Former airline pilot here. I owned a piper twin Comanche, which as it is widely known, is not the safest twin engine airplane. I practiced VMC every few months so if I lost an engine, I would be ready. I did have one fail right on takeoff, and that practice was worth every inch I cleared over the trees at the end of the runway on a hot summer day fully loaded. Yes sir, speed is life.

My father flying a P-38 on a mission with the 49th FG 9th FS to Fac-Fac New Guinea in 1944 while strafing the harbor had Japanese supplies explode in front of him. He had no option but to fly through the explosion and debris cloud. This resulted in Japanese ammo boxes being jammed in the left radiator. He went through the P-38 single engine procedures, feathering the prop, and was able fly 260 miles to return safely to his base on the right engine. Sadly Dad passed away at 100 after a long life well lived in December. He always said that Jeff Ethell didn't seem to have a clue with regard to P-38 fuel management.

Thanks again Scott for the excellent insights. A friend here in Oregon was involved with the video relating to Jeff's final flight and I saw Jeff's final departure. later I also saw the crash site and what was left of the P-38, and seeing such a large and imposing aircraft as the P-38 reduced to a small crumpled bit of derbies left an indelible impression as to our responsibilities as pilots and the harsh reality of the consequences of complacency that changed my perception and practice of flying. It was obvious the joy Jeff experienced flying Warbirds, especially P-38, a joy we all experience from flying, and Jeff's needless loss while tragic, today is a reminder to us all, and one we can in our own way honor him and his loss by being the best and safest we can be.

Scott, thank you for your continued reviews. Sad this accident even happened, tragic loss of life and an incredible aircraft. Know your aircraft systems!

I flew with Jeff on a number of occasions. Your analysis of his attitude is spot on.

Thanks for covering this! Air Classics- “For the Wreckord”

I remember well when this happened. We were right in the middle of the WWII weekend in Reading PA when the word came in. To say Jeff was well known and well liked among the East coast Warbird community would be an ultimate understatement. I sometimes wonder if his desire to always be flying different types of warbirds contributed to the accident, with his not really gaining an understanding of many of them and just hanging them on the wall like trophies. The crash happened in the P38 but really it could have been any one of many.

Really excellent presentation. I remember that crash well. Couldn’t believe that such a talented person would get himself in such a mess. You covered it extremely well.

Two thoughts: 1) although the death of any pilot is tragic, calling things what they are, respectfully but honestly (in this case, cavalier complacency) is the only way we learn, so kudos for that; and 2) after watching this and BSWorks 5, I am amazed I survived my multi-engine training back in the day. Wow! I had NO idea of the physics involved in a spin of a twin. Yikes!

Good analysis, Scott. Of interest, many people claimed at the time, that Jeff had written in detail about the complexity of the the Lightning’s fuel system, which would indicate to some extent that he was familiar with it’s operating procedures and limitations. I had met Jeff several times and talked with him over the decade of the 90’s, and came to the conclusion that he was highly motivated to publish warbird related flying content, but was not a particularly experienced, nor a professional aviator. I have known several close friends of his who echoed this interpretation. Simple engine out recovery experience (immediate action responses) should have led him nowhere near a departure from controlled flight, even if encountered at approach speed. Basic checklist adherence (even if relying on memory) should have carried him through fuel management to preclude the starvation event to begin with. The pattern was established long before he accepted the invitation to fly someone else’s irreplaceable P-38. A more professional attitude and conduct would have resulted in refusing that opportunity until all the boxes had been checked affirmatively.

Thank you for instructing and trying to keep all of us alive.

If I remember correctly I read that Bob Hoover developed his Aero Commander routine based on the training demo he did at the Santa Rosa Army Airfield P-38 training base during WW2. The pilots were loosing confidence in the P-38 due to many accidents. He was sent down to demo and train and build their confidence.

I love your videos, Scott. Thank you so much for posting this one.

Good analysis, Scott. The P-38 always looked scary to me.

