Facts about the iconic split-wing P-38 Lightning (45 Photos)
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During WW2, Lockheed created one of the most iconic aircraft of the US Army Air Force…yep, before the Air Force became its own branch in September of 1947, it was the USAAF/AAF.
The P-38 Lightning was truly a “work-horse”; serving around the world as a fighter, fighter-bomber, and photographic/reconnaissance aircraft and will always be considered one of three great USAAF fighters of World War II.
Pictured above is the famous Lightning named “Glacier Girl”.
This aircraft was abandoned during operation “Bolero” in 1942 on a glacier in Greenland.
50-yrs later, she recovered following an excavation from a depth of 270-ft of ice.
Glacier Girl returned to the skies in 2004.
Let’s take a look at some of the accomplishments and little know facts about the P-38.
Lockheed had originally dubbed the aircraft “Atalanta” from Greek mythology.
The company traditionally named planes after mythological and celestial figures, but the British gave the P-38 their own service name, the “Lightning”.
The British Royal AF name won out.
The P-38 was the first fighter to fly faster than 400 mph.
(Top speed 414 mph)
From Europe to the Pacific, P-38 Lightnings were the only successful twin-engine dogfighters of the World War II.
The P-38 was named “Fork-Tailed Devil” by the German Luftwaffe
and
“Two planes, One pilot” by the Japanese.
In the South West Pacific theater, the P-38 was the primary long-range fighter of United States Army Air Forces until the appearance of large numbers of P-51D Mustangs toward the end of the war.
It was the only U.S. fighter aircraft in production through-out the entire American involvement in WW2.
The aircraft used nose-mounted guns, unlike most other US fighters.
This unique gun layout meant the P-38 had a longer/more accurate range of fire than other aircraft, whose wing-mounted guns had crisscross trajectories.
She packed 5 guns on that little nose.
Primary Gun Armament:
Four M2 .50-Cal Browning machine guns firing 12.7mm rounds with 500 rounds in EACH of the 4 GUNS.
The 5th middle gun was a Hispano M2 cannon that was loaded with 150 rounds of hard hitting, explosive 20mm rounds.
P-38 test firing its four .50Cal guns with every 5th round shooting a 12.7mm tracer round.
Although the P-38s became famous for its firepower, the first active service P-38s were used as reconnaissance aircraft in April of 1942 by the Australia 8th Photographic Squadron.
Photo shows gun swap-out to instal the recon cameras.
Yep, she could fight or spy…pretty cool.
Let’s go flying.
The P-38 was used as fighter-bomber during the invasion of Normandy and the Allied advance across France into Germany.
P-38 quickly saw battle, downing two Japanese flying boats in August 1942 off the Aleutian Island chain.
Actual photo of Lightning shooting down 1 of 2 Japanese Kawanishi H6K patrol flying boats.
The cockpit windows couldn’t be opened in flight, because they caused buffeting on the tail plane. This made the cockpit very hot.
Due to the heat in the Pacific theater, pilots often flew in just shorts, tennis shoes, and a parachute.
The P-38 was remarkably quiet for a fighter…especially considering two V-12 engines with turbo-superchargers (each producing 1,600-hp).
Its quiet engine sound was made possible because the exhaust was muffled.
Her combined rate of fire was over 4,000 rounds per minute with roughly every sixth projectile a 20mm shell.
The duration of sustained firing for the 20mm cannon was approximately 14 seconds while the .50-caliber machine guns worked for 35 seconds if each magazine was fully loaded with 500 rounds.
To save weight for long distance flying, they usually loaded 300 rounds but she could still keep the trigger pressed for 21 seconds.
The P-38 flew over 130,000 sorties in the European theater.
The engines rotated outward from the cockpit.
This made the platform more stable for shooting guns.
However, if the pilot lost an engine, the operating engine was so powerful that it could roll the aircraft uncontrollably inverted.
Charles Lindbergh was a key figure in improving the performance of the P-38.
Mr. Lindbergh worked as a civilian contractor in the South Pacific during WW2.
He developed throttle settings and engine leaning techniques that significantly increased the range of the aircraft.
The P-38 was credited with destroying more Japanese aircraft than any other USAAF fighter.
First American fighter to extensively use stainless steel and flush-mounted rivets.
Above is a crazy concept. Attached to the Lightning are 2 modified 310 drop tanks for high-speed Medevac Ops. They are life support hulls made from external gas tanks.
In the Pacific theater, the P-38 downed over 1,800 Japanese aircraft.
More than 100 pilots becoming “Aces” by downing five or more enemy aircraft.
In Europe, she spied on German positions before D-Day.
During WW2, most fighters accuracy ranged from 100-200 yards…the Lightning was consistently hitting targets at 1,000 yards.
America’s top aces, Richard Bong (40 victories), Thomas McGuire (38 victories) and Charles H. MacDonald (27 victories).
Tom McGuire scored 38 aerial victories in a P-38, making him our nation’s second highest scoring ace.
Sadly the heroic ace, Tom McGuire, crashed to his death January 7, 1945, on Los Negros Island, Philippines, while performing a risky maneuver to save the life of a buddy.
For his actions, he was awarded the Medal of Honor for shooting down seven enemy aircraft on December 25/26, 1944.
American codebreakers found out Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, the architect of Japan’s naval strategy in the Pacific (including the attack on Pearl Harbor) was flying to Bougainville Island to conduct a front-line inspection.
On April 18th of 1943, 16 P-38G Lightnings were sent on a long-range fighter-intercept mission.
They flew 435 miles (700 km) from Guadalcanal at low heights of 10–50 ft. above the ocean to avoid detection.
The Lightnings met Yamamoto’s two Mitsubishi G4M “Betty” fast bomber transports and six escorting Zeros just as they arrived at the island.
The first Betty crashed in the jungle and the second ditched near the coast. Two Zeros were also claimed by the American fighters with the loss of one P-38.
Japanese search parties found Yamamoto’s body at the jungle crash site the next day.
During WW2 over 10,000 P-38s were produced, making it one of the most successful fighters and interceptors of its time.
Hope you guys enjoyed learning a little about this iconic aircraft.
It was more than just a unique design…she also performed.
It was more than just a unique design…she also performed.
This post was from a couple Chivers’ comments…
…you guys come up with the best ideas for posts.
Thank You -Rick
