OE Attends War Bird Fly In
The National Museum of the Pacific War Dec 6 & 7, 2008

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The OE Team attended the War bird fly in at the Gillespie County Airport on Saturday the 6th of December, and again on the "Date which will live in infamy", 7th of December 2008.  Once Again the Foundation (Nimitz) was blessed with just beautifully ideal weather for the event, on both days!! 
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George and I enjoyed meeting so many people interested in the Pacific War and the aviation assets that were at the core of the wars efforts!! 
So many great aircraft lined up for inspection for us lucky dogs in attendance!!

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Of particular interest to me, and by the way just plain OFF SCALE COOL, was the reality of having all three of the fighters my father drove in combat setting side by side on that amazing beautiful and historic day, with the Hanger Hotel complex as a fitting thematic backdrop!! Can you say HOG HEAVEN for historic aviation buffs, OH YA!! These restored and flying jewels are the manifestation of all the passionate work of the Lucky Birds owners, and loving support crew and pilots!!

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Now back to my dads 'Birds of Combat', the first fighter my father flew in combat was the Bell P-39/P-400 Airacorbra (10 missions),

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next was the venerable "Warhorse" the Curtis P-40N Warhawk (98 missions, 3 ACV, 2 Prob),

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and finally one of the finest fighter aircraft of all time the Superb Lockheed P-38 Lightning (56 missions, 1 ACV)!!
What a line up, uh, to fly any one of these metallic chunks of Aviation Combat History would be a dream come true, but all three in COMBAT, oh my!!
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The P-38F-1-LO "Glacier Girl" is the only Lightning in the world flying that is representative of the early (D-H) airframe of the P-38 series of fighters, oh Man!!  And what a Big Beautiful Girl she is, I must admit a certain rise in density to my loins while in her presence, huh!!  Rod Lewis, the lucky owner and pilot of G-Girl, is a most gracious and patient observer of the endless drooling and rants of the fanatically ogling viewers he allows near his Girl!!  Bob Cardin, his Crew Chief and manager, of Rods aviation resources is likewise gracious with his time and insights about G-Girl.  Bob has been associated with the Girl since she was brought up out of the Greenland ice!!
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What a wonderful weekend with these great "War Birds", we generated more than 300 images during the two days of activities and have selected some of the best to present to you as follows.  Thanks again to the people of The National Museum of the Pacific War for all their hard work putting together this amazing weekend for we 'Consumers of History'!!