Two-Thirds Scale Replica To Take Flight In 2007

Professor Jim O'Hara has a dream -- to fly a P-38 Lightning. He's pretty close to that goal, and what's more impressive is that it appears he will soon take to the skies in a Lightning that HE built.

O'Hara, 77, is a retired aeronautical engineer from Tulane University. He's worked on the aircraft for 11 years -- and expects to take his first flight in the bird in 2007.

"I've been 90 percent finished for about two years," O'Hara told the San Angelo (TX) Standard Times. "That means I have only 50 percent to go."

In addition to his firm understanding of homebuilder mathematics, O'Hara has also been crafty in his construction of the 2/3 scale aircraft (sized just large enough so that he and his wife -- "we're both about two-thirds size" -- could fit). He fashioned nearly all of the airplane's components himself, and is using two 220-horsepower Continentals -- scrapped from a Piper Seneca that landed with its gear up -- for power.

O'Hara designed his aircraft with computer-aided design (CAD,) and was heartened to learn he was able to build the wing ribs, and attach them to the main wing spar, successfully.

"One of the challenges is you build something and see if you can fit the next piece onto it," O'Hara said. "So far, it hasn't fallen down."

Although very secretive of his project -- and don't think about asking him how much he's spent so far -- the builder did allow a brief rollout of his fighter for an airshow last October. "I got the engines started," he recalled. "That was kind of a thrill."

O'Hara concedes the plane won't be much of a cross-country tourer -- he expects the accommodations will become tight for himself and his wife after about an hour, and as for range he says only "I hope it gets to the next gas station."

That should be more than enough, though, to allow O'Hara to imagine he's at the controls over the skies of Germany, hunting the Luftwaffe.

FMI: www.aviation-history.com/lockheed/p38.html