 |
Contents Listing - Articles & Features in this issue
8 Building a legend 14 Tricycle and twin defining a classic 22 Testing and compressibility developing the prototype 28 Fine tuning & first production The P-38D, E and F 32 Into service Australia, the Aleutians and Europe 36 The French and British orders 40 Higher, faster & further The P-38G, H and J 46 The Pacific and China, Burma and India 52 Tony LeVier 56 Flying with Allisons 60 Allisons again flying on the water 70 The ultimate Lightnings The P-38K, L and M 74 Europe and the Mediterranean 78 Beyond the Lightning 82 Ace of Aces Richard Ira Bong 88 The lost P-38 photo reconnaissance pilots Adrian Warburton 94 P-38 Lightnings over Italy 100 Glacier Girl 104 Lockheeda€ s night fighter Lightning The P-38M 108 The lost P-38 photo reconnaissance pilots Antoine de Saint ExupÃÃ
Article Snippets
On January 27, 1939, Lockheed test pilot Ben Kelsey took the prototype XP-38 Lightning into the air for the first time. The big, twin-engined, twin-boomed fighter was to become one of the most easily identifiable fighters of the Second World War, and was to be the only US fighter aircraft to remain in production throughout the conflict. Its unusual design had a number of advantages. The guns, being grouped close together in the nose, gave the P-38 a tremendous concentration of firepower. The tricycle undercarriage made ground handling simple when compared with the tailwheel designs common to the period. The P-38 was used across the world, undertaking long range fighter escort, fighter-bomber and reconnaissance missions in Europe as well as across the Pacific and Far East. This issue of Aviation Classics tells the whole story of this ground breaking aircraft, as well as the people behind the development and operational success of this beautiful machine.