The one thing drilled in my head while I still had my twin comanche was “speed is life”. One time when I was still somewhat new to the plane I got a little slow trying to hold altitude while changing from a dry tank (new leak in flight) because I did not realize how long it would take for the boost pump to get the fuel to the dead engine. I kept the prop spinning because I thought it would only take a few seconds. It took more like 30. I had to descend to keep my speed as my speed was slowing it was obvious I needed more speed. So many things I did wrong, but keeping my speed up was the one thing that helped.

Hi Scott, just watched your P-38 video, enjoy your videos and presentations. I had a close friend who flew P-38’s , P-39’s, and P-40’s during WWII. He had some very interesting stories about all of these airplanes. I never thought to ask him why Lockeed never changed the rotation of the propellers opposite of what they were, that is right prop clockwise rotation, and left prop counterclockwise rotation when viewed from the front. He said he was always mindful of having to bailout in flight for whatever reason because of the horizontal stabilizer which required rolling upside down in that situation. He did lose and engine after takeoff but was able to land straight ahead with gear up. He said he was able to exit the airplane and had never ran so fast then or after that . Sadly he passed several years ago but he was the best flight instructor I ever had. He loved to teach the “Military” way. Keep up the great videos, take care.

I’m extremely thankful for this content. All of my multi training has been in centerline thrust jets although I’m legal to fly multi-engine pistons. I refuse to allow myself to get killed in an airplane by remaining ignorant to the dangers of single-engine operations. As far as I can tell, the two biggest things you need are for them to be flown respectfully and with a plan.

Never been PIC on a twin of any kind. I'm almost 78 now and back in the 60s when I was learning to fly I always heard from old timers around the field that "twins ain't as safe as you been told". Nothing has changed my mind about that as more and more twins are crashing and being reported. I haven't flown PIC in a single since 1988 and I really don't miss it. Just too complicated now and that's the reason I quit long ago. Just no enjoyment to be had from the experience now. Thanks for sharing Scott. Really enjoy your take on these crashes.

I read the magazine article where Ethyl flew the "green P38". He practiced the engine failure procedure, and described it all. Mystery why he did not feather prop , ect. He DID know.

Thanks for this video, I was the guy who posted the question. I couldn’t remember Jeffs name, very sad for everyone involved.

