Lockheed P-38 Lightning
by: RLindsey
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Word Count: 216
One of the most distinctive aircraft ever built. The P-38 Lightning is identified by the twin boom design with the pilot in the middle. The P-38 was first flown in 1939 and was one of the most heavily armed planes of World War II. By concentrating all the guns in the center pod, no propeller synchronizer was required. The Germans named the Lightingder Gabelschwanz Teufel, or “the Fork-tailed Devil.” It shot down more Japanese planes than any other craft and a team of P-38s shot down Japanese Admiral Yamamoto in August 1943.
Length: 37 feet 10 inches (11.53 meters)
Wingspan: 52 feet (15.85 meters)
Speed: 414 mph (666 km/h)
Ceiling: 44,000 ft (13,400 meters)
Range: 1,100 miles
Engines: 2 Allison V-1710 liquid-cooled turbocharged
Crew:1
Lockheed P-38 U.S. Army Pursuit Interceptor. Series C, Number Twenty. The present war proves there is no substitute for an airplane in the air to combat another airplane. The Lockheed P-38 Pursuit Interceptor gets upstairs in a hurry with two Allison liquid-cooled engines which drive this U.S. Army ship at better than 400 m.p.h. to 30,000 feet. Two .50 cal. and two .30 cal. machine guns plus a 23-MM cannon furnish vicious striking power. Co-operation of Flying and Popular Aviation. This is one of a series of fifty pictures of Modern Airplanes packed with WINGS Cigarettes.
About the Author
Robert M. Lindsey http://lindseyfreelancing.com/
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