American fighter Lockheed P-38H Lightning COBI 5726 - World War II

You know that:

• When the U.S. Air Force approached the manufacturer with a request to design an aircraft with a minimum speed of 580 km/h at an altitude of 6,000 m and capable of taking off and landing on an unusually short runway, all companies refused except one.
• Albert Einstein once said , "If something doesn't work because it is impossible, someone who doesn't know it can't be done comes along, does it and it works." And that's exactly what the young engineer Clarence Leonard "Kelly" Johnson was.
• The first flight of the P-38 took place on January 27, 1939, and it was immediately clear that this was an aircraft that had no competition in its day.
• If a capable pilot got into the cockpit, the machine commanded a deep respect from the enemy, which led the Germans to nickname the plane the "Two-Tailed Devil".
• The P-38 was flown by aces with the most kills of any American pilot, such as Richard Ira Bong and Thomas B. McGuire.
• Perhaps the only drawback of the machine was the poorer visibility through the long cowling, so pilots taxied down the runway at a "snake walk".
• After technical modifications by Charles Lindbergh, the machine was able to make better use of fuel and increase its combat range to 2,600 km.
• The aircraft served in some armies until 1965.
• There are still 6 airworthy machines around the world.

Technical parameters:

• dimensions: span 15,85 m, length 11,53 m, height 3,91 m
• empty weight 5806 kg
• take-off weight 7938 kg (max. 9798 kg)
• power unit 2x 12 cylinder engineAllison V-1710-89/91 with power 1048 kW
• fuel tank capacity 1552l
• maximum speed 665 km/h
• operational range 2000km (max. 4184km)
• climb rate 24,1 m/s
• range 13400 m
• armament 4x 12.7 mm Browning M2 machine gun, 1x 20 mm Hispano M-2C cannon + possibly 2x 736 kg aerial bomb