The Lockheed P-38 Lightning is an American twin-engine long-range multirole fighter with a twin beam, tricycle undercarriage and all-metal construction. One of the most important American fighters of the Second World War. Already in 1939, when the first prototype of the KhR-38 flew into the air, it was clear that the future of fighter aviation would be behind this aircraft. At a time when a maximum speed of more than 500 km/h was considered a truly excellent result, the P-38's achievement of almost 650 km/h was a real shock to everyone. In the early stages of the Second World War, the Lightning suffered from various childhood diseases, but over time, all problems were gradually solved, and subsequent versions of the aircraft became more and more deadly for their opponents, while acquiring the quality of trusting the P-38 with various, specific tasks: from escorting bombers, through photo reconnaissance, to independent bombing. Due to the large number of tasks, the P-38 was produced in at least a dozen modifications. The first R-38 and R-38D were not used in combat conditions, but were a kind of "improvement platforms". The R-38E was the first mass-produced fighter. The P-38F variant was very similar to it, only it had much more powerful engines with turbochargers. In 1943, a version of the P-38J was created, improved, including the steering system with a turbocharger, engine cooling, and a changed nose profile of the fuselage, all of which significantly affected the characteristics of the machine. One of the last versions of the fighter-bomber was the P-38L version with powerful Allison V-1710-111/113 engines with a maximum power of 1620 hp. There were also reconnaissance versions (F4 and F5). Technical data: length: 11.53 m, wingspan: 15.85 m, height: 3.91 m, maximum speed: 712 km / h, rate of climb: 24.1 m / s, maximum range: 2100 km, practical ceiling: 13,000 m, armament: fixed - 4 12.7-mm M2 machine guns, 1 20-mm Hispano gun, suspended load capacity up to 1800 kg.
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