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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 ...
The aircraft is named after the Second World War vintage Lockheed P-38 Lightning, with which it shares its dual tail layout. [1] [2] The aircraft is made from aluminum tubing, with the wing leading edge made from birch plywood, supported by foam and wooden wing ribs. The wings and tail surfaces are covered in doped aircraft fabric.
The Lockheed P-38 Lighting is an American two-engine fighter used by the United States Army Air Forces and other Allied air forces during World War II. Of the 10,037 planes built, 26 survive today, 22 of which are located in the United States, and 10 of which are airworthy.
— The famous P-38 Lightning Fighter plane flown by World War II ace of aces Richard I. Bong — and decorated with a photograph of its namesake "Marge" — was discovered last week nose-down in ...
The 475th was perhaps the best known of the theater's Lockheed P-38 Lightning groups since its personnel included the top flying aces in the Pacific: Richard I. Bong (40 kills) and Thomas B. McGuire, Jr. (38 kills), both Medal of Honor recipients. By the war's end, 38 other pilots from the 475th had achieved ace status in P-38s.
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.
P-38 Lightning 1941: YP-38 through P-38D 222: P-38 Lightning P-38E through P-38H 322: P-322 Lightning Export variant, impressed into U.S. service at war's outbreak 422: P-38 Lightning P-38J through P-38M 522: XP-49: Nov 11, 1942: Advanced fighter prototype, based on P-38 622: XP-38A Lightning Jun 6, 1944: Pressurized conversion of a P-38 822: P ...
The P-38, a small, single-crewed example of the bomber destroyer type, was eventually outfitted with a 20 mm cannon and four .50-caliber machine guns in a central nacelle instead of a heavier cannon; it proved itself a highly competent fighter aircraft in the early phase of World War II.