Warplanes of the USA: Lockheed P-38 Lightning

Lockheed P-38 Lightning

The aim of this website is to locate, identify and document Warplanes from the Second World War preserved in the USA.  Many contributors have assisted in the hunt for these aircraft to provide and update the data on this website.  Photos are as credited.  Any errors found here are by the author, and any additions, corrections or amendments to this list of Warplane Survivors of the Second World War in the United States of America would be most welcome and may be e-mailed to the author at hskaarup@rogers.com.

(USAAF Photo)

The Lockheed P-38 Lightning was the only successful twin-engine air superiority fighter of the war. It served in both Europe and the Pacific. P-38s were preferred in the Pacific because flying was either over dense jungle or the ocean; the safety of a second engine was important. because of early problems with cockpit temperature regulation; pilots were often too hot in the tropical sun as the canopy could not be fully opened without severe buffeting, and were often too cold in Northern Europe and at high altitude, as the distance of the engines from the cockpit prevented easy heat transfer.

(USAF Photo)

Lockheed P-38 Lightning (Serial No. 42-104309).

The Lockheed P-38 Lightning is an American single-seat, twin piston-engined fighter aircraft that was used during the Second World War. Developed for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) by the Lockheed Corporation, the P-38 incorporated a distinctive twin-boom design with a central nacelle containing the cockpit and armament. Along with its use as a general fighter, the P-38 was used in various aerial combat roles, including as a highly effective fighter-bomber, a night fighter, and a long-range escort fighter when equipped with drop tanks. The P-38 was also used as a bomber-pathfinder, guiding streams of medium and heavy bombers, or even other P-38s equipped with bombs, to their targets. Used in the aerial reconnaissance role, the P-38 accounted for 90 percent of American aerial film captured over Europe. Although it was not designated a heavy fighter or a bomber destroyer by the USAAC, the P-38 filled those roles and more; unlike German heavy fighters crewed by two or three airmen, the P-38 with its lone pilot was nimble enough to compete with single-engine fighters.

The P-38 was used most successfully in the Pacific and the China-Burma-India Theaters of Operations as the aircraft of America's top aces, Richard Bong (40 victories), Thomas McGuire (38 victories), and Charles H. MacDonald (27 victories). In the South West Pacific theater, the P-38 was the primary long-range fighter of United States Army Air Forces until the introduction of large numbers of P-51D Mustangs toward the end of the war. Unusual for an early-war fighter design, both engines were supplemented by turbosuperchargers, making it one of the earliest Allied fighters capable of performing well at high altitudes. The turbosuperchargers also muffled the exhaust, making the P-38's operation relatively quiet. The Lightning was extremely forgiving in flight and could be mishandled in many ways, but the initial rate of roll in early versions was low relative to other contemporary fighters; this was addressed in later variants with the introduction of hydraulically boosted ailerons. The P-38 was the only American fighter aircraft in large-scale production throughout American involvement in the war, from the Attack on Pearl Harbor to Victory over Japan Day. (Wikipedia)

10,000 Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighters were built. Of these, there are 26 survivors of which ten are airworthy. You will find a few of them here:

(Tech. Sgt. Ben Bloker, USAF Photo)

(Valder137 Photos)

Lockheed P-38F Lightning (Serial No. 41-7630), "Glacier Girl", dug out from 268 feet of ice in eastern Greenland in 1992.  It is based at Lewis Air Legends in San Antonio, Texas. Airworthy.

Lockheed P-38F Lightning (Serial No. 42-12652), "White 33", privately owned in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Airworthy.

(Mike Kaehler Photo)

Lockheed P-38G Lightning (Serial No. 42-13400), unnamed.  This aircraft crash landed on Attu Island in 1945, and was recovered in 1999.  Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska.

Lockheed P-38H Lightning (Serial No. 42-66534), being restored to airworthy status by a private owner in Wilmington, Delaware.

(CindyN Photo)

(Alan Wilson Photo)

(Tomas Del Coro Photo)

Lockheed P-38J Lightning (Serial No. 44-23314), "23 Skidoo", based at Planes of Fame in Chino, California. Airworthy.

Lockheed P-38J Lightning (Serial No. 42-67638), unnamed, Hill Aerospace Museum at Hill AFB, Utah.

(Kogo Photo)

(Patazzo Photo)

Lockheed P-38J-10-LO Lightning (Serial No. 42-67762), c/n 422-2273, unnamed.  This Lightning was assigned to Wright Field during Second World War.  This aircraft is preserved in the National Air and Space Museum (NASM), Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, Washington Dulles International Airport, Chantilly, Virginia.

