LOCKHEED P-38 LIGHTNING 31
Below: Lightning strikes twice! In the foreground is Lockheed P-38J 42-67183 while behind is a blue
reconnaissance F-5B, 42-67332, based on the ‘J’ model introduced in August 1943. This was the first
variant to dispense with the streamlined engine nacelles to fit the intercooler radiator between the oil
coolers, forming a ‘chin’ that visually distinguished it from its predecessors.strike fighter. In the Pacific, it was a different
matter when the endless surface of ocean
required a long-range fighter like the P-38
operating from established air bases. No fewer
than 27 squadrons were fielded in this theatre
and seven of the top eight aces in the Pacific
all flew P-38s. Maj Richard ‘Dick’ Bong earned
his fame while flying the P-38 and became the
highest scoring US ace in World War 2 with 40
victories. The Lightning was also instrumental in
another defining moment of World War 2 when,
on 18 April 1943, one shot down the Japanese
G4M ‘Betty’ transport that had Admiral Isoroku
Yamamoto (the architect of the assault on Pearl
Harbor), on board. The intercept helped set the
stage for an Allied victory in the Pacific.
A total of more than 10,000 P-38s – including
18 distinct models – were manufactured during
the war, flying more than 130,000 missions in all
theatres of combat. Perhaps Col Ben Kelsey, a
P-38 test pilot, summed up the fighter’s legacy
best of all. ‘(That) comfortable old cluck’, he said,
‘would fly like hell, fight like a wasp upstairs,
and land like a butterfly.’