Hi Scott. Trying not to be haywire here, I thought you might be interested in this. Great video on the P-38. I was an RCAF Starfighter pilot, in the latter 60s, 81ish now, so not much rudder use in those single engine jet years. 75 hours of the F-86, transitioning to the the 104. A young guy's dream for sure. Joining CP-Air later with zero twin time, I found it an interesting learning curve. Mostly it meant to me, to get the rudder on ASAP as long as it was the correct rudder. I felt that opposing the perceived Yaw was the key to getting the correct rudder input and stopping the Yaw. Dead foot, dead engine anybody? The slower the rudder came on the worse it got. Over the years from the 737-200, in 1972, the 727 200/330 in the late '70s, to the DC-10 and the 747-400 in 1984, and later the 767-330, I became a disciple of the Yaw symbol at the top of the electronic Primary Flight Display (PFD). When, on a low visibility take-off (in a Sim, say 600 RVR {runway visual range}) an outboard engine was cut/failed at V1 or later, the Yaw symbol immediately slid left or right, (actually it did this regardless of V1) as required by the occurrence, and it was easy to see it if I happened to see it in a glance downward, which was almost equally up outside and down inside at the instrument panel during the take-off roll. The thrust of these giant engines is eyewatering. But they are simply airplanes like the P-38, I think that is why Boeing put such a big vertical fin on their iconic bird. Flying out of Check Lap Kok in Hong Kong in say 1999, the wind shears were awesome and not really appreciated by other than the pilots flying there. They had LIDAR technology which was really interesting to Air Traffic Control but never was of much interest to the operating airline pilots. What do you do with a LIDAR Alert? Get tensed up and carry on I guess. There were so many take-offs and landings there that we generally listened to the last guy's comments. No comments meant no news. It has been said that when "They" changed from Kai Tak to Check Lap Kok they couldn't have chosen a worse place. The confluence of the Pearl River atmospheric outflow for half of the year with the reverse flow over the Island in the other half year. You could have a 10 knot tailwind at the start of the take-off roll and a 10 knot headwind at the other end of the runway. Very strong wind flow patterns. Nobody asked the pilots. On take-off, an unreported five-knot crosswind gust would hit that big rudder fin, and at 50 - 70 knots indicated on the roll, the jet would charge off to one side, right now. It got one's attention big time as the gust would evaporate and re-occur in the opposite direction about the time the time the correction was applied. Maybe you went 10 feet left or right of centerline but it seemed huge at the time, especially in low visibility with 427 passengers right behind us. This is a rudder blab, forgive me. Somewhere in there, nose wheel steering gives over to the rudder for directional control. On a First Officer or co-pilot take-off, the Captain has the tiller (steering wheel) to keep it straight initially. At 788,000 max gross weight, one would think 70 knots is not a big deal. It is, at 90 degrees in your intended direction. At slow speed, the thing is a weather vane. On the 747-400, some pervert came up with the scenario of an engine failure on a rejected landing/go-around with one engine inoperative and a second engine failure on the go-around. Obviously on the same side as the failed engine. The only way to survive this scenario (and it is extremely challenging and not intuitive) is to normally get the gear and flaps selected up to 25 (from 30) quickly. Fly the jet! Deal with the engine asymmetry problem but let the jet accelerate as much as possible before shutting down the second engine. You don't have to rotate as fast as possible to the go-around attitude. There is after all a runway in front of you. The Fire Drill gives you an immediate loss of thrust when the Fire Switch is pulled and the start lever is cut off. Thrust is degraded before that regardless, thus Yaw. This is where the Yaw icon or symbol is critical in my estimation. This is inertially derived, right now info, about the same time you feel it changing in your butt but not really understanding which way. The Yaw symbol is out to one side, step on the rudder which will push it back into the center, and problem solved! You then need to struggle up to whatever speed is needed and select flaps 20. Now comes the directional control problem of the P-38 and all twin engine or indeed all multi engine airplanes. Too much asymmetrical thrust at low indicated airspeed is equally a bad thing. A powered direct flight to the crash. And the really non-intuitive thing to do is pull back the outboard engine a little bit as required to regain directional control to go straight but keep going up. There are places where you really need to go straight and up. When I got to try it, it got to be very quiet for a couple of minutes as to how low we would go before accelerating out of the boones/smutz. For your folks' possible interest. A head up display makes this sort of thing much easier. Cheers, Billy Best

This reminds me of the MU-2 mishap rate and the FAA telling everyone the airplane is safe; it has to be flown by the numbers without deviation, not the seat of your pants.

Thanks for a nice synopsis. When I was flying from New Garden Airport in PA back in the 70's there was a sad looking P-38 with flat tires under a shed for many years. One day I returned and the plane was gone. I was told they flew it out and subsequently crashed. I think it was Serial #44-53193 that I found at the Warbird Registry.....not certain though. I thought it had a clear dome on the front when I saw it. What a handfull it must have been with all that power on each wing.

Thanks - clear and incisive as always. I used to watch in awe as Michael 'Hoof' Proudfoot practised aerobatics in the Duxford UK P38. He was an artist but died rolling the plane into the ground in July 1996. The previous day he did one neat aileron roll, but the day of the crash he went straight into a second, passed through wings level at the end of that, pointing at the ground and cartwheeled into oblivion when the wingtip hit the ground. No shortage of speed in that case, and most people concluded pilot error but I have always suspected that something jammed the ailerons from the way it just kept on rolling until the inevitable collision with the big hard thing at the bottom of the sky ... RIP both pilots and both P38s

