AMHF's Lockheed PV-2 Harpoon "Hot Stuff"

The American Military Heritage Foundation (AMHF) is the owner and operator of this rare Lockheed PV-2 Harpoon, which is the only PV-2 in a military configuration flying on the airshow circuit.

The PV-2 Harpoon made its maiden flight on December 3, 1943 as an upgrade and partial redesign of its earlier sister the PV-1 Ventura. The PV-2 saw combat in the Aleutians and was flown by VPB-139 on its second tour and other units of the Empire Express. Aircraft of the Empire Express where responsible for tying up significant portions of the Japanese air defenses to defend their northern islands. These units carried out patrol and bombing missions across the Northern Pacific.

The PV-1 and PV-2 aircraft saw service in both the Atlantic and Pacific and where responsible for everything from sinking U-boats and bombing shore installations to locating survivors of sunken vessels such as the USS Indianapolis.

Harpoons based in the Aleutians were used to bomb the Japanese home islands by equipping them with long range fuel tanks. During the last few months of WWII, Harpoons carried out bombing and rocket attacks on the Japanese Kurile Islands, Truk Island, Wake Island, and others, along with performing the important duty of patrolling the shipping lanes near Guam, Siapan, and other American bases.

When confronted by a Japanese Zero, sufficient power could be added for the plane to out run the Zero, but these high power settings usually resulted in an engine change if the escape was successful.

The American Military Heritage Foundation is proud to be maintaining and showing the only flying example of this aircraft in military colors at airshows across the country. It is maintained
only through donations, contributions and the efforts of our members. We invite you to take a closer look at this rare Warbird, step inside, talk with our crew and discover one of the forgotten aircraft of WWII. This Aircraft was used to represent one of the aircraft that never made it home and can be seen in the NOVA presentation The Last Flight of Bomber 31, broadcast on the NOVA television series and available on video through their web site; .

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