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P-38 Lightning "Yipee" Desktop Wood Model Plane
SKU: NC10311
The Lockheed P-38 Lightning was a World War II American fighter aircraft built by Lockheed. The P-38 was used in a number of roles, including dive bombing, level bombing, ground-attack, and photo reconnaissance missions.3
Delivery 7 to 10 days
Product Description
Code: NC10311
The P-38 Lightning was developed to a United States Army Air Corps requirement which had distinctive twin booms and a single, central nacelle containing the cockpit and armament. It was used in a number of roles including as a long-range escort fighter when equipped with drop tanks under its wings. the P-38 was the primary long-range fighter of United States Army Air Forces until the appearance of large numbers of P-51D Mustangs toward the end of the war. The P-38 was unusually quiet for a fighter, the exhaust muffled by the turbo-superchargers. It was extremely forgiving, and could be mishandled in many ways, but the rate of roll was too slow for it to excel as a dogfighter.
The P-38 was the only American fighter aircraft in production throughout American involvement in the war, from Pearl Harbor to Victory over Japan Day. 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 P-38 was credited with destroying more Japanese aircraft than any other USAAF fighter.
The 5,000th Lightning built, a P-38J-20-LO, 44-23296, was painted bright vermilion red, and had the name YIPPEE painted on the underside of the wings in big white letters as well as the signatures of hundreds of factory workers. This aircraft was used by Lockheed test pilots Milo Burcham and Tony LeVier in remarkable flight demonstrations, performing such stunts as slow rolls at treetop level with one prop feathered to show that the P-38 was not the unmanageable beast of legend. Their exploits did much to reassure pilots that the Lightning might be a handful, but it was by no means a "widow maker."
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