Lockheed P-38 Lightning
P-38 Lightning | |
---|---|
A P-38 Lightning warbird over Chino Airport in 2009 | |
Role | |
National origin | United States |
Manufacturer | Lockheed Corporation |
First flight | 27 January 1939 |
Introduction | July 1941[1] |
Retired | 1949 (United States Air Force) 1965 (Honduran Air Force)[2] |
Primary users | Free French Air Force
|
Produced | 1941–45 |
Number built | 10,037[3] |
Developed into | Lockheed XP-49 Lockheed XP-58 |
The Lockheed P-38 Lightning is an American single-seat, twin piston-engined
The P-38 was used most successfully in the
Design and development
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
Lockheed formed a secretive engineering team to implement the project apart from the main factory; this approach later became known as Skunk Works.[17][18] The Lockheed design team, under the direction of Hall Hibbard and Clarence "Kelly" Johnson, considered a range of twin-engined configurations, including both engines in a central fuselage with push–pull propellers.[19]
The eventual configuration was rare in contemporary production fighter aircraft design, with the Dutch
Clustering all the armament in the nose was unusual in U.S. aircraft, which typically used wing-mounted guns with trajectories set up to crisscross at one or more points in a convergence zone. The P-38 cannon used heavier 20 mm rounds, creating a different trajectory, so it was inclined upward slightly more than the four machine guns such that the trajectories of the cannon rounds and .50-caliber bullets came together between 350 and 400 yards.[23] Nose-mounted guns did not suffer as much from having their useful ranges limited by pattern convergence, meaning that good pilots could shoot much farther. A Lightning could reliably hit targets at any range up to 1,000 yd (910 m), whereas the wing guns of other fighters were optimized for a specific range.[24] The rate of fire was about 650 rounds per minute for the 20×110 mm cannon round (130-gram shell) at a muzzle velocity of about 2,850 ft/s (870 m/s), and for the .50-caliber machine guns (43-gram rounds), about 850 rpm at 2,900 ft/s (880 m/s) velocity. Combined rate of fire was over 4,000 rpm with roughly every sixth projectile a 20 mm shell.[25] The duration of sustained firing for the 20 mm cannon was about 14 seconds, while the .50-caliber machine guns worked for 35 seconds if each magazine were fully loaded with 500 rounds, or for 21 seconds if 300 rounds were loaded to save weight for long-distance flying.
The Lockheed design incorporated tricycle undercarriage and a bubble canopy, and featured two 1,000 hp (750 kW) turbosupercharged 12-cylinder Allison V-1710 engines fitted with counter-rotating propellers to eliminate the effect of engine torque, with the turbochargers positioned behind the engines, the exhaust side of the units exposed along the dorsal surfaces of the booms.[26] Counter-rotation was achieved by the use of "handed" engines; the crankshafts of the engines turned in opposite directions, a relatively easy task for the V-1710 modular-design aircraft powerplant.[27]
The P-38 was the first American fighter to make extensive use of stainless steel and smooth, flush-riveted, butt-jointed aluminum skin panels.[28][page needed] It was also the first military airplane to fly faster than 400 mph (640 km/h) in level flight.[29][30]
XP-38 and YP-38 prototypes
Lockheed won the competition on 23 June 1937 with its Model 22 and was contracted to build a prototype XP-38[31] for US$163,000, though Lockheed's own costs on the prototype would add up to US$761,000.[32] Construction began in July 1938 in an old bourbon distillery purchased by Lockheed to house expanding operations. This secure and remote site was later identified by Johnson as the first of five Lockheed Skunk Works locations.[17][18][33] The XP-38 first flew on 27 January 1939 at the hands of Ben Kelsey.[34][Note 1]
Kelsey then proposed a speed dash to
Manufacture of YP-38s fell behind schedule, at least partly because of changes to meet the need for mass production, making them substantially different in construction from the prototype. Another factor was the sudden required expansion of Lockheed's facility in
High-speed compressibility problems
Test flights revealed problems initially believed to be tail
By November 1941, many of the initial assembly-line challenges had been met, which freed up time for the engineering team to tackle the problem of frozen controls in a dive. Lockheed had a few ideas for tests that would help them find an answer. The first solution tried was the fitting of spring-loaded servo tabs on the elevator trailing edge designed to aid the pilot when control yoke forces rose over 30 pounds-force (130 N), as would be expected in a high-speed dive. At that point, the tabs would begin to multiply the effort of the pilot's actions. Expert test pilot Ralph Virden was given a specific high-altitude test sequence to follow and was told to restrict his speed and fast maneuvering in denser air at low altitudes, since the new mechanism could exert tremendous leverage under those conditions. A note was taped to the instrument panel of the test craft underscoring this instruction. On 4 November 1941, Virden climbed into YP-38 #1 and completed the test sequence successfully, but 15 minutes later, was seen in a steep dive followed by a high-G pullout. The tail unit of the aircraft failed at about 3,500 ft (1,000 m) during the high-speed dive recovery; Virden was killed in the subsequent crash. The Lockheed design office was justifiably upset, but their design engineers could only conclude that servo tabs were not the solution for loss of control in a dive. Lockheed still had to find the problem; the Army Air Forces personnel were sure it was flutter and ordered Lockheed to look more closely at the tail.
