P-38 Lightning

World War II American Military
#1

The Lockheed P-38 Lightning entered service in 1941, it was a twin-engined heavy fighter with a long range which proved very effective in the Pacific Theatre.

The Lightning’s design was unusual with twin tail-booms and a separate pod for the pilot, a feature found on very few aircraft at the time such as the Fokker G.I and the Fw-189, but the concept lived on in several British jet fighters of the 50s.

The Lightning was armed with 4 x 12.7mm machine guns, and 1 x 20mm cannon clustered in the nose, was also adapted for ground-attack with rockets and bombs being carried under the wings.

P-38J of the 27th Fighter Squadron USAAF 1944.

P-38J of the 55th Fighter Squadron USAAF 1944.

P-38J of the 67th Fighter Squadron USAAF 1944.

P-38J of the 71st Fighter Squadron USAAF 1944.

P-38J of the 79th Fighter Squadron USAAF 1944.

P-38J of the 80th Fighter Squadron USAAF 1944.

P-38J of the 82nd Fighter Squadron USAAF 1944.

P-38J of the 95th Fighter Squadron USAAF 1944.

P-38J of the 97th Fighter Squadron USAAF 1944.

#2

P-38J of the 338th Fighter Squadron USAAF 1944.

P-38J of the 384th Fighter Squadron USAAF 1944.

P-38J of the 401st Fighter Squadron USAAF 1944.

P-38J of the 428th Fighter Squadron USAAF 1944.

P-38J of the 429th Fighter Squadron USAAF 1944.

P-38J of the 431st Fighter Squadron USAAF 1944.

P-38J of the 432nd Fighter Squadron USAAF 1944.

P-38J of the 434th Fighter Squadron USAAF 1944.

P-38J of the 436th Fighter Squadron USAAF 1944.

#3

P-38L of the Cuban Air Force 1947.

P-38L of the Honduran Air Force 1948.

P-38L of 4 Stormo Italian Air Force 1946.

F-5G of the French Air Force 1945.

F-5G of the French Air Force 1945.

F-5G of the Taiwan (Chinese Nationalist) Air Force 1946.

#4

Thanx Clave…an aircraft that looked ahead of its time.

#5

The Lightning’s design was unusual with twin tail-booms and a separate pod for the pilot, a feature found on very few aircraft at the time such as the Fokker G.I and the Fw-189, but the concept lived on in several British jet fighters of the 50s.

Into the 70’s in fact with the Sea Vixen





#6

Might also want to look at the Convair Model 106 Skycoach.

Or the OV10A Bronco.

And it’s understood that Harley Earl, an employee of General Motors, had a passion for fighter planes. After studying the Lockheed P-38 fighter, the design of which he deeply admired, he decided to design a car with “back wings” or fins, similar to the appearance of the plane’s back end. The Cadillac was his creation, the first car to show off these flamboyant rear tail fins to the public.

Deaf

#7

In fact… there are alot of them!

