1.
2 aviationclassics.co.uk

2.
The beautifully restored cockpit of P-38
’Glacier Girl’ shows just what a
spacious cockpit the Lightning had.
Note the only concession to modernity,
the removable GPS on the top of the
instrument panel. Luigino Caliaro

3.
8 Building a legend
14 Tricycle and twin
– defining a classic
22 Testing and compressibility
– developing the prototype
28 Fine tuning & first production
– The P-38D, E and F
Contents
32 Into service – Australia,
the Aleutians and Europe
36 The French and British orders
40 Higher, faster & further
– The P-38G, H and J
46 The Pacific and China,
Burma and India
A rare formation of
five US based P-38s in
the California sky.
Frank B Mormillo

4.
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Editor: Tim Callaway
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ISBN No 978-1-906167-61-5
52 Tony LeVier
56 Flying with Allisons
60 Allisons again
– flying on the water
70 The ultimate Lightnings
– The P-38K, L and M
74 Europe and the Mediterranean
78 Beyond the Lightning
82 Ace of Aces – Richard Ira Bong
88 The lost P-38 photo
reconnaissance pilots –
Adrian Warburton
94 P-38 Lightnings over Italy
100 Glacier Girl
104 Lockheed’s night fighter
Lightning – The P-38M
108 The lost P-38 photo
reconnaissance pilots –
Antoine de Saint Exupéry
118 Inside the Lightning
122 Postwar air forces
124 From White Lightnin’ to Red Bull
126 Survivors
Lockheed P-38 Lightning 5

5.
W
ell, this turned out to be a
fascinating aircraft to
research, since it tied
together so many famous
people in a single design.
One of the greatest aircraft designers of all
time, Clarence L “Kelly” Johnson was
responsible for the layout of the aircraft,
famous test pilots such as Milo Burcham and
Tony LeVier were responsible for working
the bugs out of the advanced design, and
many of the greatest US aces of the Second
World War were to fly the big fighter in
combat, achieving remarkable results with
the large twin against much more agile
opponents. Again, I found myself learning a
vast amount about an aircraft I thought I
knew well, and I sincerely hope I have
captured that fascination in these pages.
The P-38 was the only US fighter to be
in production for the entire length of the
Second World War, yet is was produced in
smaller numbers than its single engined
counterparts, none of which had such
longevity. Partly, this was due to the
complexity of the design and partly it was
down to the fact that Lockheed was busy
designing and producing a wide range of
other aircraft. Front line demand for the
fighter was high in every theatre, but it was
not until 1944 that a second production line
was set up by Consolidated Vultee Aircraft at
its facility in Nashville Tennessee.
However, only 113 of the total of 10,037
P-38s built were produced there before the
war ended and the contracts were cancelled.
Strangely, considering the P-38’s worldwide
success, it was in Europe that the fighter was
to experience its only real operational
difficulties which were to sully its otherwise
superb reputation. This began with the
cancellation of the British and French order for
a modified version of the P-38E, but lacking the
turbosuperchargers and having engines that
drove the propellers the same way. Both of
these modifications had poor effects on the
P-38, the first on the performance, the second
on the handling, and the aircraft was rejected
after trials by the RAF. Although it didn’t do
anything for the reputation of the fighter, the
RAF at least gave the type its inspiring name,
the Lightning. Later, operational problems
were to plague the P-38s based in the UK,
which were only understood and solved after a
visit by Tony LeVier in February 1944. One of
the less well known achievements of the P-38
in Europe was that it was the first Allied fighter
to escort bombers all the way to Berlin, a feat
often credited to the P-51 Mustang.
Even though the original design was
intended as a pure fighter interceptor, the
high performance of the Lightning was to see
it excel in a wide variety of missions, such as
a photographic reconnaissance platform. Its
success in this role is evinced by the large
numbers that were purpose built or modified
Big,bad & dangerous
to get in front of
A P-38 photographed
at Chico, California
against the sunset of
December 1, 1944. USAF
for service all over the world. Its ability to
carry large payloads made the P-38 an
incredibly powerful ground attack aircraft,
one of the more amazing statistics being
thatthe difference between the empty and
maximum loaded weight of the P-38L was
8800lb (3990kg), a tremendous payload and
more than a P-51D Mustang weighed!
Its high speed, fast climb and long range
gave the fighter pilots who flew it enormous
advantages in combat, but two other facets of
the P-38s design were to make it the legend it is
today. Firstly, the nose mounted armament made
it easy to aim and the concentrated firepower
produced has been likened to a buzz saw, cutting
through anything. Lastly, it was the only single
seat US fighter of the war that would get you
home with one propeller feathered which,
considering its use over the Mediterranean
and Pacific, would be a comfort beyond price,
endearing the big sleek machine to its crews.
With the advent of the jet age,
the Lightnings were retired and
scrapped with what old time writers
would call scant ceremony. There
are very few of the
mighty beasts left
prowling the skies
today, enjoy
them whenever
you can.
All best,
Tim

6.
C8
C8 Pilot MkII U-2 Vintage Edition
£415.00
Exclusively available online

7.
I
t is impossible to tell the story of the
P-38 without including two men in
particular. While it is true that many
men and women were responsible for
bringing the Lockheed P-38 Lightning
into service, and its remarkable success
therein, only two can be said to have truly
crafted the unusual and advanced design.
The first of these two men is a name most are
unfamiliar with, at least, those outside the
Lockheed Corporation or the airline and
defence industries. The other is that rarity
among aerospace engineers and designers, a
household name, not just for the Lightning,
but more often for what he achieved after
working on this project.
The first man is Hall Livingstone Hibbard,
born in Kansas on July 25, 1903, the year of
the Wright Brother’s first flight. An inveterate
tinkerer with a fascination for machines,
Hibbard grew up with a passion for how the
world worked. In 1925, Hibbard achieved a
bachelor’s degree in mathematics and
physics at the College of Emporia, after
which he spent two years studying in post-
graduate courses at the now famous
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. On
returning to Kansas, he found that Lloyd
Stearman had established Stearman Aircraft
at Wichita, and joined the newly formed
company as a draughtsman in 1927.
From Stearman Aircraft, Hibbard moved
to the Viking Flying Boat Company of New
Haven, Connecticut, where he worked on
Louis Schreck’s redesign of the French First
World War flying boat, the FBA 17. Produced
under licence for the US Coast Guard as a
two seat flying boat trainer, only six were to
be built, the company being one of those to
fall victim to the Great Depression that was
closing factories all over America at that
time. Although this meant the young
Hibbard was suddenly unemployed, the
experience of working at the Viking Flying
Boat Company had introduced him to its
owner, the businessman and entrepreneur
Robert Ellsworth Gross, a man who was to
figure greatly in Hibbard’s future in the
aviation industry.
We must leave Hall Hibbard for the
moment, to understand the background to
what happened next. Years earlier, in 1912, two
brothers, Allan and Malcolm Loughead, had
established the Alco Hydro-Aeroplane
Company in Santa Barbara, California. Later,
the business was renamed the Loughead
Aircraft Manufacturing Company, but in 1926,
this enterprise failed, largely due to a lack of
orders. Later that year, Allan Loughead formed
the Lockheed Aircraft Company, moving the
base of operations to Hollywood, then a
thriving, largely industrial suburb of Los
Angeles. He chose the name Lockheed as he
was so fed up with people not being able to
pronounce his name properly, he used for the
phonetic spelling of it. Lockheed found success
in 1927, with the first flight of the Lockheed
Vega, a four-passenger single engine
monoplane of sleek monocoque construction.
This aircraft was designed by John Knudsen
Northrop and Gerrard Vultee, both of whom
would go on to form their own aircraft
companies after leaving Lockheed.
After its maiden flight on July 4, the
135mph (217kmh) Lockheed Vega was an
instant hit. In 1928, Lockheed Vegas won
every speed event, often competing against
single seat racing aircraft. Altogether, 141
Vegas would be built, growing in size to take
six passengers and more powerful engines.
Wiley Post (the first pilot to fly solo around
the world) flew his Vega around the world,
twice, and Amelia Earhart used her Vega to
become the first woman to fly the Atlantic
Ocean single handed. With deliveries of the
more powerful Vega 5 beginning in 1929, and
business that appeared to be booming, the
management of Lockheed sold the majority
shareholding in the company to the Detroit
Aircraft Corporation in July.
Initially, the company continued to flourish
with additional models of the Vega being
produced for a wide variety of clients, as well
8 aviationclassics.co.uk
Building a
The Lockheed Aircraft Corporation, Hall
Hibbard and Clarence “Kelly” Johnson.
The company
and men behind
the machine.
a
Building
Hall
Corporation,
Aircraft
Lockheed
The
a
Building
company
The
behind
men
and
machine.
the
legend
Later,
California.
Barbara,
Santa
in
Company
Hall Hibbard, the man
behind Lockheed’s wide
ranging success. Lockheed
Clarence Leonard ‘Kelly’ Johnson, the designer whose genius delivered some of the most high
performance aircraft the world has ever seen. Lockheed

8.
as two for the US Army Air Corps. The new
Sirius, Altair and Orion designs were
produced, the Orion being one of the fastest
aircraft in the world when it first flew in 1931.
However, the overall economic situation in
the US was to be Lockheed’s undoing, as with
the Viking Flying Boat Company on the
opposite coast. The Great Depression caused
the collapse of the market for new aircraft, so
on October 27, 1931, the Detroit Aircraft
Corporation went into receivership.
At this point, Robert E Gross re-enters our
story, courtesy of a friend of his, Walter
Varney. Varney was a California based aviation
pioneer who had already established a
successful air mail company, Varney Air
Service, in 1926. In 1930, after the acquisition
of five other smaller companies, he sold the
much expanded business to the United
Aircraft and Transport Corporation (UAT).
UAT, you may remember from Aviation
Classic’s Corsair issue, was the amalgamation
of Boeing, Chance Vought, Sikorsky,
Stearman, Hamilton Standard and Pratt and
Whitney, a group of companies trying to
survive the depression by working together.
UAT was already the owner and operator of
Pacific Air Transport, Boeing Air Transport
and National Air Transport, but wanted
Varney’s extensive and lucrative air mail
routes. In 1933, the air transport division was
renamed United Air Lines, becoming an
independent business when UAT was broken
up in the wake of the 1934 air mail scandal and
US Government anti-trust laws.
Varney Air Service had been looking at
the new Lockheed designs for high speed air
mail use, so it was familiar with the firm’s
fortunes. On hearing of the Detroit Aircraft
Corporation’s bankruptcy, Varney contacted
his friends Robert and his brother,
Courtlandt Sherrington ‘Cort’ Gross, in order
to make an offer for the Lockheed Aircraft
Company. Varney and the Gross brothers
raised $20,000 each and made a successful
bid for the entire establishment in 1932. Allan
Loughead had tried to raise the capital to buy
his own company back, but when he had only
gathered $50,000 he gave up the attempt,
considering that amount to be insufficient for
a winning bid. Varney and the Gross brothers
re-established and reorganised the Lockheed
Aircraft Company at Burbank Airport, north
and east of its original Hollywood base.
Production and sales of the existing
designs continued on a small scale, but all
three investors knew they had to develop
new and world beating aircraft if they were
going to remain competitive. ➤
Lockheed P-38 Lightning 9
Viking OO-1 belonging to US Coast Guard, one of the few products of the ill-fated Viking Flying Boat Company. USCG
A Lockheed Orion of Varney Speed Lanes.Walter Varney was one of the aviation pioneers who
bought the Lockheed company from the defunct Detroit Aircraft Corporation.Editor’s Collection
Armed withthis dAtA,And well AwAre ofthe cApAbilities
ofthe competition,the boeing 247 And douglAs dc-2, hAll
hibbArd decidedthAt his first new lockheed design wAs
to be An All metAl, high speedtrAnsport AircrAft

