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(February 13, 1931) The Lockheed Y1C-12 was a U. S. Army procured example of the Lockheed Vega. The military used the craft as a high-speed transport. The most famous Vega built was Oklahoman Wiley Post's "Winnie Mae." The Y1C-12, like other Vegas, had a wooden monocoque fuselage and a shoulder mounted wing.
Credit: NASA
Image Number: L-1931-05326
Date: February 13, 1931
Thank you for 9 million views, and 17,500+ faves since 2017
The above image is a scan from an original Kodachrome™ slide. The default size is 2000 x 1250 pixels, so clicking on the photo will enlarge it for better viewing.
The original image comes from my slide collection, amassed over the past 40+ years. They are a combination of my own photographs and ones acquired through trades or purchases.
I created this Photostream in 2017 for the purpose of holding my slide collection as an archive, as otherwise they would just remain in binders and boxes, not being enjoyed by anyone, myself included.
Comments are welcome.
Aircraft MSN: 5230
Type & Series: Lockheed JetStar-2
Registration: N275MD
Operator: Jetstar Aviation Services
Location (when available): Opa-locka OPF Jan-2010
Remarks:
My websites:
One of two Lockheed L-329 Jetstar 6/VC-140B former USAF jets (either 62-4197 or 62-4200) used as a canvas by street artists.
This one keeps some of its former blue and white colours worn during military service.
Built in 1944 and first operated by USAAF in 1945 C-69 42-94549 now N90831 in TWA livery is seen at Pima Air & Space Museum 2008 it is named Star of Switzerland which it first carried in 1948.
SDASM.CATALOG: 01_00092944
SDASM.TITLE: Lockheed X-35, X35-0091P
SDASM.CORPORATION NAME: Lockheed
SDASM.DESIGNATION: X-35
SDASM.CREATION PLACE: USA
SDASM.ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Lockheed X-35, X35-0091P
SDASM.MEDIA: Glossy Photo
SDASM.TAGS: Lockheed X-35, X35-0091P
PUBLIC COMMONS.SOURCE INSTITUTION: San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive
Lockheed Martin F22 Raptor during its awesome display at RIAT 2016.
© Jonathan Coombes. All Rights Reserved - Unauthorized use of this photo is strictly prohibited
Lockheed F-104S ASA-M Starfighter
MM6764 / 53-04
Italian Air Force
Fairford
21/07/1991
Photo by Peter Willsher
LOCKHEED P-3B ORION (SERIAL: 5302) GRUPO-22 E.A. (P.3-10 / 22-33) MAESTRANZA AÉREA DE SEVILLA (MAESE)
March Field Air Museum
Created during the height of the Cold War, the Lockheed D-21 Strategic Reconnaissance Drone is a high-speed, high-altitude unmanned aircraft using many technical innovations derived from the SR-71 Blackbird. The D-21 powered by the RJ43-MA20S-4 ramjet was designed to carry a single high-resolution camera capable of taking critically important detailed photographs from altitudes exceeding 90,000 feet over hostile territory and return without endangering human aircrews.
In the heated political atmosphere following the 1960 Soviet destruction of a CIA U-2 spy plane piloted by Francis Gary Powers, the United States searched for an alternative to manned reconnaissance flights over its technologically advanced competitors. By 1962, aviation genius Kelly Johnson the designer of the SR-71 and his famous Lockheed “Skunk Works” believed the solution lay in the D-21. Capable of speeds of Mach 3.5 the D-21, (initially designated Q-21) used cutting-edge design to reduce its radar cross-section making it virtually invisible to eastern bloc surveillance networks. Launched from an upper surface pylon of a modified high-speed CIA reconnaissance version of the SR-71 the A-12, the D-21 could penetrate foreign airspace along a pre-set flight path before returning to a secure area and ejecting an electronics module containing the camera, photographs and navigational systems. Following completion of its mission the D-21 was programed to self-destruct.
In late December 1964, under the codename "Tagboard" the D-21 and the modified two-seat version of the A-12, the M-21 (D indicated "daughter" and M "mother") combination flew with the D-21 mounted piggyback on the M-21’s upper surface. It would be more than a year before the first successful in-flight launch in March of 1966. Two more launches took place in 1966 however, hydraulic failure caused the loss of the drone on the second mission and the electronics module failed to release on the third. Heartened by what seemed to be minor deficiencies, the tests continued despite designer Kelly Johnson’s expressed concern over the complex and risky M-21/D-21 combination launch procedures. July30, 1966 disaster struck over the Pacific test range when on the fourth test the D-21 engine failed immediately after separation causing the drone to veer into the right wing of the mother ship. At over Mach 3, the M-21 pitched-up sharply, breaking-off the forward fuselage containing the crew. Both the pilot Bill Park and Launch Control Operator ejected however, LCO Ray Torick was severely injured in the bailout and drowned before recovery vessels could reach him.