In 1941, flutter was a familiar engineering problem related to a too-flexible tail, but the P-38's
Johnson said in his autobiography[45] that he pleaded with National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics to do model tests in its wind tunnel. They already had experience of models thrashing around violently at speeds approaching those requested and did not want to risk damaging their tunnel. Gen. Arnold, head of Army Air Forces, ordered them to run the tests, which were done up to Mach 0.74.[46] The P-38's dive problem was revealed to be the center of pressure moving back toward the tail when in high-speed airflow. The solution was to change the geometry of the wing's lower surface when diving to keep lift within bounds of the top of the wing. In February 1943, quick-acting dive flaps were tried and proven by Lockheed test pilots. The dive flaps were installed outboard of the engine nacelles, and in action, they extended downward 35° in 1.5 seconds. The flaps did not act as a speed brake; they affected the pressure distribution in a way that retained the wing's lift.[47]
Late in 1943, a few hundred dive flap field-modification kits were assembled to give North African, European, and Pacific P-38s a chance to withstand compressibility and expand their combat tactics. The kits did not always reach their destination. In March 1944, 200 dive flap kits intended for the
Johnson later recalled:
I broke an ulcer over compressibility on the P-38 because we flew into a speed range where no one had ever been before, and we had difficulty convincing people that it wasn't the funny-looking airplane itself, but a fundamental physical problem. We found out what happened when the Lightning shed its tail and we worked during the whole war to get 15 more kn [28 km/h] of speed out of the P-38. We saw compressibility as a brick wall for a long time. Then we learned how to get through it.[49]
Another issue with the P-38 arose from its unique design feature of outwardly rotating (at the "tops" of the propeller arcs) counter-rotating propellers. Losing one of two engines in any twin-engined, non-
The engines were unusually quiet because the exhausts were muffled by the General Electric turbosuperchargers on the twin Allison V12s.[51] Early problems with cockpit temperature regulation occurred; pilots were often too hot in the tropical sun as the canopy could not be fully opened without severe buffeting, and were often too cold in Northern Europe and at high altitude, as the distance of the engines from the cockpit prevented easy heat transfer. Later variants received modifications (such as electrically heated flight suits) to solve these problems.[citation needed]
On 20 September 1939, before the YP-38s had been built and flight tested, the USAAC ordered 66 initial-production P-38 Lightnings, 30 of which were delivered to the (renamed) USAAF in mid-1941, but not all these aircraft were armed. The unarmed aircraft were subsequently fitted with four .50 in (12.7 mm) machine guns (instead of the two .50 in/12.7 mm and two .30 in/7.62 mm of their predecessors) and a 37 mm (1.46 in) cannon. They also had armored glass, cockpit armor, and fluorescent instrument lighting.[52] One was completed with a pressurized cabin on an experimental basis and designated XP-38A.[53] Due to reports the USAAF was receiving from Europe, the remaining 36 in the batch were upgraded with small improvements such as self-sealing fuel tanks and enhanced armor protection to make them combat-capable. The USAAF specified that these 36 aircraft were to be designated P-38D. As a result, no P-38Bs or P-38Cs were designated. The P-38D's main role was to work out bugs and give the USAAF experience with handling the type.[54]
In March 1940, the French and British, through the
Many of the British order of 524 Lightning IIs were fitted with stronger F-10 Allison engines as they became available, and all were given wing pylons for fuel tanks or bombs. The upgraded aircraft were deployed to the Pacific as USAAC F-5A reconnaissance or P-38G fighter models, the latter used with great effect in the
The British name was retained over Lockheed's original name 'Atalanta', the swift-running Greek goddess, following the company tradition of using mythological and celestial figures.[64]
Range extension
The strategic bombing proponents within the USAAF, nicknamed the
In March 1942, General Arnold made an off-hand comment that the US could avoid the German U-boat menace by flying fighters to the UK rather than packing them onto ships. President Roosevelt pressed the point, emphasizing his interest in the solution. Arnold was likely aware of the flying radius extension work being done on the P-38, which by this time had seen success with small drop tanks in the range of 150 to 165 US gal (570 to 620 L), the difference in capacity being the result of subcontractor production variation. Arnold ordered further tests with larger drop tanks in the range of 300 to 310 US gal (1,100 to 1,200 L); the results were reported by Kelsey as providing the P-38 with a 2,500-mile (4,000 km) ferrying range.[65] Because of available supply, the smaller drop tanks were used to fly Lightnings to the UK, the plan called Operation Bolero.
Led by two Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses, the first seven P-38s, each carrying two small drop tanks, left Presque Isle Army Air Field in Maine on 23 June 1942 for RAF Heathfield in Scotland. Their first refueling stop was made in far northeast Canada at Goose Bay. The second stop was a rough airstrip in Greenland called Bluie West One, and the third refueling stop was in Iceland at Keflavik. Other P-38s followed this route with some lost in mishaps, usually due to poor weather, low visibility, radio difficulties, and navigational errors. Nearly 200 of the P-38Fs (and a few modified Es) were successfully flown across the Atlantic in July–August 1942, making the P-38 the first USAAF fighter to reach Britain and the first fighter ever to be delivered across the Atlantic under its own power.[66] Kelsey himself piloted one of the Lightnings, landing in Scotland on 25 July.[67]
Operational history
The first unit to receive P-38s was the 1st Fighter Group. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the unit joined the 14th Pursuit Group in San Diego to provide West Coast defense.[68]
Entry to the war
The first Lightning to see active service was the F-4 version, a P-38E in which the guns were replaced by four K17 cameras.[69] They joined the 8th Photographic Squadron in Australia on 4 April 1942.[42] Three F-4s were operated by the Royal Australian Air Force in this theater for a short period beginning in September 1942.
On 29 May 1942, 25 P-38s began operating in the Aleutian Islands in Alaska. The fighter's long range made it well-suited to the campaign over the almost 1,200-mile (1,900 km)-long island chain, and it was flown there for the rest of the war. The Aleutians were some of the most rugged environments available for testing the new aircraft under combat conditions. More Lightnings were lost due to severe weather and other conditions than enemy action; cases occurred where Lightning pilots, mesmerized by flying for hours over gray seas under gray skies, simply flew into the water. On 9 August 1942, two P-38Es of the 343rd Fighter Group, 11th Air Force, at the end of a 1,000-mile (1,600 km) long-range patrol, happened upon a pair of Japanese Kawanishi H6K "Mavis" flying boats and destroyed them,[42] making them the first Japanese aircraft to be shot down by Lightnings.
European theater
North Africa and Italy
After the
After 347 sorties with no enemy contact, the 1st and 14th Fighter Groups transferred from the UK to the
Early results in the
The first German success against the P-38 was on 28 November 1942, when Bf 109 pilots of Jagdgeschwader 53 claimed seven Lightnings for no loss of their own.[74] Further one-sided German victories were noted on several occasions through January 1943.[75] The first P-38 pilots to achieve ace status were Virgil Smith of the 14th FG and Jack Illfrey of the 1st FG, both credited with five wins by 26 December. Smith got a sixth enemy aircraft on 28 December, but was killed two days later in a crash landing, likely after taking fire from Oberfeldwebel Herbert Rollwage of JG 53, who survived the war with at least 71 kills. This was Rollwage's first victory over a P-38, and his 35th claim at the time.[76]
The two squadrons of the 14th Fighter Group were reduced so badly in December 1942 that the 82nd FG was flown from the UK to North Africa to cover the shortage. The first kill by the 82nd was during a bomber-escort mission on 7 January 1943, when William J. "Dixie" Sloan broke formation and turned toward six attacking Bf 109s to shoot one of them down. Known for his maverick style, Sloan racked up 12 victories by July 1943.[76] After another heavy toll in January 1943, 14th FG had to be withdrawn from the front to reorganize, with surviving pilots sent home and the few remaining Lightnings transferred to the 82nd.[73] The 14th was out of action for three months, returning in May.[77]
On 5 April 1943, 26 P-38Fs of the 82nd claimed 31 enemy aircraft destroyed, helping to establish air superiority in the area and allegedly earning it the German nickname "der Gabelschwanz Teufel" – the Fork-tailed Devil, coming from a recently downed German aviator, as described by Life magazine in August 1943. However, the reliability of this attribution is doubtful as the clear intent of the article was to rehabilitate the P-38's reputation in the minds of the American public. No earlier independent or German attestation exists for this claim.[78] The P-38s remained active in the Mediterranean for the rest of the war, continuing to deliver and receive damage in combat. On 30 August 1943, 13 P-38s were shot down by German and Italian fighters while escorting B-26 and B-17 bombers on raids against targets in Italy.[79][80] On 2 September, 10 P-38s were shot down in combat with Bf 109s of JG 53, with four Bf 109s, including that of 67-victory ace Franz Schieß, who had been the leading "Lightning killer" in the Luftwaffe with 17 destroyed.[80][81]
The Mediterranean Theater had the first aerial combat between German fighters and P-38s. German fighter pilot appraisal of the P-38 was mixed. Some observers dismissed the P-38 as an easy kill, while others gave it high praise, a deadly enemy worthy of respect.
