History

This exact P-38 left the Lockheeds Burbank production plant in 1944 as a P-38L-5-LO and was taken on Strength with the United States Army Air Force with a serial number 44-53254 the following year where it was converted to an F-5G-6-LO photographic reconnaissance aircraft.

In October 1945 the Lightning was transferred to War Assets Administration and ferried to Kingman Army Airfield in Arizona before being transferred to Reconstruction Finance Corporation the following year.

In April 1946 the Lightning was sold to Lilee Products for only $1,500 and received the civil registration N25Y it has to this day.

The Lighting was sold once again in September 1946 and modified as a racer with fighter nose and clipped wings. The modified Lightning received the name “Sky Ranger” and the race number #14. During its career as a racer, the “Sky Ranger” had many successes, it finished in second place at the Miami and Sohio races as well as took 5th place in the Tinnerman Trophy Race.

In 1953 the “Sky Ranger” was sold to Hugh Wells and in 1957 was put in open storage at Clinton, Maryland.

In 1962 the Lightning was sold to Sylvan Lair and Vernon Thorpe but remained in storage.

In 1963 it was sold to To Marvin L. Gardner/Lloyd P. Nolan of the Confederate Air Force where it was returned to an airworthy condition and modified for racing. The airframe was cleaned up with the side-mounted supercharger inlet removed. Ram air carburettor scoops were installed on top of engine cowls. A pair of P-38J forward engine cowls were installed. The Lightning competed at the National Championship Air Races in the Unlimited class as #25 and qualified in 14th place with an average speed of 300.00 mph. It also raced in Heat 2 where it finished in 6th place with an average speed of 290.05 mph and the Silver race where it took 5th place with an average speed of 298.32 mph.

In 1972 the aircraft was sold to Joe Henderson and raced as #13 at the National Championship Air Races in the Unlimited class where it qualified in 13th place with an average speed of 316.41 mph. The Lightning also raced in the Silver race and finished in 6th place with an average speed of 300.85 mph.

In 1977 the Lightning was sold to To Marvin L. Gardner where it received the “White Lightnin” markings. The “White Lightnin” competed at the National Championship Air Races in the Unlimited class as #25 and later #13 where it qualified in 18th place with an average speed of 308.12 mph. It also raced in the First Trophy race where it finished in 3rd place as well as the Second Trophy race (6th Place), Medallion 1 race (3rd Place) and Silver race (6th Place).

In 1978 the “White Lightnin” took 18th place at the National Championship Air Races in the Unlimited class and 2nd place at the First Trophy race, Second Trophy race and the Silver race.

The Lightning continued to race as well as perform at airshows up until 2001 when it crashed at the Greenwood-Leflore Airport in Mississippi. The accident occurred during the approach into the Greenwood, Mississippi area for refuelling on its way back home to Texas from Tullahoma, Tennessee following its participation in an airshow.

In late 2001 the restoration of the Lightning began and the aircraft was offered for sale before the repairs were completed.

In 2004 the Lightning was sold to the Flying Bulls and transported by ground to Stinson Airfield in San Antonio, Texas where the restoration was completed.

The first post-restoration flight of the Lightning took place on the 2nd of June 2008 and in 2009 the aircraft was ferried to Florida where it was disassembled and transported by ship to Hamburg from where it was ferried to Salzburg.

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The Aircraft

Lockheed P-38 Lightning

The Lockheed P-38 Lightning is an American single-seated, piston-engined fighter aircraft that was used during World War II. 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. Along with its use as a general fighter, the P-38 was used in various aerial combat roles, including as a highly effective fighter-bomber, a night fighter, and a long-range escort fighter when equipped with drop tanks. The P-38 was also used as a bomber-pathfinder, guiding streams of medium and heavy bombers; or even other P-38s, equipped with bombs, to their targets. Used in the aerial reconnaissance role, the P-38 accounted for 90% of the aerial film captured over Europe.

The P-38 was used most successfully in the Pacific Theater of Operations and the China-Burma-India Theater of Operations as the aircraft of America's top aces, Richard Bong (40 victories), Thomas McGuire (38 victories), and Charles H. MacDonald (27 victories). In the South-West Pacific Theater, the P-38 was the primary long-range fighter of United States Army Air Forces until the introduction of large numbers of P-51D Mustangs toward the end of the war.

Unusual for a fighter of this time, the exhaust was muffled by the turbosuperchargers, making the P-38's operation relatively quiet. The two turbosuperchargers also provided the P-38 with good high-altitude performance, making it one of the earliest Allied fighters capable of performing well at high altitudes. It was extremely forgiving and could be mishandled in many ways, but the rate of roll in the early versions was too low for it to excel as a dogfighter. The P-38 was the only American fighter aircraft in large-scale production throughout American involvement in the war, from Pearl Harbor to Victory over Japan Day. At the end of the war, orders for 1,887 more were cancelled.

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