SEQUIM — A 6½-foot-tall landing gear assembly from a P-38 Lightning warplane that crashed in 1943 near Maynard Peak could soon become part of the historical review of aviation at the Boeing Museum of Flight in Seattle.

But right now the landing gear, complete with a rubber tire that still holds air, sits next to the front door of David Windish’s home.

Windish, and his brother, Kevin, found the piece of the Army Air Corps aircraft over the side of a hill from where the main wreckage was located in the Buckhorn Wilderness south of the city.

The Army recovered some parts of the airplane and the body of pilot Dean Mangold in 1946.

Some of the wreckage was left behind including parts of the two V-12 Allison engines that powered the airplane.

“We found lots of stuff buried in the brush and mud,” Windish said Monday.

Windish put the landing gear up for sale on eBay’s Internet sales site, but said he’s not really interested in the money it might bring in and thinks the Museum of Flight would be the best landing spot for it.

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The rest of the story appears in the Tuesday Peninsula Daily News. Click on SUBSCRIBE at the top of this page to get the PDN delivered to your home or office.