Academy 1/48 P-38F Lightning Glacier Girl Airplane Model Kit - 12208

During the summer of 1942, a flight of World War II airplanes were being flown to England from the United States. As the planes streamed over the barren landscape, they flew into a massive storm system near Iceland. In desperation, the flight turned back for the safety of Greenland. But the crews realized they were far from their base and would not have enough fuel to return safety. Their only chance for survival was to crash land on the glacial wastes of Greenland. Amazingly, all aircraft got down without significant injuries to any of the men. It was the largest forced landing in Air Force history -- including six P-38s, two B-17s and 25 crewmembers. They were stranded ten miles south of the Arctic Circle. Fortunately, after eleven days the men were rescued and the warplanes were abandoned on the glacier, never to be seen again. During the years following the war’s end, thirteen expeditions have been launched to recover The Lost Squadron. It took ten years and a number of recovery efforts to locate the site of the Lost Squadron on the mammoth Greenland Inland Ice Cap. In August 1992, a seven-member team surfaced the first and only P-38 and christened her Glacier Girl. Upon her return to the United States, she soon found her home in Middlesboro, Kentucky. Located at the Middlesoboro-Bell County Airport, she was restored to flyable condition by a team of restoration experts. Paint colors needed: Silver, Olive Drab (1), Neutral Gray, Steel, Flat Black, Clear Red, Clear Orange, Clear Blue, Orange Yellow, Burnt Iron, Bright Green, Clear Green, Blue FS15050, and Zinc-Chromate Type I.

This plastic model kit requires plastic cement and paint for assembly, and they are sold separately.