Flying Heritage & Combat Armor Museum’s Combat Veteran P-38 Lightning Takes to the Skies

On June 25th, 2025, the Flying Heritage & Combat Armor Museum‘s Lockheed P-38J Lightning Jandina III (serial number 42-103988) completed its first post-restoration test flight at Stephens County Airport in Breckenridge, Texas. The flight was piloted by Kevin Eldridge and marked the triumphant return to the skies of a combat veteran aircraft meticulously restored by Ezell Aviation.

This particular Lightning was once flown by U.S. Army Air Forces ace Captain Jay T. Robbins, who claimed his 18th and 19th aerial victories in the aircraft—part of his total of 22 kills during World War II. The name Jandina was a blend of “Jay” and “Ina,” Robbins’ nickname and the name of his wife. All five of Robbins’ P-38s bore the Jandina moniker, with this airframe being the third in the series.

Built by Lockheed in December 1943, the P-38J-15 was shipped to the Southwest Pacific and assigned to the 5th Air Force’s 8th Fighter Group, 80th Fighter Squadron “Headhunters.” Featuring nose art of a Buddha with raised hands and a scoreboard of Japanese rising sun flags, Jandina III was Robbins’ personal aircraft until May 7, 1944, when he was forced to make an emergency landing at Yamai Airfield (near Saidor, in what is now Papua New Guinea) after the nose gear failed to deploy. The aircraft was abandoned and stripped for parts, and Robbins was assigned a new Lightning, Jandina IV.

According to detailed research by Pacific Wrecks, Jandina III remained in situ for decades—largely intact but missing key components including the tail booms, engines, and its original nose art. In the late 1990s, the wreck was recovered—not from Yamai, as initially believed, but from Bilau—by a group called “75 Squadron” under a permit meant for Finschhafen. In 1999, the aircraft was shipped to Melbourne, Australia, along with several other salvaged World War II fighters.

The restoration project was managed on behalf of the Flying Heritage & Combat Armor Museum (FHCAM) by Jason Muszala of The Roost, an aviation company founded by Muszala and Steuart Walton. The aircraft will make its public debut at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh in July, before joining the FHCAM collection in Everett, Washington. Much of the aircraft’s history—from wartime service to postwar recovery—has been preserved thanks to the research efforts of Pacific Wrecks, an organization dedicated to documenting and preserving World War II aviation history across the Pacific Theater.