| P-38 Lightning |
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| The P38 Lightning was designed by Lockheed engineer Clarence "Kelly" Johnson and his team of designers resulting in an awesome fighting machine during WWII. It was a twin boom configuration with a wingspan of 52 feet with an area of 328 square feet with tricycle retract landing gears. Overall length was 37 feet 10 inches with height of 12 feet 10 inches. It was powered by two liquid cooled, Allison V-1710 engines turning 11 1/2 foot Curtis Electric, inward turning, counter-rotating propellers. With the YP-38s and all subsequent Lightings, the propellers rotated outward negating torque when both engines were operating (A batch ordered by Britain did not have counter-rotating propellers.) It was equipped with four .50 cal. machine guns plus a 20 mm Hispano AN-M2C cannon located in the center fuselage and was capable of flying 400 mph. In addition the P38 was fitted with an external bomb load of 4,000 lbs. or ten 5 in. rockets.. An internal fuel capacity of 410 gallons could be increased to 1,010 gallons with two external drop tanks giving the Lightning a range of 450 miles making it the first fighter suitable for long-range bomber escort. In addition to its devastating nose armament, the P-38 could carry up to 4,000 pounds of external weapons including bombs and rockets. Some were fitted with bombardier type noses, and were used to lead formations of bomb-laden P-38s to their targets. The fastest P38 Lightning was the P-38J with a top speed of 420 mph, The P-38L weighed 12,800 pounds empty and 17,500 pounds gross. Thus, the P-38 was the largest, heaviest, and fastest of the "P" type fighters of its time. The XP-38, 37-457, made its maiden flight on January 27, 1939, with Air Corps test pilot and P-38 project officer, Lt. Benjamin S. Kelsey, at the controls. In a transcontinental speed dash on February 11, 1939 the plane crashed when Kelsey undershot the runway at Mitchell Field, NY. Kelsey survived the crash and remained an important part of the Lightning program. The P-38 underwent many modifications. The P-38J intakes under the engines were enlarged to house core-type intercoolers. The curved windscreen was replaced by a flat panel, and the boom mounted radiators were enlarged. The P-38M was a two-seat radar-equipped night fighter, a few of which had become operational before the war ended. One interesting variation had an elevated tail assembly on upswept booms; another one had an elongated center pod and was used for airfoil evaluation. One of the XP-38A's was built with a pressurized cabin. Armament on the YP's were altered by the replacing two of the .50s with .30s and the 20 mm cannon gave way to a 37 mm. Even before the YP-38s were completed, the original machine gun arrangement was standardized for production types. The first production order was 35 P-38Ds followed by 210 P-3XEs which reverted back to the 20 mm cannon. These planes began to arrive in October 1941, just before America entered World War II. With the P-38D came self sealing fuel tanks and armor protection for the pilot. Museums that have full scale P38's on display
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