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ON THE COVER:
What to do with a nearly intact artifact from WWII? During 1942, the young pilot of Lockheed P-38F Lightning USAAF 41-7677 was in trouble. Second Lieutenant Robert F. Elliot of the 14th Fighter Group took off from an RAF field in Wales on 27 September 1942 using his reserve fuel tanks but some 55-minutes into the flight his left Allison V-1710 lost power. He decided to return to base but then the right Allison stopped. He had forgotten to switch to his main tanks. He made a perfect gear-up landing on a beach in Wales and the aircraft suffered little damage. Plans were readied to recover the stricken P-38 but the 14th FG was deployed to North Africa. The P-38F was left in place and, sadly, Lt. Elliot would die in combat on 5 December of that year. His body was never found. Sands gradually covered the fighter and as time went by, memory of the event faded. In 2007, changing tides revealed the Lightning. The aircraft quickly received the name Maid of Harlech and battles continue right up to the present on what to do with the plane. British law prohibits tampering with, damaging, moving, removing or digging up any part of a crashed military aircraft in the United Kingdom. Going through channels, aviation historian Matt Rimmer received approval to move the plane, but that is an extremely expensive proposition. There are those that think it should be left in place where it will eventually completely corrode away. We are using these photos to kick off our new “Cost of War” feature in this issue. What do you think the future of this aircraft should be? Let us know at moleary2challengeweb.com.

FEATURES:

ESCAPE OF THE MESSERSCHMITTS
Facing an ever-encroaching Russian military, the Me210 pilots of the Royal Hungarian Air Force plan a daring mission to Austria to continue the fight / by Edgar Zuna

MY TRIP TO MÜNSTER
Bailing out of his burning B-17F, the author lands in a German farm field and soon becomes a POW following one of the 100th BG’s most costly missions / by Frank Murphy

COST OF WAR
Our new feature illustrating crashed, wrecked, captured, and scrapped aircraft of the Second World War / by Michael O’Leary

CUBS GOING THE DISTANCE
Before WWII, Piper Cubs were utilized for some incredible endurance flights, including one that stayed aloft for a month / by Howard Carter

DEPARTMENTS:

MESSAGE FROM THE PUBLISHER

WARBIRD & CLASSIC REPORT
All the latest vintage and veteran news including a report on the Nanchang CJ-6 / by Doug Fisher

LOG ENTRIES
What it takes to annual a P-51D Mustang / by Mark Bingham

FROM THE COCKPIT
A view on the end of the Reno Air Races / by Matt Jackson

FRIDAY NIGHT OLDIES
More Kodachromes of surplus ex-military aircraft / by Doug Fisher

DOWN MEMORY’S RUNWAY
Aircraft from aviation’s glorious past / by Norm Taylor

AIRLINES
News and views from the readers of Air Classics