During the 2025 EAA Airventure at Oshkosh, Wisconsin, one of the biggest draws at Warbird Alley was the newly restored Lockheed P-38J Lightning “Jandina III” (serial number 42-103988), restored by Ezell Aviation of Breckenridge, Texas on behalf of the Flying Heritage and Combat Armor Museum (FHCAM) in Everett, Washington. The aircraft won World War II warbird Grand Champion status at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2025, and Ezell Aviation walked away with a richly deserved Gold Wrench Award for their efforts in bringing the combat veteran P-38 back to life. Now, Jandina III (pronounced “Juan-Deena”) has safety arrived at the FHCAM’s home at Paine Field in Everett, Washington, where it shares the museum’s Hangar A with other airworthy WWII aircraft, originally collected by the late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen.
As mentioned in our article written shortly after Jandina III’s first post-restoration flight in June 2025, Jandina III was originally built by Lockheed Aircraft in Burbank, California in 1943. Manufactured as construction number 2822, it was accepted into the United States Army Air Force on December 30, 1943. According to the site Pacific Wrecks (which has a webpage on this aircraft HERE), the aircraft was flown the next day to Palm Springs Army Airfield (now Palm Springs International Airport) on December 31, 1943, before proceeding to Dallas Love Field on January 4, 1944, to receive combat modifications. The aircraft was then flown on January 12 to Oakland Airport and loaded onto a transport ship four days, bound for Australia. By February 1944, P-38J 42-103988 was later assigned to the 5th Air Force’s 8th Fighter Group, 80th Fighter Squadron, nicknamed the “Headhunters” and based in New Guinea. The aircraft was assigned to pilot Jay T. Robbins of Coolidge, Texas who had named his two previous P-38s Jandina, an abbreviation for his name Jay and his wife’s nickname “Ina”. Between sorties, Jandina III was maintained by crew chief Staff Sergeant H.P. Mosback. 42-103988 would wear the name “Jandina III” and the nose art of a Buddha with raised hands and a scoreboard of Japanese rising sun flags to mark his growing tally of aerial victories. Between March and April 1944, Robbins received credit for his 14th through 18th confirmed kills, plus one probable and credit for damaging two Japanese aircraft. There were made against Imperial Japanese Army Air Service fighters, namely Nakajima Ki-43 “Oscars” and Kawasaki Ki-61 “Tonys”.
On May 7, 1944, Captain Robbins took off in Jandina III from Nazdab Airfield (now Lae Nadzab Airport) on an escort mission. On returning from this routine mission, however, Robbins discovered he had lost hydraulic pressure for his nose gear and was instructed to make a wheels-up emergency landing at Yamai Airfield, eight miles west of the coastal town of Saidor. Robbins executed a textbook belly landing, but the aircraft was written off. A new P-38, which became “Jandina IV” was issued to him, and Jandina III was stripped for parts such as the engines and tail booms and abandoned. After the war, Jay T. Robbins continued his military in the U.S. Air Force and retired in 1974 at the rank of Lieutenant General. He passed away in 2001 at the age of 81.
The aircraft remained in situ until it was recovered in 1999 by the organization 75 Squadron, led by Bruno Carnovale and Ian Whitney. On November 28, 1999, the remains of Jandina III, plus those of P-38F 42-12652 (now restored and flying as White 33 with the National Museum of WWII Aviation in Colorado Springs (see the museum’s link to White 33 HERE)) and of three P-47 Thunderbolts were shipped to Melbourne, Australia. Later, Jandina III’s remains were acquired by Paul Allen, co-founder of the Flying Heritage and Combat Armor Museum, in order to become the subject of a completion restoration to airworthiness. Like many of Allen’s restoration projects, work progressed slowly and quietly but after the death of Paul Allen and the acquisition of the museum by Steuart Walton, the aircraft was sent down to Ezell Aviation in Breckenridge, Texas to complete its restoration.
On June 25th, 2025, Jandina III completed its first post-restoration test flight at Stephens County Airport in Breckenridge, Texas with veteran warbird pilot Kevin Eldridge at the controls. The next month, Jandina III made its public debut at Oshkosh, and quickly impressed all those in attendance with the attention to detail of its restoration.
Now that Jandina III has safely arrived at Paine Field, it will be available for all visitors of the Flying Heritage and Combat Armor Museum to admire and will be maintained in airworthy condition alongside the other WWII combat aircraft spread out across the museum’s three hangars.
For more information, visit the Flying Heritage and Combat Armor Museum’s website HERE.
