Before the arrival of the vaunted North American P-51D Mustang, towards the end of World War II, U.S. forces relied on other, less superlative aircraft for long-range bomber escorts—primarily the ...

Flying from Henderson Field on Guadalcanal, they claimed three during a mission to escort Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bombers (see NASM collection). On April 18, 1943, fourteen P-38 pilots from the ...

Summary and Key Points: The Lockheed P-38 Lightning, the first aircraft produced by Skunk Works under Clarence “Kelly” Johnson, played a pivotal role in World War II. Some experts declare it the best ...

On this day in aviation history, January 27, 1939, the Lockheed XP-38 made its first flight. Developed under great secrecy, the aircraft would become famous during WWII as the legendary Lockheed P-38 ...