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The Lockheed Corporation designed the P-38 in response to a February 1937 specification from the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). Circular Proposal X-608 was a set of aircraft performance goals authored by First Lieutenants Benjamin S. Kelsey and Gordon P. Saville for a twin-engined, high-altitude "interceptor" having "the tactical mission of interception and attack of hostile aircraft at ...
Richard "Dick" Ira Bong (September 24, 1920 – August 6, 1945) was a United States Army Air Forces major and Medal of Honor recipient in World War II.He was one of the most decorated American fighter pilots and the country's top flying ace in the war, credited with shooting down 40 Japanese aircraft, all with the Lockheed P-38 Lightning.
Colonel Charles Henry "Mac" MacDonald (November 23, 1914 – March 3, 2002) was a United States Air Force officer and a fighter ace of World War II. [1] [2] MacDonald commanded the 475th Fighter Group for 20 months in his P-38 Lightning, "Putt Putt Maru", and became the third ranking fighter ace in the Pacific during World War II.
Fighter aces in World War II had tremendously varying kill scores, affected as they were by many factors: the pilot's skill level, the performance of the airplane the pilot flew and the planes they flew against, how long they served, their opportunity to meet the enemy in the air (Allied to Axis disproportion), whether they were the formation's leader or a wingman, the standards their air ...
Wishing to return to combat, "Asch" (as he was nicknamed) wrangled a trip back to his old unit, now in the Philippines flying the Lockheed P-38 Lightning. [1] Serving again as operations officer, he became an ace on November 24, 1944, when he downed three Kawasaki Ki-61s ("Tony"s) and one Mitsubishi A6M Zero ("Zeke") in one day. On December 11 ...
During World War II, Westbrook flew a total of 367 combat missions. He was credited with the destruction of 20 enemy aircraft in aerial combat, which includes 13 in P-38 Lightning and 7 in P-40 Warhawk. With 20 victories, Westbrook became the Thirteenth Air Force's highest scoring ace. [4]
Thomas Joseph Lynch (9 December 1916 – 8 March 1944) was a United States Army Air Forces lieutenant colonel and a flying ace of World War II.After joining the United States Army Air Corps in 1940, Lynch flew the Bell P-39 Airacobra with the 39th Pursuit Squadron.
Richard Bong in his P-38 Lightning. Richard Bong was the top ace of World War II, was awarded the Medal of Honor for combat in October and November 1944. [4] He was credited with shooting down 40 Japanese aircraft, all with the P-38 Lightning. He died in California in August 1945 while testing a P-80 Shooting Star jet aircraft.