On 12 June 1943, a P-38G, while flying a special mission between Gibraltar and Malta, or perhaps, just after strafing the radar station of Capo Pula, landed on the airfield of Capoterra (Cagliari), in Sardinia, from navigation error due to a compass failure. Regia Aeronautica chief test pilot Colonnello (Lieutenant Colonel) Angelo Tondi flew the captured aircraft to Guidonia airfield, where the P-38G was evaluated. On 11 August 1943, Tondi took off to intercept a formation of about 50 bombers, returning from the bombing of Terni (Umbria). Tondi attacked B-17G Bonny Sue, 42–30307, that fell off the shore of Torvaianica, near Rome, while six airmen parachuted out. According to US sources, he also damaged three more bombers on that occasion. On 4 September, the 301st BG reported the loss of B-17 "The Lady Evelyn," 42–30344, downed by "an enemy P-38".[86] War missions for that plane were limited, as the Italian petrol was too corrosive for the Lockheed's tanks.[87] Other Lightnings were eventually acquired by Italy for postwar service.
In a particular case when faced by more agile fighters at low altitudes in a constricted valley, Lightnings suffered heavy losses. On the morning of 10 June 1944, 96 P-38Js of the 1st and 82nd Fighter Groups took off from Italy for
Western Europe
Experiences over Germany had shown a need for long-range escort fighters to protect the
Because its distinctive shape was less prone to cases of mistaken identity and
A little-known role of the P-38 in the European theater was that of fighter-bomber during the invasion of Normandy and the Allied advance across France into Germany. Assigned to the
After some disastrous raids in 1944 with B-17s escorted by P-38s and Republic P-47 Thunderbolts, Doolittle, then head of the U.S. Eighth Air Force, went to the Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough, asking for an evaluation of the various American fighters. Test pilot Captain Eric Brown, Fleet Air Arm, recalled:
We had found out that the Bf 109 and the FW 190 could fight up to a Mach of 0.75, three-quarters the speed of sound. We checked the Lightning and it couldn't fly in combat faster than 0.68. So, it was useless. We told Doolittle that all it was good for was photoreconnaissance and had to be withdrawn from escort duties. And the funny thing is that the Americans had great difficulty understanding this because the Lightning had the two top aces in the Far East.[102]
After evaluation tests at Farnborough, the P-38 was kept in fighting service in Europe for a while longer. Although many failings were remedied with the introduction of the P-38J, by September 1944, all but one of the Lightning groups in the Eighth Air Force had converted to the P-51 Mustang. The Eighth Air Force continued to conduct reconnaissance missions using the F-5 variant.[68]
Pacific theater
The P-38 was used most extensively and successfully in the Pacific Theater, where it proved more suited, combining exceptional range with the reliability of two engines for long missions over water. The P-38 was used in a variety of roles, especially escorting bombers at altitudes of 18,000–25,000 ft (5,500–7,600 m). The P-38 was credited with destroying more Japanese aircraft than any other USAAF fighter.[3] Freezing cockpit temperatures were not a problem at low altitude in the tropics. In fact, the cockpit was often too hot since opening a window while in flight caused buffeting by setting up turbulence through the tailplane. Pilots taking low-altitude assignments often flew stripped down to shorts, tennis shoes, and parachute. While the P-38 could not out-turn the A6M Zero and most other Japanese fighters when flying below 200 mph (320 km/h), its superior speed coupled with a good rate of climb meant that it could use energy tactics, making multiple high-speed passes at its target. In addition, its tightly grouped guns were even more deadly to lightly armored Japanese warplanes than to German aircraft. The concentrated, parallel stream of bullets allowed aerial victory at much longer distances than fighters carrying wing guns. Dick Bong, the United States' highest-scoring World War II air ace (40 victories in P-38s), flew directly at his targets to ensure he hit them, in some cases flying through the debris of his target (and on one occasion colliding with an enemy aircraft, which was claimed as a "probable" victory). The twin Allison engines performed admirably in the Pacific.
General
On 2–4 March 1943, P-38s flew top cover for 5th Air Force and Australian bombers and attack aircraft during the Battle of the Bismarck Sea, in which eight Japanese troop transports and four escorting destroyers were sunk. Two P-38 aces from the 39th Fighter Squadron were killed on the second day of the battle: Bob Faurot and Hoyt "Curley" Eason (a veteran with five victories who had trained hundreds of pilots, including Dick Bong). In one notable engagement on 3 March 1943, P-38s escorted 13 B-17s (part of an attack including B-25 Mitchells and Beaufighters) as they bombed the Japanese convoy from a medium altitude of 7,000 ft (2,100 m), which dispersed the convoy formation and reduced their concentrated antiaircraft firepower. A B-17 was shot down and when Japanese Zero fighters machine-gunned some of the B-17 crew members who bailed out in parachutes, three P-38s promptly dived into action, claiming five Zeros.[109][110][111][112]
Killing of Admiral Yamamoto
Because of its ability to fly long distances, the Lightning figured in one of the most significant operations in the Pacific Theater – the interception, on 18 April 1943, of Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, the architect of Japan's naval strategy in the Pacific including the attack on Pearl Harbor. When American codebreakers found out that he was flying to Bougainville Island to conduct a front-line inspection, 16 P-38G Lightnings were sent on a long-range fighter-intercept mission, flying 435 miles (700 km) from Guadalcanal at heights of 10 to 50 ft (3 to 20 m) 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. The Americans lost one P-38. Japanese search parties found Yamamoto's body at the jungle crash site the next day.[113]
Service record
The P-38's service record shows mixed results, which may reflect more on its employment than on flaws with the aircraft. The P-38's engine troubles at high altitudes only occurred with the Eighth Air Force. One reason for this was the inadequate cooling systems of the G and H models; the improved P-38 J and L had tremendous success flying out of Italy into Germany at all altitudes.[68] Until the -J-25 variant, P-38s were easily avoided by German fighters because of the lack of dive flaps to counter compressibility in dives. German fighter pilots not wishing to fight would perform the first half of a Split S and continue into steep dives because they knew the Lightnings would be reluctant to follow.
On the positive side, having two engines was a built-in insurance policy. Many pilots arrived safely back to base after having an engine failure en route or in combat. On 3 March 1944, the first Allied fighters reached Berlin on a frustrated escort mission. Lieutenant Colonel Jack Jenkins of
In the European Theater, P-38s made 130,000 sorties with a loss of 1.3% overall, comparing favorably with P-51s, which posted a 1.1% loss, considering that the P-38s were vastly outnumbered and suffered from poorly thought-out tactics. Most of the P-38 sorties were made in the period prior to Allied air superiority in Europe, when pilots fought against a very determined and skilled enemy.[115] Lieutenant Colonel Mark Hubbard, a vocal critic of the aircraft, rated it the third-best Allied fighter in Europe.[116] 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.[113] American fuel supplies contributed to a better engine performance and maintenance record, and range was increased with leaner mixtures. In the second half of 1944, the P-38L pilots out of Dutch New Guinea were flying 950 mi (1,530 km), fighting for 15 minutes and returning to base.[117] Such long legs were invaluable until the P-47N and P-51D entered service.
Postwar operations
The end of the war left the USAAF with thousands of P-38s rendered obsolete by the jet age. Orders for 1,887 more were cancelled.
Surplus P-38s were also used by other foreign air forces, with 12 sold to Honduras and 15 retained by China. Six F-5s and two unarmed black two-seater P-38s were operated by the Dominican Air Force based in San Isidro Airbase, Dominican Republic, in 1947. Most of the wartime Lightnings present in the continental U.S. at the end of the war were put up for sale for US$1,200 apiece; the rest were scrapped. P-38s in distant theaters of war were bulldozed into piles and abandoned or scrapped; very few avoided that fate.
