WWII P-38 Pilot Reunited With His Plane

A Happy Reunion

This P-38 Lightning was scrapped and buried in Papua New Guinea after the war. Seemingly lost and forgotten, it was dug up decades later and was shipped to Colorado for repairs in the hands of WestPac.

Frank Royal, a WWII veteran, walked in one morning as the workers applied the finishing touches of the P-38’s restoration. Royal talked to Bill Klaers, the owner of WestPac, and revealed that he had flown P-38s in the Pacific at one point. 

Through sheer fate, the two realized that Royal had flown the P-38 Klaers’ company was restoring.

Their work on Royal’s Lightning, “White-33,” was 90% complete when he visited in 2015. A year later, the National Museum of World War II Aviation announced that White 33 was now airworthy. 

Of course, Frank Royal was in attendance during the whole ceremony. Now that’s a happy ending!