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For educational purposes
The P-38, better known as the Lockheed Lightning, was one of the premier fighter planes of the Second World War.
Serving in a variety of roles - including bomber escort, ground-attacker, reconnaissance plane, and dogfighter, the P-38 was used extensively in both Allied fronts (European and Pacific).
The P-38, better known as the Lockheed Lightning, was one of the premier fighter planes of the Second World War.
Serving in a variety of roles - including bomber escort, ground-attacker, reconnaissance plane, and dogfighter, the P-38 was used extensively in both Allied fronts (European and Pacific).
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01:00Its speed and the reliability of its twin engines, this versatile, advanced design proved one of America's most durable and valuable investments.
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02:21tunnel testing. During the course of this exercise, Lockheed's executives met a
02:28young engineer by the name of Kelly Johnson. Johnson's foresight on aircraft
02:33design so impressed Lockheed that he was promptly offered a position and was
02:37placed on the company's payroll. This was to be the beginning of a brilliant
02:41association, the benefits of which would see Lockheed rise to become one of the
02:45most successful aviation companies in the world.
02:51For more information visit www.fema.gov.au
03:51In 1933, the new project meant taking an awful gamble in very uncertain times.
04:14Perhaps Lockheed's biggest asset against failure lay within the human resource of its skilled staff.
04:21Although the company was becoming highly automated, this was still the period where technicians considered themselves craftsmen,
04:28and Lockheed's production teams were very much from the old school, with an exacting pride in their work.
04:34They also knew that the company's future hinged upon the outcome of this new multi-purpose twin-engined aircraft.
05:10If the model was to be a success, not only a commercial airliner was required, but also various types of military aircraft.
05:29From this basic model, several variants, including the famous Hudson bomber, went into mass production.
05:35To some extent, world politics favoured the company.
05:48The rise of the Axis powers, particularly Germany's rearmament, demonstrated a developing threat to world peace
05:54and emphasised the need for expansion of American air power.
05:58Soon, the American Defence Department identified the need for a high-speed anti-bomber aircraft.
06:28But they set the specifications so high that few in the industry thought they could be attained.
06:35Lockheed gave the project to Kelly Johnson, who believed that the required maximum speed of 360 miles per hour could actually be achieved,
06:43but only by using an aircraft with the power of two engines.
06:46In fact, Johnson's design was capable of over 400 miles per hour.
06:53The twin-engined formula would ordinarily result in an aircraft which had very little manoeuvrability.
06:59But, to counter this, Johnson developed a brilliant twin-boom concept,
07:03which won a Defence Department contract in June 1937 to produce just one aircraft, the Model 22,
07:10at a fixed contract price of $163,000.
07:16Again, Lockheed was in the business of taking risks.
07:19The prototype was to actually cost five times that amount.
07:23Yet, for the company, the extra expense was, ultimately, to be one of the best investments they had ever made.
07:29The Model 22 was then given the official fighter designation, P-38.
07:41With Europe on the verge of war, production of the new aircraft was still very secret.
07:46By January 1939, the new aircraft was ready for its first flight,
07:54after minor modifications were at first required on the braking system.
07:57On the 27th, the first XP-38, the forerunner of almost 10,000 fighters,
08:03took to the air for the first time.
08:16The obtaining of government funds for armaments was still politically sensitive,
08:29and the Army Air Force now considered the need for public support for the P-38.
08:34To do this, it lifted the covers off the project
08:37by announcing an attempt to break the Transamerica airspeed record.
08:41Thus, on February 11th, 1939, the only P-38 then built,
08:48which had only six hours' flying time on the clock,
08:51began its record-breaking flight,
08:53with Lieutenant Ben Kelsey at the controls
08:55and the American taxpayer looking on.
09:00To cover the distance, it was necessary for Kelsey to refuel
09:04at Amarillo and at Wright Field
09:06before his final destination at Mitchell Field.
09:09These fuel stops would have added an extra hour
09:12to the aircraft's overall flying time,
09:14which, nevertheless, still achieved the 2,490 miles required
09:19in just 7 hours and 43 minutes,
09:22only marginally longer than Howard Hughes' earlier flight
09:25in a specially designed aircraft
09:27which carried enough fuel for the entire trip.