The CIA "Liberation Air Force" flew one P-38M to support the
P-38s were popular contenders in the air races from 1946 through 1949, with brightly colored Lightnings making screaming turns around the pylons at
F-5s were bought by
Production
Variant | Built or converted |
Comment |
---|---|---|
XP-38 | 1 | Prototype |
YP-38 | 13 | Evaluation aircraft |
P-38 | 30 | Initial production aircraft |
XP-38A | 1 | Pressurized cockpit |
P-38D | 36 | Fitted with self-sealing fuel tanks/armored windshield |
P-38E | 210 | First combat-ready variant, revised armament |
F-4 | 100+ | Reconnaissance aircraft based on P-38E |
Model 322 | 3 | RAF order: twin right-hand props and no turbo |
RP-322 | 147 | USAAF trainers |
P-38F | 527 | First fully[citation needed] combat-capable P-38 fighter |
F-4A | 20 | Reconnaissance aircraft based on P-38F |
P-38G | 1,082 | Improved P-38F fighter |
F-5A | 180 | Reconnaissance aircraft based on P-38G |
XF-5D | 1 | A one-off converted F-5A |
P-38H | 601 | Automatic cooling system; improved P-38G fighter |
P-38J | 2,970 | New cooling and electrical systems |
F-5B | 200 | Reconnaissance aircraft based on P-38J |
F-5C | 123 | Reconnaissance aircraft converted from P-38J |
F-5E | 705 | Reconnaissance aircraft converted from P-38J/L |
P-38K | 2 | Paddle blade props; up-rated engines with a different propeller reduction ratio |
P-38L-LO | 3,810 | Improved P-38J new engines; new rocket pylons |
P-38L-VN | 113 | P-38L built by Vultee |
F-5F | – | Reconnaissance aircraft converted from P-38L |
P-38M | 75 | Night fighter converted from P-38L |
F-5G | – | Reconnaissance aircraft converted from P-38L |
Over 10,000 Lightnings were manufactured, becoming the only U.S. combat aircraft that remained in continuous production throughout the duration of American participation in World War II. The Lightning had a major effect on other aircraft; its wing, in a scaled-up form, was used on the Lockheed Constellation.[127]
P-38D and P-38Es
Delivered and accepted Lightning production variants began with the P-38D model. The few "hand made" YP-38s initially contracted were used as trainers and test aircraft. No Bs or Cs were delivered to the government as the USAAF allocated the 'D' suffix to all aircraft with self-sealing fuel tanks and armor.[39] Many secondary but still initial teething tests were conducted using the earliest D variants.[39]
The first combat-capable Lightning was the P-38E (and its photo-recon variant the F-4) which featured improved instruments, electrical, and hydraulic systems. Part-way through production, the older Hamilton Standard Hydromatic hollow steel propellers were replaced by new Curtiss Electric duraluminum propellers. The definitive (and now famous) armament configuration was settled upon, featuring four .50 in (12.7 mm) machine guns with 500 rpg, and a 20 mm (.79 in) Hispano autocannon with 150 rounds.[128]
While the machine guns had been arranged symmetrically in the nose on the P-38D, they were "staggered" in the P-38E and later versions, with the muzzles protruding from the nose in the relative lengths of roughly 1:4:6:2. This was done to ensure a straight ammunition-belt feed into the weapons, as the earlier arrangement led to jamming.
The first P-38E rolled out of the factory in October 1941 as the Battle of Moscow filled the news wires of the world. Because of the versatility, redundant engines, and especially high-speed and high-altitude characteristics of the aircraft, as with later variants, over a hundred P-38Es were completed in the factory or converted in the field to a photoreconnaissance variant, the F-4, in which the guns were replaced by four cameras. Most of these early reconnaissance Lightnings were retained stateside for training, but the F-4 was the first Lightning to be used in action in April 1942.[citation needed]
P-38Fs and P-38Gs
After 210 P-38Es were built, they were followed, starting in February 1942, by the P-38F, which incorporated racks inboard of the engines for fuel tanks or a total of 2,000 lb (910 kg) of
The aircraft was still experiencing extensive teething troubles, as well as being victimized by "urban legends", mostly involving inapplicable twin-engined factors which had been designed out of the aircraft by Lockheed.
The P-38F was followed in June 1942 by the P-38G, using more powerful Allisons of 1,400 hp (1,000 kW) each and equipped with a better radio. A dozen of the planned P-38G production were set aside to serve as prototypes for what became the P-38J with further uprated Allison V-1710F-17 engines (1,425 hp (1,063 kW) each) in redesigned booms, which featured chin-mounted intercoolers in place of the original system in the leading edge of the wings and more efficient radiators. Lockheed subcontractors, however, were initially unable to supply both of Burbank's twin production lines with a sufficient quantity of new core intercoolers and radiators. War Production Board planners were unwilling to sacrifice production, and one of the two remaining prototypes received the new engines, but retained the old leading-edge intercoolers and radiators.
As the P-38H, 600 of these stop-gap Lightnings with an improved 20 mm cannon and a bomb capacity of 3,200 lb (1,500 kg) were produced on one line beginning in May 1943 while the near-definitive P-38J began production on the second line in August 1943. The Eighth Air Force was experiencing high-altitude and cold-weather issues which, while not unique to the aircraft, were perhaps more severe as the turbosuperchargers upgrading the Allisons were having their own reliability issues, making the aircraft more unpopular with senior officers out of the line.[39] This was a situation unduplicated on all other fronts where the commands were clamoring for as many P-38s as they could get.[39] Both the P-38G and P-38H models' performances were restricted by an intercooler system integral to the wing's leading edge, which had been designed for the YP-38's less powerful engines. At the higher boost levels, the new engine's charge air temperature would increase above the limits recommended by Allison and would be subject to detonation if operated at high power for extended periods of time. Reliability was not the only issue, either. For example, the reduced power settings required by the P-38H did not allow the maneuvering flap to be used to good advantage at high altitude.[130] All these problems really came to a head in the unplanned P-38H and sped the Lightning's eventual replacement in the 8th Air Force; fortunately, the 15th Air Force was glad to get them.
Some P-38G production was diverted on the assembly line to F-5A reconnaissance aircraft. An F-5A was modified to an experimental two-seat reconnaissance configuration as the XF-5D, with a Plexiglas nose, two machine guns, and additional cameras in the tail booms.
