P-38 Pudgy V Test Flight in 4k

Amazing Restoration Project

Pudgy just made its test flight after a lengthy restoration and repainting effort by American Aero in New Smyrna Beach, Florida.

This P-38L-5 Lightning was one of the 700 L-5 Lightnings that Lockheed built in 1945. It was designated to become a photo reconnaissance version of the P-38 but was rarely used in the war. Pudgy spent decades with various owners until she became a valuable crown jewel of the Evergreen museum Collection in 1997. 

She was later sold to the American Heritage Museum in 2014.

Today, this P-38L Lightning is painted in honor of Major Thomas McGuire Jr.’s P-38 “Pudgy V”. McGuire was the second highest-scoring ace in WWII, recording 38 kills against the Japanese in the Pacific Theater. 

The sound of piston-engined warbirds will always be a treat. Watch Pudgy start up and take off in the video below.