09:30Unfortunately, at Kelsey's last approach to Mitchell Field,
09:34the aircraft hit a line of trees, crashed and was destroyed.
09:39Nevertheless, the speed of the plane was so impressive
09:46that the Defence Department instantly gave Lockheed a contract
09:49for 13 Y P-38s.
09:52The aircraft were to have a single 37mm cannon
09:55plus four machine guns,
09:57230mm and 250mm.
10:01These specifications made it one of the most heavily armed fighters
10:04of its era and yet, within months, more firepower was added
10:08while interior design changes almost doubled
10:12the ammunition load it could carry.
10:15Now, at last, Lockheed was in the fighter business
10:18and it started to restructure its Burbank plant
10:21for mass production,
10:23resulting in some 30,000 minor design changes.
10:27Other modification was required to reduce buffeting
10:30and a phenomena called compressibility
10:32which was causing the aircraft to vibrate
10:34in certain manoeuvres,
10:36especially during diving.
10:39The real solution to compressibility
10:41was not to be found for several years,
10:43yet these minor problems were not allowed
10:45to hinder the progress
10:46of what was deemed to be the best interceptor
10:49in the world.
10:50In September 1939, Germany invaded Poland
10:55and engulfed Europe in the Second World War.
10:58On the 16th of the month,
11:00the Army Air Force ordered an additional 66 aircraft
11:03on the same day as the first of the Y P's
11:06made its maiden flight.
11:20Right from the very beginning,
11:42armour to protect the pilot had been a major concern.
11:45Throughout its history,
11:46the P-38 was constantly tested
11:48to upgrade its resilience to enemy attack.
11:53Pilots' lives were given top design priority.
11:57Here, the plexiglass canopies and armour plate
11:59which surrounded the pilot
12:00are subjected to test by gunfire.
12:13In June 1940,
12:15the British ordered 600 of the impressive P-38s
12:18which they named the Lightning.
12:20However, due to the secrecy of the all-important superchargers,
12:24they were only allowed a less powerful engine.
12:27They also ordered planes with propellers
12:29that rotated in the same direction.
12:31This hybrid proved underpowered and hard to handle
12:34and the British took only three
12:35before calling them the castrated Lightnings
12:37and cancelling the order.
12:39140 more of the order had been made
12:41and they were modified for use as trainers.
12:44The name Lightning, however,
12:46stayed with the plane throughout its career.
12:48This Lightning is the American model.
12:50If you look carefully,
12:51you can see the counter-rotation of the propellers
12:53which provide the twin engines with stability.
12:55Here, behind the engine,
13:02is the all-important General Electric supercharger
13:04which took average engines
13:06and turned them into super power plants.
13:08By the end of 1940,
13:19Lightnings were rolling off the production line.
13:22These were incredibly powerful aircraft
13:24with a high rate of climb,
13:26extremely long range
13:27and the added safety of two engines.
13:29They soon became popular with pilots.
13:32Unfortunately, the problem of compressibility
13:34still hindered its performance at high speed.
13:38They did not have the landing
14:03to achieve the impact of the speed.
16:28Neglect of this simple procedure would disrupt the airflow at take-off
16:31and the subsequent turbulence would cause the aircraft to buffet badly.
16:47New crew were often concerned about the dangers of bailing out of the twin-boomed fighter,
16:52believing that a rear elevator slab would act as a knife
16:55which could strike them as they vacated the aircraft.
16:58This was not the case, as this training film goes to lengths to demonstrate.
17:03Bailouts can be made either, one, by turning the plane on its back and dropping out,
17:11or two, by getting out the left window and sliding down the wing.
17:16Now don't stand on the wing to jump.
17:20Quality of the training was soon to be tested.
17:22Pearl Harbour was attacked, and America joined the war.
17:29Peacetime pilots became combat pilots.
17:32Dragon результат officers movements.
17:33Don't leave their heads from the boat, when they were spotted in the beam.