9.
Before returning to the story of Hall
Hibbard, it is worth recording that over the
next 35 years the three investors were to build
the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation into the
industrial giant it is today. Walter Varney served
as a co-director of the new Lockheed Company
from 1932 through to his retirement in 1951.
While so engaged, along with his partner Louis
Mueller, Varney also formed a new airline,
Varney Speed Lanes in 1934. This used the
high speed Lockheed Orion, so Varney was in
effect his own customer. Later that year, he
gave over control of the airline to Mueller, so he
could concentrate on the Lockheed business.
This was the second case of Varney founding a
modern day giant of the airline world, as
Mueller sold the business to Robert Six in 1936,
who renamed it Continental Airlines in 1937.
It is interesting that both airlines founded
by Walter Varney, United and Continental,
merged in 2009 to form a single massive
company. Varney lived to see the businesses
he founded all bear fruit, before dying of
pneumonia on January 25, 1967. Robert Gross
began as a co-director in 1932, then served as
the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation’s president
from 1934 to 1956. He died of pancreatic
cancer on September 3, 1961. Courtlandt
Gross served as a director then chairman of
the Lockheed Corporation from 1932 to 1967
before he retired from the company. He was
living in Villanova, Pennsylvania, with his wife
and housekeeper, when, on July 15, 1982, all
three were murdered in their home. Although
Roger Buehl was convicted of the crime and
sentenced to death, he remains in prison and
there are strong doubts about the validity of
his conviction. This sad tale is a strange and
terrible end to the Gross brothers’ great
aviation legacy.
To return to 1932, Varney and the Gross
brothers found themselves owners of the
builders of some of the world’s fastest
aircraft, but with one major problem. In 1929,
John Northrop had left to found his own
company, the Avion Corporation. He was
followed by Gerrard Vultee in 1932, who had
left to develop his own company and a six
passenger design of his own for American
Airlines. This essentially left the reorganised
and reformed Lockheed Aircraft Company
with no design team. Robert Gross of course
had a ready solution to this.
He contacted Hall Hibbard from his failed
Viking Flying Boat Company and offered him
a job at Lockheed as its new designer. His
first priority was to improve upon the already
excellent reputation Lockheed aircraft had
established for speed and reliability, which
was no easy task.
The earlier Lockheed designs, such as the
Vega and Orion, had been of all wooden
construction with streamlined monocoque
fuselages. During the brief time it owned
Lockheed, the Detroit Aircraft Corporation
had changed the specification and built a
number of Orions with all metal fuselages.
These aircraft had a performance edge over
their all-wood counterparts as well as a
number of practical advantages. The lighter
weight of the airframe meant the metal Orions
could carry more payload and further, and it
gave them a slight speed advantage.
Armed with this data, and well aware of the
capabilities of the competition, the Boeing 247
and Douglas DC-2, Hall Hibbard decided that
his first new Lockheed design was to be an all
metal, high speed transport aircraft. Not only
was this the first all metal Lockheed aircraft, it
was also to be its first twin-engined design.
The choice of two engines was based on an
ongoing US Government study into air
transport safety. Hibbard knew about the
study, and immediately recognised its
potential ramifications while considering the
possible layouts for the Model 10, or Electra
as it came to be known.
Consequently, when the study was
translated into law in October 1934 and
10 aviationclassics.co.uk
Swallow J-5 built in 1924 with markings of CAM 5 as operated by Varney Airlines. Displayed at
the Museum of Flight, Boeing Field, Seattle, May 1989. Editor’s Collection
Walter Varney, who could be said to
have been responsible for the
Lockheed we know today, seen here in
more relaxed times.Via Emmett Forbes
The groundbreaking Lockheed Vega, in this case the later Vega 5B model, a replica of the one
The groundbreaking Lockheed Vega, in this case the later Vega 5B model, a replica of the one
flown by Amelia Earhart now on display in the beautiful San Diego Air and Space Museum.
flown by Amelia Earhart now on display in the beautiful San Diego Air and Space Museum.
Constance Redgrave

10.
resulted in a ban on all single engined aircraft
being used for either night flying or passenger
carrying, the Model 10 was well placed to fill
the gap left by the now banned single engine
types. This was not luck. It was a product of
the kind of careful research and market
knowledge that was to become a trademark of
Hall Hibbard’s work at Lockheed, resulting in
him heading the design department for many
years and later becoming a director of the
company. Although other people were to
become more famous than Hibbard; indeed,
few have heard of him outside of the industry,
it must be noted that his steady yet always
enthusiastic approach to aviation was one of
the driving forces that made Lockheed a giant
of the aircraft industry.
Hall Hibbard had one other major
influence on the future of the Lockheed
company, as he introduced the other major
character in the P-38, and indeed the
Lockheed, story, Clarence Leonard Johnson.
Johnson was born on February 27, 1910, in
the Michigan mining town of Ishpeming, his
parents having emigrated there from Malmö
in Sweden. The grinding poverty his family
lived in was a source of personal shame to
Johnson, who from an early age was driven to
succeed by his frugal upbringing. His name,
Clarence, was ridiculed at school, with his
classmates referring to him as ‘Clara’ after
the ‘It’ girl, film actress Clara Bow. Never one
to take his troubles to anyone else and ever
the pragmatist, Johnson took direct action
against his tormentors, tripping one taunting
classmate so viciously that it broke his leg.
He was ‘Clara’ no more. A popular song of the
time, Kelly With The Green Neck Tie
provided his next nickname. Clarence
became Kelly to his peers, a name that was to
stick for the rest of his life.
While at school his passion for aviation
began. The first aircraft designed by Kelly
Johnson was for a competition in 1923,
winning him a prize at the tender age of 13. ➤
Lockheed P-38 Lightning 11
Kelly Johnson on his first task for Lockheed, studying the model of the original
Model 10 design in the wind tunnel at the University of Michigan. Lockheed
A Lockheed Electra 10A ‘CF-TCC’ in Trans-Canada Air Lines livery at the Western Canada
Aviation Museum.
The military also acquired the high speed Lockheed Electra.This is a Lockheed Y1C-36 assigned
to Wright Field.The type was later redesignated as C-36 and again as UC-36.US Air Force

11.
After high school and college in Flint,
Michigan, Johnson attended the University of
Michigan at Ann Arbor. He studied towards a
master’s degree in aeronautical engineering.
While at the university, he was one of the
student assistants assigned to work on the
wind tunnel models of the Lockheed Model
10 design. At the time, the early Model 10
had a single fin and rudder on the rear
fuselage. Johnson’s testing of the models
showed that the design was directionally
unstable in this layout, but his findings were
ignored by his professor, who reported none
of the problems Johnson had discovered
back to Lockheed.
What happened next reveals much about
Kelly Johnson’s pragmatic and no-nonsense
character. In 1933, having completed his
degree successfully, Johnson took a job as a
tool designer with the Lockheed Company.
Having successfully made it in through the
front door so to speak, Johnson immediately
took his wind tunnel results and conclusions
to Hall Hibbard and convinced him that he
was right – the single finned Model 10 design
was unstable. Hibbard sent him back to the
University of Michigan to conduct more
tests, during which Johnson modified the
design to incorporate the twin fin and rudder
layout familiar today. He also modified the
wing fillets at the fuselage joint and made
numerous other improvements, all of which
contributed to the success of the Model 10.
When the Model 10 Electra made its first
flight on February 23, 1934, Marshall Headle,
the test pilot, found it to be a delight to fly.
Such a direct approach to the problems of the
design brought the 23-year-old Johnson to
the attention of the Lockheed directors in a
dramatic fashion, and with Hibbard’s
recommendation Johnson was promoted to
aeronautical engineer with immediate effect.
Sadly, the comments of Johnson’s University
professor, who must have been highly
embarrassed by this series of events, have
not been recorded.
If I may step away from the main narrative
for a moment, this rather bullish attitude of
Johnson’s to his work is typical of the great
aircraft designers. Can you imagine the
average undergraduate taking that course of
action over sponsored research at their
university today? Like Sir Sydney Camm, R J
Mitchell, Alexander Kartveli and Howard
Hughes, Johnson is typical of the aeronautical
engineers and innovators that today are
considered the elite. These men believed in
what they were doing with a passion, but it
was not by some flight of fancy, as is so often
portrayed in the media, it was always with
sheer hard work and practical common sense
approaches that they worked their magic and
created some incredible machines.
None of these men were the dreamers of
popular fiction, they were serious, nuts and
bolts engineers. The aircraft they produced
that were truly world-beating were products
of a clear vision and an unshakeable belief in
what they were doing was right. This kind of
12 aviationclassics.co.uk
Following the Model 10 Electra was the larger Lockheed
Model 14 Super Electra.This is PH-ASL ‘Lepelaar’ of KLM Royal
Dutch Airlines at Manchester (Ringway) Airport. Ruth AS
Showing its civilian transport ancestry is this Lockheed Lodestar
(note the misspelled name on the nose), a military transport and
the ultimate development of the original Electra design.This one is
on display at the March Field Air Museum. Constance Redgrave.

