BEST FIGHTER EUROPEAN THEATER
7 LOCKHEED P-38 LIGHTNING
Lockheed’s twin-engine Lightning had the potential to be the number-one fighter. It first flew on January 27, 1939—early enough to have been deployed before Pearl Harbor. It had more horsepower than any previous fighter, and its tricycle landing gear greatly simplified pilot training. Its five centerline guns, unhampered by converging wing-gun aiming problems, made gunnery much less difficult for its pilots. Its turbo-supercharged engines gave it a great altitude advantage over enemy aircraft. It had many combat assets, and it was the first twin-engine fighter ever put into service by the USAAC. It was the first fighter designed for top-priority mass-production by Lockheed when it was already embroiled in design and manufacturing problems with other military aircraft, and it had a very large backlog of unfilled contracts. The P-38’s engines and turbo superchargers had not completed their military acceptance programs by the time it was put into service. The massive P-38 program requirements dictated that Lockheed expand its manpower and manufacturing space in Los Angeles—a city already so overloaded with top-priority military programs that the P-38’s production rate suffered. It was larger and required two engines, so it took longer to produce and required more maintenance-support hours than single-engine fighters. The number of Lightnings deployed was therefore 20 percent fewer than the P-51 and 56 percent fewer than the P-47.
The P-38 suffered many “growing pains” when it was first deployed to Europe, and its range—at that time—wasn’t sufficient for the needed bomber-escort missions. Unfortunately, it was also the first fighter to encounter the unexpected and destructive compressibility regime in dives; this phenomenon caused the loss of several prototypes and early squadron aircraft; and it slowed its progress in the field. The P-47 and P-51 soon replaced them. The Lightning did, however, show its magnificent combat abilities in the African and Pacific theaters in
