cool!

[@avoidingtrees6692]

Amazing job guys. 👏cheers from France. And thanks for your help and lost in 1945

[@wedge7j7]

She is Beautiful!!!

[@leeroyholloway4277]

Legend has it that other than the data plate, there's hardly a part on his airframe that actually came from under the glacier.

[@joepoole4922]

I made several trips too Kentuckey during restoraton ,and was there for it s maiden flight.

[@mikebell5378]

I remember the great Bob Hoover flying one at the Reno Air Races

[@johnosbourn4312]

What a beautiful aircraft.

[@chrischreech5869]

I live in Harlan county ky I went and see her being put back together and also seen her flying around middleboro

[@3-2-1-.]

I saw this airplane fly in 2004. It was General Paul Tibbets' 90th birthday party, "Mission Bolero 2", at Ray Epps FBO at PDK airport north of Atlanta. Ray was a WW II veteran who flew with Tibbets. That was an event that I will never forget. They had the B-17 there, that was pulled from the ice, also. One screwed up thing I learned was that the guys, Ray Epps was one of the founders of the Greenland Expedition, who spent years trying to remove those airplanes was that they all ended up divorced and most went broke. They could only work for a few weeks every single year, because of weather. It cost tons of cash to do that work. I mean millions of bucks. They were very close to removing the last of the P-38, when they ran out of money. Some guy came to them and said he would give them $100,000 to finish it, and they could pay him back later. However, he talked them into signing over both airplanes until they paid him back. Long story short, he screwed them all. They paid him back, but he refused to accept the money, and said he could legally keep the aircraft. The time for this birthday bash came, and the lady setting the whole thing up, called this douche nozzle, to ask him if he would bring his aircraft for the party. He said, "Sure, but I want a $100,000." Somehow she got the money together, and he brought them both. They were also giving rides in the B-17, but they did a run up and flight of Glacier Girl right before the party. That's the only time I've seen a P-38 fly. So much happened that night. I met one the Tuskegee Airmen. He had quite an entourage with him, but he was a very nice man. He was being pushed in a wheelchair, when he had them stop so he could talk to me out of the blue. Nicest guy you'd ever want to meet. There were pilots from the air force all over the place. Guys with two stars on their flight jackets, and F-15 patches. I met two guys who were talking in front of the P-38 after the party had been going for awhile. Turns out they were both P-38 mechanics from WW II. Once I told them that I had been a helicopter crew chief, they opened up and told me some great stories. The entire event was outstanding! Ray was giving a speech before the bbq dinner lines got formed. There were hundreds of people there. He said, "Now, I only invited a dozen people to this party, I don't know who the heck the rest of you are!". Turned out, people were jumping the airport fences to get in. No talk about the bomb that night. It was all about their mission, Mission Bolero, to ferry B-17s and P-38s to England to set up for the invasion before the Normandy Invasion. Ray said they knew they would be in England for awhile, and good food was getting harder to find over there. So they took a couple butchered hogs with them for bbq. Turns out the Brits loved the bbq, too!

[@jamesmusisca7547]

this is where i wished i could fly these planes

[@keithallver2450]

The fork-tailed-devil.

[@davidpage3893]

Yes…that’s what Herman Goring called it.

[@dbaider9467]

Would be nice to see her taking her original flight to England.

[@earsplitingloud]

I wonder if Yamamoto got a good look at one just before his demise.

[@halffull9527]

Bad ass airplane!

[@John-nc4bl]

The best twin engine allied fighter aircraft during WW2 with an unbeatable climb rate.

[@moemuggy4971]

I mean, they did get some parts back from under the glacier. That's probably not what's flying today. I'm sure very little of the original aircraft remains. In photos it was crushed beyond recognition, then cut up in small pieces for removal.

[@jaywinters2483]

Now days, if we had advanced technology like you see here, Chi-Coms would have it in no time.

[@rudyyarbrough5122]

I can't believe they didn't include the pictures from inside the glacier! I've seen them and they show the planes literally in the ice.

[@davejones7886]

I was there at 1A6 for her first flight after her rebuilt

[@jerrydeanswanson79]

Been a fan of Glacier Girl since I first learned of her and saw her on her first trip back home...she was in pieces at EAA. Have seen her at every EAA she has attended. I wear her baseball cap. Smiles. So...at one time there was an add-on for Microsoft Flight Simulator (I had purchased the add-on) which allowed me fly the P38 with the Glacier Girl skin in the old version of the MSFS software. That plugin will not work, of course, with the latest version of MSFS. Today...I do own a P38 in the new software, but alas, there is no "skin" for the Glacier Girl. Considering how popular the new MSFS software is...Someone should look into having someone design a skin which would work. Just Sayin'.

[@RaymondCore]

I was visiting a aerial combat display at the State Fair of Texas in 1970 and talked to a veteran pilot of a P-38 in the Pacific in WWII. He said he loved the plane but it had one drawback. If you had to bail out, it was easy to get killed by the cross-tail.

[@danherrick5785]

I think the pilot was trained to roll the plane over before ejecting, but that assumes you had the time or the time to think about it under pressure.

