The Lockheed P-38 Lightning epitomized a supreme expression of American ingenuity and engineering might in World War II. The P-38 Lightning originally evolved as a high-altitude interceptor. In the course of development, it became the versatile and impressive aircraft throughout the Allied inventory, the one that helped in setting the course for the development of military aviation.
From its inception, the P-38 was a design and a reaction to the need for a capable interceptor that would be able to do battle with the enemy at high altitudes. It did not arrive trouble-free. Early versions were plagued by some aerodynamic problems, especially the “compressibility” at high dive speeds that caused turbulent airflow and control difficulty. These teething problems were systematically addressed in subsequent iterations, culminating in the P-38J model, now improved with better cockpit heating, improved engine cooling, a flat bulletproof windscreen, and increased fuel capacity.
In the Pacific Theater, the adaptability of the aircraft was on full display, especially its extended range courtesy of drop tanks that were to prove a strategic asset. On April 18, 1943, one of the P-38 pilots flew what was to be a daring long-range interception mission and shot down Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto’s airplane, a pivotal moment in the Pacific War.
In Europe, the story of the P-38 was somewhat more checkered. It formed the core fighter which afforded any kind of daylight protection to the heavy bombers deep over Germany in the air war’s first critical phase. Still, early in the campaign, it could not keep pace with the nimble German fighters in the lower altitudes of the North African sky.
The number of units produced, over 9,900, will ensure P-38’s legacy. The last production model is the P-38L, and it packed a wallop with all those drop tanks: two 300-gallon drop tanks. Production went beyond the end of the war, with the last example being produced in August of 1945.