Summary and key points: The Lockheed P-38 Lightning, the first aircraft produced by Skunk Works under Clarence “Kelly” Johnson, played a crucial role in World War II. Some experts consider it the best fighter aircraft of World War II.
– Introduced in 1941, this twin-boom fighter was known for its speed, firepower and versatility.
– It became famous in the Pacific, where America’s “ace of aces,” Maj. Richard Bong, and other major victories were achieved. The P-38 also shot down Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, an important Japanese figure. In Europe, however, the aircraft had problems due to engine and air conditioning problems.
– Although the P-38 was retired in 1949, its legacy lives on, with several airworthy examples still in the air today.
P-38 Lightning: The Skunk Works fighter that dominated World War II
I have written numerous stories about the aircraft from Lockheed/Lockheed Martin’s legendary Skunk Works program, and these pages are also teeming with passing references to the World War II-era P-38 Lightning fighter aircraft.
It’s time to finally dedicate a story to the P-38 Lightning itself. After all, this was the plane flown by America’s Ace of Aces.
Skunk Works gives birth to its first baby
The Lockheed P-38 Lightning was actually the very first aircraft produced by Skunk Works and its legendary mastermind Clarence “Kelly” Johnson.
A quick note: This P-38 is not to be confused with the American P-38 GI Pocket Can Opener or the German Walther P38 9mm semi-automatic pistol, both of which coincidentally also saw service in World War II.
The Lightning made its maiden flight on January 27, 1939, and was officially commissioned in July 1941. Lockheed Martin’s official information page on this historic fighter aircraft states:
“The twin-boom P-38 was the most innovative aircraft of its time, combining speed with unheard of advances: two supercharged engines and a powerful combination of four 50-caliber machine guns and a 20mm cannon… When officially introduced in 1940, the P-38 could climb to 3,300 feet in a single minute and reach 400 mph, 100 mph faster than any other fighter in the world. It was also an intimidating long-range threat, capable of carrying a larger payload than the early B-17s and had a range of 1,150 miles… Its versatility and ruggedness were legendary. It could sink a ship. Fire on enemies on the ground. Disable tanks. Destroy entrenched bunkers and shoot down scores of fighters and bombers in all theaters of war.”
P-38 Lightning Strikes in the Pacific
The late, great Maj. Richard Ira “Dick” Bong, America’s “Ace of Aces,” mentioned above, scored all 40 of his aerial kills against Imperial Japanese Empire aircraft in a Lightning. America’s second-ranking ace, Maj. Thomas B. “Mickey” McGuire Jr., also scored all of his victories – poetically enough, 38 of them – in a P-38.
Tragically, none of these heroes lived to see the end of the war. Mickey McGuire died over the Philippines on January 7, 1945, while Dick Bong made it home but was killed during a test flight on August 6, 1945, the same day the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima.
The tragic irony of Dick’s death was compounded by the fact that he died while flying another Skunk Works project, the P-80 Shooting Star jet fighter.
Of paramount strategic importance was that the P-38 served as the platform for the fatal shooting down of Imperial Japanese Navy Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, a death blow from which the IJN’s collective morale never truly recovered.
As military aviation historian Don Hollway puts it: “In all of American history, the only comparable event is the operation that killed al-Qaeda mastermind Osama bin Laden. Yamamoto was no different from any officer caught in the crosshairs of a sniper – in uniform, on a combat mission, a legitimate military target. Today, when the enemy rarely wears uniforms, the debate turns to attacking terrorist leaders with remote-controlled drones. Few remember that this precedent was set 70 years ago over the jungles of Bougainville.”
In total, the P-38 shot down over 1,800 Japanese aircraft – over 100 of its pilots achieved ace status – making it statistically the most successful fighter aircraft of the US Army Air Forces in the Pacific during World War II.
P-38: Superstar in the Pacific, B-list celebrity in Europe
For various reasons, this fighter was only moderately successful against the Luftwaffe in the European theater of war. In fact, a P-38 was the first American fighter aircraft to shoot down a German enemy during the war, on August 14, 1942, against a Focke-Wulf Fw-200 Condor.
Yes, the Germans called the plane the “Fork-tailed Devil.” And yes, it was a P-38 that gave legendary U.S. Air Force fighter pilot Col. Robin Olds the first two aerial victories of his illustrious career. However, the P-38 also had problems adapting to the European climate.
As described by Col. Olds himself and by the late, great aviation writer Robert F. Dorr, himself a USAF veteran:
“I loved the P-38, but I scored those kills in spite of the plane, not because of it,” Olds recalled. “The fact is that the P-38 Lightning was too much plane for a novice and a full-time job for even a mature and experienced fighter pilot. Our enemies had difficulty defeating the P-38, but as much as we enjoyed it, we defeated ourselves with that plane.” It was, Olds was quick to add, “the most beautiful plane of our generation.” And it fought well in the Mediterranean and the Pacific. So what was happening in northern Europe, and how could it go so wrong? … The P-38 performed serviceably, but suffered from a number of problems. Its Allison engines constantly threw connecting rods, swallowed valves and fouled spark plugs, while their intercoolers often burst under sustained high boost pressure and turbocharger regulators froze, sometimes leading to catastrophic failures…The introduction of the newer P-38J, which filled the gap behind the P-38H, was intended to help, but did not help enough. The J model’s enlarged radiators were prone to failure. Incorrectly mixed British fuel made the problems worse: anti-knock lead compounds literally bubbled out and separated at extremely low temperatures in the Allison’s intake system. This could lead to detonation and rapid engine failure, especially at the high power settings required for combat.”
Where are they now?
The USAF officially retired the P-38 in 1949, but the fighter remained in service with the Honduran Air Force until 1965.
The Lightning’s proud legacy is carried on by a current Skunk Works project, the F-35 Lightning II. As for the original Lightning, of the total 10,037 aircraft produced, 26 survive today and 10 of them are airworthy.
These airworthy Lightnings include Skidoo, a P-38J variant at the Planes of Fame Museum in Chino, California, and Glacier Girl, a P-38F at Lewis Air Legends in San Antonio, Texas.
About the author
Christian D. Orr is a former Air Force officer, federal police officer, and private military contractor (with deployments to Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kosovo, Japan, Germany, and the Pentagon). Chris holds a BA in International Relations from the University of Southern California (USC) and an MA in Intelligence Studies (emphasis in terrorism studies) from the American Military University (AMU). He has also published in The Daily Torch and The Journal of Intelligence and Cyber Security. Last but not least, he is a Companion of the Order of the Naval Order of the United States (NOUS).
All images are Creative Commons.