P-38J, P-38L
The P-38J was introduced in August 1943. The turbosupercharger intercooler system on previous variants had been housed in the leading edges of the wings and had proven vulnerable to combat damage and could burst if the wrong series of controls was mistakenly activated. In the P-38J series, the streamlined engine nacelles of previous Lightnings were changed to fit the intercooler radiator between the oil coolers, forming a "chin" that visually distinguished the J model from its predecessors. While the P-38J used the same V-1710-89/91 engines as the H model, the new core-type intercooler more efficiently lowered intake manifold temperatures and permitted a substantial increase in rated power. The leading edge of the outer wing was fitted with 55 US gal (210 L) fuel tanks, filling the space formerly occupied by intercooler tunnels, but these were omitted on early P-38J blocks due to limited availability.[131]
The final 210 J models, designated P-38J-25-LO, alleviated the compressibility problem through the addition of a set of electrically actuated dive recovery flaps just outboard of the engines on the bottom centerline of the wings. With these improvements, a USAAF pilot reported a dive speed of almost 600 mph (970 km/h), although the indicated air speed was later corrected for compressibility error, and the actual dive speed was lower.[132] Lockheed manufactured over 200 retrofit modification kits to be installed on P-38J-10-LO and J-20-LO already in Europe, but the USAAF C-54 carrying them was shot down by an RAF pilot who mistook the Douglas transport for a German Focke-Wulf Condor.[133] Unfortunately, the loss of the kits came during Lockheed test pilot Tony LeVier's four-month morale-boosting tour of P-38 bases. Flying a new Lightning named Snafuperman, modified to full P-38J-25-LO specifications at Lockheed's modification center near Belfast, LeVier captured the pilots' full attention by routinely performing maneuvers during March 1944 that common 8th Air Force wisdom held to be suicidal. It proved too little, too late, because the decision had already been made to re-equip with Mustangs.[50]
The P-38J-25-LO production block also introduced hydraulically boosted ailerons, one of the first times such a system was fitted to a fighter. This significantly improved the Lightning's rate of roll and reduced control forces for the pilot. This production block and the following P-38L model are considered the definitive Lightnings, and Lockheed ramped up production, working with subcontractors across the country to produce hundreds of Lightnings each month.
Two P-38Ks were developed from 1942 to 1943, one official and one an internal Lockheed experiment. The first was actually a battered RP-38E "piggyback" test mule previously used by Lockheed to test the P-38J chin intercooler installation, now fitted with paddle-bladed "high activity" Hamilton Standard Hydromatic propellers similar to those used on the P-47. The new propellers required spinners of greater diameter, and the mule's crude, hand-formed sheet steel cowlings were further stretched to blend the spinners into the nacelles. It retained its "piggyback" configuration that allowed an observer to ride behind the pilot. With Lockheed's AAF representative as a passenger and the maneuvering flap deployed to offset Army Hot Day conditions, the old "K-Mule" still climbed to 45,000 feet (14,000 m). With a fresh coat of paint covering its crude, hand-formed steel cowlings, this RP-38E acts as stand-in for the "P-38K-1-LO" in the model's only picture.[134]
The 12th G model originally set aside as a P-38J prototype was redesignated P-38K-1-LO and fitted with the aforementioned paddle-blade propellers and new Allison V-1710-75/77 (F15R/L) powerplants rated at 1,875 bhp (1,398 kW) at War Emergency Power. These engines were geared 2.36 to 1, unlike the standard P-38 ratio of 2 to 1. The AAF took delivery in September 1943, at Eglin Field. In tests, the P-38K-1 achieved 432 mph (695 km/h) at military power and was predicted to exceed 450 mph (720 km/h) at War Emergency Power with a similar increase in load and range. The initial climb rate was 4,800 ft (1,500 m)/min and the ceiling was 46,000 ft (14,000 m). It reached 20,000 ft (6,100 m) in five minutes flat; this with a coat of camouflage paint, which added weight and drag. Although it was judged superior in climb and speed to the latest and best fighters from all AAF manufacturers, the War Production Board refused to authorize P-38K production due to the two- to three-week interruption in production necessary to implement cowling modifications for the revised spinners and higher thrust line.[134] Some had also doubted Allison's ability to deliver the F15 engine in quantity.[135] As promising as it had looked, the P-38K project came to a halt.
The P-38L was the most numerous variant of the Lightning, with 3,923 built, 113 by
The P-38L was the first Lightning fitted with zero-length rocket launchers. Seven High Velocity Aircraft Rockets (HVARs) on pylons were placed beneath each wing, and later, five rockets were on each wing on "Christmas tree" launch racks, which added 1,365 lb (619 kg) to the aircraft.[136] The P-38L also had strengthened stores pylons to allow carriage of 2,000 lb (900 kg) bombs or 300 US gal (1,100 L) drop tanks.
Lockheed modified 200 P-38J airframes in production to become unarmed F-5B photo-reconnaissance aircraft, while hundreds of other P-38Js and P-38Ls were modified at Lockheed's Dallas Modification Center to become F-5Cs, F-5Es, F-5Fs, or F-5Gs. A few P-38Ls were field modified to become two-seat TP-38L familiarization trainers. During and after June 1948, the remaining J and L variants were designated ZF-38J and ZF-38L, with the "ZF" designator (meaning "obsolete fighter") replacing the "P for Pursuit" category.
Late-model Lightnings were delivered unpainted, per USAAF policy established in 1944. At first, field units tried to paint them, since pilots worried about being too visible to the enemy, but the reduction in weight and drag turned out to be a minor advantage in combat.
The P-38L-5, the most common subvariant of the P-38L, had a modified cockpit heating system consisting of a plug-socket in the cockpit into which the pilot could plug his heat-suit wire for improved comfort. These Lightnings also received the uprated V-1710-112/113 (F30R/L) engines, and this dramatically lowered the number of engine-failure problems experienced at high altitude so commonly associated with European operations.
Pathfinders, night-fighter, and other variants
This section needs additional citations for verification. (January 2011) |
The Lightning was modified for other roles. In addition to the F-4 and F-5 reconnaissance variants, a number of P-38Js and P-38Ls were field modified as formation bombing "pathfinders" or "droopsnoots",
A number of Lightnings were modified as
One of the initial production P-38s had its turbosuperchargers removed, with a secondary cockpit placed in one of the booms to examine how flight crews would respond to such an "asymmetric" cockpit layout.Another experiment was the modification of P-38 40-744 for pilot asymmetric flight tests...
</ref>[page needed
Very early in the Pacific War, a scheme was proposed to fit Lightnings with floats to allow them to make long-range ferry flights. The floats would be removed before the aircraft went into combat. Concerns arose that saltwater spray would corrode the tailplane, so in March 1942, P-38E 41-1986 was modified with a tailplane raised some 16–18 in (41–46 cm), booms lengthened by 2 ft, and a rearward-facing second seat added for an observer to monitor the effectiveness of the new arrangement. A second version was crafted on the same airframe with the twin booms given greater sideplane area to augment the vertical rudders. This arrangement was removed and a final third version was fabricated that had the booms returned to normal length but the tail raised 33 in (84 cm). All three tail modifications were designed by George H. "Bert" Estabrook. The final version was used for a quick series of dive tests on 7 December 1942 in which Milo Burcham performed the test maneuvers and Kelly Johnson observed from the rear seat. Johnson concluded that the raised floatplane tail gave no advantage in solving the problem of compressibility. At no time was this P-38E testbed airframe actually fitted with floats, and the idea was quickly abandoned, as the U.S. Navy proved to have enough sealift capacity to keep up with P-38 deliveries to the South Pacific.[140]
Still another P-38E was used in 1942 to tow a
Standard Lightnings were used as crew and cargo transports in the South Pacific. They were fitted with pods attached to the underwing pylons, replacing drop tanks or bombs, that could carry a single passenger in a lying-down position, or cargo. This was a very uncomfortable way to fly. Some of the pods were not even fitted with a window to let the passenger see out or bring in light.
Lockheed proposed a carrier-based Model 822 version of the Lightning for the United States Navy. The Model 822 would have featured folding wings, an arresting hook, and stronger undercarriage for carrier operations. The navy was not interested, as they regarded the Lightning as too big for carrier operations and did not like liquid-cooled engines, anyway, and the Model 822 never went beyond the paper stage. However, the navy did operate four land-based F-5Bs in North Africa, inherited from the USAAF and redesignated FO-1.
