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Continued from above... of the most versatile aircraft used
in World War II. After a lengthy developmental period, the P-38 eventually
flourished in multiple roles. In its designed role, the P-38 was an effective
fighter and was the main aircraft for most of the aces in the Pacific Theater of
Operations. However, the P-38 was modified to become a world-class
reconnaissance aircraft, an effective night fighter, and even an excellent
strike/attack aircraft. Many bomber crewmembers would see its distinctive
profile approaching and feel a little safer. Many enemy fighters and bombers
would tremble with fear with the approach of the "Fork-Tailed Devil".
The aircraft was in production from 1940 to 1945, and a total of 9,923 P-38s
were built in several versions. The plane was employed on all fronts and in
several roles that had not been anticipated in the original design, including
photographic reconnaissance missions as well as duty as a fighter-bomber and as
a night fighter. It was a very fine plane. The two leading American World War II
aces, Major Richard Bong (40 enemy planes down) and Major Thomas B. McGuire (38
planes down), scored their last victories in the P-38. Bong, in fact, shot down
all his adversaries in a P-38.
Two engines were essential to achieve the performance that was asked
for, and in order to accommodate the engines and their
superchargers, a two-tailed plane was designed. The radiators and
the main landing gear were also installed in the tail elements. The
small fuselage housed the cockpit, the forward wheel, and the
aircraft's heavy armament. All the guns were located in
the nose, thereby solving the problem of concentration of fire and
aiming.
The P-38's high speed and large nose section (which was a good
location for recon cameras) made the plane a natural for
photographic reconnaissance missions. P-38s that were used in this
role were re-designated as F-4s and F-5s.
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The specifications that led to the design of this
original combat plane were issued in 1937 by Army authorities.
(Considering the efforts that the Germans and the British made to put a
heavy two-engine fighter into the field, the American design was
certainly the best.) What was asked for was a high-altitude interceptor
that could reach 360 m.p.h. at 20,000 feet and 290 m.p.h. at 1,500 feet,
with an ascent time of six minutes. Many companies that were approached
considered the specifications impossible, but Lockheed's head designers,
H. L. Hibbard and Clarence ("Kelly") Johnson, examined several possible
solutions before settling on the least orthodox one.
On June 23, 1937, a first prototype was ordered, and the XP-38 took to
the air one and a half years later, on January 27, 1939. Military
authorities were still skeptical about the plane's capabilities, so on
February 11 the prototype was flown across the American continent, from
coast to coast, in the record time of seven hours and two minutes,
including two refueling stops. On landing, however, the plane crashed
because of trouble with the wing flaps and one of the engines.
Nevertheless, the military authorities were so impressed that a
pre-series order was placed two months later for 13 aircraft. This order
was followed by two others, for a total of 673 planes.
The first P-38s were nearly identical with the prototype, but the next
ones, the P-38Ds, had the final configuration: Self-sealing fuel tanks
were installed, and the horizontal tail system was adjusted for better
control. In November, 1941, the P-38E replaced the earlier version on
the assembly line. This model had a 20-mm. gun and more ammunition.
While 210 of these planes were being built, Lockheed readied another
version for export. Great Britain had ordered 667 in March, 1940. These
planes did not have turbo superchargers, and their performance was not
considered satisfactory; the RAF refused to accept delivery.
The next model was the P-38F, which went into production in early 1942.
This version had more powerful engines and wing racks for bombs or
supplementary fuel tanks. This was the first model to see large-scale
combat, in Europe in mid-1942 and in North Africa in November of the
same year. The G and H versions followed, with 1,082 of the former and
601 of the latter. The next version, the J, was the second largest
production series (2,970 planes) and one of the best performers. It had
more powerful engines, larger payload, and greater range. The radiators
were also modified, and so was the appearance of the engine housings.
The largest production series was the P-38L, with even more powerful
engines. A total of 3,923 were built. The P-38Js and P-38Ls were also
used as bombers, and the nose was transparent for sighting. The last
Lightning was the P-38M, which was designed for night fighting. A radar
operator was housed in a second cockpit behind the pilot.
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Click on a photo to view larger
WWII photographs
left: Approximately 40 original photos - Lockheed P-38 pursuit
/ fighter, also employees at Lockheed assembling the P-38.
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Fact File:
Lockheed P-38 Lightning
USAAF high-altitude interceptor / fighter-bomber
The twin-tailed, twin-boomed Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighter bomber had
numerous virtues which were much sought after in aircraft of the Second World
War - high speed of up to 414 mph (555.25 km/h) at 25,000 ft (7,620 meters),
long range, wide-ranging vision, all weather ability and the flexibility to
carry a wide variety of weapons. During its war service, which began in the
summer of 1941 and covered combat in Europe, North Africa and the Far East,
Lightnings delivered torpedoes, bombs and rockets, carried radar in the P-38M
two seat night fighter, served as a ground attack plane and high level bomber
and was a highly successful photo-reconnaissance machine as well.
It was a
Lightning which swooped over the Normandy beaches at near zero feet during the D-Day
preparations in April/May 1944 to take detailed close-ups of the projected
landing areas. Not for nothing, then, did the Germans call the Lightning 'forktailed
devil'. It made the air a hot environment for enemy pilots, for its long reach,
with range of 585 miles (914.4 km) and very heavy armament presented them with an adversary well worth fearing.
The weaponry of this first successful long
range American fighter consisted of one 20 mm Hispano cannon, four .5 inch (12.7
mm) Browning MGs in the nose and maximum bomb load of 2,000 lbs (907.2 kg) in
the P-38F. In the P-38J the maximum bomb load was two 500 1b (227 kg), one 1,100
lb (499 kg) or 2,000 lb (907.2 kg) bomb, or ten .5 inch (127 mm) rockets. With a
wing span of 52 ft (15.8 meters), height of 9 ft 10 inches (3 meters), wing area
of 325.5 sq ft (30.2 sq meters) and length of 37 ft 10 inches (11.53 meters),
the Lightning was powered by two 1,250 hp Allison V-1710-49/53 engines (P-38F),
or 1,425 hp V-1710 89/91 engines (P-38J) and was the aircraft in which the top
American air ace of the war, Captain Richard Bong, scored 40 victories (October
1943-March 1944).
The Lightning's long range became headline material in April
1943, when fourteen P-38Gs made a round trip of 1,100 miles (1,770 km) to the
Solomon Islands to shoot down a plane carrying the Japanese Admiral Yamamoto, in
revenge for the Pearl Harbor attack which Yamamoto masterminded. |
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