17:35Also rememberoon, are not tropes inいます,
17:40who have men could dance to their arms.
17:43I think they were eficient in their arms.
17:45We have gained spiritually phosph 자주Şub NEAR.
17:46The исследovally with an aircraftassa be more at ease than electric возможность through a vertical testosterone�kä.
17:47They are very obsessed with the sailor, which is very corrosive.
17:48There are two minions that go to the boat.
17:49The eye is a very strong- Madam-ysical-day forecast in the forecast-house.
17:50Because of its long range, the P-38 could be flown in stages across the Atlantic to
18:13Britain. A squadron was stationed in Iceland to protect the staging airfield there and to patrol
18:22the sea routes to intercept the German long-range reconnaissance aircraft, which were attacking
18:27shipping and guiding the U-boats. Without radar, these attempts were usually futile. But on August
18:34the 15th, 1942, a patrolling P-38 sighted a Focke-Wulf Condor and the pilot, Lieutenant
18:41Shanahan, dispatched the German plane in seconds, giving the Army Air Force its first victory
18:46against the Luftwaffe.
18:55Focke-Wulf also produced the stub-nosed FW-190, which was arguably the best dogfighter in the
19:02entire Second World War in Europe. Together with the Messerschmitt 109s, they were having
19:07a devastating effect on the early 8th Air Force day bombardment campaigns against Germany.
19:14Without fighter protection, early B-17s were shot down in horrifying numbers, and at one
19:19stage the entire strategic bombing campaign was threatened.
19:49It was obvious that if long-range day bombing was to continue, then long-range escorts would
19:59have to be found. The Lightning was the obvious choice, and American fighter crews were anxious
20:06to demonstrate the 38's potential. But those in Britain were first sent on the more pressing
20:12North African campaign, and it would be some time before the bomber escort programme could
20:17be developed.
20:47Usually flying with P-47 Thunderbolts, Lightning pilots would be briefed about fighter protection
20:53and coordinated with the 8th Air Force heavy bombers. Now at last, Lightnings would take
20:58on the Luftwaffe plane for plane.
21:05the 3rd Air Force heavy bombers. The results of this early combat were ambiguous because, although
21:10the 38 at high speed had tremendous diving capacity, it was not as agile as the FW-1
21:1690s when it came to high altitude flying, it was not as agile as the FW-190s when it came to high-altitude flying. Rather, it was more successful at lower altitudes. It was not as agile as the FW-190s when it came to high altitude flying.
21:23The results of this early combat were ambiguous because, although the 38 at high speed had tremendous diving capacity, it was not as agile as the FW-190s when it came to high altitude flying.
21:41Rather, it was more successful at lower altitudes, especially where it could dive on the German fighters as they were rising to attack B-17 bomber groups.
21:48A high speed dive attack was good for only one approach, but with the heavy firepower of the Lightning, if the pilot was accurate, it was the best way to tangle with the German fighters.
22:02In the air over Europe, the Lightning earned the German nickname of the forked-tailed devil. The 8th Air Force fighter escort operations were largely successful and considerably fewer B-17s were lost to enemy fighters.
22:18It also became standard practice for American fighters returning from escort to strath enemy ground targets. In this role, the 38 became a legend. Its long range and extremely heavy armament made it a very deadly ground attack plane.
22:35The German airfields were always prime targets. Employing the same tactics that Germany had on England during the Battle of Britain, American fighters attacked German aircraft where they were most vulnerable, on the ground.
22:48The lessons gained in combat were used to improve later models of the 38. This is a late G model with an enlarged chin intake under each engine.
22:55Improvements were also made to the big ship's armament and the cannon machine gun combination was often varied.
23:02Also, the wing tank hardpoints were now being used to carry 500 pound bombs.
23:09For this aircraft, which was designed to be an anti-bomber interceptor, had also proved that it could be used in the ground attack role.
23:16For this aircraft, which was designed to be an anti-bomber interceptor, had also proved that it could be used in the ground attack role.
23:23Music
23:34Flying low off the counter
23:38Flying low off the Californian coast, this late Model 38 tests a new weapons combination.