12.
focus has common characteristics. All of the
men mentioned above were sticklers for
punctuality, all of them were superb
organisers and all of them demanded a level
of attention to detail often ranked alongside
obsessive. Far from easy to work with, these
were all men who did not suffer fools gladly –
they did not suffer them at all.
Some people see this attitude as
arrogance, which it most certainly is not. It is,
instead, something very rare, the trait that
separates the good from the truly great. It is
the ability to see clearly that which others do
not, and to strive for it regardless of the
personal cost. Kelly Johnson most definitely
was possessed of that rare trait, his character
and abilities as a designer caused Hall
Hibbard to comment one day: “That damned
Swede can actually see air.” Hibbard made the
comment to Ben Rich, the man who was to
one day take over the Skunk Works from
Johnson and lead the successful development
of stealth technology.
To return to our story, from his work on
the Model 10 in 1933, Johnson found himself
one of the rising stars at Lockheed, moving
through the posts of flight test engineer,
stress analyst, aerodynamicist, and weight
engineer to garner sufficient experience in
each field, before he became the chief
research engineer in 1938. Kelly Johnson and
Hall Hibbard had produced a remarkable
aircraft in the Model 10 Electra, one which
was to be much varied into the smaller Model
12 Electra Junior and larger Model 14 Super
Electra, culminating in the Model 18
Lodestar of 1939.
To develop the original Model 10,
Lockheed had spent $139,400, a considerable
sum for the period. In the first year alone it
was to sell 40 of these fast and durable
aircraft, production ending with the 149th
example delivered. Most famously, Amelia
Earhart was to use a Lockheed Electra 10E in
her ill-fated round the world flight of 1937, but
the Electra was also to be used successfully
by airlines and air forces around the world,
including a single example supplied to the
Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service for
evaluation and trials. This family of aircraft
were to cement Lockheed’s reputation and
fortunes, and were eventually to be built in
their thousands, as the Lockheed Hudson,
Ventura and Harpoon light bombers and
patrol aircraft and the Lodestar military
transport joined the civil transport versions
rolling off the production lines. Hibbard had
done it, and Lockheed was to go from
strength to strength.
While all this was going on and the
Electra family was being developed and
successfully marketed, in February 1937 the
US Army Air Corps issued a specification
called Circular Proposal X-608. Authored by
two first lieutenants, Benjamin S Kelsey and
Gordon P Saville (both of whom were later to
become generals), the proposal called for a
new type of fighter, a twin engined high
altitude interceptor. The specification used
the word interceptor to get away from the
restrictive rules that governed the
development of fighters, or pursuit aircraft as
they were known then.
The rules said a fighter was to be single
engined and only carry a maximum of 500lb
(227kg) of armament, but Kelsey and Saville
wanted a far higher performance machine
than was available by following the rules.
Kelly Johnson and Hall Hibbard considered a
number of designs and layouts, before
proposing their Lockheed Model 22 as a
response to the proposal. The stage was set
for the development of one of the most
innovative single seat fighter aircraft in the
history of aviation. Lockheed was about to
enter the fighter business for the first time
and was on a path that would see it dominate
the fighter market to the present day. ■
Words: Tim Callaway
Lockheed P-38 Lightning 13
The Lockheed Model 14 Super Electra was also developed into a successful light bomber,
maritime patrol aircraft and military transport, known as the Hudson. US Air Force
Hall Hibbard and Kelly Johnson, seen here
looking at the first blueprints for the
Lockheed Constellation during the Second
World War. Lockheed
The relatively dainty Electra eventually developed into the much larger Ventura medium
bomber and Harpoon patrol and anti-shipping aircraft.This Harpoon is under complete
restoration at the excellent Palm Springs Air Museum in California. Constance Redgrave.

13.
T
he X-608 and X-609 proposals were
issued from the Wright Field
Pursuit Projects Office of the US
Army Air Corps. Wright Field was,
at the time, the centre for testing
aviation technology and developing new military
aircraft, fulfilling a similar role to Martlesham
Heath in the UK or Rechlin in Germany.
The two remarkable men responsible for
the proposals were first lieutenants at the
time – Gordon Phillip Saville, who would end
his distinguished career as a major general,
and Benjamin Scovill Kelsey, who would
become a brigadier general. Both were
keenly aware of the shortcomings of the
aircraft in US service at the time, particularly
in comparison to those entering service in
Germany, Japan and the UK.
This awareness also extended to the
limitations of the official Army Air Corps
rules and regulations which governed the
acquisition of new aircraft, rules that were the
inevitable result of decades of inter-service
rivalry and distrust of aviation as a viable arm
of the US forces. Both men became adept at
finding loopholes in those rules to draw up
recommendations and proposals for
developing and acquiring the kind of systems
and high performance aircraft they foresaw
would be essential in the near future.
They may be said to be as responsible for
the P-38 as Hall Hibbard and Kelly Johnson.
Saville and Kelsey often only receive a
mention as the architects of the proposals,
yet they influenced aviation history to an
incredible degree.
Gordon PhilliP Saville
Born in Macon, Georgia, on September 14,
1902, Gordon P Saville attended the
Universities of Washington and California,
before being commissioned as a second
lieutenant of infantry in the US Army
Reserve in November 1923. While on active
duty, he spent time at Crissy Field in San
Francisco, which began his lifelong interest
in military aviation.
He joined the Army Air Service as a flying
cadet in March 1926, completing his basic
and advanced flying training by September
the following year. He was posted to the 5th
Observation Squadron at Mitchel Field, New
York, and served as adjutant to the field’s
commander, the future Chief of the Air
Corps, Lieutenant Colonel Benjamin Foulois.
14 aviationclassics.co.uk
Tricycle and twin
When the US Army Air Corps issued Circular Proposals X-608 and X-609 for new fighter aircraft in
February 1937, they went out to Bell, Boeing, Consolidated, Curtiss, Douglas, Lockheed and Vultee.
From these six companies, just three proposals were considered. One remained unbuilt and the others,
from Lockheed and Bell, would lead to two of the most unusual fighters of the Second World War.
How to build a brand new type
of fighter without anyone realising...
– defining a classic
The Lockheed plant at Burbank in 1940, where the majority of the P-38
production took place.The prototypes were constructed in a small
workshop away from the main plant to preserve project security. Lockheed

14.
Foulois was impressed with Saville, and
recommended that he attend the Air Corps
Tactical School at Maxwell Field in Alabama,
from which Saville graduated, top of his class,
in May 1934.
He spent the next three years as a fighter
instructor at the school, during which time he
worked with Claire Lee Chennault (later of
Flying Tigers fame). He was an advocate of an
air defence strategy led by a strong fighter
force, as he felt fighters were undervalued in
the defensive role and that too much emphasis
was being placed on the bomber force. Saville
also developed new control methods for
fighter forces to improve co-operation
between ground forces and tactical air power.
In February 1937, as the leading
proponent of fighter tactics, he worked with
Benjamin Kelsey on the two proposals for
new fighters. In 1938, he attended the
Command and General Staff School at Fort
Leavenworth, Kansas, before being assigned
to the plans division of the Army Air Corps in
June 1939. This staff post was followed by his
return to Mitchel Field as the assistant
intelligence and operations officer of the Air
Defense Command. Here he put his theories
of radar ground control for fighters into
practice, proving the validity of a co-ordinated
fighter defence in exercises in August 1940.
Now a major, he visited Britain and studied
the RAF’s defences that had worked so well
in the Battle of Britain and drafted a doctrine
for air defence which, while widely admired,
was not adopted. From this point on, Saville
was to be one of the architects of an effective
US air defence, becoming director of air
defence at the US Army Air Forces
Headquarters in Washington DC.
In January 1942, as a lieutenant colonel,
he formed one of the first operations
research groups utilising the skills of
mathematicians and defence experts to solve
the problems of defending the Panama Canal.
In recognition of his expertise and
management skills, Saville was promoted
again in November 1942 to brigadier general.
Once it was clear that no direct threat to the
US existed, he was appointed as director of
tactical development at the Army Air Forces
School of Applied Tactics at Orlando, Florida,
where he reorganised and co-ordinated the
efforts of the research, development, testing
and acquisition branches of the USAAF.
In July 1943, he became the chief of staff of
the Mediterranean Air Command, then the
commander of the XII Fighter Command in
October 1943. In January 1944, he became
the deputy commander of the XII Air Support
Command and implemented close air support
tactics between air and ground forces which
were used in the Allied invasion of
Normandy, and again in the invasion of
Southern France.
Given his outstanding record, Saville was
promoted to major general in June 1944 and
given command of the First Tactical Air
Force in January 1945. He returned to the
US, becoming the commander of the III
Tactical Air Command in March 1945.
Several other posts followed, including two
years in Brazil, before he was called back to
Mitchel Air Force Base in June 1948 where
he became the commanding general of the
newly formed US Air Force’s Air Defence
Command in November. His plans for a new
radar network to cover the continental US
were adopted in March 1949, alongside
which Saville was responsible for such
programmes as the F-86 Sabre to replace
outdated Second World War fighter types.
In January 1950, he became deputy chief
of staff for Development, Air Research and
Development Command, and initiated a new
fighter interceptor, fire control system and
missile programme that resulted in the
Convair F-102 Delta Dagger and the Hughes
AIM-4 Falcon missile of 1956. In July 1951,
after a distinguished and creative military
career, Saville retired from the USAF.
His civilian career was just as impressive.
He joined Ramo-Wooldridge, the company
formed from the fire control system
development team at Hughes, becoming
director of military requirements. A merger
with Thompson formed military electronics
and systems giant TRW, and Saville became
vice president until he retired in 1963,
becoming a consultant and a cattle rancher. ➤
Lockheed P-38 Lightning 15
Gordon Phillip Saville, one of the authors of
the proposals that led to the P-38 and one
of the architects of modern air power. USAF
Crissy Field in San Francisco in 1921, where Gordon Saville
got his first taste of military aviation as a reservist. USAF
Benjamin Scovill Kelsey in very appropriate
pose for a man who lived in the cockpit.A
great test pilot and co-author of the
proposals that led to the P-38, he was to
be instrumental in shaping many
important aircraft programmes. USAF
Austin Hall, the Air Corps Tactical School at
Maxwell Field in 1931, where Saville
graduated top of his class in May 1934. USAF
Claire Lee Chennault, who was a proponent
of a strong fighter force, supported by Saville
while they served together at the Air Corps
Tactical School. Later, Chennault was to lead
the Flying Tigers in China, but is seen here in
1934 with a Boeing P-12E. USAF

