# Man builds his own P-38



## beaupower32 (Nov 19, 2009)

Jim O'Hara is a member of EAA chapter 493 in San Angelo .. He is a retired college professor (I believe in Aeronautical Engineering) who learned to fly when he was about 60 years old. He's now 81 years old. 15 years ago, he began construction of a 2/3 scale P-38. Using information he obtained from various sources about the P-38, he drew up a set of plans using a computer aided design program. Jim and his wife Mitzi built the entire aircraft by themselves. He first flew his plane in July of last year, and has just completed flying off the time (I believe it was 50 hours). He designed the plane to have a small jump seat behind the pilot for his wife. She's tiny, and it's a good thing; the jump seat doesn't have much room. He made his first cross-country with Mitzi from San Angelo to Fredericksburg Saturday, accompanied by many of his friends from Chapter 493.

















Forget the Su-27 in my other post, I want this!


Oshkosh 365 - Discussion Boards - Two-Thirds Scale P-38!


----------



## FLYBOYJ (Nov 19, 2009)

Saw this recently - very cool!


----------



## vikingBerserker (Nov 19, 2009)

That's awesome!


----------



## Aaron Brooks Wolters (Nov 19, 2009)

Just shows what you can do when you put your mind to it. That's not only cool but very amazing also. Way to go Mr. O'Hara!


----------



## RabidAlien (Nov 19, 2009)

Frikkin-A, that's awesome!!!


----------



## Clay_Allison (Nov 19, 2009)

I hope they come out with a kit for it somewhere. I'm still leaning toward the Legendary Aircraft 70% scale P-51, but I could be persuaded to change. 

I could see a scale P-38 with a pair of aircraft quality V-8s. That would be amazing.


----------



## wheelsup_cavu (Nov 20, 2009)

That's a cool find BP. 


Wheels


----------



## GrauGeist (Nov 20, 2009)

Outstanding!

Mr. O'Hara did a great job on that Lightning!


----------



## Heinz (Nov 20, 2009)

Wow


----------



## Colin1 (Nov 20, 2009)

Is he too late to enter that in the heavy-hitters group build? 

Fantastic job 8)


----------



## Gnomey (Nov 20, 2009)

Awesome! 8)


----------



## mudpuppy (Nov 20, 2009)

What a great story. Learning to fly at 60 and then building his own plane over the next 15 years! Is just amazing! Thanks for posting the story.
Derek


----------



## ToughOmbre (Nov 20, 2009)

An awe-inspiring story, no doubt about it!

TO


----------



## diddyriddick (Nov 20, 2009)

Very nice! The wife must be tiny, indeed, to fit behind O'hara.


----------



## comiso90 (Nov 20, 2009)

Wow... he could have chose an easier plane to build...

I'd like to see the pilot of Glacier Gal fly his to see what the differences are.


----------



## DBII (Nov 20, 2009)

The next group build will be a 2/3 scale fighter, any plane used between 1930 and 1945. I better get started

DBII


----------



## beaupower32 (Nov 20, 2009)

This will have to be a 15 year build instead of the 4 month build. 

This guy did a excellent job in my opinion. A warbird still looks good, even if it is in 2/3 scale.


----------



## Shinpachi (Nov 20, 2009)

I now understand how big the original P-38 was


----------



## ccheese (Nov 20, 2009)

All it takes is time and money...... lots of money !!

Charles


----------



## RabidAlien (Nov 20, 2009)

I'm always a little bit surprised whenever I stand next to a warbird in person. They look so small up in the air, and the pilots seem so big in the cockpit. My question, though, is why he chose to scale down to 2/3? Why not make a 1:1 replica?


----------



## N4521U (Nov 21, 2009)

Around 1991 in Livermore California (LVK) a bloke finished one of these small scale P-38's. Used Rotax engines. He had a small scale JN3 Jenny in his hanger that he built. I remember the test flights. Brilliant looking machine. I made stencils for the markings. It's incredible to watch the progress on something like this. LVK has a lot of home builders. Eagles, Long Easies, Lance Airs. I was lucky enough to get rides and control all three of these types, verrrrry lucky. You just have to commit to being a ramp tramp... cheers, Bill


----------



## Wayne Little (Nov 21, 2009)

Man, that is sweet!


----------



## 109ROAMING (Nov 21, 2009)

RabidAlien said:


> My question, though, is why he chose to scale down to 2/3? Why not make a 1:1 replica?



