Captured Lightning : Airport Mural Depicts Storied P-38 Fighter Plane

BURBANK —  World War II-era pilots and aviation buffs raised the curtain Friday on a colorful mural commemorating the Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighter plane, an aircraft that was a key to the expansion of the Southland economy and America’s military victories.

More than 10,000 P-38s were built by Lockheed Corp. in Burbank from 1941-45. The 6-by-21-foot oil-on-canvas mural, commissioned by the P-38 National Assn. and painted by nationally acclaimed aviation artist Mike Machat, hangs on a wall between Burbank Airport’s two terminals--not far from where, five decades ago, the planes rolled off the assembly line.

“The reason we wanted this mural is so future generations will remember that once there was a Camelot--the P-38,” said Lloyd Levine, national vice president of the association and a retired second lieutenant with the Army Air Corps. “A lot of young guys flew this plane with great effectiveness against the enemy, in all theaters of the war. It got so that in some cases the enemy, particularly in the Pacific, wouldn’t mess with the P-38.”

The twin-engine, single-seat P-38 was originally designed to intercept bomber planes, but during its years of production Lockheed made a number of modifications to the design, and 18 models were built and deployed on various types of missions.

The most popular was the fighter, known for its ability to climb to high altitudes at great speed. But P-38s were also used in weather reconnaissance, or in low-flying missions to photograph enemy targets.

Of all the P-38s built, only about two dozen remain, and only about four of those are still flying, said Levine. The planes originally sold for $125,000 but are now worth about $1.5 million.

Levine, 71, flew a P-38 during the U.S. campaign in the Aleutian Islands in 1942. He remembers the plane’s strongest assets were its second engine--which once helped him get back to base alive when one engine conked out--and its artillery, mounted in the nose, rather than on the wings.

“There were four 50-caliber machine guns and one 20-millimeter cannon grouped in the nose,” Levine said. “If you hit anything, you destroyed it.”

Machat, 48, of Woodland Hills, said he spent more than 110 hours creating the mural, donating his work to the P-38 Assn.

The artist, who began drawing and painting planes in exchange for flight lessons when he was a teen, said initial reaction to the mural, which depicts a silver P-38 against a blue skyscape and a symbolic lightning bolt, has been “overwhelmingly positive.” Last week, a group of former P-38 pilots viewed the painting in advance, and the scene was “quite emotional,” he said.

“There were some quiet moments, a very emotional silence,” Machat said. “One of the biggest thrills I have as an artist is painting for pilots, and I was very proud.”

During dedication ceremonies for the mural at the airport, Levine and other members of the P-38 Assn. were joined by renowned former Lockheed test pilot Tony LeVier. A one-fourth-scale replica of the P-38 with a 13-foot wingspan was also unveiled.

“This is dedicated to our buddies up there in the sky who haven’t returned from their last mission,” Levine said. “As far as we’re concerned, they’re still up there protecting our nation.”