I am searching for any details of an aircraft crash in September 1952 in Miles City.

It involved a P38 belonging to an Aerial Survey Company.

Robert Welshe

Fred South recalled a C119 "Boxcar" crashing in Miles City in the early 50's on this thread (which also discusses a C46 crash that happened in 1953).

The C119 looks a bit like a P38 with the twin tails.

http://milescity.com/foru...pid=273704

Hhhhmmmnnn. Was it a 2-man or a single seat aircraft? Most of the military planes that were lost were on landing I think. Most likely a single seater I would imagine. A friend of mine bid on a lot of the P-38s after the war. They all went too high , the scrap metal guys bought them. I think he said they went for around $2000. He said that they would land so hot that the portable landing strips made for the bombers would wrinkle up in front of the front tricycle gear and they would flip over. Instant dead pilot.There were no P-38 dual trainers so I guess it was learn on the fly. I would tend to think that looking for an airplane that crashed during take off or landing might be a start. Quite and aircraft.

I saw a pig with twin tails once. I guess paint it silver and it would look a bit like a P-38 too.

I did see this wreck first hand. I had just gotten out of school, went home,changed clothes, stepped out the front door and saw the P-38 coming down in a flat spin. When it hit I could see the fireball come up above the trees. Jumped on my bike and headed to the river. When I got there, one other person was at the site. Fire was floating in the surface from burning fuel. The plane had just hit about a half of a block from the mouth of the Tongue into the Yellowstone.
Soon other people started to gather. I remember that Bert Clark and Red Lyman went out in a boat and got the pilot out. Dead of course.

My Dad at that time worked at the sales pens, and said that they saw something come off the tail section. A lose of rudder athority could be a cause for the flat spin.
At that time there six P-38s being kept at the airport. They were being used for sizemographing.
My Mother who worked at the Hawley Hotel said that the pilots were staying there. Seems to me that they were all from a Texas oil company.
This is the way that I remember it. Others may have a different story. 1952 was a long time ago.

[This message has been edited by Jay (7/25/2013)]

When I was a kid in High School I worked for Sig Ugrin @ Miles City Aero Service. What was then the Main hanger adjacent to the office still had one of the spare engines for those P-38's pushed over along the north side out of the way. That was in the 70's. I remember asking what, where, when and all that. As i recall it was a 12 cyclinder Alyson. It had the cowling, was sitting on a pallet and was a pretty large. I also recall being up there years later when I was home for a visit and it was gone.

.. My father took me down to the river to see the wreckage, just a pile of plane sticking out of the water in the mouth of the tongue, thought I heard the pilot died, not positive though

Wayne: I can assure that the pilot died. I watched as they put him in a body bag. Still remember seeing the tears in his flesh as they took him out of the boat. Actually could see into his stomach.
Dead: No doubt.

Jay, where was the Hawley Hotel where your mom worked? I can't place it.

Hawley was located at 4th and Main. The owner was Ina Olsen/Olson was a teacher at CCHS