The Commemorative Air Force
 P-38 Lightning |
The Scatterbrain Kid II before it crashed. |
On May 28, 1994 a Lockheed P-38 Lightning crashed in Breckenridge, Texas when both engines failed on take-off. The pilot was only slightly injured and his passenger was unhurt but the airplane was badly damaged. The P-38 is owned by the Commemorative Air Force and was assigned to the Central Texas Wing located at the San Marcos Municipal Airport in San Marcos, Texas.
On Tuesday, July 26 the P-38 began a 300 mile, nine and one-half hour highway journey home with the still intact wings, engines and gondola sitting on a flatbed tractor trailer accompanied by front and rear escort vehicles and a second truck and trailer carrying the booms and tail. The load was more than fifty feet long and over twenty feet wide. It was a curious sight to see as it traveled through the Texas hill country, across narrow bridges and through several communities where local residents watched as it squeezed through their town.
It took approximately one year to dismantle the P-38 and prepare in preparation for restoration. However, not enough funds have have been raised to begin restoration and the airplane has been returned to Commemorative Air Force headquarters in Midland, Texas and put in storage.