AI RQ-7 Shadow
Abrams P-1 Explorer
AD Scout
Adam A500
Adam A700
ADI Condor
Albatros D.VI
Antonov A-40
Alenia Aeronautica Sky-Y
Armstechno NITI
BAE Systems Phoenix
BAE SkyEye
Bell XP-52
Blériot 125
Blohm & Voss BV 138
Burnelli CBY-3
Cessna O-2 Skymaster
Cessna Skymaster
Conroy Stolifter
Canaero Toucan
Convair Model 48 Charger
De Havilland Sea Vixen
De Havilland Vampire
De Havilland Venom
D cont. DRDO Nishant
Fairchild AC-119
Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar
Fairchild C-82 Packet
Fairchild XC-120 Packplane
Focke-Wulf Project VII
Fokker F.25
Fokker G.I
Galileo Falco
Galileo Mirach 26
Hughes D-2
Hydra Technologies Ehécatl
Hughes XF-11
I.S.T. XL-15 Tagak
IAI Eitan
IAI Heron
IAI Scout
IAI Searcher
Kalinin K-7
Lockheed P-38 Lightning
Lockheed XP-49
Lockheed XP-58 Chain Lightning
Mirsad-1
Nord Noratlas
North American Rockwell OV-10 Bronco
N cont. Northrop F-15 Reporter
Northrop P-61 Black Widow
RTAF-5
RUAG Ranger
S-TEC Sentry
Saab 21
Saab 21R
Savoia-Marchetti heavy fighter prototypes
Scaled Composites Model 395
Scaled Composites Pond Racer
Scaled Composites Proteus
Scaled Composites White Knight
Shahbal
Sikorsky S-38
Sikorsky S-40
SIPA S.200 Minijet
Sukhoi Su-80
Schweizer RU-38 Twin Condor
Spectrum SA-550
Transavia PL-12 Airtruk
Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer
Vultee XP-54
Vultee XP-68 Tornado
Weymann 66
Yakovlev Yak-141

#8

Amazing list!

I remember seeing pictures of the Skymaster as a kid and being fascinated by the twin front-and-rear engines… :cool:

#9

Why was the plane originally built with 2 tail booms? Did it help the performance of the plane compared to other planes of the era with only 1 tail fin?

#10

The designer, Clarence Leonard “Kelly” Johnson, was asked to make a twin engine fighter ‘intercepter’ that could hit 400 mph.

He toyed with several of basic designs.

http://p38assn.org/images/personnel/sketch.jpg

And he decided the twin boom, with the superturbo charger intercoolers in the wings themselves, would make it.

Deaf

#11

I saw one a few years ago at an airport somewhere in Texas. What a great airplane and seeing one close up was truly a great experience.

#12

I got to fly in one! In the mid ‘50’s as a kid I went up in a P-38 w/a second seat behind the pilot. It was owned by the father of a friend and another WWII vet, they had both flown the plane in the war. I only got the one trip as I up chucked in the plane.

#13

I bet that went over well. Did the pilot fly like crazy, rolling around like he was in a dogfight?

#14

He was doing some stunts - I really don’t remember much beyond being so impressed with the plane. I did have enough sense to puke on the floor and it wasn’t a lot, the pilot opened the windows and landed - he never said a word.

#15

Greetings,

Cute story!
And what happened to the plane? Is it maybe still under a pile of hay in a barn nowdays, or they sold it later?
Do you have any pictures of it?

#16

You gotta remember this was almost 60 years ago - all I remember is that they did sell the plane shortly after - it just cost too much to maintain and fly and the family moved to another town and I lost contact with them. They had photos but I didn’t have any.

#17

OK, thanks!
Do you remember the story of the vet airmen? Where they were serving during WWII, etc.?

#18

The only one I remember was the father of a kid I grew up with (he is the one who moved). He flew P-38’s (F-5’s?) in the Pacific until he crash landed. He injured his ankle and when it healed he flew B-25’s. I’m thinking he flew photo/recon. I don’t remember any stories of air combat and I think he was a Cpt. I remember seeing a hand microphone, some medals and patches from that era. He also had a gun blister from a Catalina in his back yard, I have not idea why. I have no other details about either of the men - other than my friends father was a fire fighter, as was my dad, in S. CA.

There was a Lockheed subsidiary near where I grew up and I remember seeing P-38’s, F-80’s, Hudson’s and other Lockheed aircraft flying over my school often. This would have been during the early ‘50’s.

#19

Thanks for the sharing!

#20

Yeah, that’s what I figured. I was an Avionics repairman in the USAF and the maintenance man of the month could get a ride in an F-4 Phantom. Every guy I talked to said they got one hell of a ride. As for me, I could only dream, though I did fly in the venerable C-130 right up in the cockpit. The view was great, we flew past that meteor crator in Arizona at about 10,000 ft.