Is this 2/3 scale WW II P-38 the best homebuilt aircraft ever?

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The late Jim O’Hara and his wife Mitzi began their incredible homebuilding odyssey to create a two-thirds scale P-38 Lightning in Texas in the mid-1990s. Having retired from a long tenure as Professor of Aeronautical Engineering at Tulane University in New Orleans, he decided to learn to fly. Then, because he had loved the Lockheed P-38 Lightning when he was growing up, Jim decided he would build his own replica.

Jim chose two-thirds scale because that was the smallest the aircraft could be made – and still have a cockpit that his wife and he could fit in. After more than 20 years – and tens of thousands of hours of design and construction – the aircraft, powered by two 220hp Continental IO-360s, made its first flight in 2008, and would go on to fly about 120 hours.

When Jim died aged 94 in December 2022, he left the aircraft to his great nephew William Presler, from Lebanon, Tennessee. William, who runs Volar Avionics and Restorations, carefully returned the aircraft to airworthiness, after it had stood inactive for a number of years, including modernising the cockpit with a Garmin glass panel.

William finally fulfilled a 2009 invite that was made by the then EAA President, the late Tom Poberezny, to have the aircraft displayed on Boeing Plaza during AirVenture 2010, allowing the world’s homebuilders to appreciate this masterpiece.

#airventure #eaaairventure #p-38homebuilt #osh24 #flying #generalaviation #wwii
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Did it ever occur to the maker of this video that the airplane was the object of interest? The entire video is of the guy talking about the PLANE! Show the Goddamn

rudyyarbrough
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Yeah, nice that you interviewed the nephew, but the PLANE, Boss, the plane!

lookc
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I wouldn’t mind them chatting in the background as this beautiful aircraft is shown in it’s entirety ❤ what the heck over?

OFallons
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Drop the LOUD music. Spoiled the whole thing.

Watson
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There should’ve been more video or pictures of the airplane.

perfth
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No Footage of the Aircraft, Footage only of the Nephew 🧑‍🍳

haroldmclean
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I wished you would have shown more of the aircraft than the conversation

hampneel
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Hard to say what's "best." There's a scale B-17 flying and yesterday that WAR Corsair flew 0.7 hours. I think this Lightning is beautiful but I agree with the other comments: we'd like to see it fly, please. Thank you!

dogfightdiary
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What a legacy for your family William.

burttaylor
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Wouldn't it be great if these 2/3rds replica aircraft had 2/3rds the horsepower of their full-scale big brothers!

rconger
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Wow. The dedication and love that couple showed as he built his dream with her full support is actually epic. And that’s before even seeing the finished piece of aviation art that is the P-38.

I just wish there had been some video of it in the air where it belongs.

daniel_f
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Great video! Wanted to see it fly! :)

freesk
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Would have been nice to see more of the plane instead of two guys yakking about it. We could have listened to them while you showed more of the plane.

truthseeker
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Who’s the star here! The nephew or the plane?! 💤 😴

TRINFSS
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Would love to see it in formation with Bally's Bomber!!

ctwalston
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Not much better than click bait. Show it flying!!!....Dork!

johnreilly
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"The workmanship on the nose alone..." I wish we could have actually seen it. What a disappointing video. You literally showed us nothing of the aircraft.

vinnieboombotz
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Can't tell if it's the best because you never showed us the friggin plane.

bobailanjian
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Not worth watching. All yap and don’t get to see the plane.

rodsalvage
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Good one Ed! Thanks for that super interesting interview on a fantastic replica/homebuilt.
Guess next one could be Tom Hodgson's amazing B-29... 😉
Best 👋🏻

Danzeeman