A Brief History
On February 11, 1939, a prototype Lockheed P-38 Lighting twin engine fighter plane flew from California to New York in a then record 7 hours and 2 minutes. This new US fighter plane was the fastest fighter in the world at this time, the first fighter to exceed 400 mph in level flight. So what was wrong with it?
Digging Deeper
Normally our articles about military aircraft extol the virtues of the subject plane, but here we digress to look at the shortcomings and criticisms of this venerable aircraft, one of the creations of Clarence “Kelly” Johnson, the most prominent US aircraft designer in history.

Built with an unusual twin boom engine layout with a fuselage nacelle located between the booms, the P-38 was a fairly big fighter with the extra safety factor of 2 engines. (This layout provided a distinct appearance that minimized the chance of friendly aircraft accidentally shooting at P-38’s.) Those turbo-supercharged Allison engines also gave the P-38 excellent climbing performance and longer range than most fighters of the early part of World War II. The cluster of 4 X .50 caliber machine guns and a 20mm cannon in the nose gave the Lightning a concentrated firepower more deadly than other fighters early in the War. The Lightning also had a range almost double that of many early fighter planes (initially combat radius of 500 miles) that was extended through improved fuel mixture techniques and drop tanks to an impressive ferry range of 2500 miles (combat radius of around 1000 miles).
So what was not to like? When P-38’s with their impressive test numbers were first provided to the RAF for combat in Europe, the British pilots found the big fighter lacking. It was not as maneuverable as the single engine fighters and suffered from tail flutter and uncontrolled compressibility problems in a steep dive, allowing Axis fighters to easily escape from the Lightning by performing half a split S and dive move. In spite of the superior range of the Lightning, the range was still inadequate to effectively escort bombers over Germany. Early export versions were ordered without turbochargers and without contra-rotating propellers, affecting performance. These early Allied aircraft were often used as reconnaissance scouts instead of fighters, taking advantage of their speed. Fuel quality in Europe lagged behind that available to the US, also resulting in maintenance problems not encountered by the Americans.

Pressed into service in the Pacific Theater due to the superior range of the Lightning, the P-38 developed a reputation as having a poor, unreliable compass, a fatal flaw for airplanes flying over vast distances of ocean! Again, despite range superior to other US fighters early in the war (not until the P-51D and P-47N did the US have other viable long-range fighters), the range was still somewhat inadequate. This range limitation was addressed by bringing famous distance aviator Charles Lindbergh to the Theater to demonstrate how to get more range out of the aircraft without physical modifications. Additionally, the use of fuel drop tanks increased range dramatically, largely solving the problem.
In the Pacific, the qualitative difference between Japanese aircraft and tactics compared to superior German aircraft and tactics allowed for much greater success by P-38’s in combat, and it was in the Pacific that the Lightning achieved its greatest success, including producing the top US Ace of the War, Richard Bong, with 40 kills.

Pilots also complained of uncomfortably hot and cramped cockpits, odd in a larger than usual fighter. The redundant dials and gauges needed for 2 engines contributed to an exceptionally busy cockpit. The persistent aerodynamic problems with compressibility and tail buffeting were not foreseen because the P-38 introduced a new level of speed aircraft designers were not used to, even approaching supersonic in a maximum dive. When subject to such a dive, the pilot would lose control of the airplane and could not slow the aircraft or pull out of the dive, resulting in a certain crash. The addition of dive flaps, a change in wing geometry, and placing fins (called fillets) on the plane somewhat mitigated the problems, but the design was too far along to cure the problem entirely.
In spite of these problems, about 10,700 Lightnings were produced, and though they did not stay in service in the US past 1949, other Allied nations continued to use the Lightning until the last operational P-38’s were retired in 1965 by the Honduran Air Force.

The P-38 had been designed as a fast climbing high speed interceptor, and in that role it would have excelled, though its dog fighting capability let it down (at least in Europe). Its loss rate of 1.3% was not that much different than that of the much more celebrated P-51 Mustang (1.1%), and the P-38 was adapted for effective use as a fighter bomber, reconnaissance aircraft, and bomber guide plane (“Pathfinder”). Night fighter versions were also developed. Perhaps the most bizarre versions were the Indian conversion as a VIP transport, with a single luxurious compartment (leather lined) for the VIP, or the US personnel transport device of a pod located under each engine boom containing space for 1 passenger in each pod in a laying position!
One undeniable factor in favor of the P-38 Lightning is that it is certainly one of the coolest looking fighter planes ever! The Germans called it “Fork-tailed Devil” and I’m sure the Japanese had some colorful names for it. Question for students (and subscribers): Would you rank the Lightning among the best fighters of World War II? Give us your opinions on the subject in the comments section below this article.

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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Blake, Steve and Dayle L. DeBry. P-38 LIGHTNING Unforgettable Missions of Skill and Luck. P-38 National Association, 2011.
Christy, Joe. P-38 Lightning at war. Scribner, 1978.
The featured image in this article, a photograph from https://media.defense.gov/2004/Mar/12/2000593925/-1/-1/0/021001-O-9999G-005.JPG of a P-38H of the AAF Tactical Center, Orlando Army Air Base, Florida, carrying two 1,000 lb bombs during capability tests in March 1944, is a work of a U.S. Air Force Airman or employee, taken or made as part of that person’s official duties. As a work of the U.S. federal government, the image or file is in the public domain in the United States.
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