A P-38J was used in experiments with an unusual scheme for midair refueling, in which the fighter snagged a drop tank trailed on a cable from a bomber. The USAAF managed to make this work, but decided it was not practical. A P-38J was also fitted with experimental retractable snow-ski landing gear, but this idea never reached operational service, either.
After the war, a P-38L was experimentally fitted with armament of three .60 in (15.2 mm) machine guns. The .60 in (15.2 mm) caliber cartridge had been developed early in the war for an infantry anti-tank rifle, a type of weapon developed by a number of nations in the 1930s when tanks were lighter, but by 1942, armor was too tough for this caliber.
Another P-38L was modified after the war as a "super strafer", with eight .50 in (12.7 mm) machine guns in the nose and a pod under each wing with two .50 in (12.7 mm) guns, for a total of 12 machine guns. Nothing came of this conversion, either.
Variants
- XP-38: United States Army Air Force designation for one prototype Lockheed Model 22 first flown in 1939[141]
- YP-38: Redesigned preproduction batch with armament, 13 built[141]
- P-38: First production variant with 0.5 in guns and a 37 mm cannon, 30 built[141][142]
- XP-38A: Thirtieth P-38 modified with a pressurized cockpit[141][142]
- Lightning I: Former Armée de l'air order for 667 aircraft (being reduced to 143 Lighting Is), it was taken by the Royal Air Force, three delivered to RAF, and the remainder of the order was delivered to USAAF. It used C-series V-1710-33 engines without turbochargers, and right-hand propeller rotation (not counter).[143][144]
- Lightning II: The Royal Air Force designation for a cancelled order of 524 aircraft using F-series V-1710 engines, the only one built was retained by the USAAF for testing* the rest of the order was completed as P-38F-13-LO, P-38F-15-LO, P-38G-13-LO, and P-38G-15-LO aircraft.[143][144]
- P-322-I: 22 Lightning Is of the 143 built were retained by the USAAF for training and testing. Most were unarmed, although some retained the Lighting I armament of two .50 cal and two .30 cal guns.[141][145]
- P-322-II: 121 Lightning Is were re-engined with the V-1710-27/-29 and used for training. Most were unarmed.[141][145]
- P-38B: Proposed variant of the P-38A, not built[141]
- P-38C: Proposed variant of the P-38A, not built[141]
- P-38D: Production variant with modified tailplane incidence, self-sealing fuel tanks, 36 built[141]
- P-38E: Production variant with revised hydraulic system, 20 mm cannon rather than the 37 mm of earlier variants, 210 built[141]
- P-38E Floatplane: A proposed floatplane variant of the P-38E with upswept tail booms and fitted with droppable and fuel-filled floats, one prototype was converted from P-38E 41-1986 with modified tail booms, but was not fitted with floats. It did not enter production.[146]
- P-38F: Production variant with inboard underwing racks for drop tanks or 2000 lb of bombs, 527 built[141]
- P-38G: Production variant with modified radio equipment, 1082 built[141]
- P-38H: Production variant capable of carrying 3200 lb of underwing bombs, improved intercooler design along with automatic oil radiator flaps, 601 built[141]
- P-38J: This production variant was built in 1943 with improvements to each batch, notably an increase of Hp that came with an improved turbo charger. It also included chin radiators, flat bullet-proof windshields, power-boosted ailerons, and increased fuel capacity* 2970 were built. Some were modified to pathfinder configuration and to F-5C, F-5E, and F-5F.[141]
- P-38K: With 1425 hp engines, larger Hamilton Standard Paddle-bladed propellers were added to compensate for increased power, one was built* a single P-38E was additionally converted to the same propeller as the P-38K.[141]
- P-38L: With 1600 hp engines, 3923 were built, which included 113 built at Vultee* later conversions to pathfinders and F-5G were made.[141]
- TP-38L: Two P-38Ls were converted as tandem-seated operational trainers.[141]
- P-38M: Conversion of P-38L as a radar-equipped night-fighter[141]
- F-4: Photo-reconnaissance variant of the P-38E, 99 built[147]
- F-4A: Photo-reconnaissance variant of the P-38F, 20 built[147]
- F-5A: Reconnaissance variant of the P-38G, 181 built[147]
- F-5B: Reconnaissance variant of the P-38J, 200 were built, and four were later sent to the United States Navy as FO-1s.[147]
- F-5C: Reconnaissance variant of the P-38J, 123 conversions[147]
- XF-5D: Prone-observer variant, one conversion from a F-5A[147]
- F-5E: Reconnaissance variant converted from the P-38J and P-38L, 705 converted[147]
- F-5F: Reconnaissance variant conversions of the P-38L[147]
- F-5G: As reconnaissance variant conversions of the P-38L, they had a different camera configuration from the F-5F.[147]
- XFO-1: United States Navy designation for four F-5Bs operated for evaluation.[148]
Operators
- Military
- Australia
- Republic of China
- Dominican Republic
- Free France
- France
- Honduras
- Kingdom of Italy
- Italy
- Portugal
- United Kingdom
- United States
Civil
Noted P-38s
Yippee
The 5,000th Lightning built, a P-38J-20-LO, 44-23296, was painted bright vermilion red, and had the name YIPPEE painted on the underside of the wings in large white letters, as well as the signatures of hundreds of factory workers. This and other aircraft were used by a handful of Lockheed test pilots including
Surviving aircraft
Of the ten thousand aircraft built, there are 26 survivors of which ten are airworthy.
Noted P-38 pilots
Richard Bong and Thomas McGuire
The American ace of aces and his closest competitor both flew Lightnings and tallied 40 and 38 victories, respectively.[151] Majors Richard I. "Dick" Bong and Thomas B. "Tommy" McGuire of the USAAF competed for the top position. Both men were awarded the Medal of Honor.
McGuire was killed in air combat in January 1945 over the Philippines, after accumulating 38 confirmed kills, making him the second-ranking American ace. Bong was rotated back to the United States as America's ace of aces, after making 40 kills, becoming a test pilot. He was killed on 6 August 1945, the day the atomic bomb was dropped on Japan, when his Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star jet fighter flamed out on take-off.
Charles Lindbergh
Charles Lindbergh became famous for his transatlantic solo flight before the war. By WWII he was a civilian working for Vought in the South Pacific area. He received preferential treatment as if a visiting colonel. In Hollandia, Lindbergh attached himself to the 475th Fighter Group which was flying P-38s. Although new to the aircraft, Lindbergh was instrumental in extending the range of the P-38 through improved throttle settings, or engine-leaning techniques, notably by reducing engine speed to 1,600 rpm, setting the carburetors for auto-lean and flying at 185 mph (298 km/h) indicated airspeed, which reduced fuel consumption to 70 gal/h, about 2.6 mpg. This combination of settings had been considered dangerous as it was believed this would upset the fuel mixture, causing an explosion.[152]
While with the 475th, he took part in a number of combat missions. On 28 July 1944, Lindbergh shot down a
Charles MacDonald
The third-ranking American ace of the Pacific theater, Charles H. MacDonald, flew a Lightning against the Japanese and scored 27 kills[151] in his aircraft, the Putt Putt Maru.
