P-38J Lightning "Marge"

by Toys and Models

Product Features

• Handcarved Mahogany Wood Model Airplane
• Handcrafted and Handpainted
• Comes with base stand ready to display
• Comes with base stand ready for display

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 14.2 x 19.5 x 7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• Shipping Advisory: This item must be shipped separately from other items in your order. Additional shipping charges will not apply.
• ASIN: B000U7TUSG
• Item model number: AP38B
• Manufacturer recommended age: 12 years and up
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #622,943 in Toys & Games (See Top 100 in Toys & Games)

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

The Lockheed P-38 Lightning was a World War II American fighter aircraft. The P-38 was used most extensively and successfully 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 this date. America's top ace Richard Bong earned 40 victories (in a lightning he called Marge) and Thomas McGuire scored 38 (in Pudgy). The P-38 Lightning was designed in 1937 as a high-altitude interceptor. The P-38 was the only American fighter aircraft in active production throughout the duration of American involvement in the war, from Pearl Harbor to VJ Day. The P-38 introduced a new dimension to American fighters - a second engine. The multi-engine configuration reduced the Lightning loss rate to anti-aircraft gunfire during ground attack missions. As with any long-term production aircraft, the P-38 underwent many modifications. The fastest of the modifications was the P-38J with a top speed of 420 mph and the version produced in the greatest quantity was the "L," of which 3,735 were built by Lockheed and 113 by Vultee. The P-38M was a two-seat radar-equipped night fighter, a few of which had become operational before the war ended. The P-38 was the Army's fastest and most heavily armed fighter. The concentration of firepower in the Lightning's nose was so effective that a one-second burst could destroy an enemy plane. In the Pacific Theater, Lightning pilots downed more Japanese aircraft than pilots flying any other allied plane. By the end of production in 1945, 9,923 P-38s had been built. Only 27 of the aircraft exist today.

Product Description

The Lockheed P-38 Lightning was a World War II American fighter aircraft built by Lockheed. Developed to a United States Army Air Corps requirement, the P-38 had distinctive twin booms and a single, central nacelle containing the cockpit and armament. Named "fork-tailed devil" by the Luftwaffe and "two planes, one pilot" by the Japanese, this unique aircraft was used in a number of different roles including dive bombing, level bombing, ground strafing, photo reconnaissance missions, and extensively as a long-range escort fighter when equipped with drop tanks under its wings. The definitive P-38J was introduced in August 1943. The turbocharger intercooler system on previous variants had been housed in the leading edges of the wings and had proven vulnerable to combat damage and could explode if the wrong series of controls were mistakenly activated. In the P-38J model, the streamlined engine nacelles of previous Lightnings were changed to fit the intercooler radiator between the oil coolers, forming a "chin" that visually distinguished the J model from its predecessors. While the P-38J used the same V-1710-89/91 engines as the H model, the new core-type intercooler more efficiently lowered intake manifold temperatures and permitted a substantial increase in rated power. The leading edge of the outer wing was fitted with 55 gal (208 l) fuel tanks, filling the space formerly occupied by intercooler tunnels.