It should be noted that Jack Erickson's plane, the OD P-38 that Ethel had flown previously, had the original fuel system, and original Prestone radiators. However, Bruce Pruett's natural finish P-38, that Jeff crashed in, had a substantially modified fuel system, not the original system, and that roll pins were installed to prevent the fuel selectors from moving in the original directions for normal tank selection. The replacement radiators also altered the CG. Pruett had decided not to spend the money to install, or replace, all of the original fuel tanks, so it had different tanks, with different capacities, from Erickson's P-38. Bruce Pruett at one point sued Jack Erickson over the restoration and the crash. Of course, that doesn't absolve Jeff of fault in the crash. Oh, the insurance company actually had the wreckage intentionally crushed by a piece of heavy equipment, until none of it could be salvaged. I was friends with Captain Stan Richardson Jr., a P-38 pilot and instructor, who lived in Beaverton at the time, as well as author and Lockheed engineer Warren Bodie. We spoke at length of this tragic accident for a while, Captain Art Heiden was also a part of the conversation. Warren was of the opinion that the modified fuel system was a substantial factor in Jeff's failure to properly manage his fuel. And, once that happened, as Scott said, Jeff quickly got himself between a rock and a hard place. It was certainly a heart breaking and tragic loss of a priceless and rare aircraft, and a guy who comtributed a great deal to aviation, despite the errors that led to his death. Almost all of us at one time or another make very serious errors in judgement, at very bad times. Some of us are very fortunate to survive them.

Fantastic examination of a tragic and preventable event. Subbed sir!

The next time we meet Let me tell you my storry of surviving in (winter 1966-67) a single engine inverted spin while attempting to close a popped door in a 55 Barron (without landing 😮) by stalling the right hand wing with that engine placed at idle power ,, the auto landing gear extension disabled, so we could drop the gear at the lowest possible speed to stall the wing on my side to create a dead air space on the upper side of my cabin side door😊..so I could use the dead air space to close it ! It was a perfect plan 🎉 that almost got us both killed!!! 😢..It took us from 8,500 ft to 1,500 ft with ground level at 180 ft ..And we lived to tell the story . It is hard for me to understand pilots doing accelerated maneuvers in single engines below 5,000 ft preferably above 6,000 ft and in twins at or above 8,000 ft.. Altitude is our friend! ❤ I love your work Scott ❤

Trying to figure out how I obtained it, but I have a copy of Ethell's 24-minute P-38 demonstration video. Can't remember if I downloaded it or got it off my dad's PC after he passed away. He was a P-38 pilot in the 82nd fighter group, 97th squadron, flying out of the Foggia airfields in Italy. On almost the last day of the war in Europe he was shot down near the Po river and captured by some Germans who held him a few days and then tried to surrender to him before letting him go. He had some stories to tell. Ethell spoke a couple of times in his video about engine-out and stall characteristics of this aircraft.

I recently read a book called "Race of the Aces" by John R. Bruning. It's about the contest to win the case of whiskey offered by Eddie Rickenbacker to the 1st WW2 AAC pilot to exceed his own WW1 total of kills and the impact this had on pilot behaviors. It's a great book on its own merits and I recommend it but it also had a fair amount to say about P-38 VMC rolls as this very new, very high-tech, and very complex plane entered service under the extremely trying conditions of the PTO. Anyway, the gist of what this book says about the P-38's single-engine performance is that there had never been a US twin with the power of the P-38 so at that time, all the engine-out training was based on multi-seat twins with much lower power. So all the pilots were trained that, if an engine failed on takeoff, to firewall everything and worry about feathering the dead engine as a later step. Problem was, while the P-38, like all twins, definitely had a blue line for minimum single-engine speed, it also had an unknown higher speed where the sheer power of the good engine would overcome control authority to correct for the drag of the dead engine. Thus, firewalling everything quickly got over this upper limit and killed a LOT of pilots who were strictly following their training, especially because the plane was new in service, nobody had much time on it, and the operational conditions were very primitive so engine failures were common. Eventually, front line pilots figured out that firewalling the good engine overcame your control authority just as much as being too slow and insisted that training be changed away from firewalling everything. It took a while and a LOT of crashes but eventually this was accepted and resulted in the pilot's manual you quoted for late-model P-38s. So as you say, with 1 engine, the P-38 can still fly quite well, but it has to be kept between conventional VMC and that higher limit, hence the special term "safe single engine speed" used in the manual.

Well done, Sad to lose the rare airplane. Understanding the airplane systems are much more important than people realize. You're right: knowledge is power.

Thanks, Scott for your research, and your time to put this video together.

Jeff did have some hours on the p 38 lighting , he did the video roaring glory videos about the ww2 planes. What happen in my opinion that didn't tell jeff about the reserve tanks were change from 44 gallons to 32 gallons each. The museum that the plane was going to requested for some reason to have them change. So I think Jeff either forgot or didn't know and he thought he had more fuel in those tanks. He was coming in to land too which didn't help him . We lost a great pilot that day and too top it off it happen in his favorite plane from ww2. I will miss reading his adventures flying those wonder planes. God rest his soul.

