P38 Lightning

Like a bolt out of the blue

The Lockheed P-38 Lightning was a twin-engined fighter utilized by American forces in WW2 and serves as a unit in Flames of War. Called the "Forked Tailed Devil" by the Germs, and "Two Planes one Pilot" by the Japanese, the P-38 earned a reputation as a powerful fighter, possessing 4 .50 caliber BMGs and a 20mm cannon in its nose, the P-38 could lay down highly accurate destructive fire without having to worry about convergence. First envisioned as an interceptor, the P-38 came to encompass a variety of roles during WW2 from night fighter, high-altitude reconnaissance, and most importantly for Flames of War, ground attack.

IRL

Strike twice

Arguably the first true "interceptor," the P-38 was built from the start to serve a unique role that differentiated it from nearly every other American fighter in the war. The designers wanted a fighter with exceptionally high speed and climb rate that could bring down bombers at high altitude. Accomplishing this would require two large, powerful engines with advanced turbosuperchargers, which at the time were expensive and notoriously complicated to maintain. The resulting fighter made compromises in maneuverability and was quite large, but as its main targets were to be bombers, this was considered acceptable. This also explains why it was one of the few aircraft to take a 20mm cannon in the USAAF fighter inventory.

The P-38's large size allowed it to carry much more fuel than a typical fighter. In addition, running at a more economical cruising speed (a technique developed by none other than Charles Lindbergh, while he was briefly moonlighting as a P38 pilot in the Pacific) granted the fighter an enormous operational range. The P38's long legs allowed it to escort bombers well into German airspace and to operate across the Pacific. The P-38's ferocious armament was equally well suited to ground attack, and it was used to great effect in this role during the Battle of the Bismarck Sea and in the strafing of Japanese airfields. The Lightning was also the fighter that claimed responsibility for the assassination of Admiral Isoruko Yamamoto, the mastermind of the Pearl Harbor attack and Japan's foremost naval strategist.

In one of the most unusual aerial kills of WWII, a P38 pilot dumped his bombs after trying to dive on a Zero that was attempting to take off. The P38's bombs caused a massive geyser that resulted in the poor Japanese pilot losing control of his aircraft and taking a drink.

In spite of the many upsides, the P-38 had limitations. Its larger size meant it wasn't as maneuverable as single engine aircraft like the Zero or the BF109. Its irregular shape meant that it could be easily identified, and thus could never get the jump on enemy pilots. A ban on the export of superchargers meant that British P-38s performed terribly at high altitude. The engines were also temperamental in the colder environment of Northern Europe. To add to the problems, the poorly heated cockpit turned into a fridge in colder climates and at higher altitudes. While the Lightning performed a valuable role in Europe (particularly before the arrival of the P51), most of its best achievements took place in the warmer climes of North Africa and the Pacific.

It's worth emphasizing that the problems with the P38 largely amounted to a lover's quarrel. It really was an excellent fighter that did exactly what it had been designed to do, and any drawbacks were outweighed by its intentional emphasis on weaponry, horsepower, and range. Make no mistake- the P38 took on the best fighters that the Axis had to offer, all day every day. Sure it wouldn't usually win a turn-fight, but it still had a few moves. The thing with the P38 is that it didn't have to dogfight if it didn't want to, since it would generally use its speed to boom and zoom until the target was dead. Meanwhile, the briefest burst from those tightly-packed guns on the P38's nose would rip open any opposing aircraft like a freaking lightsaber. In essence, the P38 was everything that the lumbering and vulnerable Me110 wished that it could have been.

As the war progressed and newer designs such as the P-51 became available, many of the remaining Lightnings were repurposed. With its large size, powerful engines, and easily modified cockpit pod, it was an ideal candidate for conversion to other purposes. Hundreds were converted for reconnaissance, a smaller number were equipped with radar to serve as night fighters, and a handful were converted into flying ambulances. However, the USAAF retained some interceptor squadrons of P38s until the end of the war, making it the only American fighter that served in a fully combat-active status through the entire conflict.