Seeking a safer launch, the D-21 was modified into the D-21B by adding solid rocket booster underneath the drone to propel it above Mach 2 for initial engine start, the dorsal mounting attachments for connecting to the under wing pylons of two specially modified B-52H bombers. Much safer, the “Senior Bowl” program was still plagued by difficulties. In total, four operational missions were flown; all over the People’s Republic of China between 1969 and 1971. The first resulted in a D-21 guidance system malfunction causing the drone to fly on past China into the Soviet Union where it crashed, only to be recovered by the KGB. The second flight performed flawlessly until the electronics module recovery system was damaged during ejection and the module plunged to the bottom of the sea. After a perfect third flight, the US Navy ship sent to scoop-up the module inadvertently rammed the floating unit causing it to sink. During the fourth and final D-21B flight, a malfunction caused the drone to wander off course; it disappeared into the vastness of communist China’s Gobi desert. President Nixon cancelled the program later that year.
On loan from the NMUSAF, the museum’s D-21B was delivered to the museum on July 19, 2007.
The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is a single-engine multirole fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics (now Lockheed Martin) for the United States Air Force (USAF). Designed as an air superiority day fighter, it evolved into a successful all-weather multirole aircraft. Over 4,500 aircraft have been built since production was approved in 1976. Although no longer being purchased by the U.S. Air Force, improved versions are still being built for export customers. In 1993, General Dynamics sold its aircraft manufacturing business to the Lockheed Corporation, which in turn became part of Lockheed Martin after a 1995 merger with Martin Marietta.
The Fighting Falcon has key features including a frameless bubble canopy for better visibility, side-mounted control stick to ease control while maneuvering, a seat reclined 30 degrees to reduce the effect of g-forces on the pilot, and the first use of a relaxed static stability/fly-by-wire flight control system which helps to make it a nimble aircraft. The F-16 has an internal M61 Vulcan cannon and 11 locations for mounting weapons and other mission equipment. The F-16's official name is "Fighting Falcon", but "Viper" is commonly used by its pilots and crews, due to a perceived resemblance to a viper snake as well as the Battlestar Galactica Colonial Viper starfighter.
In addition to active duty U.S. Air Force, Air Force Reserve Command, and Air National Guard units, the aircraft is also used by the USAF aerial demonstration team, the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds, and as an adversary/aggressor aircraft by the United States Navy. The F-16 has also been procured to serve in the air forces of 25 other nations. As of 2015, it is the second most common currently operational military aircraft in the world
Lockheed Hercules C130K/C.3 XV202 Accession Number X005-5969 to be precise!
A few hours here on this Pano which was 8 images, then 7, and I still found stitching issues :( could have gone to 6 which may have resolved it but went to Photoshop instead. Oh I forgot to say I wanted to do it entirely in Lightroom, as I wanted to be quick (ish).
Anyway if you want to know its full history you can find it here, www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&... be warned its quite comprehensive!
I've uploaded as quite high res so you can look close (not too close!) :)
Thank you for 9 million views, and 17,500+ faves since 2017
The above image is a scan from an original Kodachrome™ slide. The default size is 2000 x 1250 pixels, so clicking on the photo will enlarge it for better viewing.
The original image comes from my slide collection, amassed over the past 40+ years. They are a combination of my own photographs and ones acquired through trades or purchases.
I created this Photostream in 2017 for the purpose of holding my slide collection as an archive, as otherwise they would just remain in binders and boxes, not being enjoyed by anyone, myself included.
Comments are welcome.
Aircraft MSN: 5236
Type & Series: Lockheed JetStar-2
Registration: N741AM
Operator: Aircraft Management Corp.
