Central, I was there the day the C.A.F. decided to depart Breckenridge in that P-38 with 2 rough running engines  

  A real stroke of genius to add to their long list of losses.  It happened no more than 2 months after a 15 year restoration of the plane.
All weekend they were tuning on that plane trying to get her to run correctly.  I have video tape of the run-up.  I swear they never got over 1400rpm due to all the poping & backfiring.  Still they pressed on and decided to fly the plane elsewhere to receive maintenance.  Kind of a paradox eh? 
Well, they got a few miles South of Breckenridge Airport and had to belly-land her in the brambles of Central Texas.  Today they are restoring the plane (again), this time as a P-38 night fighter.  Of course they are raping the only REAL P-38 night fighter left in existence to get all the parts necessary for the restoration.  

I'm just hoping to God they have a bit more sense next time around.  The P-38 has to be the most complex WWII fighter there is and here these guys are flying it with rough engines right after a 15 year restoration!  I'm crossing my fingers hoping they don't also destroy the only surviving patterns for the P-38 night-fighter radome & rear cockpit structures.
This is not a bash against the C.A.F. in general - only the folks who a foolish enough to make desperate decisions that put ultra-rare aircraft in danger unnecessarily. 
 
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~Lt. Jg. Windle~
VF-17 The Jolly Rogers 8X
      Skychrgr@aol.com