This series is dedicated to the gallant service performed by the brave airmen of World War 2 who risked all so that we may enjoy our American way of life. The phrase “Big Brother, Little Brother” refers to the way the heavy bomber and fighter escort aircraft pilots called each other on the radio chatter.
On a personal note, my father “John” served as a flight engineer on a B-25 Mitchell out of Italy in 1944 and 1945. He made it back alive, as did my father-in-law “Danny” who served as a belly gunner on a B-24 Liberator out of Libya. “Danny” was one of the few airmen who flew in both Ploesti oil field raids to Romania (June 1942 and August 1943) and did so without so much as a scratch. He flew his 25 missions and returned to the US as a gunnery instructor (Lead, Dammit, Lead!).
Finding all the caches will display a GeoArt form of the Big Brother, Little Brother relationship on your map. The caches were not meant to be difficult to find. If you can’t find a cache, it’s probably missing. Send me a picture of the location by email, I’ll accept the find and replace the cache.
P-38 Lightning
The twin-boomed Lightning was a revolutionary design for a long-range interceptor fighter. It served in all theaters of war, and was the main mount of many of America's top aces in the Pacific theater. Major Richard Bong scored his 40 kills flying P-38s in the Pacific. P-38s were also used in the famous mission that intercepted and shot down Japanese admiral Isoroku Yamamoto over Bougainville.
The P-38's high speed and large nose section (which was a good location for recon cameras) made the plane a natural for photographic reconnaissance missions. P-38s that were used in this role were re-designated as F-4s and F-5s.
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 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.
Lockheed P-38L Lightning Technicals
General characteristics-
Crew: One
Length: 37 ft 10 in
Wingspan: 52 ft 0 in
Height: 12 ft 10 in
Wing area: 327.5 ft²
Empty weight: 12,800 lb
Loaded weight: 17,500 lb
Max. takeoff weight: 21,600 lb
Powerplant: 2 × Allison V-1710-111/113 V-12 piston engine, 1,725 hp each
Performance-
Maximum speed: 443 mph on War Emergency Power, at 28,000 ft
Stall speed: 105 mph
Range: 1,300 mi combat
Service ceiling: 44,000 ft
Rate of climb: 4,750 ft/min
Armament-
1× Hispano M2(C) 20 mm cannon with 150 rounds
4×Browning MG53-2 0.50 in machine guns with 500 rpg.
4× M10 three-tube 4.5 in rocket launchers; or:
Inner hardpoints:
2× 2,000 lb bombs or drop tanks; or
2× 1,000 lb bombs or drop tanks, plus either
4× 500 lb bombs or
4× 250 lb bombs; or
6× 500 lb bombs; or
6× 250 lb bombs
Outer hardpoints:
10× 5 in (127 mm) HVAR’s (High Velocity Aircraft Rockets); or
2× 500 lb bombs; or
2× 250 lb bombs
Survivors
Airworthy-
P-38F Lightning, s/n 41-7630 owned by the Lewis Vintage Collection LLC in San Antonio, TX.
P-38J Lightning, s/n 44-23314 owned by Planes of Fame in Chino, CA.
P-38L Lightning, s/n 44-26981 owned by the Vintage Fighters LLC in Sun Valley, ID.
P-38L Lightning, s/n 44-27053 owned by the War Eagles Air Museum in Santa Teresa, NM.
P-38L Lightning, s/n 44-27083 owned by the Tillamook Air Museum in Tillamook, OR.
P-38L Lightning, s/n 44-27183 owned by the Yanks Air Museum in Chino, CA.
P-38L Lightning, s/n 44-27231 owned by the N79123 LLC in Granite Falls, MN.
P-38L Lightning, s/n 44-53087 owned by the Experimental Aircraft Association in Oshkosh, WI.
P-38L Lightning, s/n 44-53095 owned Commanche Fighters LCC in Houston, TX.
P-38L Lightning, s/n 44-53097 owned by the Museum of Flight in Seattle, WA.
P-38L Lightning, s/n 44-53186 owned by the Evergreen Aviation Museum in McMinnville, OR.
P-38L Lightning, s/n 44-53254 owned by Aircraft Guaranty Title Corp. Trustee in Onalaska, TX.
On display-
P-38G Lightning, s/n 42-13400 at Elmendorf AFB in AK.
P-38J Lightning, s/n 42-67638 at Hill AFB in UT.
P-38J Lightning, s/n 42-67762 at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Silver Hill, MD.
P-38L Lightning, s/n 44-53015 at McGuire AFB in NJ.
P-38L Lightning, s/n 44-53232 at the National Museum of the USAF in Dayton, OH.
P-38L Lightning, s/n 44-53236 at the Richard I. Bong Memorial in Poplar, WI.
Under restoration-
P-38E Lightning, s/n 42-12652) by the Flying Heritage Collection in Bellevue, WA.
P-38H Lightning, s/n 42-66534 by Artemis Aviation Group LCC in Wilmington, DE.
P-38J Lightning, s/n 42-103988 by the Flying Heritage Collection in Bellevue, WA.
P-38J Lightning, s/n 42-104088 by Vulcan Warbirds Inc. in Seattle, WA.
P-38L Lightning, s/n 44-26761 by the Fantasy of Flight in Polk City, FL.