Great video...👍

Thank you. Always great!

Excellent breakdown. Thanks

Thanks for another great segment

I remember this P38. If I remember correctly two of them were found in a barn and were former surveyor aircraft. The story was the Tillamook museum would restore the two of them and one would be given to the restorers.

Great explanation ....much appreciated.

You had it right the first time. Tillamook, like book. Thanks for the info.

Great info, thank you for doing the research and presentation.

Excellent video. Thanks

Excellent presentation!

Real excellent, expert analysis! Cheers.

Thank You...Very good to hear.

if I'm not mistaken, the P-38 has counter rotating props. This means EITHER engine is the critical engine in terms of VMC. (Rt eng turns clockwise, Lt eng turns counterclockwise...as viewed from the cockpit) Thus, in a climb, the outer blade on each engine is creating more thrust than the inner blade. For those not familiar with the reasons for this, review what makes the left engine critical on modern light twins. Thanks Scott for a great presentation!

Always superb content, sir.

The Fork Tailed Devil ! saw your other video flying "ruff stuff". Very cool ! Tony LeVier's book "Pilot" talks a lot about the problems flying this airplane on one engine. Old book but can be found, good read. Thanks Scott.

Excellent video again

Spooky. After his combat tour one of my dad's jobs was test flying and I suppose certifying 'repaired' aircraft from the Alaskan theater at an Army airbase near Portland. He told me that a fighter pilot, maybe from his outfit in the Aleutian Islands, on leave who wanted to fly a P-38, so after walking him through procedures and warning him not to do any aerobatics because the plane was newly repaired and not test flown. Dad said he was putting his P-38 through it's paces, looked over to see the other plane in a flat spin, with the pilot standing on the wing he was unable to get off of, all the way to the ground.

Energy is power never lose energy in any aircraft...at any time energy is flight energy is power.

Jeff was a friend of mine. I still miss our conversations about everything aircraft.

the sad part of this accident is that Jeff talk about this type of problem about the p38 lighting . About losing an engine on take off and lighting. Jeff knew the lighting pretty well his father was an instructor it is ironic the same problem that killed pilots in ww2 happen. The plane crash near this guys house the guy came out when he heard the noise and called 911. Jeff had got out of the plane and walk a few steps from the plane and then fell to the ground and that is where the guy found him. The plane didn't catch on fire so the nstb had a whole plane to look it.

All or most light twins are prohibited from intentional spins for good reason. Not sure, but P38 probably qualifies somewhere. “Engraved speed control in your brain.” Nice sentiment Scott.

Thanks Scott ! !

I remember watching Jeffery Ethell on the old WING channel on cable back in the mid 90's and I do remember thinking he was a little cavalier. I also remember the crash and his death, so it is very interesting to hear more particulars about it. Simple fuel valve switch cost him his life and a very valuable piece of history.

Thanks great stuff… most won’t understand how well it relates to the baron training crashes. but it really does. I Taught for 850hrs in the be76. But I wouldn’t do half of that stuff in a baron.

Thanks Scott.

Great video

Early in WW2, before taking his Corsair squadron, VMF 215, overseas, my father was asked to evaluate the P38 for use by the Marine Corps. Taking off out of North Island Naval Air Station, San Diego to the northwest, he retracted the gear, reduced manifold pressure and pulled back the prop controls (He thought.). Being used to flying several Grumman aircraft and unfamiliar with the P38, he was pulling back the mixture controls which were located where Grummans had prop controls. The resulting engine loss of power was embarrassing but was quickly resolved. Being carrier qualified and a Mechanical engineer, he gave a thumbs down to the P38 due to its’ spindly landing gear being unsuited to carrier operations.

Great video Scott.

Great episode - thanks for this unique insight. Keep asking myself when we’re going to see your channel explode. I watch every episode.

