…the sale will be at a professional level which means dust and old paint are fairly irrelevant.

Absolutely not. The patina is all part of ‘the story’, which is what is being promoted as much as the artefact itself. Every high-end collector (car or aircraft) seems to love a good ‘barn find’ story. There are plenty of restored aircraft, such as Butch Schroeder’s F-6D Mustang, that are still described as ‘barn finds’, even though they were stored and known about for years in a similar way to Connie Edwards’ collection.

Seasprite?

Also, at over $7m, that P-38 seems expensive! The Mosquito is half the amount!

The Mosquito is an incomplete restoration project, needing several years work and a lot more $$$ before it flies again. The P-38 was a flyer when it was parked in the museum some years ago (and is the one which was operated by Doug Arnold in the UK for a while in the late-’80s, incidentally).

If only there were some wings somewhere that it could be united with….

East Kirkby…? 🙂

I dont agree about hi-viz jackets as they would be a bigger distraction to the aircrew.

I think they’d be a great idea. High-viz jackets obviously make you immortal, and would surely provide ample protection against a 10-tonne jet hitting you at 150mph.

I think TVAL produced at least 5 B.E.2 repros, the two Es now in the UK, early and late Cs, and the F now in France.

I believe that the doors were about the only airframe parts common to both the P-39 and P-63.