This topic was stuck in my craw and I did some additional research in my spare time. What I uncovered supports the theory I proposed in the thread. So, I sent an e-mail to Bob Cardin, giving him what I had and providing him with what he needs to answer questions about why Glacier Girl is stenciled as a P-38E. Here's the letter I sent...
"Good day Mr. Cardin,
Recently, there was a discussion on the Aces High Bulletin Board about Glacier Girl and why she bears a stencil that says P-38E. Some research shows that this particular serial number comes from a lot of early P-38Fs. Nonetheless, when you recovered the Lightning, it was stenciled as a P-38E. This discussion caused me to put on my historian's hat and start digging into the past.
First, I contacted an old timer who began flying P-38s in early 1942. I asked if he had ever seen P-38s stenciled differently than the actual model number. He said that he had. In fact, he had seen a P-38F marked exactly as was Glacier Girl. This fellow was an instructor at a P-38 RTU squadron. He logged time in the E, F, G, H and J models. He reported that he had seen a brand new P-38J-1-LO that was stenciled as a P-38H. He didn't know why this was done, but he certainly confirms that it was done. I began to formulate a theory on why this was done.
So, what next? I sent out several e-mails to other old timers who worked at Lockheed in the early years of P-38 production. One guy gave me the name and phone number of Lester W. Blount, who worked in the Engineering Dept from 1941 through 1947. Lester is 88 years old now and is in failing health.
Lester confirmed my theory, and even though his memory is far less than perfect, he did recall that aircraft were marked according to contract requirements. Glacier Girl was built under the same contract as all of the P-38Es. Marking requirements are defined by the contract. This contract was expanded several times, but the language never revised. Thus, all the aircraft must be marked in accordance to the requirements detailed within that document. Therefore, it appears that the P-38E stencil was applied to all of the P-38F, P-38F-1-LO, F-4-1-LO and F-4A-1-LO aircraft delivered to that contract. Log books were "marked-up" to change the P-38E to whatever version was actually built under contract AC-15646. Since the F-4s were essentially rebuilt from E and F models, they were re-stenciled upon completion of the rework. The P-38Fs were not re-stenciled as the upgrades they received prior to Bolero were minor in comparison.
So, if anyone should question you in the future as to why Glacier Girl is stenciled as a P-38E, you can state that not only was this how you found her, but explain why she was marked that way originally."
