From: Joseph F Baugher <jfb@ihlpl.att.com>
Subject: Number Thirty-Eight in the Series--Lockheed P-38 Lightning (2 of 11)
Keywords: P-38F, the first combat-ready version
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories -  Naperville, Illinois
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 1992 14:47:11 GMT


From Joseph F Baugher <jfb@ihlpl.att.com>


The P-38F version of late 1942 was the first Lightning version that was 
considered fully combat-ready.  It included 377 US-ordered aircraft, 
plus 150 planes that had originally been ordered under British and 
French contracts.  The P-38F was powered by 1325 hp turbosupercharged 
Allison V-1710-49/53 engines and had the same armament as did the 
E-version--one 20-mm cannon and four 0.50-in machine guns.  The weight 
of the P-38F was significantly higher than that of previous 
versions--empty weight was 12,264 lbs, gross weight was 15,900 lbs, 
and maximum takeoff weight was 18,000 pounds.  Maximum speed was 395 
mph at 25,000 feet.  An altitude of 20,000 feet could be reached in 
8.8 minutes, a bit slower than the climb rate of earlier versions.  

There were five separate production batches of the P-38F, differing 
from each other mainly in internal equipment.  

The initial F-version was the P-38F-LO (company designation Model 
222-60-09).  128 of these were built.  

The next F-version was the P-38F-1-LO (Model 222-60-15), which 
differed from the P-38F-LO in being modified after delivery to carry a 
pair of drop tanks or a pair of 1000-lb bombs under the wing center 
sections.  Each rack could also carry a Smoke Curtain Installation or 
a 22-inch torpedo.  This version had SCR-525 and SCR-522 radio.  149 
of the P-38F-1-LO version were built.  

The P-38F-5-LO (Model 222-60-12) version, of which 100 were built, was 
built from the onset with provision for drop tanks.  It also had 
revised landing lights, desert equipment, identification lights, and 
various other minor improvements.  

The twenty-nine P-38F-13-LOs and the 212 P-38F-15-LOs were ex-British 
contract aircraft and were designated Model 322-60-19s by the company.  
The P-38F-13-LO had modified instruments meeting the British Approved 
Specification No.  2338.  The P-38F-15-LO introduced combat flaps 
which could be rapidly extended to 8 degrees during maneuvers to 
tighten the turning radius.  

Twenty P-38F-1-LO airframes with 1325 hp V-1710-49/53 engines were 
completed as F-4A-1-LO (Model 222-60-13) unarmed photo-reconnaissance 
aircraft with four K-17 cameras in a modified nose.  Serials of the 
F-4A-1-LOs were 41-2362/2381.  

The serial numbers of the P-38F/F-4A production batch were as follows: 

41-2293/2321 Lockheed P-38F-LO Lightning 
41-2322 Lockheed P-38F-1-LO Lightning 
41-2233/2358 Lockheed P-38F-LO Lightning 
41-2359/2361 Lockheed P-38F-1-LO Lightning 
41-2362/2381 Lockheed F-4A-1-LO Lightning 
41-2382/2386 Lockheed P-38F-LO Lightning 
41-2387 Lockheed P-38F-1-LO Lightning 
41-2388/2392 Lockheed P-38F-LO Lightning 
41-7484/7485 Lockheed P-38F-1-LO Lightning 
41-7486/7496 Lockheed P-38F-LO Lightning 
41-7497 Lockheed P-38F-1-LO Lightning 
41-7498/7513 Lockheed P-38F-LO Lightning 
41-7514/7515 Lockheed P-38F-1-LO Lightning 
41-7516/7524 Lockheed P-38F-LO Lightning 
41-7525 Lockheed P-38F-1-LO Lightning 
41-7526/7530 Lockheed P-38F-LO Lightning 
41-7531 Lockheed P-38F-1-LO Lightning 
41-7532/7534 Lockheed P-38F-LO Lightning 
41-7535 Lockheed P-38F-1-LO Lightning 
41-7536/7538 Lockheed P-38F-LO Lightning 
41-7539/7541 Lockheed P-38F-1-LO Lightning 
41-7542/7543 Lockheed P-38F-LO Lightning 
41-7544 Lockheed P-38F-1-LO Lightning 
41-7545/7547 Lockheed P-38F-LO Lightning 
41-7548/7550 Lockheed P-38F-1-LO Lightning 
41-7551 Lockheed P-38F-LO Lightning 
41-7552/7680 Lockheed P-38F-1-LO Lightning 
42-12567/12666 Lockheed P-38F-5-LO Lightning 
43-2035/2063 Lockheed P-38F-13-LO Lightning 
43-2064/2184 Lockheed P-38F-15-LO Lightning 

Sources:

  Lockheed Aircraft Since 1913, Rene J. Francillon, Naval Institute 
  Press, 1987 

  The P-38J-M Lockheed Lightning, Profile Publications, Le Roy Weber 
  Profile Publications, Ltd, 1965.  

  War Planes of the Second World War, Fighters, Volume Four, William 
  Green, Doubleday, 1964.  

  Famous Fighters of the Second World War, William Green, Doubleday, 
  1967.  

  The American Fighter, Enzo Anguluci and Peter Bowers, Orion Books, 
  1987.  

  Wings of the Weird and Wonderful, Captain Eric Brown, Airlife, 1985.  

  United States Military Aircraft since 1909, Gordon Swanborough and 
  Peter M. Bowers, Smithsonian Institution Press, 1989.  


Joe Baugher       AT&T Bell Laboratories    2000 North Naperville Road 
		  Naperville, Illinois 60566-7033.   (708) 713-4548

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