Page 14 - Aerotech News and Review, Feb 1, 2019 - Mission Update Edition

P-38, from 10
Tony Levier, Milo Burcham and Salmon would make the daily flight up to the High Desert to take advantage of a flight environment that was superior to just about any other place in America.
Another aspect of the P-38 at Muroc, that adds to its status as the first to make a name for itself on those lake beds, is all the hundreds of pilots that took to the skies to learn the business end of war in the cockpit of a fighter plane.
In a book covering the history of the 82nd Fighter group, whose history stretched from Mu- roc to Foggia, Italy, stories were shared of the fly- ing sergeants who lived with the constant fear of not just washing out, but ending up in a smoking hole on the lake bed. Many other fighter groups
Courtesy photograph
World War II Ace and Muroc-trained P-38 pilot Robin Olds.
would come and train at Muroc and for many it was the last stop before going overseas to fly com- bat. One of those young pilots who would go on to became one of the most colorful and beloved pilots in Air Force history, Robin Olds, trained in those early P-38s and would end up in Vietnam flying F-4 Phantoms, in a war that looked nothing like the air war over France, Belgium and Germa- ny. Robin would become an Ace flying the P-38 that he trained in at Muroc before deploying to Europe, transfering to P-51s to finish out the war.
I could go on and on with more names of those who found their skill in training at Muroc and went on to greatness flying combat. Sadly, we can research the names of the dozens of young pilots who had their last flights at Muroc in the P-38. But one thing we must admit is that when it comes to Muroc/Edwards and the very first airplane that would take to its skies in test form and in combat dress, the Lockheed P-38 Lightning without ques-
Courtesy photograph
Famed test pilot and Muroc/Edwards legend Bob Hoover was an accomplished P-38 pilot.
tion was the airframe that defined flight operations before the secret X-plane programs kicked into high gear.
I’m hoping that the new Flight Test Museum will have a special spot in their displays for a plane that is just as important to Muroc history as all the incredible aircraft that flew in the years after. Do I have a special place in my heart for the Lightning? You bet I do, and with the second generation of Lightning IIs stretching their legs at Edwards, I can’t think of a better story to have shared than one that brings the past and the present together. Let’s salute the spirit of all those airmen who pushed throttles to full power and watched as the dust off a dry lake bed marked their exit from mother earth and into the clear blue skies!
Until next time, Bob out ....
Courtesy photograph The author with his favorite P-38 “Glacier Girl.”
An early P-38 flying sergeant in training at Muroc Army Air Field.
ing the second World War.
When the Burbank Lockheed crew hit the dry
lakes and production lines kicked into full gear after Pearl Harbor, it was interesting to see Lock- heed test pilots like Herman “Fish” Salmon per- forming spin recovery tests over the dry lake beds. Young combat pilots training for war looked up to see a test pilot working the very problem that was killing many of their fellow pilots. Those young flying sergeants learning to fly an airplane solo, which at that time was the most powerful pro- duction combat plane in the United States, sure showed their grit in pressing on with their training.
I have seen film footage of Fish Salmon over the lake bed being the very first to perform the test regimen that would become the signature trademark in the sky at Edwards, by pushing an airframe to its very limits. On one of those test sessions he completed 28 individual spin tests, to come up with the procedure to best recover a P-38 in a flat spin under varying conditions.
Over the early years of the 1940s, Ben Kelsey,
Courtesy photograph
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February 1, 2019