List of P-38 Lightning operators
Encyclopedia
Royal Australian Air Force
The RAAF received five P38F-4-1-LOs from August 31, 1942 and designated the type A55. These aircraft were used for frontline photoreconnaissance sorties. Three served with No. 1 Photo Reconnaissance Unit RAAF
and two were attached to a fighter unit, No. 75 Squadron RAAF
. The first to enter service with the RAAF, A55-1 (41-2158), was also the last to retire, following a crash on September 1, 1944.
Republic of China received 15 P-38Js and P-38Ls and, postwar, they also flew a similar number of F-5Es and F-5Gs.
Chinese Nationalist Air Force
Italian pilots started to face P-38s from late 1942 and these fighters, with their long range, high speed and powerful weaponry, were quickly established as a more dangerous foe than the previously used Supermarine Spitfire
. A few P-38s fell into the hands of Germans and Italians, and, differently from captured Spitfires, these aircraft were tested and used in combat. P-38s were pitted against nearly all of the fighters in the Italian arsenal in tests at Guidonia and apparently, it fared well. Col. Tondi used a P-38, probably an 'E' version, that landed, because a navigation error, in Sardinia. Tondi then claimed at least 1 B-24 in his captured P-38, downed 11 August 1943. Shortly before Tondi attacked the bomber, an Italian Macchi MC.202 or 205 attacked, doing little damage. However, the heavy armament of P-38 proved devastating, indeed.
After the war, Italy received 100 P-38s in an agreement dated April, 1946. Those heavy fighters, mainly P-38Ls, but also F-5s, were put in service in 4 Stormo. They flew reconnaissance missions over the Balkans, as well as ground attack, naval cooperation and air superiority missions. Delivered after a one-month refurbishing, they finally were all sent to AMI not before 1952. Other wings, like 3 Stormo, used the P-38 as well. Due at the big dimensions of this fighter, the old engines and pilot error, a very high number of P-38s, sadly, were lost in accidents. At least 30 crashes of P-38s in Italian service claimed a number of victims. Despite this, many Italian pilots liked the fighter, due to its excellent visibility on the ground and its stability at take off. Finally, P-38s were phased-out in 1956. Today, no Italian P-38s survive, nor even a single component from one, as these aircraft, with the value of light alloys, were quickly dismantled.
After capitulation, the Italian Co-Belligerent Air Force flew F-5A photo-reconnaissance missions. The Italian Air Force operated 50 late model aircraft postwar.
Regia Aeronautica
Italian Co-Belligerent Air Force
Aeronautica Militare
Two interned Lightnings were forced to land in Lisbon
, Portugal
, while on a ferry flight from England to Algeria. Both were used by PoAF.
Portuguese Air Force
Soviet Union operated few damaged and repaired ex-USAAF aircraft found in Eastern Europe.
Soviet Air Force
Royal Australian Air Force
The Royal Australian Air Force is the air force branch of the Australian Defence Force. The RAAF was formed in March 1921. It continues the traditions of the Australian Flying Corps , which was formed on 22 October 1912. The RAAF has taken part in many of the 20th century's major conflicts...
The RAAF received five P38F-4-1-LOs from August 31, 1942 and designated the type A55. These aircraft were used for frontline photoreconnaissance sorties. Three served with No. 1 Photo Reconnaissance Unit RAAF
No. 87 Squadron RAAF
No. 87 Squadron is a Royal Australian Air Force air intelligence squadron. The Squadron saw action during World War II as a photo reconnaissance squadron.-World War II:...
and two were attached to a fighter unit, No. 75 Squadron RAAF
No. 75 Squadron RAAF
No. 75 Squadron is a Royal Australian Air Force fighter unit based at RAAF Base Tindal in the Northern Territory. The squadron was formed in 1942 and saw extensive action in the South West Pacific theatre of World War II, operating P-40 Kittyhawks. It was disbanded in 1948, but reformed the...
. The first to enter service with the RAAF, A55-1 (41-2158), was also the last to retire, following a crash on September 1, 1944.
Republic of China received 15 P-38Js and P-38Ls and, postwar, they also flew a similar number of F-5Es and F-5Gs.
Chinese Nationalist Air Force
Free French Air ForceFree French Air ForceThe Free French Air Force was the air arm of the Free French Forces during the Second World War.-Fighting for Free France — the FAFL in French North Africa :...
