It was gifted to me, but that's good to know! Guess I won't be reading Thunderbolt. 
I need to go back through and read the Warren Bodie book Dan gifted me back when I was in college!
It's okay to read Caiden, you just need to do what you did here, and validate everything. By all means, read Thunderbolt.
Bodie's book is the definitive source for the plane itself, the development, and some of the military documentation. It's not necessarily the source for information about pilots, action, and deployment. There's a lot more that Bodie knew, that he left out, for whatever reason. There are those that accuse him of lying, falsifying data, etc., but I have never found that to be the case, no one has ever provided proof. Unfortunately, I do not know what happened to all the stuff Bodie collected and compiled, maybe Widewing does.
There's a lot to be learned from Tony LeVier, not just the book, but interviews and such. From interviews you will learn that Tony and Kelly Johnson were working on hydraulic boost for the ailerons in early 1942, if for no other reason than Tony said that he was tired of dislocating his shoulder doing aileron roll tests. And the dive flaps were in development as well. Tony was also doing a ton of engine and turbocharger testing, he was testing power and durability on EVERY test flight.
There's stuff out there by our own Widewing, AKA Corey C. Jordan, and Dr. Carlo Kopp, with regards to actual performance, deployment, and combat, with some quotes from my friends, Captain Stan Richardson Jr., and Captain Arthur Heiden. I think Widewing's article on the P-38K has been taken down, and/or lost. I spent a fair amount of time corresponding with Warren, Stan, and Art, for a few years, before Art was hit with a debilitating stroke that put him in a nursing home. Unfortunately, the emails are probably lost, unless I can retrieve the hard drives from my ex wife's attic, and find a way to retrieve the emails. There's also emails from guys who flew the Mediterranean theater, and some from the Pacific. Including the Ploesti P-38 raid, and the massive furball with the Italian planes (one of my friends was able to bag three in that).
Interesting thing about the P-38K (for those who don't know, it was flown in April of 1943, with 1800+ HP Allison engines, J model intercoolers, and 13'-6" three blade Hamilton Standard hydrostatic High Activity paddle props), despite the War Production Board declining it. It turns out that, a year later, in April/May 1944, when the 8th AF was still trying to get enough fighters, and the best fighters possible, the U.S. Army Air Corps Material Command specifically requested the P-38K be produced and deployed. By that time, it would have likely had four blade props, not the three blade props it was tested with. While dive speed wouldn't be increased, the dive recovery flaps would have been installed.
You can stumble across a lot of stuff, if you look. I think I have maybe a dozen or so books on the P-38, including a couple on some of the pilots. I have 2-3 on the P-47 as well. I used to have a bit of time to search and research. Maybe again when I "retire". But stuff is disappearing quickly.
