In 1937, the United States Army Air Core (USAAC) issued a requirement for a high-altitude, dual-engined aircraft capable of defending against enemy bombers and fighters. At the time, no American engine was capable of meeting the requirement.
That is until Lockheads chief engineer Hall Hibbard, and then assistant, Kelly Johnson, responded with the P38.
Hibbard and Johnsons' cultivation and employment of the “twin-boom” system allowed the P38 to house two supercharged Allison V-1710 engines, while simultaneously carrying .50 caliber machine guns with a 20mm cannon in the cockpit. The aircraft first took flight in 1939 and officially went into service in 1942.
The P38 was operated by the allied force's top aviators, but among them, one of the most notable was America's “Ace of Aces,” Major Richard Ira Bong. During his time in the 49th Fighter Group, Bong was the highest-scoring American fighter pilot, with 40 confirmed kills in the P38 Lightning.
Another one of the most notable allied fighter pilots was Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. The French aviator and author of the worldwide classic, "The Little Prince," returned to combat at 43 years old. Saint-Exupery flew an F-5B variant of the P-38 Lightning as part of his reconnaissance missions for the Free French Air Force during WWII.
On July 31, 1944, to prepare for Operation Dragoon, Saint-Exupéry departed from the island of Corsica to gather pictures of Grenoble, France. Tragically, that flight would be his last. After 8 days, he was declared missing in action. The exact cause of his disappearance remains a mystery.
Despite his fate, Saint-Exupéry's eternal mission to see the good in the world will continue to live on through his literature. His dedication to his country and the allied forces will never be forgotten.