Scott, just an fyi, It is pronounced Tillamook (with the "mook" sounding more like "muck"). Jeff was a great guy, a superb writer, and we shared the fact that both our dads flew the P-38 in WWII (my dad was in the South Pacific). The plane was a pilot's plane with little margin of error. In a word, complex. In numerous interviews with the surviving members of my dad's squadron, they all said they loved the plane, but also said to the effect that "If you didn't do something right, it would reach out and bite you."

The videos you speak of regarding the two P-38's are on youtube, oddly enough last night I watched the P-38 episode of "Roaring Glory Warbirds", which leads to "The Pilots". Jeff was driven to bring the warbird experience and love ro the masses.

Thanks 👍

You guys are making the Cessna Skymaster look like a good idea. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and experience, Scott.

Similar thing happened to the CAF P-38 Scatterbrain Kid in Lafayette LA back in the 70’s!

in October 1974, 'Scatterbrain Kid' 50281, was destroyed in a fatal crash in Lafayette, La. Appeared to be a power addition at low speed on final. Your description of low speed characteristics seems applicable to that accident. The crash site was less than a mile from my home. I began flight training in September '74 and still fly.

I just fly RC planes for more than 25 years, in this hobby I quickly picked up habits to remove the risks of mistakes or forgetting something. So a “stupid” suggestion, why not have a timer alarm going off every “period” to remind switching fuel tank selection?

Excellent video. Unfortunately Cavalier attitude has been prevalent in a number of warbird communities. Your mantra of speed is life is where it’s at and that’s coming from an ex- Navy fighter pilot.

The P-38 has counter-rotating propellers, but set up so that both engines are critical, and has always had a reputation for being a nasty handful on one engine. It would have been much better if the propellers were rotating the other way, with neither engine critical, and that was how the aircraft was originally designed, but there ended up being issues with turbulence over the tail that led to a redesign.

Yes I seen the video you did on it it also had two other crash incidents I just wondered what your opinion was on why it happened....

I wonder if Amelia Earhart ran into this kind of issue with the plane she was in. If I remember the story correctly as she was heading towards that island to refuel she was at 1000 feet. That doesn’t seem like a lot of vertical room to have if an engine fails in a twin engine airplane. I didn’t realize that twin engine airplanes are Finicky little things. My dad flew in A-26 intruder during World War II. Obviously, he survived. Still I wonder how many A-26 intruders have this issue too. on the side, my brother’s wife’s father, last name Benton, P-38 a lot. It was his favorite plane. if I remember correctly, he was a test pilot and also he transported those planes across oceans. I swear that there is a two seater P-38 called “black widow”. It was a night fighter. I remember this because I built the model when I was a kid.

I was interested to hear that you had flown "Ruff Stuff/Scat III". I live about a 40 minute flight from Granite Falls and have found Fagen Fighters to (puzzlingly) be the best-kept secret in warbird aviation. Easily one of the very best Warbird museums I've ever visited. That little airport complex sits in the middle of a Minnesota cornfield and is a truly amazing collection of WWII aviation history. And every single airplane there flies. I would love to see you do a piece on that excellent museum and those wonderful people.

If pilots will watch them, your videos will save lives...and aircraft.

Not knowing your aircraft's systems can kill you. Yes! A 10000 hr airline pilot and ww2 bomber pilot friend owned a queen air, had total electrical failure (ntsb concluded generators were not on), crew brought it back to land with full tanks to home airport of 3000 ft, though a 10000 ft runway was available at major airport nearby. They cranked down the landing gear, but did not know the anount of cranks needed and gear down and locked light inop due to electric failure. Gear collapsed on landing and aircraft skidded off to one side and could have hit other planes on the ground.

Newburg Oregon. Seminole several months ago. Video of the spin. Instruction flight

Acknowledging that Scott knows far more about aircraft than I ever will, I am sure when he said the P-38 never was a two-seater, he is using the term in the sense of how many seats were configured so as to allow the occupant to fly the aircraft. This eliminates the P-38M from the conversation as the second seat was for an observer-radar operator.

In WW2, the P-38 was nicknamed "The Ensign Eliminator" by Navy. This airplane was in danger of having a higher kill rate of American than Japanese pilots. However pilots like Tommy McQuire and Dick Bong were deadly flying this airplane.