[@BogeyTheBear]

There were three ways to get bail out, and none of them involved standing up and jumping like a person would normally do. If you're in a high speed dive, just taking off your straps and popping the canopy would be enough to suck you clear of the plane. If the plane in controllable enough, you trim the elevator down, roll inverted and drop out. If you need to get out fast, you roll down a side window and slide back along the wing and drop over the edge. The tail is (barely) higher than the wing, so sliding flat off the edge means you're already below the tail. If you stood and jumped, however, you'll get hit by the tail.

[@fw1421]

The most original P-38 in existence. Rebuilt from the ground up but original.

[@rooms1028]

I wonder what the project cost, totally?

[@fw1421]

@@rooms1028 Had to be in the several millions. Having a couple trips to Greenland to steam down 230+ feet,disassemble the aircraft,bring it back to the hangar and survey what’s there and what’s repairable. They sent the engines and what was able to be repaired and made serviceable. Then they basically had to have the structure remanufactured. The aircraft was pounded flat as a pancake. One of the most difficult restorations ever. Had to cost a bundle.

[@captainaxle438]

I think it's the opposite that almost all of it was unusable that small percentage of it is original. It was Crushed and bent so badly that most of it was refabricated

[@fw1421]

@@captainaxle438 See my previous comment.

[@sjvche7675]

Just one question are the turbo supercharges and after coolers functional?

[@rickrayn]

I saw the plane when it was at its location in Kentucky.

[@zigman8550]

The Luftwaffe called them "Fork Tailed Devils"

[@mcreadan]

I wonder why Lockheed didn't try the Merlin instead of the Allison?

[@gwiz2073]

Start it? Fly it!!

[@amievil3697]

My dads favorite plane

[@user-iq8id7mc1w]

Needs to come back to Airventure

[@yellowbelly8402]

Wasn't they going back to the glazier to get another P38 or has that been dropped?

[@jamesmusisca7547]

just regular stick and rudder and cables ?

[@stephengardiner9867]

She was every bit a predator and looked like it while still retaining a singular purity if design. Probably just TOO much aircraft for many of the hordes of new U.S. pilots being churned out but for those that mastered this aircraft...it was a predator (check out the top scoring American aces and what they flew).

[@jamesmusisca7547]

what's flying time on a full tank as is

[@glencrandall7051]

Who owns Glacier Girl? How many pilots have flown her since she was restored?

[@catfood_03_4stray]

The best looking P-38 ever ! The P-38J and the P-39L had a deteriorated aerodynamic coefficient due to the bulkier radiators that have been placed under the more powerful engines.

[@r.r.7156]

Is my dad flew the P38 in World War 2. The motto of his squadron was, death with finesse

[@Mike-dh6nb]

They should go get the rest of them

[@ThreePhaseHigh]

So where do you go to see it fly ?

[@ricksmith4736]

Its the only " F " in existence " I believe" the J and L model were the most produced...

[@jamesmusisca7547]

the sting of death a visit from the reaper

[@crashburn3292]

Beautiful girl.

[@briananderson8733]

Is Glacier Girl equipped with two engines that rotate in opposite directions ? or is it a "castrated lightning" as some would call it ?

[@rooms1028]

They're opposite spinning.

[@ricksmith4736]

I see you did not watch the video? Got that mouth engaged though....

[@jamesmusisca7547]

these planes are soooo cool the germans called them the forked tailed devils

[@AirWarrior.73]

Is this at Call AERO?

[@davidthelander1299]

Sure wish they could recover the other lost airplanes.

[@StevenSmith-pt8rz]

Understood the b17s were too badly damaged. The 38 they recovered was I believe the best of the lot. I went to Kentucky several times to see the restoration while it was being done it was incredible. They literally had to take her down to the last bolt and bring every part back from the dead.

[@leonardtrevino8436]

Where is this bird based these days?

[@dongarnier5890]

Did they ever fly her to the UK, and thus, "complete the mission"?

[@THOMMGB]

Has anyone heard anything about the possibility of anyone saving the other P-38's still under the ice? I'm sure it would be very expensive and time consuming, but they saved this one, why not the others? Maybe I answered my own question, but still.....

[@BogeyTheBear]

Possible, yes (they did it once). But very costly. Glacier Girl was singled out because her pilot was the only one of the bunch who forgot to un-feather his propellers before belly-landing. You're supposed to do that so the blades bend rather than snap on impact with the ground, but this has the side-effect of causing the propeller to windmill and prangs all three blades when they hit the ground. Glacier Girl's props were still feathered, meaning that the bottom two blades on each engine were damaged, but the blade at top was unscathed. All the planes were wrecks, but Glacier Girl was literally the one with the least damage-- that's why she was singled out for recovery, those two intact blades were bargaining chips for the restoration effort later because they could sell/trade these historical examples for newer ones.

[@brucemiller8109]

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE DON'T DESTROY THIS P 38 LIKE THE OTHER AIRSHOW FOOLS. Ive followed this Rebuild from day1, it can't be replaced.

[@turftiger2008]

what happened to that place; you to be great place to go with great show and then they just died

[@jamesmusisca7547]

if you expect people to fight and die for you you better give them the best you got

[@WilliamSmith-vk4hj]

Bob ever go home to Mass?

[@daryllcornier4509]

A scale down Mosquito. ❤

[@jamesmusisca7547]

it's like a giant two headed dragon