24:08The problem of compressibility, diagnosed as the build-up of shock waves over the airframe
24:18at speed, was finally resolved.
24:22Special flaps fitted under the main spar were tested and were ultimately fitted to all late
24:26J models and the ubiquitous L model.
24:32It provided a nose-up movement when the plane was in a dive and kept the aircraft stable
24:37and manageable in all positions.
25:05By now, with these improvements, Lockheed's powerful lightning was a near perfect fighting
25:11plane.
25:12So, let's go.
25:13Let's go.
25:14Let's go.
25:15Let's go.
25:16Let's go.
25:17Let's go.
25:18Let's go.
25:19Let's go.
25:20Let's go.
25:21Let's go.
25:22Let's go.
25:52Let's go.
26:22Let's go.
26:23Let's go.
26:24Should an aircraft be scrapped for whatever reason, maintenance crews would remove whatever
26:42parts were reusable, with particular emphasis on the all-important supercharger.
26:58Even in decay, this 38 is of some value to the Allied war effort.
27:15Maintenance of the twin-engined aircraft was obviously more time-consuming than its single-engined
27:21counterparts.
27:22The ground crew's commitment was as much a key to the success of operations as any pilot.
27:57Let's go.
27:58Let's go.
27:59Let's go.
28:00Let's go.
28:01Let's go.
28:08Let's go.
28:09Let's go.
28:15This squadron is being prepared for a ground attack raid.
28:32The decision to carry either dropped tanks or bombs depended upon the mission.
28:37Obviously, long range is required.
28:38For ground attack missions, two 500-pound bombs would be
29:08more appropriate.
29:09In actual fact, P-38s could carry much heavier bomb loads, and the F model could even deliver
29:16two torpedoes.
29:17But it was the ubiquitous 500-pounder that saw the most use.
29:24There's a lot of steel-engined aircraft.
29:25The
29:54Straight after briefing, crews would leave to fly their missions, with a mixture of purpose
30:16and camaraderie in the air, each man hoping that the mission would never be more than
30:20a simple hauling job, but knowing that it could be otherwise.
30:50Throughout the Second World War, pilots would record their victories on the sides of the
30:59aircraft, as much for morale as an accolade.
31:03This practice dated from the First World War and was common to all the combatant nation's
31:08air forces.
31:37Some put all of their trust in their aircraft, others relied upon more sentimental objects
31:42for luck.
31:49All personal effects which could fall into the hands of the enemy had to be handed over before
31:54take off, and until they returned, the mission would be everything.
32:34Oh, my God.
33:04This remarkable footage, shot from a camera suspended beneath the wing of a P-38, gives some indication of what Army Air Force pilots would see in a routine interdiction mission.
33:34So, let's see.
34:04So, let's see.
34:34So, let's see.
35:36So, let's see.
35:38So, let's see.
35:41Here, the main Burbank factory has been subject to a brilliant piece of set dressing.
35:46The entire roof has been made to look like a paddock with rolling hills and even fake farmhouses built to deceive Japanese aerial attackers.
35:55So, let's see.
35:57So, let's see.
36:01So, let's see.
36:03So, let's see.
36:07The reconnaissance version of the P-38 had absolutely no armament whatsoever
36:37protection and, to some extent, on its paintwork.
36:41Early in the war, the Army was approached by a Mr. Samuel Cabot who offered a paint that would make aircraft invisible at altitude.
36:49At first, the idea was dismissed, but later, working with Sherwin-Williams Paint Company, a product was developed that did make the 38 almost invisible when looking from the ground.
36:59The haze blue camouflage was a remarkable success, and it's amazing that its use has rarely been told, but pilots who flew reconnaissance lightnings knew it only too well.
37:09Here, one of the haze blue reconnaissance planes flies beside the normal olive drab of the fighter.
37:39The use of the P-38 in photo reconnaissance, as here in the Pacific, was perhaps its most important role.
37:51Instantly a plane landed, the camera pack would be unloaded, and the film immediately processed, so that the tacticians could assess the situation.