15.
Saville was to remain in these last two careers
until his death on January 31, 1984. He was
one of the visionary leaders who taught the
value of co-ordinated defensive and tactical air
forces to the world, and must be seen as one
of the architects of modern air power.
Benjamin Scovill KelSey
Benjamin Kelsey had flying in his blood.
Born on March 9, 1906, in Waterbury,
Connecticut, by the age of 15 he had
completed a pilot’s course at the Curtiss
Flying Service of Garden City, New York.
His fascination was not just with flying, but
with the mechanics of aviation too. To this
end, he attended the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology (MIT), graduating with a
bachelor of science degree in mechanical
engineering in June 1928. Kelsey remained at
MIT, teaching and continuing his research as
part of the aeronautics department, but
managed to obtain his transport pilot’s licence
at the same time by flying privately and for a
variety of commercial concerns.
Military developments attracted his
interest, so he joined the US Army Air Corps
(USAAC) as a second lieutenant in May 1929,
his first posting being to Mitchel Field. Here,
he worked on developing blind flying
systems as part of the Guggenheim Fog
Flying Laboratory, acting as the safety pilot
on Jimmy Doolittle’s first full instrument
flight on September 24, 1929. In 1930, Kelsey
completed his USAAC primary and advanced
flying courses, which must have been
somewhat redundant considering his already
extensive flying experience.
The following year he finished his master
of science degree in aeronautical engineering
at MIT, before being posted to the 20th
Pursuit Group at Mather Field in California.
In 1934, Kelsey was posted to Materiel
Command’s engineering section at Wright
Field near Dayton, Ohio, to become the
fighter project officer. As the sole officer
responsible for USAAC fighter development,
this was a busy position, liaising between the
Corps and aircraft companies, as well as
acting as test pilot – a position he was
exceptionally well qualified for.
Despite all of this, Kelsey also maintained
his work on developing blind flying hardware
and techniques, being promoted to first
lieutenant on October 1, 1934. With his
engineering background, Kelsey was
interested in many of the innovations coming
from industry, particularly in the field of aero
engines as this had been a speciality of his at
MIT. He took a personal interest in the
development of the Allison V-1710 engine, as
he recognised the potential for greater high
altitude performance and speed from liquid-
cooled rather than air-cooled aero engines.
In November 1936, Kelsey began an
extensive flight test programme on the
Consolidated XA-11A, an A-11 two seat attack
aircraft converted by Bell Aircraft to take the
1000bhp Allison XV-1710-7 engine. The engine
passed all of the exacting trials required by the
USAAC to test reliability and performance,
and Kelsey would use his knowledge of the
engine’s capabilities to make it a feature of a
number of future fighter specifications.
In his official capacity, Kelsey was to fly an
enormous number of prototypes and trial
aircraft, and this experience increased his
frustration with the USAAC restrictions
regarding fighter aircraft, known as pursuit
aircraft at the time. When he teamed up with
Gordon P Saville, the two first lieutenants
wrote the X-608 and X-609 proposals for new
fighters using very careful wording to get
around the regulations.
The results of these proposals were so
successful that Kelsey was promoted to
captain in May 1939, continuing his work on
fighter development. He next drew up a
proposal for an aircraft to replace the Curtiss
P-40, the Curtiss XP-46, placing an order for
two prototypes in September 1939. This was
to be an advanced fighter with a laminar flow
wing, but was cancelled at a higher level
when it was realised that it would disrupt
mass production of the P-40.
The engine installation from the XP-46 was
used in the P-40D, which was found to
perform better than the XP-40 anyway. Kelsey
was unwilling to let the project concepts go,
and approached his boss, Colonel Oliver
Echols, about offering the design to the
Anglo-French Purchasing Commission, which
was in the US looking for new combat aircraft.
The commission was told that if it could find
an aircraft manufacturer with the excess
capacity to build the new aircraft, then the
NACA aerodynamic data collected for the XP-
46 would be made available.
This data was later sold to North American
Aviation, which accepted the commission’s
proposal for a new fighter. The data was used,
although to what extent remains unclear, in
the firm’s already well advanced NA-73 design
which had certain similarities to the XP-46.
The NA-73 became a fighter the British were
later to name Mustang.
16 aviationclassics.co.uk
Saville planned the first ground controlled fighter defence for the
US and later the Panama Canal.This is one of the early radars
used in the trials and development of the system, an SCR-270.
First Lieutenant Harold Zahl
Saville initialised a programme for a new fighter and fire control system in
1954 that led to the Convair F-102 Delta Dagger of 1956.USAF Museum
Saville was also responsible for the development of the AIM-4 Falcon
missile, seen here being fired from a Convair F-106 Delta Dart. USAF
B-24D’s over the Romanian oil fields at Ploesti.
Saville had been posted to the Mediterranean
Air Command in 1943 and opposed the raids
as“ridiculous and suicidal”.The losses they
incurred proved him right.USAF

16.
Between May and July 1940, Kelsey
travelled widely in France and the UK as an
assistant military air attaché, to assess British,
French and German fighter designs. He also
saw the need for a long range ferry route to
bring aircraft directly to Europe, as he
correctly assessed the German naval threat to
transatlantic shipping convoys. He returned
to Wright Field as the head of the pursuit
branch of the production engineering section,
and in March 1941 was promoted to major.
The next year saw Kelsey extensively test
flying the Supermarine Spitfire. He found its
lack of range a great drawback and asked
Lockheed to design drop tanks for the P-38 to
extend its range, even though this went against
USAAC doctrine at the time. In January 1942,
Kelsey was promoted to acting lieutenant
colonel and was attached to the VIII Fighter
Command at Bangor, Maine, to plan and
prepare for the first transatlantic ferry flights.
He flew a P-38F of the 14th Fighter Group
across to the UK in July, on the first ferry flight
by fighters. He returned to his post at Wright
Field in September, and became the chief of the
flight research branch of the flight test division
in July 1943. November saw Kelsey back in
Europe, where he became the deputy chief of
staff of the IX Fighter Command, before
moving to the headquarters of the 8th Air
Force as chief of operational engineering.
In February 1945, he returned to the
materiel division at Air Corps Headquarters,
then moved back to Wright Field as chief of
all weather operations. After a number of staff
positions, in 1948 he was promoted to colonel
and attended the National War College,
graduating in June and remaining on the staff
as an instructor for nearly four years. He was
posted to become deputy director of research
and development in the Office of the Deputy
Chief of Staff for Development at Air Force
Headquarters in June 1952, and was
promoted to brigadier general in September.
While he was in the post, Kelsey was a
member of Hugh Dryden’s Research Airplane
Committee and was instrumental in bringing
the X-15 research aircraft programme to
fruition, the contract being awarded to North
American on September 30, 1955. In December
that year, Kelsey retired from the US Air Force,
but kept flying privately, lecturing on
aeronautical subjects and producing many
papers on engineering and aviation matters.
A range of awards followed, including
tenure of the Lindbergh Chair at the National
Air and Space Museum between 1979 and
1980. During this time he wrote the definitive
work on US military aircraft development
before and during the Second World War
called The Dragon’s Teeth?: The Creation of
United States Air Power for World War II.
After a lifetime in a huge variety of
cockpits, making ground breaking decisions
and driving innovation at the cutting edge of
military aviation, not to mention being
responsible for the success of a number of
iconic and important aircraft, Ben Kelsey
died of cancer on March 3, 1981.
CirCumventingthe rules
To return to the story of the P-38, the
Circular Proposals X-608 and X-609, were
issued in February 1937. Saville and Kelsey
pooled their knowledge of air defence needs
on the one hand, and current fighter
performance and the likely capabilities of
new aircraft on the other. The biggest
problem they faced in ensuring the new
aircraft had adequate performance was the
set of rules and regulations which governed
the acquisition of new aircraft.
One of the most onerous restrictions
placed on new fighter aircraft by the USAAC
was a limitation of 500lb (227kg) on the total
weight of their armament, their guns and
their ammunition. Kelsey wanted to at least
double this to 1000lb (454kg) to allow future
fighter pilots a chance to achieve air
superiority. Saville wanted greater range and
endurance to allow for longer fighter patrol
and support missions. ➤
A Consolidated A-11 two seat attack aircraft. Kelsey tested a
version of this aircraft, known as the XA-11A, fitted with an
Allison V-1710-7, giving him knowledge of the engine’s
capabilities which was to affect the X-608 proposal. USAF
The headquarters building at Mitchel Field,
Kelsey’s first posting and where he made the
first instrument only flights as safety pilot to
Lieutenant Jimmy Doolittle. USAF
Wright Field as it was in May 1931, and where Kelsey was to spend much of his career. USAF The North American X-15 experimental and
research aircraft still holds a number of
performance records today.Kelsey was one of
the instigators behind the programme.USAF

17.
Neither of these characteristics were
allowable under the rules for fighters, but
Kelsey and Saville found a way to get round
them which was both simple and ingenious.
They didn’t call the new aircraft specified in
the proposals fighters, they called them
interceptors. It was the first time that word had
been used to describe a US military aircraft
programme. This change in terminology also
allowed them to specify that one of the aircraft
was to be twin-engined – another characteristic
banned by the fighter regulations.
This pedantic application of strict statutes
to new aircraft may seem ludicrous to
modern eyes, where multirole platforms rule
the day, but it must be remembered that at
the time aviation was viewed with suspicion
by the armed forces as the unwanted child of
technology. Nobody knew exactly what to do
with it, but at the same time, no one wanted
another service to have sole ownership of it
or responsibility for it.
For example, the US Navy tried to clip the
wings of the USAAC bomber force, as it
considered the battleship fleet to be the long
range defender of America. In turn, the
USAAC bomber force viewed with great
suspicion any attempt to develop a long range
aircraft that was not a bomber, as it saw long
range operations as solely within its purview.
The competitiveness that resulted in these
restrictions was not just inter-service, but
also between elements of the same service.
Although these costly and inefficient rivalries
may seem a relic of their time, it is a sad
truth of military life that they continue to a
greater or lesser extent today.
The inTercepTors defined
With the interceptor designation in place,
Kelsey and Saville were free to specify the
aircraft they saw as vital to the future defence
of the US. The X-608 proposal was for a twin
engined interceptor, the X-609 for a single
engined machine. Both aircraft were to use
the Allison V-1710 engine, but fitted with the
General Electric turbosupercharger to give
them the high altitude performance both
men foresaw as being vital.
Both aircraft were also to be fitted with
tricycle undercarriages to simplify ground
handling, another innovation not then widely
in use. The performance requirements in
both proposals were exacting for the day. The
two aircraft had to be capable of a top speed
of at least 360mph (579kph), with a preferred
maximum speed of 400mph (644kph) if
possible.
They also had to be able to operate at or
above 20,000ft (6096m) and they had to be
capable of reaching that altitude in under six
minutes. As the mission stated in both
proposals was the high altitude interception
of hostile aircraft, cannon armament was also
specified to destroy bombers. Lastly, both
aircraft had to have sufficient endurance to
be able to operate at full throttle for longer
than an hour. These two proposals were
without doubt the toughest issued by the
USAAC to date, and would sorely stretch the
capabilities of the aviation industry.
To put these requirements into
perspective, the two fighters being evaluated
for the USAAC in 1937, the Curtiss P-36 and
Seversky P-35, had maximum speeds
of 313mph (504kph) and 290mph (467kph)
respectively. Whoever responded to the new
proposals was going to have to make a
quantum leap in design performance.
Three companies put forward designs for
the two interceptors. The first, Vultee,
forwarded a twin engined design to X-608, the
XP-1015, but this was not considered
sufficiently advanced and was dismissed. The
single engined X-609 proposal was won by Bell
with the unusual mid-engined P-39 Airacobra,
which met all the requirements in its initial
form and was designed around the massive
37mm Oldsmobile T9 cannon. It is worth
noting that when Kelsey was posted to the UK,
the P-39 development programme was
handled by other members of his department.
For a variety of reasons, mostly related to
drag, the turbosupercharger was removed
from the design, effectively destroying its
usefulness as a high altitude fighter. Its
performance was limited to below 12,000ft
(3658m) but it did prove to be an excellent
ground attack aircraft and was widely used by
Allied air forces, especially that of Russia.
The Model 22Takes shape
The twin engined proposal, X-608, was
answered by Lockheed with a radical
approach, known internally as the Model 22.
Hall Hibbard and Kelly Johnson considered a
number of designs and layouts, Johnson
beginning with a series of sketches of all the
possible twin engined layouts in February
1937. These ideas were gradually whittled
down to one which, even at this early stage,
was recognisable as the aircraft we know today.
This layout of twin booms and a central
fuselage pod had a number of advantages
regarding the requirements of X-608. It made
the fitting of a tricycle undercarriage logical
and enabled the turbosuperchargers to be
mounted in the booms along with the main
undercarriage legs and radiators. The
mounting of all these components, along with
the rudders and elevator directly behind the
engines meant that the powerful slipstream
produced by the propellers flowed over the
control surfaces, improving their effectiveness.
This airflow also increased the efficiency of
the radiators, oil coolers and
turbosupercharger intakes. Lockheed was
already gaining valuable experience with the
operations and requirements of the General
18 aviationclassics.co.uk
The mid-engined Bell P-39 Airacobra was the winner of the X-609 proposal contract, but was
badly crippled as a fighter by the removal of the turbosupercharger system. USAF
While the Seversky P-35 was typical of the 1930s fighters,
the proposals called for far greater performance and
would really challenge the aircraft industry. USAF Museum
The Curtiss P-36 was just being evaluated for service at the
time the new fighter proposals were drawn up. USAF Museum

