April 14, 2005 Glacier Girl Flies In Sun 'n Fun Debut

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By Mary Grady, Newswriter, Editor

The story of the twin-engine P-38 fighter known as Glacier Girl is well-known by now, but the airplane this week is making its first appearance at Sun 'n Fun. It's been opening the daily 2 p.m. airshow with dramatic low fly-bys, climbing out steep and banking hard to show off that distinctive profile with the double tail booms and sounding ... fantastic. The World War II-era airplane was recovered from beneath the Greenland ice cap in 1992, and after 10 years of restoration, flew again in October 2002. Glacier Girl is made up of 80 percent original parts, project manager Bob Cardin told AVweb yesterday. It took two hours and 40 minutes to fly it to Lakeland from its home base in Kentucky, where it spends most of the year in a museum.