Lockheed P-38J Lightning (Serial No. 42-103988), being restored to airworthy status by WestPac Restorations for Flying Heritage Collection in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Lockheed P-38J Lightning (Serial No. 42-104088), in storage at the Flying Heritage Collection in Everett, Washington.

Lockheed P-38L Lightning (Serial No. 44-26761), in storage at Fantasy of Flight in Polk City, Florida.

(William Petrina Photo)

Lockheed P-38L Lightning (Serial No. 44-26981), "Honey Bunny", based at Allied Fighters in Sun Valley, Idaho. Airworthy.

(???? Photos)

Lockheed P-38L Lightning (Serial No. 44-27053), "Relampago", based at War Eagles Air Museum in Santa Teresa, New Mexico. Airworthy.

(Valder137 Photo)

Lockheed P-38L Lightning (Serial No. 44-27083), "Tangerine", based at Erickson Aircraft Collection in Madras, Oregon. Airworthy.

(Alan Wilson Photo)

Lockheed P-38L Lightning (Serial No. 44-27183), unnamed, based at Yanks Air Museum in Chino, California. Airworthy.

(Kogo Photos)

Lockheed P-38L Lightning (Serial No. 44-27231), "Scat III", previously "Ruff Stuff", based at Fagen Fighters WWII Museum in Granite Falls, Minnesota. Airworthy.

Lockheed P-38L Lightning (Serial No. 44-53095), "Thoughts of Midnite", privately owned in Houston, Texas. Airworthy.

(USAAF Photo)

Lockheed P-38L Lightning (Serial No. 44-24155), “Pudgy V”, flown by Major Thomas McGuire, 431st Fighter Squadron, 475th Fighter Group, Luzon, Philippines, ca 1944.

In the Pacific Theater, the P-38 downed over 1,800 Japanese aircraft, with more than 100 pilots becoming aces by downing five or more enemy aircraft.

The American ace of aces and his closest competitor both flew Lightnings and tallied 40 and 38 victories, respectively. Majors Richard I. "Dick" Bong and Thomas B. "Tommy" McGuire of the USAAF competed for the top position. Both men were awarded the Medal of Honor.McGuire was killed in air combat in January 1945 over the Philippines, after accumulating 38 confirmed kills, making him the second-ranking American ace. Bong was rotated back to the United States as America's ace of aces, after making 40 kills, becoming a test pilot. He was killed on 6 August 1945, the day the atomic bomb was dropped on Japan, when his Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star jet fighter flamed out on take-off. (Wikipedia)

(Airman 1st Class Tara A. Williamson, USAF Photos)

Lockheed P-38L Lightning (Serial No. 44-53015), "Pudgy V", McGuire AFB, New Jersey.  The P-38 Lightning Pudgy static display, christened Pudgy, is lifted off its pedestal before being loaded onto a flatbed to be moved to a hangar on Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J., 13 April 2015.  Pudgy has been on display at the base since 1981 and is a memorial to Medal of Honor recipient Maj. Thomas B. McGuire, after which the former McGuire Air Force Base was named.

Lockheed P-38L Lightning (Serial No. 44-53087), "Marge", EAA AirVenture Museum in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

A search is being conducted to find the origninal Lockheed P-38J-15-LO Lightning (Serial No. 42-103993) "Marge" which crashed in New Guinea on 24 March 1944.

(Articseahorse Photo)

(Articseahorse Photo)

Lockheed P-38L Lightning (Serial No. 44-53097), "Wyandotty Mich", 930, 43, 74, Museum of Flight in Seattle, Washington.

(Greg Goebel Photo)

Lockheed P-38L Lightning (Serial No. 44-53186), 83, unnamed, based at Collings Foundation in Stow, Massachusetts. Airworthy.

(USAF Photo)

Lockheed P-38L Lightning (Serial No. 44-53232), unnamed, painted as (Serial No. 42-67855), a P-38J of the 55th Fighter Squadron, based in England in 1944, National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson AFB in Dayton, Ohio.

Lockheed P-38L Lightning (Serial No. 44-53236), "Marge", Richard I. Bong Veterans Historical Center in Superior, Wisconsin.

(USAF Photo)

Dorothy Olsen, seen on a P-38 Lightning, during her time with the Women Airforce Service Pilots.

(USAAF Photo)

Lockheed P-38 Lightning (Serial No. 42-12842).

(SDASM Photo)

Lockheed P-38D Lightning.

(USAAF Photo)

Lockheed P-38G Lightning.

(USAAF Photo)

Lockheed P-38J Lightnings, 1st Fighter Group, 15th Air Force in formation.