18.
Electric B2 turbosuperchargers, as they were
fitted to the XC-35, a one-off pressurised cabin
version of the Model 10 Electra. This had been
ordered by the USAAC in 1935 as a flying
laboratory to prove the feasibility of
pressurisation systems – research that was to
be valuable to the later Boeing 307 Stratoliner
and B-29 Superfortress designs, among others.
This aircraft also provided Lockheed with
useful experience of high altitude operations,
such as the effect of cold on hydraulic
systems, which proved useful in developing
the new fighter.
The Model 22 was innovative in terms of
construction too, as it was the first US fighter
to feature stainless steel in its structural
members and flush riveted, butt-joined
aluminium skin panels throughout the
airframe to minimise drag. Johnson had
learned a great deal about form, parasite and
surface drag from the Model 12 and put this
knowledge into practice in every detail of the
fighter design.
Finally, the armament would be
concentrated in the nose, increasing the
effective range of the weapons as there would
be no need to harmonise them at a pre-set
range as was required with the wing
mounted guns of other types. This
arrangement also greatly simplified aiming
for the same reason; the pilot only had to
point the aircraft at the target and did not
have to allow for the offset of his weapons.
Lastly, the close grouping of the guns meant
the firepower of the aircraft was devastating
right out to their maximum range.
The initial armament was intended to be
two .30in (7.62mm) Browning machine guns
with 500 rounds per gun, two .50in (12.7mm)
Browning M2 machine guns with 200 rounds
per gun and a single .90in (23mm) Army
Ordnance T1 cannon.
Kelsey was sufficiently impressed with
the design to recommend that the USAAC
purchase a single example for evaluation.
Army Air Corps contract 9974 was awarded
on June 23, 1937, for the construction of a
prototype to be known as the XP-38, along
with a full scale engineering mock up, a static
structural load test airframe and wind tunnel
models to provide aerodynamic data. The
total value of the contract was $163,000, but
Lockheed was to expend $761,000 in fulfilling
it, such was its faith in the concept.
XP-38 Lockheed
ModeL 022-64-01
After a year spent refining and defining the
detail of the design, work commenced on the
sole hand built XP-38, serial number 37-457,
in July 1938. A small team of engineers put
the aircraft together in a small workshop
away from the main Burbank plant buildings,
in order to maintain the secrecy requested by
the USAAC.
During the construction, project engineer
Jim Gerschler added an important
refinement in ‘handing’ the engines, so they
drove their propellers in opposite directions,
rotating inwards at the top. This nullified the
torque effects of the propellers, and gave the
aircraft the excellent handling it was to
become famous for. The XP-38 was powered
by a pair of Allison V-1710s, a 1710-11 on the
left and a -15 on the right, which drove their
propellers via epicyclic gears. The only
change needed to reverse the direction of a
V-1710 engine was to change the firing order
of the spark plugs. ➤
Lockheed P-38 Lightning 19
Kelly Johnson’s original sketch ideas for twin engined layouts for the new fighter, note his
initials in the corner.The P-38 is obvious among them. Lockheed
The highly polished XP-38 at March
Field during Ben Kelsey’s testing of
the type in January 1939. Lockheed
Uniquely, the radiators of the XP-38 exhausted through retractable doors on the top of the
booms, on all other P-38s, these doors would be deleted and the radiators exhausted through
doors on the rear of the enclosures. Lockheed

19.
The XP-38 had a number of unique
features, the most obvious being the
retractable entry door that controlled airflow
over the oil coolers under each engine and the
very small radiators with separate outlet flaps
on the upper surfaces of the tail booms. The
wing had a span of 52ft (15.85m) and an area
of 327.5sq ft (30.4sq m). These dimensions
remained constant throughout all models of
the P-38, although the XP-38’s wing loading of
42.6lb per square foot (207.9 kg per sq m)
naturally increased as the type grew
progressively heavier throughout its
development. Lastly, the modified armament
of a single T1 23mm cannon and four M2 0.5in
(12.7mm) machine guns was never installed.
Construction was completed by the end of
the year, when delivery was made by road to
March Field, California, at midnight on
December 31, 1938, again to preserve
secrecy. At the time, Lockheed did not have a
fighter qualified test pilot, so Lieutenant Ben
Kelsey, who of course was already project
test pilot for the USAAC, undertook the
testing of the prototype. A number of
problems occurred during the ground trials,
not least of which was with the brakes.
During one aborted take off trial, Kelsey
actually bent one of the brake pedals trying
to get the heavy fighter to stop. Fixes to this
and other minor problems meant that it was
not until January 27, 1939, that Kelsey took
the XP-38 into the air for the first time. For 34
minutes, Kelsey fought the XP-38, as not long
after take off a failure in the flap actuators left
the fowler flaps fully extended. Despite the
severe buffeting, he managed to land the
aircraft back at March Field.
Further modifications to both the flap and
brake systems followed, after which the
remaining test flights were trouble free. The
performance of the XP-38 exceeded the
USAAC requirements comfortably. It was
capable of 413mph (665kph) and had a service
ceiling of 38,000ft (11,580m). Kelsey found the
light XP-38 to be manoeuvrable and easy to fly,
so he suggested to USAAC commander
General Henry “Hap” Arnold that the prototype
be used to set a new coast to coast speed
record, since it was to be taken to Wright Field
in Ohio for continued testing anyway.
This was approved, and if by the time
Kelsey reached Wright Field all was well with
the XP-38, he would be allowed to continue
on to Mitchel Field on Long Island, New
York. Flying via Amarillo, Texas, to Wright
Field, Ohio, on February 11, Kelsey was
given permission to continue, and made
Mitchel Field in seven hours and two minutes
flying time – a new record.
On arriving over Mitchel Field, he was
cleared to land behind a trio of Consolidated
PB-2A training aircraft. Making a long, flat
circuit to take spacing on the trainers, Kelsey
suddenly found both engines lost power, and
he was forced to land on a golf course some
2000ft (610m) short of the runway. Clipping a
tree on landing, the XP-38 was wrecked in the
ensuing crash, but Kelsey escaped unharmed.
A board of enquiry into the crash of the XP-38
determined that, due to local weather
conditions, carburettor and/or fuel system
icing was the likely cause of the power loss.
Such was the obvious potential of the new
fighter that the loss of the prototype did not
delay the programme excessively. In fact,
Kelsey believed that by cutting the initial test
programme short, the loss actually speeded
up the development of the fighter. On April
27, 1939, the USAAC ordered 13 YP-38
service test prototypes at a cost of $134,284
each. These were the first batch of the only
US fighter to remain in production
throughout the Second World War. ■
Words: Tim Callaway
20 aviationclassics.co.uk
The cockpit of the engineering mock up for the XP-38 included some cardboard facsimile
instruments to assist in developing the ergonomics. Lockheed
The pointed spinners and close cowled engines are evident in this view of the XP-38, as are the
adjustable intake doors to the oil coolers under the engines, unique to this aircraft. Lockheed
The head on view of the XP-38
shows how streamlined the early
engine cowlings were, and the
fact the propellers counter-rotated
inwards from the top. Lockheed

20.
An underside view of P-38F-1LO 41-
7630 “Glacier Girl” shows off the initial
wartime fighter colour scheme applied
to these aircraft and very streamlined
engine cowlings and intakes of the
early P-38 versions. Luigino Caliaro

21.
T
he performance of the XP-38 had
been impressive in terms of
speed, range and service ceiling;
so much so that its loss in a crash
on February 11, 1939, did not
delay the process of ordering an initial service
test batch of 13 aircraft, designated YP-38s.
The original XP-38 had been hand built, so
aside from correcting the weaknesses in
several systems revealed by its testing at
March Field, the design had to be extensively
modified to ready it for mass production.
Most of the modifications were internal,
breaking the structure down into simpler sub
assemblies that were more suited to a
production line, but several were to be
elements that changed the shape of the P-38
into the one we are familiar with today.
While this redesign was being undertaken,
other factors were to affect the programme
and cause delay. Firstly, Lockheed’s Burbank
plant was undergoing tremendous upheaval as
the company ceased to be a specialist civilian
manufacturer and became a massive military
aircraft supplier. The production lines for the
Hudson, Ventura and other types meant that
the entire plant had to be expanded to many
times its original size. Lockheed was also
beginning to develop the Constellation airliner
for Howard Hughes, an aircraft that used a
scaled up and modified version of the P-38’s
wing. The design changes, plant expansion
and other commitments combined to mean
that the first of the YP-38s was not finished
until September 1940. Despite this delay,
much was to happen to the P-38 programme
before that date.
YP-38 Lockheed
ModeL 122-62-02
Aside from readying the design for mass
production, Lockheed had also been
requested to address the weight of the
aircraft. The XP-38 had weighed 13,964lb
(6334kg) without armament, but by the time
the airframe had been simplified, the YP-38
had been pared down to 13,500lb (6124kg).
Several of the design modifications changed
the shape of the aircraft, the most obvious
being the higher thrust line of the propellers,
caused by replacing the epicyclic reduction
gearboxes of the XP-38 with spur reduction
gearing. The engines driving these gearboxes
were also changed, the early C series Allison
giving way to the more advanced F series
with the fitting of V-1710-27/-29 engines.
22 aviationclassics.co.uk
Testing and
compressibility
– developing the prototype
Even though the XP-38
prototype had amassed only
just over 13 hours of flying
time before it was lost,
sufficient had been learned
from the ground and flight
testing to modify the weak
points of the design. The
USAAC also requested the
aircraft be lightened, so Hall
Hibbard, Kelly Johnson and
the Lockheed engineering team
were to spend the next 18
months refining the aircraft.
The YP-38,
P-38 and
XP-38A
Early P-38s under construction
at Burbank.The production line
was to be properly established
by these small early production
batches. Tillamook Air Museum

