LOCKHEED P-38 LIGHTNING 33
Left: An image that encapsulates the Lightning’s
greatest virtues; heavy payload, high speed and
concentrated firepower. This P-38H of the USAAF
Tactical Center, Orlando Army Air Base, Florida,
is seen carrying two 1,000lb bombs during
capability tests in March 1944
Below: Underside details of P-38J Lightning
43-28650 ‘Sweet Sue’ of the 27th FS, 1st FG.
This view illustrates well the streamlining of the
central fuselage into the wing.
Below: Unusually for a fighter, the cockpit of the
Lightning featured a yoke rather than a stick, a
configuration considered more practical for the
long sorties that were envisaged for the aircraft.
Early combat action forced the introduction of
hydraulic control systems to aid pilots coming
out of steep dives whereas before they were
left to their own strength and knowledge of the
systems to accomplish this feat. The addition of
assisted flight controls made the P-38 one of the
first documented production instances of its use
in aircraft.Above: Armourers loading ammunition into a
P-38 Lightning of the 94th FS, 1st FG, Italy. Nose-
mounted guns did not suffer from having their
useful ranges limited by pattern convergence,
meaning that good pilots could shoot much
further. A Lightning could reliably hit targets at
any range up to 1,000yds (910m). The rate of fire
was about 650 rounds per minute for the 20mm
cannon rounds and about 850 for the 0.50in
machine guns. The duration of sustained firing
was approximately 14sec for the cannon and
35sec for the machine guns.