Lockheed Lightning P-38j

The Lockheed Lightning P-38 was one of the great American warplanes of WWII. The P-38 was an extremely advanced warplane at the time of its first flight on January 27th, 1939. The Lightning was Lockheed's response to the February 1937 U.S. Army Air Corp. specifications for a long-range pursuit and escort fighter capable of sustaining 360 mph for one hour at 20,000 feet. The requirements for this plane were such, that Lockheed's designers felt that a single-engine of the existing types could not supply sufficient power for the performance required. They employed a radically new design with a center fuselage, and twin booms which housed the twin Allison V-3710 Vee-12 glycol-cooled engines with GEC turbo-superchargers recessed into the tail booms, cooling radiators on the sides of the booms and induction intercoolers in the wings leading edges, a streamlined central nacelle that accommodated the powerful armament and pilot, Fowler flaps and tricycle landing gear. The P-38 Lightning saw action on every front, the "DerGabelschwanz Teuful", Forked-tailed Devil as the Germans named it in the European Theater, and in the Pacific it was credited with more Japanese aircraft destroyed than any other fighter. 9,923 P-38's were built and served with other Allied Air Forces during the conflict, and also used as a night-fighter, photo reconnaissance and as a path finder.