22.
The difference in sub-type number was
again because the engines were ‘handed’ to
nullify the effects of torque, the -27 engine
being fitted on the port side, the -29 on the
starboard, driving their propellers in opposite
directions. However, on the YP-38s, the
propellers rotated in the opposite sense to
those of the XP-38, rotating outward at the
top. This was for a number of aerodynamic
reasons, not least of which was an attempt to
improve stability by reducing the buffeting
experienced on the tailplane.
In this it was partially successful, but also
had the drawback of making the single
engined handling of the P-38 somewhat more
sensitive and special procedures had to be
developed for dealing with an engine failure,
particularly just after take off. Despite this, the
improvements in the airflow over the tailplane
were such that every one of the P-38s
produced after these was fitted with propellers
that rotated in these directions. The buffeting
problem was eventually fully solved on the P-
38E with the introduction of a fillet between
the wing and centre fuselage joint.
As well as the higher thrust line caused by
the new reduction gearboxes, the engine
cowlings were also fitted with two large, plain
intakes under the spinner for the oil coolers.
These two intakes exhausted under the
engine and had an adjustable door on the
exit, replacing the adjustable intake of the
XP-38, to control the cooling airflow. These
intakes made the cowlings deeper and less
pointed than those of the XP-38, and were to
be a feature of the aircraft until the
introduction of the J model.
The radiator scoops on either side of the
booms were enlarged and fitted with
individual adjustable exit doors, again to
control the cooling airflow, doing away with
the single exhaust on top of the boom that
had been a feature of the XP-38. With all of
these design changes in place, construction
of the 12 flying examples and a single static
airframe for structural testing could begin.
Such were the improvements promised by
the design changes that on September 20,
1939, the USAAC had ordered an additional
66 production aircraft, to be designated P-38.
As wind tunnel and other data confirmed the
performance, an additional 410 production
aircraft were ordered on August 30, 1940,
some 18 days before the first YP-38 had even
flown. This was not blind faith or a desperate
gamble on the part of the Air Corps, as some
writers have chosen to portray it, but instead
Lockheed P-38 Lightning 23
A YP-38 in flight.The larger radiator scoops with their
individual exhaust doors are apparent, as are the
external mass balances insisted on by the USAAC. USAF
the
of
side
either
on
scoops
radiator
The
The second YP-38 built, seen
here in the full size wind
tunnel at the NACA’s Langley
Research Centre. NASA
A very early shot of YP-38
39-689 with Marshall Headle
at the controls. Note the one
piece windscreen which gave
way to a three piece unit on
production aircraft. Lockheed

23.
a careful evaluation of the data coming out of
Lockheed, coupled with an understanding of
what a high performance aircraft the initial
trials had proven this to be.
Given the expansion going on at Burbank,
YP-38 assembly progressed at an
understandably slow rate. The first
completed aircraft made its initial flight from
Burbank on September 17, 1940, in the hands
of Lockheed test pilot Marshall Headle.
Much practical experience of building P-38s
was gained in the production of this small
batch which was to stand Lockheed in good
stead later, but due to the disruption it would
still take 10 months to complete all 13, the
last being delivered in June 1941.
As with the XP-38, the intended armament
of the YP-38 comprised of a pair of 0.3in
(7.7mm) machine guns, a pair of 0.5in
(12.7mm) guns and a heavy 37mm cannon
with a 15 round magazine. Shortages of the
Oldsmobile cannon meant this was never
fitted to any of the YP-38s. On March 11,
1941, with Lockheed’s own flight test
programme well under way, the first of the
YP-38s was delivered to the USAAC’s Wright
Field to begin service trials. The first Air
Corps fighter unit to evaluate the YP-38 was
the 1st Pursuit Group based at Selfridge
Field, Michigan, who would later be the first
unit to be equipped with them.
Compressibility
Vibration and buffeting in the tailplane was
being experienced during the flight testing of
the YP-38, and as has been already
mentioned, this had been partially cured by
changing the direction of rotation of the
propellers. A new problem was revealed
when high speed testing began, particularly
in dives from altitude. Pilots experienced
violent shaking in the tail plane, and under
some circumstances the nose would “tuck”,
the aircraft performing an uncommanded
pitch down, until it was diving vertically.
At this point the elevator would lock, leaving
the pilot the choice of bailing out, or waiting
until the aircraft reached the denser air of low
altitude in the hope this would enable him to
recover. When the problem was combined
with the tailplane buffeting experienced at
lower speeds, the Air Corps concluded
wrongly that the aircraft suffered from tail
flutter, a self-generating and extremely
dangerous form of airframe vibration. In
flutter, the aerodynamic forces on an object
couple with a structure’s natural vibration
harmonics to produce increasing oscillation.
In other words, the forces of the airflow
begin a cycle that is at or near the natural
vibration frequencies of the aircraft, the one
vibration feeds the other and both steadily
increase, the oscillation they cause getting
larger and larger, eventually destroying the
aircraft. In May 1941, a USAAC test pilot,
Major Signa Gilkey, survived an encounter
with control lock in a dive when he bravely
stayed with the aircraft until it reached denser
air. He then gently applied elevator trim, and
the YP-38 slowly recovered to level flight.
The problem was that the two effects, the
lower speed buffeting and the high speed
control lock were completely unrelated, but it
is completely understandable that the wrong
conclusion was reached given the evidence
and understanding of the time. Both were
reported by pilots as tail shake, pointing to
flutter as the problem. The true culprit of the
control lock was compressibility, only just
being experienced on the new generation of
high performance aircraft for the first time,
as their airspeed began to encroach on Mach
1, the speed of sound.
The first task then was to identify that the
aircraft had two problems, not one. As has
already been mentioned, the lower speed
buffeting was completely unrelated to the
elevator lock problem and was a result of
interference between the airflow over the
wing and centre fuselage at the joint. High
speed could cause the local airflow to increase
to near Mach 1 at the wing/fuselage joint,
causing the buffeting from the turbulence
created right in front of the tailplane.
Leading edge slots and various fillets were
tried to alleviate this, but a wind tunnel test in
September 1941 identified the exact cause
and its solution. Some P-38Ds and every
subsequent model of P-38 was fitted with the
new fillet on the production line, and kits
were supplied to modify all those that had
been delivered already. This just left the high
speed elevator lock problem to overcome.
The Lockheed engineers took this
compressibility problem very seriously as it
limited the abilities of the P-38 as a combat
aircraft. Kelly Johnson was later to say that
he “broke an ulcer over compressibility on
the P-38” such was the pressure to find a
solution. With all of the modification and
production engineering problems to
overcome, it wasn’t until November 1941 that
the Lockheed engineering team had any
spare capacity to fully address the problem.
The first attempt at a solution was to fit
spring loaded servo tabs to the elevator of
24 aviationclassics.co.uk
YP-38s in the outside finishing area at Burbank.The
higher thrust lines of the engines are clear in this
shot when compared to the earlier XP-38. Lockheed
Marshall Headle lifts off on the first flight of
the YP-38 on September 17, 1940, at Burbank,
California. Lockheed
The cockpit of the YP-38 with the original
circular control wheel.The large lever to the
left of the panel is the gun charging lever.
Lockheed

24.
the first YP-38, 39-689. These tabs were to
help the pilot overcome the forces that
caused the controls to lock and multiply the
force of his efforts, rather like adding power
steering to a car. Experienced test pilot Ralph
Virden was instructed to limit his speed and
manoeuvring at low altitude as the servo tabs
could apply tremendous force in the denser
air and possibly damage the airframe.
On November 4, 1941 Virden flew a
successful test sequence in the aircraft, but
was then seen to perform a steep dive
followed by a hard pull out. The tail booms
failed at about 3000ft (914m), and Virden was
killed on impact. This accident convinced the
now US Army Air Force, as it was renamed
on June 20, 1941, that the problem was
flutter, so investigations began into the
construction of the tail.
The next solution tried was to produce
new mass balances for the elevator. Mass
balances are weights that balance a control
surface at its hinge point, reducing stick
forces. There were already a set of large
elevator mass balances on the P-38s built to
that time, hidden neatly inside the fins of the
aircraft – an elegant and drag free
solution. The head of Army Production
Engineering, Colonel Kenneth B Wolfe,
asked Kelly Johnson to try external mass
balances to gauge their effect. Different
designs were tried and dangerous test dives
made, but the new balances had no effect
whatsoever on the problem.
Johnson reported this to Wolfe, but despite
the evidence, the external mass balances
mounted in the centre of the elevator were to
be a feature of every P-38 built from that point
on. Johnson and the Lockheed team were
sure it was not flutter, because the tailplane
and elevator were rigid and metal skinned
from the beginning. To prove it could not be
flutter, one YP-38 had a special tailplane, fins
and elevator fitted that had been built with
aluminium skin two-thirds thicker than usual.
Even with this extremely rigid tail, the
problem remained, so the point was made.
But if it wasn’t flutter, what was it?
The real breakthrough came when the
National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics
(NACA) developed a new wind tunnel capable
of providing test speeds of up to Mach 0.75,
enabling the effects of very high speed
airflows to be seen and evaluated for the first
time. The P-38’s compressibility problem was
revealed to be that the centre of lift was
moving aft as a result of the high speed airflow
over the wing. This was a tremendously
powerful force that would pitch the aircraft
nose down and be hard to overcome, exactly
the symptoms presenting themselves.
The solution then had nothing to do with
the tail. It was the wing geometry that had to
change to keep the centre of lift within limits.
In February 1943, a set of quick acting
electrically driven flaps were fitted to the
centreline of the lower wing surface just
outboard of the engines on a P-38F test aircraft
retained by Lockheed for just such
development flying. These flaps extended
downwards to an angle of 35 degrees in just
one and a half seconds, but they did not act as
a speed brake. What they did was to change
the airflow distribution over the wing, keeping
the centre of lift in place. The new system
worked, and after extensive tests was fitted as
standard to the P-38J-25 and all the aircraft
built after June 1944. As with the earlier fillet
modification for the buffet problem, kits were
supplied to retro-fit all the P-38s in service in
the field, deliveries beginning in late 1943. ➤
Lockheed P-38 Lightning 25
The armament was standardised on the
early P-38 production line to become
four .50in (12.7mm) machine guns and
a single 20mm cannon. Lockheed
A head on view of the YP-38 showing the one
piece windscreen and circular control wheel
with Marshall Headle at the controls.Lockheed
A YP-38 climbing, showing
dummy guns fitted in the nose
for aerodynamic trials. USAF
A clear view of the enlarged oil cooler
intakes under the engines with their
retractable exit doors to control the
cooling airflow. USAF
The size and extension of the fowler flaps
on the P-38 are apparent in this shot of a
1st Fighter Group aircraft coming in to
land. USAF

