The Lockheed Corporation designed the P-38 in response to a February 1937 specification from the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). Circular Proposal X-608 was a set of … See more

Over 10,000 Lightnings were manufactured, becoming the only U.S. combat aircraft that remained in continuous production throughout the duration of American … See more

Yippee
The 5,000th Lightning built, a P-38J-20-LO, 44-23296, was painted bright vermilion red, and had the name YIPPEE painted on the underside of the wings in large white letters, as well as the signatures of … See more

The first unit to receive P-38s was the 1st Fighter Group. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the unit joined the 14th Pursuit Group in San Diego to provide West Coast defense. See more

• XP-38: United States Army Air Force designation for one prototype Lockheed Model 22 first flown in 1939
• YP-38: Redesigned preproduction batch with armament, 13 built
• P-38: First production variant with 0.5 in guns and a 37 mm … See more

Of the ten thousand aircraft built, there are 26 survivors of which ten are airworthy. See more

Richard Bong and Thomas McGuire
The American ace of aces and his closest competitor both flew Lightnings and tallied 40 and 38 victories, respectively. Majors Richard I. "Dick" Bong and Thomas B. "Tommy" McGuire of the USAAF competed for the top … See more