37:59Many of the war's most important decisions rested entirely on these photographs.
38:09Due to the value of the information they obtained, the reconnaissance lightnings probably saved more lives and won more battles than any other piece of hardware in the war.
38:39An unusual coloured P-38 was Yippie, number 5000 off the production line.
38:57To celebrate the fact, it was painted a bright vermilion, and its personalised name was written on the nose and right across the undersurface of the wings.
39:07Despite the bright exterior, if you look carefully, you will see that the interior was still the conventional drab olive colour.
39:35When Lockheed made its first submission to the Defence Department, it never imagined that 5000 lightnings would be produced.
39:45However, before the war would end, the total figure was almost twice that number.
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40:53Another chapter in the story of this most versatile aircraft was the Pathfinder program.
40:58Here, in early tests, the armament is removed to provide a position for a second crew member, complete with instruments, who would act as a bomb aimer, guiding other aircraft to targets.
41:12This is only a developmental example, where the concept is first being explored, and sandbags are being installed to imitate the weight of the second crew member.
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41:33And provided excellent service as pathfinders.
41:35On the business end of the lightning was most often a combination of machine gun and cannon.
42:00It was always this aircraft's immense firepower and the fact that it did not have to shoot through propellers that gave it a hitting advantage over axis competitors.
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42:35Here, at a Pacific base, a crashed C-46 offers an improvised control room for the Twin Dragon Squadron.
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43:52Oh, my God.
44:22Oh, my God.
44:52Oh, my God.
45:22Oh, my God.
45:52Not all targets in the Pacific were static, and Japanese fighters could be prey and predator
46:14alike.
46:15Although the Zero was extremely nimble, other Japanese fighters were less capable.
46:21With ten confirmed Japanese kills and one probable, Captain H.H. Seeley, nicknamed Light Horse
46:26Harry, was a P-38 Ace.
46:44But the all-time lightning ace, with no less than 40 kills, was Richard Bong.
46:51Bong flew all of his combat missions in P-38s, and even the fabled agility of the Zero was
46:56no match for his almost uncanny ability to dispatch enemy aircraft.
47:00Bong, who was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honour
47:30success, returned to the USA in early January 1945.
47:34He went on extended leave and married his long-time fiancé, before reporting to Lockheed in early
47:40June for duty as a test pilot to fly the new jet-powered P-80.
47:45With very little experience on the aircraft, he was tragically killed in a P-80 which flamed
47:52out on take-off.
47:53The date was August 7, 1945, the same day that the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima.
47:58But the original is only one of the most similar things in P-40.
48:13So what we were doing is the next stretch of the treaties of the монстра.
48:24The last of the Lightnings, the P-38M, was in many ways the most interesting.
48:38A jet black, radar-equipped night fighter.
48:4175 were produced as modifications to P-38Ls.
48:45These aircraft prowled the night sky over the Pacific theater,
48:49looking for Japanese targets and protecting US airstrips.
48:51Coming late in the war, they did not see much active service,
48:55but when they did, they proved the concept's viability
48:58with an effectiveness that many enemy pilots came to regret.
49:10To accommodate the radar operator, the piggyback concept was pushed to the limit,
49:16and a blister canopy was added to allow a very cramped space above and behind the pilot,
49:20where the operator would huddle, peering into the tiny screen in front of him.
49:25¶¶
49:31¶¶
49:35¶¶
49:37The
50:05guns had special blast shields on the muzzles so that the flash would not interfere with
50:09the pilot's night vision and effectively blind him, and the radar was fitted under
50:14the nose in an external module.
50:35On
50:53the day Japan surrendered, there were over 2,000 more P-38s on order, but only those
50:59actually under construction at war's end were completed as the orders were cancelled.
51:05In total, 9,923 P-38s were produced, but even as production ceased, Lockheed's Burbank plant
51:13was already turning out the P-80, America's first production jet fighter, the plane Major
51:18Bong had been killed testing. Within a few short years, the superseded P-38 was being
51:24phased out of use, but to those who built, serviced and flew the Lightning, it will always be
51:30one of history's truly great planes.
51:37the
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