Location (when available): Houston HOU Oct-2003
Remarks:
My websites:
Amelia Earhart Lockheed "Vega" 5B (A19670093000) at the Smithsonian Institution National Air and Space Museum. Photo taken by Eric Long. Photo taken on December 28, 2016.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Lockheed Vega is an American six-passenger high-wing monoplane airliner built by the Lockheed Corporation starting in 1927. It became famous for its use by a number of record-breaking pilots who were attracted to the rugged and very long-range design. Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean in one, and Wiley Post used his to prove the existence of the jet stream after having flown around the world twice.
Design and development
Designed by John Knudsen Northrop and Gerald Vultee, both of whom would later form their own companies, the aircraft was originally intended to serve with Lockheed's own airline routes. They set out to build a four-seat aircraft that was not only rugged but also one of the fastest aircraft of its era. Using a wooden monocoque fuselage, plywood-covered cantilever wings and the best engine available, the Vega delivered on the promise of speed.
The fuselage was built from sheets of plywood, skinned over wooden ribs. Using a large concrete mold, a single half of the fuselage shell was laminated in sections with glue between each layer and then a rubber bladder was lowered into the mold and inflated with air to compress the lamination into shape against the inside of the mold. The two fuselage halves were then nailed and glued over a separately constructed rib framework. With the fuselage constructed in this fashion, the wing spar couldn't cut through the fuselage, so the single spar cantilever wing was mounted atop the aircraft. Only the engine and landing gear remained essentially unstreamlined, and on the production versions the undercarriage had teardrop shaped fairings covering the wheels, while only the earliest versions lacked NACA cowlings and had the engine cylinders exposed to the airstream. It was powered by the Wright Whirlwind air-cooled radial engine, which delivered 225 horsepower (168 kW).
Operational history
The first Vega 1, named the "Golden Eagle", flew from Lockheed's Los Angeles plant on July 4, 1927. It could cruise at a then-fast 120 mph (193 km/h), and had a top speed of 135 mph (217 km/h). The four-passenger (plus one pilot) load was considered too small for airline use. A number of private owners placed orders for the design, and by the end of 1928, 68 of this original design had been produced. In the 1929 National Air Races in Cleveland, Vegas won every speed award.
In 1928, "Vega Yankee Doodle" (NX4789) was used to break transcontinental speed records. On August 19–20, Hollywood stunt flier Arthur C. Goebel broke the coast-to-coast record of Russell Maughan by flying from Los Angeles, California, to Garden City, New York, in 18 hours and 58 minutes, in what was also the first nonstop flight from west to east. On October 25, barnstormer and former mail pilot Charles B.D. Collyer broke the nonstop east to west record set in 1923 by the U.S. Army Air Service in 24 hours and 51 minutes. Trying to break the new West-to-East record on November 3, Collyer crashed near Prescott, Arizona, killing him and the aircraft owner, Harry J. Tucker.
Looking to improve the design, Lockheed delivered the Vega 5 in 1929. Adding the Pratt & Whitney R-1340 Wasp engine of 450 hp (336 kW) and a new NACA cowling improved performance enough to allow the addition of two more seats, and increased cruising speed to 155 mph (249 km/h) and top speed to 165 mph (266 km/h). The new six-seat configuration proved to be too small, and the 5 was purchased primarily for private aviation and executive transport. A total of 64 Vega 5s were built. In 1931, the United States Army Air Corps bought two Vega 5s; one designated C-12 and one as the C-17. The C-17 had additional fuel tanks in the wings.
The Vega could be difficult to land. In her memoir, Elinor Smith wrote that it had "all the glide potential of a boulder falling off a mountain." In addition, forward and side visibility from the cockpit was extremely limited; Lane Wallace, a columnist for Flying magazine, wrote that "Even [in level flight], the windscreen would offer a better view of the sky than anything else, which would make it more of a challenge to detect changes in attitude or bank angle. On takeoff or landing, there'd be almost no forward visibility whatsoever."
I'm alive! I've been quite busy with life and unfortunately building with Lego has been a rare occasion for me, but while away at school I've been playing around with LDD. This is a result of that, and I'm quite happy with how it came out, so I figured I'd share!
I'm still not a fan of using LDD as I much rather build with actual bricks, it makes solving issues much easier, but I made do, and aside from some chunkier fuselage transitions and messy bits around angle transitions, I think it works well. I used Mad Physicist's U-2S as inspiration, borrowing the external canopy appearance and basic exterior fuselage sloping (can't tag him unfortunately). The front and rear landing gear are retractable and fit quite nicely into the fuselage, and the canopy is removable, though not hinged. I opted for a more basic load out, with basic nose cone and no under-wing pods, just because I like the very sleek and clean look it has without all the antennae and what not sticking out! I plan on ordering the parts and building the physical model sometime soon hopefully!
