The German expression is how the P-38 received its nick name of "Fork Tailed Devil"! In 1935, the USAAC asked for plans for a high altitude fighter-interceptor, which could fly at 360MPH! Several companies summited plans, Boeing, Consolidated, Curtis, Douglas and Vultee, and Lockheed.
Lockheed won the design contract with engineers Hall Hibbard and "Kelly" Johnson doing the design of the P-38. On June 23, 1937, Lockheed received the contract for 1 unarmed P-38 and work proceeded on the XP-38 as it was designated. First flight was on Jan 27th, 1939 and the "lightening" quickly exceeded its design goals, hitting 409MPH at 20,000 feet.
10,038 P-38's were built, 4,000 of them the "L" model. 90% of the aerial recon patrol pictures of Eureope were taken by a P-38. The first escorted mission to Berlin and back was by P-38's, but because of its ability to range at long distances, up to 1,000 miles and return, it soon was mainly used in the South Pacific. On August 14, 1942, was the first American aircraft to shoot down a German aircraft, a FW-200 patrol bomber over Iceland.
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-38J intakes under the engines were enlarged to house core-type intercoolers. The curved windscreen was replaced by a flat panel, and the boom mounted radiators were enlarged. Some were fitted with bombardier type noses, and were used to lead formations of bomb-laden P-38s to their targets. The P-38M was a two-seat radar-equipped Night Fighter, a few of which had become operational before the war ended.
One of the Photo recon P-38's over Europe, note the extended nose for camera equipment.
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.The first Lightning to see active service was the F-4 version, a P-38E in which the guns were replaced by four K17 cameras. They joined the 8th Photographic Squadron out of Australia on 4 April 1942. Three F-4s were operated by the Royal Australian Air Force in this theater for a short period beginning in September 1942.
On 29 May 1942, 25 P-38s began operating in the Aleutian Islands in Alaska. The fighter's long range made it well-suited to the campaign over the almost 1,200 mi (2,000 km)–long island chain, and it would be flown there for the rest of the war. The Aleutians were one of the most rugged environments available for testing the new aircraft under combat conditions. More Lightnings were lost due to severe weather and other conditions than enemy action, and there were cases where Lightning pilots, mesmerized by flying for hours over gray seas under gray skies, simply flew into the water. On 9 August 1942, two P-38Es of the 343rd Fighter Group, 11th Air Force, at the end of a 1,000 mi (1,609 km) long-range patrol, happened upon a pair of Japanese Kawanishi H6K "Mavis" flying boats and destroyed them, making them the first Japanese aircraft to be shot down by Lightnings.
One of the 20 or so restored P-38's privately owned shows its lines and color.
The P-38 had a long and storied history, destroy in aerial combat more Japanese aircraft than any other American fighter, and was finally retired by the Honduran Air Force in 1965.