Yeah I've always wondered that too , why not just say to heck with it and build it 1:1??? 

Alot of these guys are proberly pushing the boat out cash wise so maybe the full 1:1 is just too much? 

In any case , I bet this guy among others like him felt a great deal of satisfaction when he got it done

Very well done to him on the awesome effort 8)


----------



## Butters (Nov 21, 2009)

RabidAlien said:


> I'm always a little bit surprised whenever I stand next to a warbird in person. They look so small up in the air, and the pilots seem so big in the cockpit. My question, though, is why he chose to scale down to 2/3? Why not make a 1:1 replica?



Probably because he didn't want to spend many more years and way, waaaay more money getting his 'fork-tailed devil' into the air...

A 1:1 scale replica is not just a third larger than a 2/3 scale replica. Just as a 3 foot cube is not just a third larger than a 2 ft cube. The first is 27 cu feet in volume, the second is only 8. And because volume necessarily translates into mass (and cash...), the 2/3 scale replica can use proportionally much less stronger and expensive engines and load-bearing components.

I'd guess that the 2/3 scale is the smallest you can go without seriously distorting the proportions of the design. Unless you happened to be 'little person...' 

I think he's done an absolutely extraordinary job. A true labor of love. And what a cool wife he must have!

JL


----------



## Henk (Nov 21, 2009)

That is awesome! Wish I could build my won Fw-190 or a Me-262 or.....


----------



## RabidAlien (Nov 21, 2009)

Don't get me wrong, I wasn't trying to lessen his accomplishments in building a 2/3 scale plane! The -38 happens to be my favorite plane of all time (even edging out the Ho229, Me262, and A10), and I love to see one of any scale being brought back to life; I was just curious, that's all. The expense was what I was thinking (larger plane=larger engines), I didn't even consider the massive increase in volumetric size, although I did wonder if he was cutting down on structural support costs by going smaller size...same thought, just without all the blood-trickling-out-of-my-ears math work.  I'd love to have one of these, myself!


----------



## Airframes (Nov 21, 2009)

Beautiful job! The air to air pic looks just like the real thing, fantastic!


----------



## Civettone (Nov 21, 2009)

anybody know what type of P-38 it is? 

Kris


----------



## RabidAlien (Nov 22, 2009)

...silver?


----------



## Butters (Nov 22, 2009)

I didn't at all mean to imply that you were. Sorry if I gave that impression.

Anyway,even tho' the P-38 is my favorite warbird too, I've decided that I'm going for something a little roomier with my 2/3 scale replica. And a bit more modern. Big recip engines are just too expensive and hard to find nowadays...

I figure that I should be able to pick up a 1/2 dozen surplus J79's pretty cheap, and even if my 2/3 scale XB-70 Valkyrie only goes two thirds as fast as the original, I'll still be able to make pretty good time when all six 'burners kick in...8)

WHEEEEE!!

JL

PS: You wouldn't happen to have a few thousand spare barrels of JP-4 kickin' around, would ya?


----------



## Clay_Allison (Nov 22, 2009)

109ROAMING said:


> Yeah I've always wondered that too , why not just say to heck with it and build it 1:1???
> 
> Alot of these guys are proberly pushing the boat out cash wise so maybe the full 1:1 is just too much?
> 
> ...


According the website of the guy building scale Spitfires in Australia, a 1:1 scale would use so much more material, need to have a lot harder to find/make parts and need a power plant that costs SO much more (gone Allison shopping lately?) that it would cost more than 20 times as much to get it into the sky. These scale warbirds can be built in a pretty normal sized workshop, and are powered by rebuilt (with special performance parts) aluminum block V-8s that cost maybe 7-10 grand. The single engine replicas fly like a bat out of hell pulling 500 horsepower. Try getting a 1700 horse engine at a price you can afford without selling engines. Making any of the airframe parts on a 1:1 scale takes tremendous space and larger equipment and introduces huge complications (like the possibility of a molded part drying wrong and coming out twisted or cracked). Read the blog of the guy making a 75% scale Corsair and you'll understand how hard it is.


----------



## RabidAlien (Nov 22, 2009)

Butters....why not go for something a bit more realistically-sized....like the Spruce Goose?


----------



## glzyp (Dec 16, 2009)

Look at the sheet metal work, what a master craftsman!


----------

