Lockheed P-38G Lightning

The Lockheed P-38 Lightning was designed and produced by the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation in response to the 1937 X-608 Specification issued by U.S. Army Air Corps (USAAC) which was preceded in 1936 by a USAAC Request for Proposals for a new fighter / interceptor aircraft. The Lockheed design team was lead by soon-to-be famous Clarence L. "Kelly" Johnson - by 1943 they were known as Lockheed's "Skunk Works".

To meet proposal requirements like top speed of at least 360 mph at 20,000 feet and being able to climb that high in 6 minutes it was decided to use two Allison inline V-1710 V12 liquid-cooled engines combined with a General Electric two-stage, exhaust-driven turbo-superchargers. There were many different designs considered to accommodate two engines and finally it was decided on a twin-boom design with each boom extending aft of the engine, the pilot sitting in the enclosed cockpit in a central nacelle. P-38 had introduced many innovations like flush-riveted aluminium skin, metal control surfaces or tricycle landing gear.

XP-38 prototype was completed in December 1938 and took to the skies for the first time on 27 January 1939. Then in April that year a contract was issued for thirteen YP-38 service test aircrafts. After successful evaluation Lockheed started to manufacture next models. First in line was P-38 with no suffix letter designation, then P-38D, P-38E (first one to shoot down an enemy aircraft), next was P-38F which leads us to P-38G which is the subject of this build. There were quite a few more versions further ahead with P-38M being the final one.

The definitive (and now famous) armament configuration was settled and it featured four .50 in (12.7 mm) machine guns with 500 rpg, and a 20 mm (.79 in) Hispano autocannon with 150 rounds.