25.
Johnson and his team had overcome a
problem that had begun to seem
insurmountable. As he said later: “We had
difficulty convincing people that it wasn’t the
funny-looking airplane itself, but a
fundamental physical problem.” Although it
had been a difficult process, Johnson had
learned a great deal that was to keep him at
the forefront of high speed aircraft design.
His future work would result in some of the
fastest aircraft of their day, including the
Lockheed F-104 Starfighter and the aircraft
that still holds the world speed record for jet
aircraft in 2012, SR-71 Blackbird.
P-38 / RP-38 Lockheed
ModeL 222-62-08
As has already been mentioned, the USAAC
had ordered an initial production batch of 66 P-
38s on September 20, 1939, while the YP-38s
were still under construction. These were
powered by the same 1150hp Allison V-27/29
engines but had a number of significant
changes. The P-38 dispensed with the smaller
calibre machine guns and was equipped with a
full compliment of four 0.5in (12.7mm) M2
Browning machine guns but retained the
troublesome 37mm cannon. The armament
was not fitted to all of the P-38s, but those that
did have it were extensively flown in gunnery
trials where the concentrated nose mounted
firepower was found to be devastating.
Additional military equipment was installed
including thick armoured glass for the centre
windscreen and steel plates to protect the pilot.
The first P-38 built, 40-744, had its
turbosuperchargers removed and a second
cockpit built into the left-hand boom, level
with the wing trailing edge. The idea was to
test the effect on aircrew of being in a cockpit
not on the centre-line of the aircraft, as it was
feared the offset g-forces could be higher or
the off centreline position would have some
disorientating effects on the pilot. This
research was to be of use in the development
of aircraft like the F-82 Twin Mustang.
The 29 examples built were delivered in a
drab olive over matt grey underside
camouflage scheme and were exclusively used
for service trails, mostly with the 1st Pursuit
Group at Selfridge Field, Michigan, given that
unit’s prior experience with the YP-38. The P-
38s were then relegated to the training role
and to reflect their non-combat status the
prefix R was added from 1942 onwards. It is
worth noting that the first batch of 13 YP-38s
had taken 10 months to produce, whereas the
36 P-38s were all delivered between June and
August 1941. The production line was getting
up to speed, just in time for America’s entry
into the Second World War.
XP-38A Lockheed
ModeL 622-62-10
As the war progressed it was becoming
increasingly obvious that air combat was
being conducted at ever greater altitudes.
Pilot fatigue and the physical effects of high
altitude operations were becoming a real
concern, so Lockheed project engineer Carl
Haddon was given the task of exploring the
problems of fighter pressurisation.
The 19th P-38 from the initial production
order, 40-762, was built to serve as a
pressurised cockpit test bed. In this form
the aircraft was given the designation XP-
26 aviationclassics.co.uk
A second view of 40-744 showing the larger and taller second
cockpit. Unlike later aircraft like the F-82, the second cockpit had no
flying controls and was just to accommodate an observer, usually a
flight surgeon. USAF
The early P-38 compressibility chart from the
pilot training manual. USAF
An early P-38 with the fuselage fillet between the fuselage and wing that cured the buffeting on the tail
plane.This aircraft was the first P-38 and later converted to a two cockpit experimental aircraft. USAF
38A and, beginning in May 1942, was
extensively test flown by Lockheed test pilot
Joe Towle. Armament was never fitted to
save weight on this unique P-38. The flight
tests were successful but the project was not
continued with.
At this time, the aircraft had been given a
name, but fortunately it was not one to last
long. The P-38 had been officially called the
Atalanta after a star and a fierce Greek
goddess, in keeping with the Lockheed
tradition of naming aircraft after celestial
bodies like Vega, Orion and Sirius. It would
be a foreign order that would give the P-38
the name we recognise today, but more of
that later. The remaining 36 aircraft of this
initial production batch were built with
additional military equipment to bring them
up to operational standards. Known as the P-
38D (Lockheed proposed the B and C models
but these were never built), these aircraft will
be described later in this magazine. ■
Words: Tim Callaway and Julian Humphries
The first P-38, 40-744 was modified with a second cockpit in the left
boom to test the reaction of aircrew to being in an off-centred
cockpit. USAF

26.
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Lockheed P-38 Lightning 27

27.
P-38d / RP-38d LockhEEd
ModEL 222-62-08
In late 1939, Lockheed proposed two new
versions of the P-38, allocating the
designations B and C. Since neither
materialised, the next version was the P-38D.
This incorporated full military equipment,
including additional armour plating, an
improved low pressure oxygen system and
self sealing fuel tanks with a maximum
capacity of 300 gallons (1136 litres).
Powered by Allison V-1710-27/29 engines,
producing 1050hp driving Hamilton Standard
propellers, this version could achieve 390mph
(628kph) at 25,000ft (7620m). The armament
was intended to comprise of a single 37mm
Oldsmobile cannon with a 15 round magazine
and four 0.5in (12.7mm) machine guns. A
shortage in the supply of the Oldsmobile
cannon meant these were never installed in
the aircraft. This shortage was also the reason
the Hispano Suiza 20mm cannon was adopted
for all the other P-38 models.
Since the self sealing tanks had reduced
the fuel capacity from 410 to 300 gallons
(1552 to 1136 lt) the range on the combat
ready P-38s was limited, which stimulated
Kelly Johnson to begin development of the
long range drop tanks for the fighter.
These would be introduced on the next
model of the aircraft which would be fitted
with underwing pylons to carry them. As a
result of the aerodynamic trials conducted on
the development models of the P-38, while
the P-38Ds were in production a new fillet
was installed between the wing leading edge
and the centre fuselage on the later aircraft.
This fillet reduced buffeting on the tail
caused by form turbulence from the wing
fuselage joint, and was also installed on the
export Lightning Mk 1s intended for the
Royal Air Force.
Thirty-six examples of the P-38D were
built and delivered between August and
October 1941, but following trials the USAAF
decided it was insufficiently ready as a
combat aircraft. A number were used as trial
and development aircraft, some being issued
to the 1st Pursuit Group for use in exercises
during early 1941, then later to the 14th
Pursuit Group at Hamilton Field in California
in July 1941. The remaining examples were
issued as restricted to non-combat operations
RP-38D trainers, giving valuable service
preparing pilots for the more potent versions
of the Lightning that were about to follow.
P-38E ModEL 222-62-089
Although the E model represented the first
true production version of the P-38 and
looked exactly like the P-38D, there were in
fact over 2000 design changes crammed into
the aircraft – turning it into the first combat
ready variant of the Lightning.
The first major change was a redesign of the
nose wheel leg, with the drag strut moved to
the back of the leg enabling the entire
assembly to be shortened. This had a number
of knock-on effects, not least of which was the
fact that the nosewheel bay in the centre
fuselage was now smaller, which allowed the
weapons and ammunition bay to be redesigned.
The P-38E was armed with the definitive
20mm Hispano M1 cannon with 150 rounds
and four 0.5in heavy machine guns, but these
were now staggered in the enlarged bay to
ease the ammunition feeds. The larger bay
also allowed more ammunition to be carried,
almost twice as much as the earlier P-38D.
The large cooling air intakes in front of the
superchargers were removed and replaced
with smaller twin cooling ducts, again
reducing drag. Two highly polished surfaces
were introduced on the inside of the engine
cowlings, which acted as mirrors allowing
Fine tuning
With the P-38 production line beginning to roll the aircraft out in numbers for the US Army Air
Force, the team at Lockheed were continually looking to improve the design to achieve the greatest
possible performance. These early models found employment as evaluation and development
aircraft and trainers before the E and F models became the first P-38s to enter front line service.
The P-38D, E and F
&
first production
first production
&
Clearly visible in this view of a P-38D are the large air intakes
behind the engine but in front of the turbosuperchargers.
These intakes were discontinued after this version. USAF

28.
the pilot to visually verify the undercarriage
was properly down. Other refinements
included Curtis Electric propellers and
numerous detail improvements to the
electrical and hydraulic systems, as well
as a half yoke on the control column
replacing the earlier full wheel. Additionally,
a retractable landing light was fitted under
the left wing. The P-38E shared the same
engines as the D version and at 11,880lb
(5389kg) was only 100lb (46kg) heavier,
correspondingly its performance was
virtually identical to the D model.
P-38Es of the 54th Fighter Squadron of
343rd Fighter Group were the first of the
breed to enter squadron service and were
rushed to the strategically important Aleutian
Islands in June 1942. On August 4, 1942,
Lieutenants Kenneth Ambrose and Stanley
Long of the 54th scored the first ever combat
victories of the P-38 when they shot down a
pair of Japanese Kawanishi H6K four-engined
flying boats on a reconnaissance mission
near the Aleutians.
One of the major design problems these
Aleutian operations highlighted was the
totally inadequate cockpit heating. In single-
engined fighters it was a relatively simple
matter of feeding heat directly from the
engine or radiator system. The Lightning’s
cockpit was far removed from the engines,
and even further from the radiators which
were mounted aft of the wing in the booms. A
number of solutions were tried, but none
were really successful until the later models.
There were 210 P-38Es built between
October 1941 and February 1942. A number
were retained by the manufacturer for further
development studies and many of the
remainder were later re-designated as RP-
38Es, indicating their restricted use as training
machines. Lockheed used this version
extensively to experiment with various engine
and external fuel tank arrangements, greatly
increasing the combat capabilities of later
versions. A single example, serial number 41-
1986, was modified to explore the viability of
ferrying P-38s mounted on floats. The
wheeled undercarriage was retained and
upwardly swept tail booms were fitted to lift
the horizontal tail out of the spray. Although
the aircraft was successfully flown as a
landplane its necessity did not materialise and
the floats were never fitted. ➤
Lockheed P-38 Lightning 29
A P-38D fitted with dummy guns in the nose is seen here bearing the markings of the red force
in the Carolina Manoeuvres, large scale military exercises, in November 1941. USAF
The half wheel yoke replaced the earlier “car
steering wheel” like control of the P-38 from
the P-38E onwards. Luigino Caliaro
Four P-38Es in flight, note the shiny patch on
the side of the engine cowling.These acted
as mirrors to allow the pilot to check the
condition of the undercarriage. USAF
A P-38D with dummy nose guns in the markings of the blue force with a white cross on its
nose for the Carolina Manoeuvres of 1941. USAF
An unusual view of a P-38E, showing the advantages of the nose mounted armament to good
effect. Lockheed.

