What Made the Lockheed P-38 Lightning So Special?

[thedave1164]

I had a customer in Yerington NV who was a P-38 pilot in WWII, he was assigned to ferry them across the Atlantic, he was also consulted on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glacier_Girl

[O2HeN2]

My Dad was a P-38 mechanic in the Philippines during the later part of the war.

Needless to say he loved the plane...

O2

[JohnnyDrama]

"WHAT MADE THE LOCKHEED P-38 LIGHTNING SO SPECIAL?"

That is a great question. I've thought they were cool since I developed an interest in aircraft. The P-38, P-47, P-51, and some others, all very cool. I imagine it has something to do with piston engines. If you've ever been behind the wheel of a muscle car you might relate. I had a great uncle who flew a P-38 over Europe. He was shot down in 1944 and spent a year as a POW. He didn't talk about it much. All I learned was from my grandfather.

[roberth]

Thanks, good article. Love the plane and the history.

[Martinjmpr]

There is (or was) a P-38 museum and restoration group near the CO Springs airport. Our motorcycle club toured their facility some time between 2013 - 2015 (can't remember the exact year.) They were in the process of restoring a couple of P-38s there.

Definitely my favorite WWII fighter (although as a paratrooper my favorite WWII plane will always be the C-47. I actually got to jump from one at Fort Bragg in 1995.)

BTW it was a "killer flight" of P-38's that took out Yamamoto in the aptly named "Operation Vengeance."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Vengeance

[O2HeN2]

There is (or was) a P-38 museum and restoration group near the CO Springs airport.

https://www.worldwariiaviation.org/

It's a WWII aviation museum, but it has a beautifully restored P-38 on display.

O2

[BushMasterBoy]

My own P-38!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P-38_can_opener

[Hoser]

https://www.worldwariiaviation.org/

It's a WWII aviation museum, but it has a beautifully restored P-38 on display.

O2

Dont forget about WestPac Aircraft Restorations at the Springs Airport.

[BlasterBob]

One movie star, Cliff Robertson, was really into collecting and flying Military prop planes. Found this article about him. “One of Robertson's main hobbies was flying and, among other aircraft, he owned several de Havilland Tiger Moths, a Messerschmitt Bf 108, and a genuine World War II – era Mk.IX Supermarine Spitfire MK923.. His first plane ride was in a Lockheed Model 9 Orion. As a 13-year-old he would clean hangars for airplane rides”. We had heard that he had stored either a Spitfire or a P51 in the St. Charles, IL or West Chicago, IL. hanger.

[XJ]

https://www.worldwariiaviation.org/

It's a WWII aviation museum, but it has a beautifully restored P-38 on display.

O2

>20 years in town, closing in on two million miles to/from the airport, and I had no idea this museum existed. Why isn't there a sign along Powers?