The image is a rendering done through Stud.io.
The Lockheed Martin Orion structural test article team performed a critical jettison test on June 1, 2020. During the test, the three large service module fairings that cover the solar arrays on the structural test article, were jettisoned into large nets. This test, performed at Lockheed Martin Space’s Waterton Canyon facility near Denver, validated the structural shock and stresses seen during the launch milestone.
The U-2 has continued to evolve since the last was built in 1989 with changes to the propulsion, environmental control and sensor systems. Between 1994 and 1998 the fleet was re-engined with the General Electric F118-110 turbofan derived from the powerplant used in the B-2A bomber and later F-16 fighter. Weight savings created by the F118 enabled increased time on station and the ability to carry sensors for multiple missions on a single flight. The engine also provided additional electric power generation capacity which allowed several further upgrades. These included the Raytheon Remote Airborne Sensor (RAS-1R), a radio frequency SIGINT sensor which was added in 2001, followed by a move to the Block 20 glass cockpit in 2003. Other upgrades include the ALQ-221 combined radar warning receiver/ electronic countermeasure system and the nose-mounted ASARS synthetic aperture radar system, known as ASARS. The fleet has also received the Dual Data Link 2 system and the Senior Year Electro-Optical Reconnaissance System (SYERS) multispectral imaging sensor. The U-2 will also be upgraded with the latest ASARS-2B version to compliment the addition of the upgraded SYERS-2C electro-optical reconnaissance system. A radio frequency signals intelligence suite, the ASQ-230, was also added in 2008, and most recently the U-2 also successfully tested an Open Mission Sytems (OMS)-compliant interface with ISR, electronic warfare and communications gateways.
Between 1994 and 1998 the fleet was re-engined with the General Electric F118-110 turbofan derived from the power plant used in the B-2A bomber and later F-16 fighter.
Another application for the F118 engine is the U-2S Dragon Lady high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft (spy plane). The U-2S is the result of the 1998 re-engining of U-2R aircraft with the F118-GE-101 turbofan. This greatly increased the service ceiling, range, control and safety of the aircraft.
A flight in the U.S. Air Force/Lockheed Martin U-2ST gave me the opportunity to reach 74,000 ft., the highest altitude I had ever flown. It beat out my previous high of 51,000 ft. as a pilot of a Learjet Model 28.
I had requested a flight in the U-2 from the U.S. Air Force’s public affairs group, and they were responsive as usual. I went to Beal AFB near Sacramento with Denis DiPierro who was head of the magazine’s video production unit. Denis and I had worked together on the Su-27 and MiG-29.
Arriving late in the day I was assigned a bungalow in the visiting officers quarter area. I have often marveled that the Air Force always did better in transient housing than the U.S. Navy. It is probably because we spent more time at sea than visiting different bases. Maybe it has changed over the years.
I was fully briefed on aspects of the flight to be held the next day. The day included a session in the altitude chamber wearing my space suit. It appeared to be working, as my body did not turn to mush.
The flight with Lt Col. Carl Trout was really enjoyable, and I was able to see how these truly dedicated pilots operated, although I did not see how they tolerated flights of 10-hr. or more in the relatively small cockpit. We reached an altitude of 74,000 ft. and I was able to observe the contrails of airliners returning from the Pacific at some 30,000 to 40,000 ft. below me.
I found the U-2 very stable in flight as long as you observed the low speed and high speed limits. It appears to be a very efficient and cost-effective means of achieving the reconnaissance mission it has been assigned. Satellite and drone use has eaten into their mission, but I still feel there is a need for the U-2 type of hands-on coverage.
After the flight I was subjected (with little objection) to the downing of a yard of ale to receive my U-2 pin in the bottom of the yard. This all-hands ritual was held in the bar in the operations building, another perk the Navy should copy. I know I did not get near the record quick downing of the full yard, but did uphold the Navy in at least not being in the bottom of list. I sure did spill a lot of beer on my flight suit to get to the end of the yard.
Some two months after the pilot report was published I met a one-star Air Force officer, who was in the chain of command for the U-2 program during a formal dinner. He told me that I gave too much information away in the pilot report. He would not elaborate beyond that. Which brings up a salient point. There were times that I would be asked by the service or manufacturer if they could review the pilot report before publishing, and I always replied in the negative. I attempted to have any questions I might have answered before writing. The Taiwanese Air Force would not agree to those terms so I never did fly the F-CK-1 indigenous fighter developed in Taiwan, with the help of Lockheed Martin.
