Lockheed P-38 Lightning - Issue 14
On January 27, 1939, Lockheed test pilot Ben Kelsey took the prototype XP-38 Lightning into the air for the first time. The big, twin-engined, twin-boomed fighter was to become one of the most easily identifiable fighters of the Second World War, and was to be the only US fighter aircraft to remain in production throughout the conflict. Its unusual design had a number of advantages. The guns, being grouped close together in the nose, gave the P-38 a tremendous concentration of firepower. The tricycle undercarriage made ground handling simple when compared with the tailwheel designs common to the period. The P-38 was used across the world, undertaking long range fighter escort, fighter-bomber and reconnaissance missions in Europe as well as across the Pacific and Far East.
This issue of Aviation Classics tells the whole story of this ground breaking aircraft, as well as the people behind the development and operational success of this beautiful machine.
Contents
8 Building a legend
14 Tricycle and twin
defining a classic
22 Testing and compressibility
developing the prototype
28 Fine tuning & first production
The P-38D, E and F
32 Into service
Australia, the Aleutians and Europe
36 The French and British orders
40 Higher, faster & further
The P-38G, H and J
46 The Pacific and China, Burma and India
52 Tony LeVier
56 Flying with Allisons
60 Allisons again
flying on the water
70 The ultimate Lightnings
The P-38K, L and M
74 Europe and the Mediterranean
78 Beyond the Lightning
82 Ace of Aces
Richard Ira Bong
88 The lost P-38 photo reconnaissance pilots
Adrian Warburton
94 P-38 Lightnings over Italy
100 Glacier Girl
104 Lockheed’s night fighter Lightning
The P-38M
108 The lost P-38 photo reconnaissance pilots
Antoine de Saint Exupéry
118 Inside the Lightning
122 Postwar air forces
124 From White Lightnin’ to Red Bull
126 Survivors
Next Issue
The Hawker Hurricane
Two UK fighters have gone from being mere machines to become icons. The first is the Supermarine Spitfire, the second is the subject of the next issue of Aviation Classics... the Hawker Hurricane.
Designed by Sydney Camm, it represented the bridge between biplane and monoplane technology and was originally known as the ’Monoplane Fury’, after the Fury biplane fighter of 1931. The type formed the backbone of RAF Fighter Command, with 18 squadrons in service when the Second World War began in September 1939. Hurricanes saw action over France and the Low Countries before the Battle of Britain began in June 1940, during which they were to shoot down more enemy aircraft than all the other air and ground defences put together. Later, it went on the offensive in Europe – as a night intruder and fighter bomber. Large numbers fought over Malta, the Western Desert, Burma, India and the Far East, excelling as fighters and ground attack aircraft. All over the world the Hurricane earned a reputation for reliability and toughness. This issue tells the story of the Hurricane and its crews from inception to war career.
On sale 30th March 2012