29.
The P-38E was also the design basis for the
F-4 photo reconnaissance version of the
Lightning, of which 99 were built on the
production line, not converted from fighters as
with some later versions. It was these photo-
reconnaissance aircraft that were the first
Lightnings to see active service when a
number were allocated to the 8th
Photographic
Reconnaissance Squadron based in Australia
on April 4, 1942. Three of their F-4s were used
by the Royal Australian Air Force beginning in
September of that year, but only as a stop gap
until the RAAF’s own PR aircraft arrived.
P-38F F-1/F-5/F-13/F-15 Model
222-60-09/12/13/15/19
Built in five distinct batches, the 527 F
models included 150 examples originally
allocated to the cancelled British order.
The first batch of 126 P-38Fs were
broadly similar to the earlier E model
but with 1325hp V-1710-49/53 engines.
The second batch introduced inboard
external stores pylons stressed for
1000lb (454kg) bombs and plumbed for
75 gallon (284 litre) or 165 gallon (625 litre)
fuel tanks.
The 121 aircraft in the F-15 batch were also
fitted with Fowler flaps that could be extended
eight degrees below the trailing edge of the
wing to reduce the fighter’s turning circle, an
improvement fitted to all P-38s from this point
on and known as combat flaps. This version
had an empty weight of 12,264lb (5563kg) and
gross weight of 15,900lb (7210kg) its
maximum speed of 395mph (636kph) was
achieved at 25,000ft (7620m).
The inboard wing pylons made the P-38F
a fully capable fighter bomber, with a payload
approaching that of some light bombers. The
external fuel tanks proved problematical in
certain circumstances and handling them
was an art. Full tanks meant certain
manoeuvres had to be prohibited due to the
potential for overstressing the airframe.
Full tanks could be dropped at any speed,
but empty tanks could only be dropped at
less than 160mph (257kph). Since there were
no fuel gauges on the tanks, this called for
fine judgement on the part of the pilot as to
when to release them. Having to slow down
at the beginning of combat or when being
bounced by enemy fighters was not an ideal
situation for a pilot to find himself in.
30 aviationclassics.co.uk
A P-38E of the 54th Fighter Squadron at Longview
Airfield on Adak Island in the Aleutian group.The
343rd Fighter Group was based on the islands to
discourage further landings by the Japanese. USAF
The immaculately restored P-38F-1LO, 41-7630 “Glacier Girl” in flight, showing many of the
features that mark this version of the Lightning, including the under nose radio antenna, which
moved the pitot head to under the port wing. Luigino Caliaro
Conditions on the Aleutian islands were less
than ideal with aircraft being worked on in
the open, often meaning sleet and blinding
snow or at least heavy rain. Here,
groundcrew refuel and rearm a P-38E of 54th
Fighter Squadron amid a sea of mud. USAF

30.
The F model was the first P-38 to be sent to
Britain for service with the 8th Air Force. The
external tanks made it possible to fly these
aircraft directly to the UK via Iceland. P-38Fs
were also used in North Africa after Operation
Torch, the Allied landings in Morocco and
Algeria. As well as the five batches of P-38Fs,
an additional 20 airframes were produced as
F-4A photo reconnaissance aircraft, which
could carry both vertical and oblique cameras,
unlike the earlier P-38E based F-4s, which
were only fitted with vertical cameras.
These first three production versions of
the P-38 were to provide a huge amount of
data and valuable lessons that would be
incorporated into the later models of the
aircraft, but they also began to build the
reputation of the Lightning as a long range
fighter bomber of tremendous capability.
The Lightning’s first missions with the 8th
Air Force from England in August were to be
short lived, as the first two fighter groups
were sent to North Africa in November 1942,
but the P-38 was to become the US fighter
type of choice in both the Mediterranean and
European theatres by 1943. Starting with
operations from the Aleutians, the long range
of the P-38 was also to make it a tremendous
success in the Pacific theatre. ■ Words:
Julian Humphries and Tim Callaway
Lockheed P-38 Lightning 31
One of the immediately obvious differences between the P-38D and
P-38E was the replacement of the large cooling intakes between the
engines and superchargers for a pair of much smaller ducts. USAF
A single P-38E, 41-1986, was modified with
upswept rear booms and tailplane.This
was in an attempt to produce a floatplane
fighter from the P-38, the raising of the rear
fuselages and tailplane would stop them
from striking the water when the aircraft
was fitted with floats. USAF
A P-38F-5 is examined for signs of combat damage after the pilot rammed a Mitsubishi A6M
Zero. Damage to the wing tip and aileron can be clearly seen.This aircraft is from the 39th
Fighter Squadron based at Port Moresby and the pilot was the redoubtable Lieutenant Ken
Sparks. Note the “sharkmouth” markings common to 39th FS aircraft. USAF
This P-38E, 41-2048, known as the Swordfish, was modified to provide a flying test bed and
laboratory for Lockheed. The aircraft first flew on June 2, 1943.A second cockpit was added
for an engineer or observer and the fuselage was greatly extended to provide better
streamlining. Laminar flow wing sections were added outboard of the engines to study
boundary layers and other aerodynamic phenomenon. USAF
The Officer Commanding the 50th Fighter
Squadron starts up his P-38F at Reykjavik
in Iceland, ready for the last leg of the trip
to the UK.The date is March 16, 1943 and
a fierce storm had just coated the aircraft
sides with ice. USAF
The inboard wing pylons
madeThe p-38F a Fully
capable FighTer bomber,
wiTh a payload
approachingThaT oF
some lighT bombers

31.
A
s already mentioned, the very
first P-38s to be used in action
were the F-4 photographic
reconnaissance versions issued
to the 8th Photographic
Reconnaissance Squadron (PRS). The 8th
PRS had been formed as part of the 5th Air
Force at March Field in California on
February 1, 1942. A core of personnel were
joined by officers and men from the 4th
Mapping Squadron and the 102nd
Observation Squadron to form three flights.
These flights were deployed to Australia
between March and July of 1942 by various
routes, being reunited at Stock Route Airfield
near Townsville on July 27, 1942. A flight had
arrived first, equipped with four F-4s, in late
April 1942, and had been attached to the 19th
Bomb Group (BG). The 8th PRS used its F-
4s, but also borrowed B-24s from the 19th
BG for very long range missions. On one of
these, the commander of the 8th PRS, First
Lieutenant Karl L ‘Pop’ Polifka, photographed
the Japanese fleet that was building up at
Rabaul in April. Stock Route Airfield was little
more than a dirt strip based on a road that
ran near Townsville, but the F-4s acquitted
themselves well, flying missions around
Papua New Guinea, the Coral Sea and the
Solomon Islands, as well as the neighbouring
island chains. In September the squadron
began to move to Schwimmer Drome near
Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea, the
move being completed in October.
The crew moved again to Durand Field, or
17 Mile Drome as it was also known, in
January 1944, having become part of the 6th
Photo Reconnaissance Group in late 1943.
Known as the ‘Eight Ballers’ after the use of a
pool ball on its unit badge, the 8th PRS was to
play a part in every major campaign in the
southern Pacific up to the end of the war.
Aside from using the F-4s on a wide variety of
reconnaissance missions, the 8th PRS also
loaned several aircraft to 75 Squadron of the
Royal Australian Air Force in late 1943,
making it the second foreign air force to
operate the Lightning after the Free French
units in North Africa.
The first fighter P-38s were initially
deployed closer to home. The Japanese attack
on Pearl Harbour caused the P-38s of the 1st
Pursuit Group, as it was called then, to be sent
to March Field in California to guard against
the possibility of an attack on the West Coast.
The three squadrons of the group were
equipped with a mixed force of fighters at the
time, the 94th and 27th Pursuit Squadrons
having P-38s, the 71st still flying the older
Republic P-43 Lancer. These early aircraft
were slowly replaced until all three squadrons
were flying the P-38F by early 1942. The 1st
Fighter Group (FG), as it was renamed, was
earmarked to be the first P-38 unit to deploy to
Europe in June 1942, as the war in Europe was
seen as a priority after the feared Japanese
attack failed to materialise.
The deployment of forces to the United
Kingdom was given the codename of
Operation Bolero, and was to continue from
April 1942 to July 1943, when plans for the
invasion of North Africa, Operation Torch,
superseded the original plan for the invasion
32 aviationclassics.co.uk
With the development of the P-38E as the first combat-ready
version of the fighter to roll off the production lines, the first
batches began to reach front line units. Most of these initial
deployments were in response to the attack on Pearl Harbour on
December 7, 1941, as all available combat aircraft were rushed
to defensive positions to guard against possible Japanese attack
on the US mainland. As more P-38s became available, units were
deployed further afield.
Into service
One of the 1st FG P-38Fs on arrival in the
UK, one of the first batch of Lightnings to
be deployed abroad. Editor’s Collection
– Australia, the
Aleutians and Europe

32.
of Europe. The first fighter deployment
consisted of flights of 1st FG P-38s, each led
by a B-17 Flying Fortress from the 97th BG.
Altogether 86 P-38Fs were to be deployed,
flying from Presque Isle in Maine to
Labrador in Greenland then on to Reykjavik
in Iceland before making the final oceanic leg
to Prestwick in Scotland. From here they
went on to their operational bases in
Southern England. The first flights began on
June 27, 1942, and were remarkably
successful despite the distance and the harsh
weather conditions over the North Atlantic.
Only one flight was lost, on July 15, 1942,
when bad weather forced six Lightnings of
the 94th Fighter Squadron (FS) and their two
B-17 escorts to force land on a glacier in
Greenland. The crews were all saved, but the
aircraft were abandoned on the ice. Many
years later, one of these was to be
successfully recovered, and the story of this
remarkable salvage and restoration is told
later in this magazine.
While the transition of the 1st FG was
going on, the 27th FS was detached to
supplement the fighter defences of Iceland
during July and August. The 33rd FS was
already operating in Iceland, flying Curtiss P-
40C Warhawks and Bell P-39 Airacobras, so
the 27th brought greater range to the fighter
defences of the strategically important island.
On August 14, 1942, aircraft of the 33rd FS
intercepted a Luftwaffe Focke Wulf Fw 200
Condor four engined long range
reconnaissance bomber off the coast of
Iceland patrolling over the Atlantic. Second
Lieutenant Joseph Shaffer of the 33rd had set
one engine on fire in his attack, when the
combat was noticed from above by Second
Lieutenant Elza E Shahan on patrol in his P-
38F. He made a diving attack on the Fw 200,
shooting it down into the sea, and was
credited with half the victory with Shaffer.
Significantly, this was the first Luftwaffe
aircraft shot down by a P-38, but it was also
the first Luftwaffe aircraft downed by the
USAAF in the Second World War. ➤
Lockheed P-38 Lightning 33
Glacier Girl, one of the 94th FS Lightnings
that force-landed in Iceland, now fully
recovered and restored. Luigino Caliaro
The deploymenT of forces
ToThe UniTed Kingdom was
givenThe codename of
operaTion Bolero,and was
To conTinUe from april
1942To JUly 1943
1st FG P-38F 17648 gets airborne from Prestwick after its transatlantic flight. Editor’s Collection