The Lockheed P-38 Lightning was a World War II American fighter aircraft built by Lockheed. Developed to a United States Army Air Corps requirement, the P-38 had distinctive twin booms and a single, central nacelle containing the cockpit and armament. Named "fork-tailed devil" (der Gabelschwanz-Teufel) by the Luftwaffe and "two planes, one pilot" (2飛行機、1パイロット Ni hikōki, ippairotto?) by the Japanese, the P-38 was used in a number of roles, including dive bombing, level bombing, ground-attack, night fighting, photoreconnaissance missions, and extensively as a long-range escort fighter when equipped with drop tanks under its wings.
The P-38 was used most successfully in the Pacific Theater of Operations and the China-Burma-India Theater of Operations as the mount of America's top aces, Richard Bong (40 victories) and Thomas McGuire (38 victories). In the South West Pacific theater, the P-38 was the primary long-range fighter of United States Army Air Forces until the appearance of large numbers of P-51D Mustangs toward the end of the war.
The P-38 was unusually quiet for a fighter, the exhaust muffled by the turbo-superchargers. It was extremely forgiving, and could be mishandled in many ways, but the rate of roll in the early versions was too slow for it to excel as a dogfighter. The P-38 was the only American fighter aircraft in production throughout American involvement in the war, from Pearl Harbor to Victory over Japan Day.
Design and development[edit]
Lockheed designed the P-38 in response to a February 1937 specification from the United States Army Air Corps. Circular Proposal X-608 was a set of aircraft performance goals authored by First Lieutenant Benjamin S. Kelsey (later Brigadier General) and First Lieutenant Gordon P. Saville (later General) for a twin-engine, high-altitude "interceptor" having "the tactical mission of interception and attack of hostile aircraft at high altitude." Kelsey recalled in 1977 that he and Saville drew up the specification using the word interceptor as a way to bypass the inflexible Army Air Corps requirement for pursuit aircraft to carry no more than 500 lb (227 kg) of armament including ammunition, as well as the restriction of single-seat aircraft to one engine. Kelsey was looking for a minimum of 1,000 lb (454 kg) of armament. Kelsey and Saville aimed to get a more capable fighter, better at dog-fighting and at high-altitude combat. Specifications called for a maximum airspeed of at least 360 mph (580 km/h) at altitude, and a climb to 20,000 ft (6,100 m) within six minutes, the toughest set of specifications USAAC had ever presented. The unbuilt Vultee XP1015 was designed to the same requirement, but was not advanced enough to merit further investigation. A similar single-engine proposal was issued at the same time, Circular Proposal X-609, in response to which the Bell P-39 Airacobra was designed. Both proposals required liquid-cooled Allison V-1710 engines with turbo-superchargers and gave extra points for tricycle landing gear.
The Lockheed design team, under the direction of Hall Hibbard and Clarence "Kelly" Johnson, considered a range of twin-engine configurations, including both engines in a central fuselage with push-pull propellers.
The eventual configuration was rare in terms of contemporary fighter aircraft design, with only the preceding Fokker G.1, the contemporary Focke-Wulf Fw 189 Luftwaffe reconnaissance aircraft, and the later Northrop P-61 Black Widow night fighter having a similar planform. The Lockheed team chose twin booms to accommodate the tail assembly, engines, and turbo-superchargers, with a central nacelle for the pilot and armament. The XP-38 gondola mockup was designed to mount two .50-caliber (12.7 mm) M2 Browning machine guns, with 200 rpg, two .30-caliber (7.62 mm) Brownings, with 500 rpg, and a T1 Army Ordnance 23-mm (.90 in) autocannon with a rotary magazine as a substitute for the non-existent 25-mm Hotchkiss aircraft autocannon specified by Kelsey and Saville. In the YP-38s, a larger John Browning-designed, Colt-made M9 37-mm (1.46 in) autocannon with 15 rounds replaced the T1. The 15 rounds were in three 5-round clips, an unsatisfactory arrangement according to Kelsey, and the M9 did not perform reliably in flight. Further armament experiments from March to June 1941 resulted in the P-38E combat configuration of four M2 Browning machine guns, and one Hispano 20-mm (.79 in) autocannon with 150 rounds.
