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It was not a Lockheed P-38. He flew a special F-5 recon aircraft.

Technically you're correct; the F-5 is a reconnaissance version of the P-35 with cameras in the nose, instead of guns.

From the description of the wreckage field a few possibilities come to mind: hypoxia; loss of control, possibly due to spatial disorientation; a dive to the point of compressibility, which was a problem with the P-38 airframe, are all possible.

Funny, I knew him as the author of Wind, Sand and Stars which I first read at about age 12 in a Reader's Digest Best Loved Books for Young Readers edition. Parents should seek those books out in used bookstores; they're a well-chosen and brilliantly-edited set of anthologies.

I knew The Little Prince but never connected it to Saint-Ex! And to the writer of this piece, it was his most significant achievement!

Ah, there was a time when the French were men! It's worth remembering that they suffered three terrible wars on their own soil in the span of a lifetime. It is a truism that war has a dysgenic effect, for those that are sacrificed are invariably the nation's best men.

Au revoir, Antoine de Saint-Exupèry.

How wan the face, O traveller, this wan
Gray landscape looked upon;
And how forlornly in the high tree-tops
Lamented thy drowned hopes!

-------- Verlaine

d.o.l. Criminal Number 18F

F-5 is a reconnaissance version of the P-35

Obviously, I meant, P-38.

I shall read my posts when I preview them...
I shall read my posts when I preview them...
I shall read my posts when I preview them...
I shall read my posts when I preview them...
I shall read my posts when I preview them...
I shall read my posts when I preview them...
I shall read my posts when I preview them...
I shall read my posts when I preview them...
I shall read my posts when I preview them...
I shall read my posts when I preview them...
I shall read my posts when I preview them...
I shall read my posts when I preview them...
I shall read my posts when I preview them...
I shall read my posts when I preview them...

Au revoir, indeed. From "Wind, Sand and Stars":

"To come to man's estate it is not necessary to getoneself killed round Madrid, or to fly mail planes, or to struggle wearily in the snows out of respect for the dignity of life. The man who can see the miraculous in a poem, who can take pure joy from music, who can break his bread with comrades, opens his window to the same refreshing wind off the sea. He too learns a language of men.

But too many men are left unawakened."

George W. Goddard invented the camera technology that went into the cameras in the nose of the F-5 (and into many other vehicles).

Mr. Goddard's work, most people do not even notice.

The man was a genius who was always overlooked by the public's attention toward "the other Goddard," Robert H. Goddard, who was the rocket scientist.

Then, most people also overlook, because of Robert H. Goddard's rocket work, the heavy lifting performed by Theodore von Karman.

There's a lot more to the story, but it's classified.

George Goddard lived near Enon, OH, outside of Wright-Patterson AFB at various times, where much of his research was conducted at various times.

He and Tooey Spaatz had a very long-lived work relationship.

A friend of my grandparents, flew special, custom-made, high-altitude Sopwith Camels and SPADs during World War I, over the German lines; at close to 30,000 ft, well above anything that the Germans could put up.

The photographs assisted in bringing the war to an end.

The camera gear was among the many inventions of George Goddard.

If I recall all that correctly.

Ah, there was a time when the French were men!

I can't recall the name of the show, but IIRC, he spent some time in New York City
in a funk after the fall of the French...and before he got back into the fight.
He was a cultured warrior-aviator.

Also, he got a fair bit of coverage in a PBS 4-part special about the birth/growth of civil aviation
"Chasing The Sun". (I think that was the title)

His forced landing and recovery in Africa (flying mail service and recovery),
as well as some of his writing about his love of flght made for interesting
side-bar about the early days of civil aviation.