In the European Theater, P-38s made 130,000 sorties with a loss of 1.3% overall, comparing favorably with P-51s, which posted a 1.1% loss, considering that the P-38s were vastly outnumbered and suffered from poorly thought-out tactics. Most of the P-38 sorties were made in the period prior to Allied air superiority in Europe, when pilots fought against a very determined and skilled enemy. he Lightning's greatest virtues were long range, heavy payload, high speed, fast climb, and concentrated firepower. The P-38 was a formidable fighter, interceptor, and attack aircraft. (Wikipedia)

(USAAF Photo)

Lockheed P-38L Lightning (Serial No. 42-68008), over California, circa 1944.

(USAAF Photo)

Lockheed P-38M Lightning (Serial No. 44-27234) c/n 422-8238, converted from a P-38L.

(USAAF Photo)

Lockheed P-38M Lightning (Serial No. 44-27234) night fighter with radar, 1945. The P‑38M, known as the “Night Fighter,” (or Night Lightning) were modified P‑38Ls which were equipped with a state-of-the-art radar system, (an AN/APS-4 AI radar pod mounted under the nose on a modified bomb pylon).

(USAAF Photo)

Lockheed P-38J-20-LO Lightning (Serial No. 44-23296), "Yippee".

The 5,000th Lightning built, a P-38J-20-LO, 44-23296, was painted bright vermilion red, and had the name YIPPEE painted on the underside of the wings in large white letters, as well as the signatures of hundreds of factory workers. This and other aircraft were used by a handful of Lockheed test pilots including Milo Burcham, Jimmie Mattern, and Tony LeVier in remarkable flight demonstrations, performing such stunts as slow rolls at treetop level with one prop feathered to dispel the myth that the P-38 was unmanageable. (Wikipedia)

(USAAF Photo)

P-38L-1-LO Lightning (Serial No. (44-24217)  27th Fighter Squadron, 1st Fighter Group, 15th Air Force, ca 1945.

(USAAF Photo)

Lockheed P-38J-10-LO Lightning (Serial No. 42-67978), "Betty A III" of the 383d Fighter Squadron of the 364th Fighter Group, based at RAF Honington, England, ca 1944.

(USAAF Photo)

Lockheed P-38 F5 Lightning “Mary”, (Serial No. 42-68229), 10th Photo Reconnaissance Group, 34th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, Flight A, European Theatre of Operations (ETO) 1944-45, Chalgrove, England, piloted by Lt. Glen Tovani.

(USAAF Photo)

Lockheed F-5E Lightnings of the 34th Reconnaissance Squadron of the 10th Photographic Reconnaissance Group in flight. The closest aircraft to the camera with tail number '28624' is F-5E (Serial No. 43-28624). The second one is also an F-5E (Serial No. 44-23235). 19 Aug 1944.

(USAAF Photo)

Photo reconnaissance Lockheed F-5E Lightning photographed against the English countryside from the vertical camera installation of another photo Lightning.

(USAAF Photo)

Lockheed F 5, the photoreconnaissance version of the P-38 lightning.

(USAAF Photo)

Lockheed F-5A Lightning serial number 42-13289 nicknamed "Zola". This example was based upon Lockheed P-38G Lightning and served with the 7th Photographic Reconnaissance Group (PRG) based at Mt. Farm in Oxfordshire, England.

(USAAF Photo)

An RAF airman talks to a pilot of the 14th Fighter Group on the wing of his P-38 Lightning at Atcham, England.

(USAAF Photo)

Lockheed P-38 Lightning being refueled, ca 1944.

(USAAF Photo)

Rough field operations caused difficult working conditions for 9th Air Force maintenance personnel. Here a crew prepares to use an external heater to warm a P-38’s frozen engine so it can be started while an armorer works on the guns in the nose while atop a makeshift stand.

(USAAF Photo)

The P-38 was flown with a yoke, rather than the more-usual stick.

The P-38 was flown with a yoke, rather than the more-usual stick

(USAAF Photo)

Lockheed P-38G Lightning cockpit.

(USAAF Photo)

Nose guns of a Lockheed P-38 Lightning aircraft lighting up the night sky as an armorer test-fired weapons after routine maintenance.

(USAAF Photo)

Lockheed P-38 Lightnings from the 20th Fighter Group in formation over France, 29 June 1944.

(USAAF Photo)

Lockheed F-5E Lightning flying over a coast line near Ostend, Belgium. May 1945. Notice the two bulges extending from the sides of the nose and the lack of nose guns which signifies a Photo Recon airframe.

(USAAF Photo)

A P-38 Swordfish which was a modified Lightning used to test wing designs secretly, 1943.