MODELS
P-38 Lightning
P-38 Lightning:
The Lockheed P-38 Lightning is a World War II fighter plane born out of a 1937 United States Army Air Corps requirement for a high-speed, high-altitude interceptor aircraft. The P-38 was the first fighter to utilize tricycle undercarriage and featured distinctive twin booms with forward-mounted engines and a single nacelle. Its maiden flight was on January 27, 1939. In March 1940, the French and the British ordered a total of 667 P-38s. After the fall of France in June 1940, the British took over the entire order and re-christened the plane Lightning I, from which the name of the aircraft came. A total of over 10,000 Lightnings have been manufactured, and it was one of the few US combat aircraft that had been in production for the entire duration of the American participation in World War II. It had a major influence on the design of other aircraft such as the L-049 Constellation.
The P-38 has taken on several different roles including level bombing, dive bombing, photo reconnaissance, ground strafing and long-range escort fighting. Its most extensive and successful missions were in the Pacific Theater of Operations and the China-Burma-India Theater of Operations, where it was flown by the American pilots with the highest number of aerial victories to date. In the former, the P-38 was credited with destroying more Japanese aircraft than any other USAAF fighter.
The design achieved maximum performance by pairing the best available engine on one air frame. It was the most recognizable fighter of the era, and was in continuous production throughout the War.
Span: 19.5"
Length: 14.25"