Martin James Monti
Martin James Monti was an American pilot who defected to the Axis powers in a stolen F-5E Lightning, which was handed over to the Luftwaffe Zirkus Rosarius for testing afterward.
Robin Olds
Robin Olds was the last P-38 ace in the 8th Air Force and the last in the ETO. Flying a P-38J, he downed five German fighters on two separate missions over France and Germany. He subsequently transitioned to P-51s and scored seven more kills. After World War II, he flew F-4 Phantom IIs in Vietnam, ending his career as brigadier general with 16 kills.
John H. Ross
Ross is a decorated World War II pilot who flew 96 missions for the U.S. Army Air Forces under the U.S. 8th Air Force's
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
At midday on 31 July 1944, noted aviation pioneer and writer
In 2000, a French scuba diver found the partial remnants of a Lightning spread over several thousand square meters of the Mediterranean seabed off the coast of
In 1981 and also in 2008, two Luftwaffe fighter pilots, respectively Robert Heichele and Horst Rippert, separately claimed to have shot down Saint-Exupéry's P-38.[159][160][161] Both claims were unverifiable and possibly self-promotional, as neither of their units' combat records of action from that period made any note of such a shoot-down.[162][163]
Specifications (P-38L)
Data from Lockheed P-38H/J/L Pilot's Flight Operating Instructions,[165] P-38H/J/L Pilot's Flight Operating Instructions[166]
General characteristics
- Crew: 1
- Length: 37 ft 10 in (11.53 m)
- Wingspan: 52 ft 0 in (15.85 m)
- Height: 12 ft 10 in (3.91 m)
- Wing area: 327.5 sq ft (30.43 m2)
- Aspect ratio: 8.26[167]
- Airfoil: root: NACA 23016; tip: NACA 4412[168]
- Empty weight: 12,800 lb (5,806 kg) [167]
- Gross weight: 17,500 lb (7,938 kg) [167]
- Max takeoff weight: 21,600 lb (9,798 kg)
- Powerplant: 2 × Allison V-1710 (-111 left hand rotation and -113 right hand rotation) V-12 liquid-cooled turbo-supercharged piston engine, 1,600 hp (1,200 kW) each WEP at 60 inHg (2.032 bar) and 3,000 rpm
- Propellers: 3-bladed Curtisselectric constant-speed propellers (LH and RH rotation)
Performance
- Maximum speed: 414 mph (666 km/h, 360 kn) on Military Power: 1,425 hp (1,063 kW) at 54 inHg (1.829 bar), 3,000 rpm and 25,000 ft (7,620 m)[169]
- Cruise speed: 275 mph (443 km/h, 239 kn)
- Stall speed: 105 mph (169 km/h, 91 kn)
- Combat range: 1,300 mi (2,100 km, 1,100 nmi)
- Ferry range: 3,300 mi (5,300 km, 2,900 nmi)
- Service ceiling: 44,000 ft (13,000 m)
- Rate of climb: 4,750 ft/min (24.1 m/s)
- Lift-to-drag: 13.5
- Wing loading: 53.4 lb/sq ft (261 kg/m2) [167]
- Power/mass: 0.16 hp/lb (0.26 kW/kg)
- Drag area: 8.78 sq ft (0.82 m2)[167]
- Zero-lift drag coefficient: 0.0268[167]
Armament
- Guns:
- 1× Hispano M2(C) 20 mm cannon with 150 rounds
- 4× M2 Browning machine gun 0.50 in (12.7 mm)machine guns with 500 rpg.
- Rockets: 4× M10 three-tube 4.5 in (112 mm) M8 rocket launchers; or:
- Bombs:
- Inner hardpoints:
- 2× 2,000 lb (907 kg) bombs or drop tanks; or
- 2× 1,000 lb (454 kg) bombs or drop tanks, plus either
- 4× 500 lb (227 kg) bombs or
- 4× 250 lb (113 kg) bombs; or
- 6× 500 lb (227 kg) bombs; or
- 6× 250 lb (113 kg) bombs
- Outer hardpoints:
- 10× 5 in (127 mm) HVARs(High Velocity Aircraft Rockets); or
- 2× 500 lb (227 kg) bombs; or
- 2× 250 lb (113 kg) bombs
- 10× 5 in (127 mm)
- Inner hardpoints:
Popular culture
Harley Earl arranged for several of his designers to view a YP-38 prototype shortly before World War II, and its design directly inspired the tail fins of the 1948–1949 Cadillac.[170]
The P-38 was also the inspiration for Raymond Loewy and his design team at Studebaker for the 1950 and 1951 model-year Studebakers.[171]
The whine of the speeder bike engines in Return of the Jedi was partly achieved by recording the engine noise of a P-38, combined with that of a North American P-51 Mustang.[172]
The popular eight-bit video game "1942" puts the player in command of a P-38 flying over the Pacific, fighting against Japanese Zeros and the Nakajima G10N bomber. The game was made by Japanese company Capcom, intended for Western markets, and finishes with the player raiding Tokyo.
Notable appearances in media
Documentaries
- Sheet Metal Repairs to the P-38 Lightning (1945, b & w, 19:00). This educational production and training film from Lockheed shows standard aviation tooling and methods that are still used today for aluminum aircraft repair. Film by TM Technologies.
- Yamamoto shot down! (1944, B&W, 4:00) The P-38 Squadron that shot down Admiral Yamamoto in a long distance interception in the Pacific, is depicted. The film includes purported P-38 gun camera footage of the Admiral's Betty bomber going down in flames.
- Dick Bong: Pacific Ace (1944, B&W, 4:00) This short documentary film pays tribute to Richard "Dick" Bong, the top American ace who flew P-38s in World War II.
- Angel in Overalls (1945, B&W, 15:00) This film was developed to show U.S. Lockheed P-38 production-line workers in a wide variety of roles.[173]
See also
Related development
Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era
- Bristol Beaufighter
- de Havilland Mosquito
- Focke-Wulf Fw 187
- Fokker G.I
- Hughes XF-11
- Kawasaki Ki-96
- Messerschmitt Me 210
- Mitsubishi Ki-83
- Nakajima J5N
- Northrop P-61 Black Widow
- Westland Whirlwind
Related lists
- List of aircraft of World War II
- List of fighter aircraft
- List of Lockheed aircraft
- List of military aircraft of the United States
Notes
- ^ The 1939 edition of the German Aviation Manual already contained a detailed drawing and a close-up photograph of this prototype along with detailed information on the engines, and indicated that its maximum speed was supposed to be 640–680 km/h (400–420 mph). Dimensions, equipment, and weaponry were indicated as unknown.[35]
- ^ Turbosuperchargers were not secret nor restricted by the United States government. Related designs were known from French and Swiss firms. France and the UK did not want turbosuperchargers; they had never employed them and they knew the American ones were in short supply and did not want delivery delayed[57]
- ^ Some of the fastest postwar racing P-38s were virtually identical in layout to the P-322-II.
- ^ Saint-Exupéry suffered recurring pain and immobility from previous injuries due to his numerous aircraft crashes, to the extent that he could not dress himself in his own flight suit. After his death, vague suggestions were made that his disappearance was the result of suicide rather than an aircraft failure or combat loss.[citation needed]
- ^ He was flying a P-38-F-5B-1-LO, 42-68223, c/n 2734.[citation needed]
References
- ^ Master Sgt. John DeShetler (20 November 2006), 'Lightning' strikes 1st Pursuit Group, United States Air Force
- ^ "Honduran Air Force". aeroflight.co.uk. Retrieved: 10 October 2010.