P-38 armament, concentrated in the nose of the aircraft
Clustering all the armament in the nose was unlike most other U.S. aircraft, which used wing-mounted guns with trajectories set up to crisscross at one or more points in a convergence zone. Nose-mounted guns did not suffer from having their useful ranges limited by pattern convergence, meaning that good pilots could shoot much farther. A Lightning could reliably hit targets at any range up to 1,000 yd (910 m), whereas other fighters had to pick a single convergence range between 100 and 250 yd (230 m). The clustered weapons had a "buzz saw" effect on any target at the receiving end, making the aircraft effective for strafing as well. The rate of fire was about 650 rounds per minute for the 20×110-mm cannon round (130-gram shell) at a muzzle velocity of about 2,887 ft/s (880 m/s), and for the .50-caliber machine guns (43–48-gram rounds), about 850 rpm at 2,756 ft/s (840 m/s) velocity. Combined rate of fire was over 4,000 rpm with roughly every sixth projectile a 20-mm shell. The duration of sustained firing for the 20-mm cannon and .50-caliber machine guns was approximately 14 seconds and 35 seconds, respectively.
The Lockheed design incorporated tricycle undercarriage and a bubble canopy, and featured two 1,000-hp (746 kW) turbo-supercharged 12-cylinder Allison V-1710 engines fitted with counter-rotating propellers to eliminate the effect of engine torque, with the superchargers positioned behind the engines, with the exhaust side of the units exposed along the dorsal surfaces of the booms. Counter-rotation was achieved by the use of "handed" engines, which meant that the crankshaft of each engine turned in the opposite direction of its counterpart. The V-12 engines required changing only the spark plug firing order in order for the direction of the crankshaft to be reversed, according to the General Motors Allison V-1710 Service School Handbook.
It was the first American fighter to make extensive use of stainless steel and smooth, flush-riveted butt-jointed aluminum skin panels. It was also the first fighter to fly faster than 400 mph (640 km/h).
Pacific theater
Wartime poster encouraging greater production of P-38s
The P-38 was used most extensively and successfully in the Pacific theater, where it proved ideally suited, combining excellent performance with very long range, and had the added reliability of two engines for long missions over water. The P-38 was used in a variety of roles, especially escorting bombers at altitudes between 18–25,000 ft (5,500-7,600 m). The P-38 was credited with destroying more Japanese aircraft than any other USAAF fighter. Freezing cockpits were not a problem at low altitude in the tropics. In fact, since there was no way to open a window while in flight as it caused buffeting by setting up turbulence through the tailplane, it was often too hot; pilots taking low altitude assignments would often fly stripped down to shorts, tennis shoes, and parachute. While the P-38 could not out-turn the A6M Zero and most other Japanese fighters when flying below 200 mph (320 km/h), its superior speed coupled with a good rate of climb meant that it could utilize energy tactics, making multiple high-speed passes at its target. Also, its focused firepower was even more deadly to lightly armored Japanese warplanes than to the Germans'. The concentrated, parallel stream of bullets allowed aerial victory at much longer distances than fighters carrying wing guns. It is therefore ironic that Dick Bong, the United States' highest-scoring World War II air ace (40 victories solely in P-38s), would fly directly at his targets to make sure he hit them (as he himself acknowledged his poor shooting ability), in some cases flying through the debris of his target (and on one occasion colliding with an enemy aircraft which was claimed as a "probable" victory). The twin Allison engines performed admirably in the Pacific.
Postwar operations[edit]
The end of the war left the USAAF with thousands of P-38s rendered obsolete by the jet age. The last P-38s in service with the United States Air Force were retired in 1949.[82] A total of 100 late-model P-38L and F-5 Lightnings were acquired by Italy through an agreement dated April 1946. Delivered, after refurbishing, at the rate of one per month, they finally were all sent to the AMI by 1952. The Lightnings served in 4 Stormo and other units including 3 Stormo, flying reconnaissance over the Balkans, ground attack, naval cooperation and air superiority missions. Due to unfamiliarity in operating heavy fighters, old engines, and pilot errors, a large number of P-38s were lost in at least 30 accidents, many of them fatal. Despite this, many Italian pilots liked the P-38 because of its excellent visibility on the ground and stability on takeoff. The Italian P-38s were phased out in 1956; none survived the inevitable scrapyard.