- Group 2/23 operated F-5As
French Air ForceFrench Air ForceThe French Air Force , literally Army of the Air) is the air force of the French Armed Forces. It was formed in 1909 as the Service Aéronautique, a service arm of the French Army, then was made an independent military arm in 1933...
- Groupe de Reconnaissance 2/33 operated the F-5G
Italian pilots started to face P-38s from late 1942 and these fighters, with their long range, high speed and powerful weaponry, were quickly established as a more dangerous foe than the previously used Supermarine Spitfire
Supermarine Spitfire
The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and many other Allied countries throughout the Second World War. The Spitfire continued to be used as a front line fighter and in secondary roles into the 1950s...
. A few P-38s fell into the hands of Germans and Italians, and, differently from captured Spitfires, these aircraft were tested and used in combat. P-38s were pitted against nearly all of the fighters in the Italian arsenal in tests at Guidonia and apparently, it fared well. Col. Tondi used a P-38, probably an 'E' version, that landed, because a navigation error, in Sardinia. Tondi then claimed at least 1 B-24 in his captured P-38, downed 11 August 1943. Shortly before Tondi attacked the bomber, an Italian Macchi MC.202 or 205 attacked, doing little damage. However, the heavy armament of P-38 proved devastating, indeed.
After the war, Italy received 100 P-38s in an agreement dated April, 1946. Those heavy fighters, mainly P-38Ls, but also F-5s, were put in service in 4 Stormo. They flew reconnaissance missions over the Balkans, as well as ground attack, naval cooperation and air superiority missions. Delivered after a one-month refurbishing, they finally were all sent to AMI not before 1952. Other wings, like 3 Stormo, used the P-38 as well. Due at the big dimensions of this fighter, the old engines and pilot error, a very high number of P-38s, sadly, were lost in accidents. At least 30 crashes of P-38s in Italian service claimed a number of victims. Despite this, many Italian pilots liked the fighter, due to its excellent visibility on the ground and its stability at take off. Finally, P-38s were phased-out in 1956. Today, no Italian P-38s survive, nor even a single component from one, as these aircraft, with the value of light alloys, were quickly dismantled.
After capitulation, the Italian Co-Belligerent Air Force flew F-5A photo-reconnaissance missions. The Italian Air Force operated 50 late model aircraft postwar.
Regia Aeronautica
Regia Aeronautica
The Italian Royal Air Force was the name of the air force of the Kingdom of Italy. It was established as a service independent of the Royal Italian Army from 1923 until 1946...
Italian Co-Belligerent Air Force
Italian Co-Belligerent Air Force
The Italian Co-Belligerent Air Force , or Air Force of the South , was the air force of the Royalist "Badoglio government" in southern Italy during the last years of World War II. The ACI was formed in southern Italy in October 1943 after the Italian Armistice in September...
- 3° Aerobrigata RT
- 4° Aerobrigata
Aeronautica Militare
Aeronautica Militare
The Italian Air Force is the air force of the Italian Republic. It has held a prominent role in modern Italian military history...
- 3° Stormo
- 4° Stormo
Two interned Lightnings were forced to land in Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
, Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
, while on a ferry flight from England to Algeria. Both were used by PoAF.
Portuguese Air Force
Portuguese Air Force
The Portuguese Air Force is the air force of Portugal. Formed on July 1, 1952, with the Aeronáutica Militar and Aviação Naval united in a single independent Air Force, it is one of the three branches of the Portuguese Armed Forces and its origins dates back to 1912, when the military aviation...
Soviet Union operated few damaged and repaired ex-USAAF aircraft found in Eastern Europe.
Soviet Air Force
Soviet Air Force
The Soviet Air Force, officially known in Russian as Военно-воздушные силы or Voenno-Vozdushnye Sily and often abbreviated VVS was the official designation of one of the air forces of the Soviet Union. The other was the Soviet Air Defence Forces...
See also
- P-38 LightningP-38 LightningThe 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...
- Lockheed XP-49Lockheed XP-49|-See also:-Bibliography:* Green, William. War Planes of the Second World War, Volume Four: Fighters. London: MacDonald & Co. Ltd., 1961 . ISBN 0-356-01448-7....
- XP-58 Chain LightningXP-58 Chain Lightning|-See also:-Bibliography:* Francillon, René J. Lockheed Aircraft since 1913. London: Putnam, 1982. ISBN 0-370-30329-6.* Green, William. War Planes of the Second World War, Volume Four: Fighters. London: MacDonald & Co. Ltd., 1961 . ISBN 0-356-01448-7.* Green, William and Gordon Swanborough...