- ^ a b c Donald 1997, p. 581.
- ^ Johnsen 2003, p. 75, chptr. 4 "Its ability to carry two 150-gallon or 300-gallon drop made it a natural for long range escort duties...".
- ^ "P-38 Lightning". National Museum of the United States Air Force. Retrieved 21 January 2007.
- ^ The P-38: When Lightning Strikes, Lockheed Martin
- ^ Levine 1992, p. 18.
- ^ Stanaway 1998, p. [page needed].
- ^ USAAF 1 1945, p. 7, "Two turbo-superchargers give the Allison engines sea level horsepower at extremely high altitudes.".
- ^ Blake 2020, Chptr. 8, p. 300, "…the P-38 was a very quiet plane, because its exhaust exited through the turbosuperchargers on top of the plane…".
- ^ Gunston 1980, p. 133.
- ^ Bodie 2001, p. xvi.
- ^ Bodie 2001, pp. 16–17.
- ^ Bodie 2001, p. 14.
- ^ Hanson, Dave. "Lockheed P-38 Lightning." Dave's Warbirds. Retrieved: 21 January 2007.
- ^ a b Bodie 2001, p. 19.
- ^ a b c Bodie 2001, p. 51.
- ^ a b Current Biography Yearbook. H. W. Wilson Co. 1969. p. 199.
At that time, Lockheed did not as yet have a formal engineering building, and so Johnson and his staff improvised a development plant using unoccupied corners in hangars and an old distillery. The results of this 'skunk works' approach was the legendary P-38 Lightning.
- ^ "XP-38 Design Drawings: A diagram of the configurations considered for the prototype." Archived 18 December 2006 at the Wayback Machine P-38 National Association & Museum. Retrieved: 21 January 2007.
- ^ Bodie 2001, p. 44.
- ^ Chinn, George (1951). "37-mm Automatic Guns". The Machine Gun. Vol. 3. Washington D.C., USA: United States Government Printing Office. p. 31. Retrieved 7 January 2022.
Gun, Automatic 37-mm T9- The T2 gun was modified... until eventually a gun designated T9 was ready for test. In September 1939 this gun was mounted... in P-38 and P-39 fighter planes... which was standardized as the M4.
- ^ Bodie 2001, p. 80.
- ^ AN 01-75-2 P-38 gunsight manual, Section IV, page 21
- ^ Coggins 2000, p. 31.
- ^ Grahame, Arthur (January 1944). "The Facts About Fighter-Plane Firepower". Popular Science. pp. 76–83, 186. Grahame says the Lightning shoots 168 rounds per second (combined cannon and MG), the weight of fire being 547 lb/minute (9.1 lb/second). The 20 mm cannon fires at 2850 ft/sec muzzle velocity, projectile weight 0.29 lb (130 grams), at 650 rpm (10.8 rps). The .50 caliber machine gun fires at 2900 ft/sec, weight of projectile 800 grains (51.8 grams), at 850 rev/min.
- ^ a b c "Lockheed P-38 Lightning." aviation-history.com. Retrieved: 21 January 2007.
- ^ "Handbook of Operation and Maintenance-Allison V1710 type engines" (PDF). Allison division, General Motors. 1943.
- ^ Loftin, L.K. Jr. 1985 "Quest for Performance: The Evolution of Modern Aircraft. NASA SP-468". NASA Scientific and Technical Information Branch. Washington. Retrieved: 22 April 2006.
- ^ Thornborough & Davis 1988, p. 8.
- ^ Bodie 2001, p. 245.
- ^ O'Leary, Michael. "Conquering the Sky!" Air Classics, April 2005. Retrieved: 26 January 2007.
- ^ Bodie 2001, p. 32.
- ^ Kocivar, Ben (6 October 1964). "Collier Trophy". Look. Vol. 28, no. 20. p. 36.
He calls his development plants 'skunk works'. There have been five of them – the first, an abandoned distillery.
- ^ Bodie 2001, p. 33.
- ^ Schnitzler, R., G.W. Feuchter and R. Schulz, eds. Handbuch der Luftfahrt (Manual of Aviation) (in German). Munich: J.F. Lehmanns Verlag, 1939. pg386-7
- ^ Bodie 2001, p. 36.
- ^ Bodie 2001, p. 40.
- ^ Knaack 1988, p. 3.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Caidin 1983, p. [page needed].
- ^ Parker 2013, pp. 59, 75–76.
- ^ "About the P-38: Early Years." P-38 National Association & Museum. Retrieved: 21 January 2007.
- ^ a b c "Collections Database: Lockheed P-38J-10-LO Lightning." National Air and Space Museum. Retrieved: 6 February 2009.
- ^ a b Bodie 2001, p. 58.
- ^ Bodie 2001, p. 57.
- ^ Johnson & Smith 1985, p. 74.
- ^ Erikson, Albert L. "Wind-Tunnel Investigation of Devices for Improving The Diving Characteristics of Airplanes." NACA MR No. 3F12, Summary.
- ^ Bodie 2001, pp. 174–175.
- ^ Ethell 1984, p. 14.
- ^ Goebel, Greg. "The Lockheed P-38 Lightning." vectorsite.net, Version 1.3. Retrieved: 21 January 2007.
- ^ a b Bodie 2001, p. 210.
- ^ Kaplan & Saunders 1991, p. 56.
- ^ Baugher, Joe. "Lockheed P-38 Lightning." Archived 26 May 2012 at the Wayback Machine Joe Baugher's Encyclopedia of American Military Aircraft, 13 June 1999. Retrieved: 29 January 2007.
- ^ Baugher, Joe. "Lockheed XP-38A Lightning." Joe Baugher's Encyclopedia of American Military Aircraft, 13 June 1999. Retrieved: 29 January 2007.
- ^ Baugher, Joe. "Lockheed P-38D Lightning." Joe Baugher's Encyclopedia of American Military Aircraft, 13 June 1999. Retrieved: 29 January 2007.
- ^ Bodie 2001, p. 46.
- ^ Bodie 2001, pp. 45, 47.
- ^ a b Baugher, Joe. "Lightning I for RAF." Joe Baugher's Encyclopedia of American Military Aircraft, 2 December 2002. Retrieved: 29 January 2007.
- ^ a b c d e Bodie 2001, p. 60.
- ^ Bodie 2001, p. 63.
- ^ a b Bodie 2001, p. 61.
- ^ a b c Bodie 2001, p. 64.
- ^ Mason 2010, pp. 204–205.
- ^ Bodie 2001, pp. 111–116.
- ^ Yenne 1987, p. 60.
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- ^ McFarland & Newton 2006, p. 103.
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External links
- "German Pilots Renamed It: Gabelschwanz Teufel (Fork-tailed Devil)", Popular Science, September 1943
- The short film P-38: Flight Characteristics is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive.
- "The Lockheed Lightning" a 1943 Flight article
- "Jap-hunting without a Gun!" a 1943 Lockheed advertisement in Flight
- "Lockheed Lightning (P-38/J)"[permanent dead link] a 1944 Flight article
- "Lockheed Lightning (P-38L-5-LO)"[permanent dead link] Cutaway view
- [1] P-38 Association and Museum