Randy’s Warbird Profiles: Lockheed P-38 Lightning N2114L

By Randy Malmstrom

Since his childhood, Randy Malmstrom has had a passion for aviation history and historic military aircraft in particular. He has a particular penchant for documenting specific airframes with a highly detailed series of walk-around images and an in-depth exploration of their history, which have proved to be popular with many of those who have seen them, and we thought our readers would be equally fascinated too. This installment of Randy’s Warbird Profiles takes a look at the Erickson Aircraft Collection’s Lockheed P-38 Lightning.

This particular aircraft was built by Lockheed Aircraft Corporation in Burbank, CA in the spring of 1944 and then sent to Dallas, TX where it was one of 65 of the aircraft versions converted from a P-38L-5-LO to a P-38F-5G-6-LO photo reconnaissance aircraft and delivered to the U.S. Army Air Forces at Tinker Field in Oklahoma.

It was stricken from the record and went to the Kingman Army Air Forces boneyard in Arizona in 1946. It was saved from the scrapyard by Russell Reeves for $1,250. To my knowledge, pilots of Mark Hurd Surveys, Inc. flew it to altitudes of 36,000 ft. using heated flight suits and oxygen masks (Hurd served in both WWI and WWII) and it was acquired by Bruce L. Pruett of Livermore, CA in 1968.

It was acquired by Jack Erickson in 1990 and as of this writing is owned by his P38 LLC. Restoration began in 1995 with its first flight after restoration in 1997 to become an airworthy aircraft of the Erickson Aircraft Collection now in Madras, OR.

It is painted as P-38F-1-LO, s/n 41-7654, aircraft nose # 5781 Tangerine piloted by Ervin C. Ethell who flew with 48th Squadron, 14th Fighter Group, based at Youk les Bains (a cow pasture which served as an air base) in Algeria, North Africa in 1942. That original Tangerine was shot down while being flown by another pilot, and Ethell then flew Tangerine II. While in Algeria, the 48th flew escort missions for B-25’s and B-26’s, made fighter sweeps, and flew reconnaissance missions.

Ethell was later based at the former Myrtle Beach Air Force Base during the 1980’s and died in 2003 in Myrtle Beach, SC. The name Tangerine refers to the song by Victor Schertzinger and Johnny Mercer and recorded by the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra.

About the author

Randy Malmstrom grew up in a family steeped in aviation culture. His father, Bob, was still a cadet in training with the USAAF at the end of WWII, but did serve in Germany during the U.S. occupation in the immediate post-war period, where he had the opportunity to fly in a wide variety of types which flew in WWII. After returning to the States, Bob became a multi-engine aircraft sales manager and as such flew a wide variety of aircraft; Randy frequently accompanied him on these flights. Furthermore, Randy’s cousin, Einar Axel Malmstrom flew P-47 Thunderbolts with the 356th FG from RAF Martlesham Heath. He was commanding this unit at the time he was shot down over France on April 24th, 1944, spending the rest of the war as a prisoner of war. Following his repatriation at war’s end, Einar continued his military service, attaining the rank of Colonel. He was serving as Deputy Wing Commander of the 407th Strategic Fighter Wing at Great Falls AFB, MT at the time of his death in a T-33 training accident on August 21, 1954. The base was renamed in his honor in October 1955 and continues to serve in the present USAF as home to the 341st Missile Wing. Randy’s innate interest in history in general, and aviation history in particular, plus his educational background and passion for WWII warbirds, led him down his current path of capturing detailed aircraft walk-around photos and in-depth airframe histories, recording a precise description of a particular aircraft in all aspects.