| Model Number: | AP38PL |
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The Lockheed P-38 Lightning is a World War II fighter plane born out of a 1937 United States Army Air Corps requirement for a high-speed, high-altitude interceptor aircraft. The P-38 was the first fighter to utilize tricycle undercarriage and featured distinctive twin booms with forward-mounted engines and a single nacelle. Its maiden flight was on January 27, 1939. In March 1940, the French and the British ordered a total of 667 P-38s. After the fall of France in June 1940, the British took over the entire order and re-christened the plane Lightning I, from which the name of the aircraft came. A total of over 10,000 Lightnings have been manufactured, and it was one of the few US combat aircraft that had been in production for the entire duration of the American participation in World War II. It had a major influence on the design of other aircraft such as the L-049 Constellation. The P-38 has taken on several different roles including level bombing, dive bombing, photo reconnaissance, ground strafing and long-range escort fighting. Its most extensive and successful missions were in the Pacific Theater of Operations and the China-Burma-India Theater of Operations, where it was flown by the American pilots with the highest number of aerial victories to date. In the former, the P-38 was credited with destroying more Japanese aircraft than any other USAAF fighter. The design achieved maximum performance by pairing the best available engine on one air frame. It was the most recognizable fighter of the era, and was in continuous production throughout the War.
Product Description
This collectable model P-38J Lightning represents one of the most innovative fighters of World War II, the twin-boom Lockheed P-38J Lightning. Designed by famed aeronautical engineer Kelly Johnson, the P-38J "Putt Putt Maru" was the P-38J flown by Col. Charles McDonald, fighter ace and commander of the 475th Fighter Squadron. This 1/32-scale model P-38J Lightning makes a great pilot gift or a present for any veteran, aviation enthusiast or history buff. The P-38 was developed in response to a 1937 request from the Army Air Corps for an twin0engine interceptor that could climb to 20,000 feet in six minutes and have a top speed of 360 mph. The proposal also called for the aircraft to use turbosupercharged Allison V-1710 engines, and to have tricycle landing gear. Lockeheed's proposal, under the direction of Clarence "Kelly" Johnson - who would design the P-80 Shooting Star, the F-104 Starfighter and the U-2 spyplane- and Hall Hibberd, was an unusual aircraft, with long booms housing each engine and the pilot and guns located in a central nacelle. Counter-rotating propellers eliminated torque problems and the cluster of guns allowed for accurate long-range shooting. The XP-38 first flew on Jan. 27, 1939, and on Feb. 11 of that year, set a transcontinental speed record by flying from California to New York in 7 hours, 2 minutes. Following the record flight, the Army ordered 13 YP-38 prototypes. With the P-38 capable of high speeds, development was slowed by problems of compressibility and flutter, since little was known at the time about flight with near-transonic airflow over parts of airframes. Top speed of the P-38 was 448 mph for the P-38L model. Armement included four .50-caliber machine guns, a 20mm cannon and provisions for underwing rockets or bombs. Service deliveries of the P-38 began in 1941. The P-38 saw service in Europe, where it gained the nickname "f
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