Strange to hear no mention of the Contra rotating propellers of a stock p38 which should bias the torque helpfully for either engine out. The refurbishment probably omitted this rare feature.

My father flew a P-38 in WW2 in the Pacific, reconnaissance. I wonder what kind of training they had for this complex aircraft, and how many P-38 pilots and planes were lost because of the issues you described.

Using aileron for directional control during a stall is asking for trouble. The dead engine side will stall first because the effective AOA is increased by the lowered aileron.

Scott there was a few training 2 seat P38’s down at the SoCal Lockheed Plant instigated by Jimmie Mattern the chief engineer for the P38 I believe? New pilot losses were horrific I think? Did Thomas McQuire die from this same issue? Jimmie Mattern’s Granddaughter lives in Napa🙏

G'day Scott, Yikes ! So, he was qualified to fly Experimental Category P-38s but not GA Limited ones...; did perhaps the Experimental version feature some updated, modified, de-fanged and simplified Fuel System - requiring less knowledge & understanding of how closely it had to be monitored, and correctly operated....? You seemed to imply that not all Lightnings are quite equally complicated, and that he maybe only knew how to operate the "easy" versions...(?). But if nobody had explained the bit about burning 15 minutes of Juice out of the Reserve Tanks, while taxying & running-up - to produce an Airspace available to be refilled with whatever the Engines are not actually burning..., after switching to the Wing Tanks for Takeoff ; then apparently he made 2 X 20 minute-ish flights all done on the Reserve Tanks which are good for 40 minutes total - before the Right Engine starved & died, and after that he Stalled, and Maybe "froze" in shock & horror...(?), Because he left The Left Motor running, And came down vertically, falling Flat, while Whirling around like a Fan-powered Catherine-Wheel.... (?) ! I don't understand, considering his having been a lifetime devotee of the Lightning as a Genre, paying homage to his father's Wartime Service on the Marque..., taking it to the point of having been actually let loose in not one, but two of the very few left...; how comes it that he was not fully aware of the quaint habits, and quirky operating procedures required to manage the 6 Fueltanks on a P-38 ? That would (projecting, just here...) be the sort of thing he would've been discovering, by reading old Books, and pumping his father for explanations and stories - by about the end of Primary School..., surely (?). Sopwith Camels were my big thing, as a kid, and him being unaware of the complications of the Lightning's Fuel Management..., would be like me not knowing that the Torque of the Camel's Engine, plus the Effects of Gyroscopic Precession meant that, When turning in a Vertical Bank..., Towards the Right..., then to avoid the Nose being precessed down into a Powered Spiral Dive - Full LEFT Rudder was required to hold the Nose on the Horizon, along with 3/4 LEFT Aileron to prevent the Bank from tightening up past the vertical - with the Turn-Radius being adjusted via The Elevators.... Recovery was then later effected with that last remaining 1/4 of Left Aileron Deflection... When turning LEFT..., it required Opposite Aileron to prevent the Bank Angle from increasing - but it still needed Full LEFT Rudder...; in order to prevent the Nose from being Precessed up above the Horizon, slowing down, Stalling and Spinning... And again, Recovery from a "stable" Vertical Turn to the Left was achieved with that last 1/4 of remaining Opposite Aileron...(!). The Tail-Heaviness of Camels is another whole story which I won't open, here ; but it's a parallel example of the sort of Antique Historical Aeronautical Minutiae - which actually fanatical Students live specifically to wallow in the fun of knowing about, and explaining to all and sundry - when they first learn of all those lovely DETAILS...(!). I'd swotted up on all that, And found it totally fascinating by age 11..., Because Dad's Father's little Brother flew Sopwith Camels, with 4- Squadron Australian Flying Corps, in August 1918.... And my Biggles Fetish was boundless, as Mum's Father too Flew in the Great War of One, In the AFC, Getting his Wings and Commission from the King In Buckingham Palace in March 1919... Jennie's in Oz, the Avro 504k and BE-2c in England And Then he came home, An Officer & Gentleman, And was thus able to marry a Rich Man's Daughter, who actually came with a Dowry...(!). Dad's Uncle attacked a pair of LVG-2-Seaters, on his own, on his first trip over the Lines, shot one down, narrowly escaped the avenging 6 Albatri (Top Cover which he'd failed to notice !) which holed his Fueltank..., by "hiding in a Cloud" the official History of the AFC states (!), after which a fragment of an Anti-Aircraft Shell knocked him unconscious, recovering barely in time to Pancake slightly behind the British Lines. I knew all this stuff, in Primary School - and I thought I was Normal, too...(!). So, I truly fail to understand, or empathise with, anyone being apparently so deeply into the Aeroplanes which their father fought in - as to train themselves up and gain access to a couple of them, and start practicing to fly Formation Displays at Warbird Gatherings.....; and yet not undercomstumble how all those pesky and quirky Taps & Pipes & Tanks MUST be managed, Least the Engines run dry while aloft. He should have been trying to discuss the finer points of P-38 Fuel-system management in High School, thinking it might impress the Girls (!), kinda thing. Was he, maybe..., pretending to be rather more interested than he actually was..., perhaps affecting a deeper fascination than he really felt - possibly attempting to live up to a Perception of Unspoken (?) Expectations...? That might explain his Appearance of knowing what he was doing, whereas what he really knew, Was just(ifiably ?) enough to get Well beyond his depth (of understanding) what he was Playing around with... In real life. Thus be my PopPsychobabble Speculation, ("Nursing Diagnosis" might be too strong a term...). cross-referenced by Projection...; it's the only Hypothesis I can imagine which might even vaguely account for such "Cavalier" Behaviour... And, in SOMEBODY ELSE'S Aeroplane....! Grrrrr ! They just(ifiably ?) Don't make Aeronautical Fuel Systems Like they Used to Do, It seems... Such is life, Have a good one... Stay safe. ;-p Ciao !