Surplus P-38s were also used by other foreign air forces with 12 sold to Honduras and 15 retained by China. Six F-5s and two unarmed black two-seater P-38s were operated by the Dominican Air Force based in San Isidro Airbase, Dominican Republic in 1947. The majority of wartime Lightnings present in the continental U.S. at the end of the war were put up for sale for US$1,200 apiece; the rest were scrapped. P-38s in distant theaters of war were bulldozed into piles and abandoned or scrapped; very few avoided that fate.
Variants:
Over 10,000 Lightnings were manufactured in all, becoming the only U.S. combat aircraft that remained in continuous production throughout the duration of American participation in World War II. The Lightning had a major effect on other aircraft; its wing, in a scaled-up form, was used on the L-049 Constellation.
Popular culture
1950 Studebaker Champion
Harley Earl arranged for several of his designers to view a YP-38 prototype shortly before World War II, and its design directly inspired the tail fins of the 1948–1949 Cadillac
The P-38 was also the inspiration for Raymond Loewy and his design team at Studebaker for the 1950 and 1951 model-year Studebakers.
The whine of the speeder bike engines in Return of the Jedi was partly achieved by recording the engine noise of a P-38, combined with that of a North American P-51 Mustang.
Cadillac 1948 Series 62 Fastback.
Cadillac had been one of the leading builders of luxury cars in the US between the wars. As part of the greater General Motors Corporation, Cadillac was well placed to resume car production after the end of WW II. Not only to resume production, but to fund the development of all new models, incorporating an all-new engine (for 1949), and advanced styling influenced by developments in aviation during the war.
This new styling and bodies were first seen in 1948.
For 1948, the Series 62 was moved to the same 126 in (3,200 mm) chassis as the Series 61, making the vehicles virtually identical. The main difference, apart from extra chrome, was the availability of a convertible model. Distinguishing features included grooved bright metal front fender gravel guards, rocker panel brightwork, chevron style chrome slashes below taillights and slightly richer interior trim. Also in 1948 the first tail fins were added. Sales fell to 34,213, nevertheless accounting for a record 68% of all Cadillacs sold.
A combination of factors allowed Cadillac to firmly place itself at the forefront of the luxury market, and stay there for the next 40 years.
This Lockheed P-38 Lightning from 1941, and 1948 Cadillac Series 62 Fastback Coupe has been created in Lego miniland-scale for Flickr LUGNuts 79th Build Challenge, - "LUGNuts goes Wingnuts", - featuring automotive vehicles named after, inspired by, or related to aircraft.
Private, 1941 built, Lockheed 12A Electra Junior, c/n 1287, reg F-AZLL, painted to simulate the Lockheed 10A Electra NR16020 in which Amelia Earhardt dissapeared on 1937. Seen at La Fertè Alais (LFQQ) during "Les Temps des helices 2022".
Red Arrows with Lightning II and Eurofighter
168727 VM19 Lockheed Martin F-35B 'Lightning II'
U.S. Marines
RIAT 2016
9th July 2016
The Lockheed AC-130 gunship (also nicknamed "The Angel of Death" due to the shape that the anti-missile flares take) is a heavily-armed ground-attack aircraft. The basic airframe is manufactured by Lockheed, and Boeing is responsible for the conversion into a gunship and for aircraft support. It is a variant of the C-130 Hercules transport plane. The AC-130A Gunship II superseded the AC-47 Gunship I in the Vietnam War.
The gunship's sole user is the United States Air Force, which uses AC-130H Spectre and AC-130U Spooky variants. The AC-130 is powered by four Allison T56-A-15 turboprops and has an armament ranging from 25 mm Gatling-type cannons to 105 mm howitzers. It has a standard crew of twelve or thirteen airmen, including five officers (two pilots, a navigator, an electronic warfare officer and a fire control officer) and enlisted personnel (flight engineer, electronics operators, and aerial gunners).
The US Air Force uses the AC-130 gunships for close air support, air interdiction, and force protection. Close air support roles include supporting ground troops, escorting convoys, and flying urban operations. Air interdiction missions are conducted against planned targets and targets of opportunity. Force protection missions include defending air bases and other facilities. Currently, AC-130U Spooky model gunships are stationed at Hurlburt Field in Northwest Florida and the AC-130H models are stationed at Cannon AFB, New Mexico. The gunship squadrons are part of the Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC), a component of United States Special Operations Command (SOCOM).