X-Nico

unusual facts about P-38 Lightning



29th Training Systems Squadron

The Squadron continued on at Madden Field until 25 March 1944, when the unit was officially transferred to Lincoln Army Airfield, Nebraska and being assigned to IV Fighter Command as a replacement training unit (RTU), flying predominantly P-38 Lightnings.

337th Flight Test Squadron

Returned to the United States in November 1942 as a IV Fighter Command P-38 Lightning Replacement Training Unit (RTU).

53d Weapons Evaluation Group

The 475th Fighter Group was perhaps the best known of the Lockheed P-38 Lightning groups in the theater since it contained among its personnel the top scoring flying aces in the Pacific--Richard I. Bong (40 kills) and Thomas B. McGuire, Jr.

A Guy Named Joe

He is to be sent back to Earth, where a year has elapsed, to pass on his experience and knowledge to dilettante Ted Randall (Van Johnson), first in flight school, then as a Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighter pilot in the south Pacific.

Alexai Point Army Airfield

On 1 January 1945 2nd Lt. Robert L. Nesmith flying from Alexai Point, crashed his Lockheed P-38G-10-LO Lightning in Temnac Valley, just west of Attu Station while on a low-level training mission over Attu.

Biskra Airport

Known combat units assigned to the airfield were: HQ, 5th Bombardment Wing (January–March 1943); 1st Fighter Group (14 December 1942-February 1943) P-38 Lightning; 97th Bombardment Group (25 December 1942 – 8 February 1943) B-17 Flying Fortress; 301st Bombardment Group (16 December 1942 – 17 January 1943) B-17 Flying Fortress.

Bucholz Army Airfield

Along with the heavy bomber groups, the USAAF reassigned the F-5 (P-38 Lightning)-equipped 28th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron to Kwajalein to fly long-range photographic missions over the Marshalls and reported directly to Headquarters, Seventh Air Force.

Glacier Girl

Glacier Girl is a Lockheed P-38F-1-LO Lightning World War II fighter plane, 41-7630, c/n 222-5757, that was restored to flying condition after being buried beneath the ice of the remote Greenland Ice Sheet for over 50 years.

John H. McMasters

John McMasters was born in Taft, California and fell in love with airplanes in 1943 when he his uncle gave him a private “air show” in a Lockheed P-38 Lightning.

Oxnard Air Force Base

Along with the contract flying, the IV Fighter Command 383d Fighter Squadron operated P-38 Lightning aircraft from the airport during October and November 1943; the 430th Fighter Squadron during January 1944, and the 435th Fighter Squadron during February and March 1944.

P-38 can opener

As with some other military terms, e.g., "jeep", the origin of the term is not known with certainty; the P-38 opener coincidentally shares a designation with the Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighter plane, which could allude to its fast performance.

Peleliu Airfield

The USAAF Seventh Air Force moved the F-5-equipped 28th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron to Peleliu from Kwajalein on 5 October 1944 to carry out long-range photographic missions over the Philippines.

RAF Steeple Morden

During the stay of the 3d PRG, Lieutenant-Colonel Elliott Roosevelt, son of Franklin D. Roosevelt served as commander and also flew an F-4 "Lightning".

Siebel Si 204

At 8 PM on May 8, 1945, 2nd Lt. K.L. Smith of the 9th Air Force's 474th Fighter Group, flying a P-38 Lightning, downed a Siebel three miles southeast of Rodach, Bavaria.

T1-323

On 18 April 1943, T1-323, a Mitsubishi G4M1 (model 11) "Betty" long-range bomber, and a sister craft departed from Rabaul, were headed to Bougainville in the Solomon Islands off New Guinea, when a task group of P-38s intercepted and downed the planes over Buin, a large Japanese army base in southern Bougainville.

Van Nuys Air National Guard Base

The Van Nuys Army Airfield was placed under the jurisdiction of the IV Fighter Command with a mission to conduct P-38 Lightning operational unit training.


see also