What does the P mean in P-38?

A master sergeant serving in the 30th Signal Construction Battalion in North Africa, Bandola began his acquaintance with the P-38 in 1943. “The P-38 was our means for eating 90 percent of the time, but the next thing I knew we were using it for cleaning boots, fingernails, screwdrivers, you name it.

What did the Germans call the P-38 Lightning?

fork-tailed devil
Developed for the United States Army Air Corps, the P-38 had distinctive twin booms and a central nacelle containing the cockpit and armament. Allied propaganda claimed it had been nicknamed the fork-tailed devil (German: der Gabelschwanz-Teufel) by the Luftwaffe and “two planes, one pilot” by the Japanese.

Was the P-38 Lightning a good fighter?

When Major John Mitchell led 16 P-38s to attack and kill Japan’s Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto on April 18, 1943, the mission spanned about 420 miles (see “Death by P-38,” May 2013). The P-38 Lightning inspired young men, fought a global war and earned a reputation as one of the greatest fighters of all time.

What was the range of the P-38?

2,100 km
Lockheed P-38 Lightning/Range

What kind of aircraft was the Lockheed P-38 Lightning?

The Lockheed P-38 Lightning is a World War II-era American piston-engined fighter aircraft. Developed for the United States Army Air Corps, the P-38 had distinctive twin booms and a central nacelle containing the cockpit and armament.

What was the muzzle velocity of a P-38 Lightning?

The rate of fire was about 650 rounds per minute for the 20×110 mm cannon round (130-gram shell) at a muzzle velocity of about 2,850 ft/s (870 m/s), and for the .50-caliber machine guns (43-gram rounds), about 850 rpm at 2,900 ft/s (880 m/s) velocity.

Why was the P-38 Lightning called the fork tailed devil?

Allied propaganda claimed it had been nicknamed the fork-tailed devil ( German: der Gabelschwanz-Teufel) by the Luftwaffe and “two planes, one pilot” by the Japanese.

Is the P-38 Lightning museum open to the public?

The P-38 Museum has been given the OK under the latest California guidelines to reopen to the public. We are open weekends and would love to have you stop by to check out the new exhibits (including an entire Lockheed Engineer’s office) we’ve been able to build during the months we were closed.