P-38 Lightning

The P-38 Lightning was an American long-range fighter-bomber in World War II, which served notably in both the Atlantic and Pacific theatres.

Design

The P-38 had an unusual "twin-boom" design and two engines. Although the first prototype flew in early 1940, the first production aircraft were not delivered until October 1941, because its unorthodox design provided many design problems.

Service

The British were the first to order the P-38, although they were only used for training purposes. The P-38F was the first to be used--it was used extensively in North Africa and the Southern Pacific. The P-38G and H also served notably as bomber escorts in Europe, although with the development of the P-51 Mustang and the P-47 Thunderbolt they were almost phased out. Throughout the Pacific theatre they were used, as their long range, bomb capacity, and speed made them superb choices for land-based aircraft. In April 1943 18 were used to intercept and shoot down the plane carrying top Japanese commander Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto.

Further reading

• Martin Caidin. Fork-Tailed Devil: The P-38 (2003) excerpt and text search
• Michael O'Leary. Lockheed P-38 Lightning (1999) excerpt and text search
• John Stanaway and Tom Tullis. P-38 Lightning Aces of the ETO/MTO (1998) excerpt and text search