😎

A real shame about Ethell. I enjoyed his videos about the P-38.

I recall there were some 2-seat "piggyback" P-38's built during WW2..I don't know if the second seat had full, or any, flight controls, but I assume there aren't any of those airworthy now....

Newberg. Oregon. 1st week of October. Fatal Spiral

I have a couple basic questions. I know that different versions of the P38 had counter-rotating props or CO-rotating props (both the same direction). Did any have contra-rotating props (meaning they were set up such that the torque would work against single engine controllability)? I had heard that some early twins did. I would assume that any modern restored to flight P38 would be set up with counter-rotating props for safety. Does anyone know if there are still any co-rotating P38s flying (these were mainly early US exports as I understand it)?

Can you say the fuel was lack of systems knowledge when it could easily have been distraction? Similar for the speed?

I wish you would give your opinion if how the Tennessee Fly girl incident occured .

Sounds A lot like Snort. Taking shortcuts.

There were 2-seat P-38's during W2, but I don't believe that any remained flying after VE day.

When you said there were no two seat P-38s, that's not true. The P-38M was a classified two-seat version with RADAR.

Was this crashed P-38 rebuilt again?

How can you draw the conclusion of a cavalier attitude? I don’t think there is enough there to do so. I’d also suggest looking into Todd Conklin, Sidney Dekker, and Bob Edwards. Inadequate bureaucratic compliance does not equate cavalier. Nor does compliance equate safety.

Sadly the small stuff bit back this time.

I don't think fair that you paint Jeff as this reckless pilot that flies by the seat of his pants. Jeff was a good pilot and his attitude towards flying was top notch yes he didn't have alot of time in the p38 lighting but Jeff knew that the plane inside and out it was his favorite. In my opinion what happen that day was he was just going up for a few pictures and thats all he wasn't going to be flying the plane that long so in his mind he was think i will fly on the reserve tanks like it says in the manual . But Jeff either forget or didn't know about the change to the tanks and thought he had enough fuel for his time in the air. So when he was coming in to land he lost an engine and was too low to take action and stall the plane in. Which happen to alot of ww2 pilots unfortunately

needs graphics

Yeah, maybe joy-riding hardcore 80 year old warcraft isn't a great idea. These were bleeding edge, desperate, new tech killing machines then & still are, it seems....

The wreckage of Bruce Pruetts P38 that Ethell crashed is today in a storage container at the Independence, Oregon airport