Any P-38 Lightning fighter of World War II is a crowd-pleaser. The Lightning called “Glacier Girl” amped that enthusiasm even higher at SUN ‘n FUN 2018.
“Glacier Girl” was literally frozen in time from 1942 to 1992. Part of a flight of six brand-new P-38s and two B-17s heading to Europe to bolster American forces, the then-anonymous future “Glacier Girl” and her compatriots were forced down on the Greenland ice on July 15, 1942. The crews were rescued, but the warplanes had to be abandoned in that remote and inhospitable scene.
Bob Cardin was central to efforts to recover and restore “Glacier Girl,” and he talked about that daunting project during a Victory’s Arsenal Theater session on the corner of the Warbird ramp during this year’s SUN ‘n FUN.
“The original plan was to recover three airplanes,” Cardin said. “As it turned out, we only had time because of the weather to recover one airplane.”
Some pieces flew out via DC-3 in 1992. By the following year, all of the P-38 was in Kentucky for restoration.
The Greenland ice sheet grows in depth each year as annual snow accumulations compress previous snowfalls into ice. As hard as it is to imagine, in just 50 years from 1942 to 1992, that accumulation put “Glacier Girl” 268’ below the snowy surface. That’s like the height of a 27-story building over the dormant fighter.
Evolutions of radical technologies held the key to recovering the P-38 from its truly deep freeze.
Cardin said a heated device that could melt a hole about 4’ in diameter, with pumps to evacuate the water it created, was the tool that made the recovery possible.
Once the belly-landed fighter was reached, the crew laboriously descended and created an ice cavern large enough to free the P-38.
In the ice room, Cardin said dripping water made it necessary to wear rain gear while taking the Lightning apart.
The cavern did not have any artificial structural supports. It relied on the integrity of the ice, which Cardin chalked up to “living on the edge” during the recovery process.
The fighter was carefully disassembled, not cut, to make its eventual reassembly and restoration easier.
He said the melter was again employed to make the access hole into a slot about 5’ by 20’ all 27 stories down so the P-38’s sections could be turned on their side and carefully hauled up.
The P-38 was in better condition than the expedition members expected.
Cardin likes to say “The airplane is about 80% or 85% original, but 100% authentic.”
After years of restoration, the Lightning made its first flight in more than a half century in October 2002 with Steve Hinton at the controls.
Today, the only pilots flying “Glacier Girl” are Hinton and the Lightning’s current owner, Rod Lewis.
Cardin told the SUN ‘N FUN crowd he can verify that only five pilots have flown this P-38 from the time it rolled out at Lockheed until today.
You do not mention Pat Epps,s contribution to this effort. It was significant.
There are two DVDs about Glacier Girl, both available on Amazon.
The ‘official’ DVD that chronicles the whole project from the very beginning and a later one produced by the chief ‘digger’ down in the ice cave. This 2nd DVD & book was done later after a dispute between the new project manager and the guy down in the cave. He claimed copyright on his photos and they were not included in the original which is all topside photos and video.
The original was published with the help of the History Channel and is very good. The 2nd ‘in the hole’ version I just ordered and have not viewed yet, but some of his photos are unique as they show the whole plane in the cave and chronicles the disassembly process…should be very good also. With both DVDs you have a complete picture of what all was involved…quite a feat!
A great book on the recovery and restoration of Glacier Girl is, “The Lost Squadron” by David Hayes. Well written and full of photographs, it chronicles, in detail, Glacier Girl’s history from Greenland ditching through restoration. It is likely out of print now but may be available in library or for sale on the web.
So, any chance of finding the other P-38s and B-17s left in Greenland?
We flew from Portsmouth (PMH) down to Middlesboro numerous times to see how the restoration was coming along, and were there on her 1st flight after restoration. What a sight !
I visited the restoration in Middlesboro, Ky. In the early restoration process. The whole crew were Craftsman and artists!
That’s amazing I would never have thought that anyone could do that. Over 200′ below the surface in a ice cave. Some ballsy people
Famed Alaskan Explorer and Musher Col. Norman Vaughan had the job of retrieving the Norden Bomb Sight from this plane to keep it out of enemy hands. He reached it by dogsled I believe.
Wonder if you are thinking of another story, this plane wasn’t a bomber and wouldn’t have had the norden bomb sight.
God bless all those who recovered the girl.
Your dedication and hard work to recover the plane while enduring the hostile environment is exemplary and greatly appreciated.
This is a great contribution to aviation.
They used a probe to local the exact position, which was very hard, because only one man was at the end of the probe. Bob Cardin is the force behind the recovery and complete restoration. VN Huey pilot. A great person!
Watch the documentary on it’s recovery.
Pretty amazing.
Is there a link for the P-38 of its recovery and restoration. No mention of a link!
Thanks in advance to your reply!
James Smith
Try this link: http://www.lewisairlegends.com/aircraft/glacier-girl
Bravo to all involved for a job well done!
Amazing story about the retrieval and restoration, but how did they locate the airplane in the first place, in order to melt the hole?
I have seen this airplane fly at Sun N Fun and it is thrilling to say the least. I have never heard a sound so smooth. It just purrs like a kitten. And beautiful! It is an emotional experience.
They used radar to locate the aircraft.
They knew the original Lat/Lon from crash records. After 2 or 3 abortive missions, the finally located the wreckage with ground penetrating radar.
The whole wreckage after 50 years had drifted with the glacier some 1.5 miles(?) ‘downstream’. It was the 3d or 4th summer expedition before they found the wreckage. Quite a story…see my reply up top, there are two complementary DVDs still available on Amazon. The ‘Official’ DVD produced with the History Channel is all topside photos. The 2nd and later book and DVD is all ‘down in the ice cave’ by the crew chief ‘in the hole’.
A dispute between the cave guy and the project mgr. topside prevented a combined project from being produced. I’ve seen the History Channel version and it is excellent. I just ordered the ‘Ice Cave’ version…these photos are all in the Ice Cave and show the P-38 being disassembled and hauled up in pieces. Should also be a great DVD…just need both for the complete story.