- An assured balance of technical, historical and personal data and stories
- Sumptuously illustrated with many rare and unpublished photographs of the P-38 in action
- Includes fascinating details of the P-38 with which its many fans will have not been previously familiar
- Since 1987, the author has been the P-38 National Association’s historian
Lightning Strikes: The Lockheed P-38 tells the full story of one of the most successful aircraft of the Second World War. The P-38 – including its F-4 and F-5 photo-reconnaissance models – served with all of the USAAF’s overseas combat air forces from early 1942 until VJ-Day.
The book describes the Lightning’s design and technical details as it evolved from the XP-38 to its final variant, the P-38L-5. The main focus is on its service in the combat theatres, from the windswept Aleutian Islands in the North Pacific to the steaming jungles of the South Pacific and Southeast Asia, the burning sands of North Africa, and the temperate climes of Europe.
All the units that flew the Lightning are included as are the experiences of many of their pilots and ground crewmen as they fought the Japanese and the European Axis. Also related are the P-38’s service with foreign (non-U.S.) air forces, its post-war commercial utilisation as civilian aircraft, and surviving examples in museums around the world.
Lightning Strikes is illustrated with nearly 400 high-resolution photographs and is supplemented by detailed appendices.
| BOOK ISBN |
9781781557884 |
| FORMAT |
248 x 172 mm |
| BINDING |
Hardback |
| PAGES |
320 pages |
| PUBLICATION DATE |
23 September 2020
|
| TERRITORY |
World |
| ILLUSTRATIONS |
392 black-and-white |
Steve Blake has written about Second World War fighter aircraft, units and pilots for over forty years. He became the P-38 National Association’s historian in 1987 and the editor of its publication, Lightning Strikes, in 2000. He has written many articles for Lightning Strikes and for numerous other publications, and has authored/co-authored four books: P-38 Lightning Aces of the 82nd Fighter Group, The Pioneer Mustang Group, ADORIMINI – A History of the 82nd Fighter Group in World War II and P-38 LIGHTNING – Unforgettable Missions of Skill and Luck
