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The Lightning's greatest virtues were long range, heavy payload, high speed, fast climb, and concentrated firepower. The P-38 was a formidable fighter, interceptor, and attack aircraft. In the Pacific Theater, the P-38 downed over 1,800 Japanese aircraft, with more than 100 pilots becoming aces by downing five or more enemy aircraft. [115]
The P-38 was quickly declared obsolete in 1946 and the last USAF flight was in 1948. This was an extremely complicated aircraft to maintain. The P-38 Lightning has been consistently on the civil registry since 1946 since the first aircraft were released from the military.
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.
SUPERIOR, WIS. — 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 ...
Glacier Girl is a Lockheed P-38 Lightning, World War II fighter plane, 41-7630, c/n 222-5757, restored to flying condition after being buried beneath the Greenland ice sheet for over 50 years. Glacier Girl was part of the Lost Squadron.
July 14 – Flying Legends Air Display (Duxford, Cambridgeshire, England) – Pilot Michael "Hoof" Proudfoot was killed when his Lockheed P-38 Lightning aircraft crashed and cartwheeled while performing a roll maneuver. Several aircraft on the ground were damaged or destroyed. [30]
A few P-38s fell into the hands of Germans and Italians, [5] and, differently from captured Spitfires, these aircraft were tested and used in combat. P-38s were pitted against nearly all of the fighters in the Italian arsenal in tests at Guidonia and apparently, it fared well. Col. Tondi used a P-38, probably an 'E' version, that landed ...
NX-26927 was a Lockheed P-38 Lightning being test-flown for acceptance by the government of Bolivia by Erick Rios Bridoux of the Bolivian Air Force. The two aircraft collided in mid-air at an altitude of 300 feet about half a mile southwest of the threshold of Runway 3 at Washington National Airport , killing all 55 aboard the DC-4 and ...