[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by flashgordon13

I don't understand why someone doesn't just build replicas. A restored aircraft has so few original parts that is really just a replica anyway. There must be a market for these old planes since a rather large portion of money will be spent restoring this find which can't be much more than a few bits of metal after all those years sitting in salt water.

It's the historic value of it. An aircraft that actually fought in WW2 has historic significance. A replica, even a good one, is just another cool plane.

Would you rather have a ratty Ford GT40 that won at Le Mans, or a shiny new replica?

P38 is a cool and rare plane. Hopefully it's restorable, though I can't imagine it's in very good shape.