P-38 tribute magazine scans... part 6

[beaky]

The P-38's unusual design and the fact that many young pilots were introduced to this big, powerful twin with minimal preparation gave it a bad reputation early on, but as the war went on, it was shown that in knowing, capable hands it was a fantastic airplane and a very useful dogfighting mount, despite its lack of maneuverability compared to its enemy counterparts. The first official US kill of the war was scored by a P-38 pilot, and it just got better from there.


No idea who these guys are, but they sure seem happy to have that little souvenir... love the nose art on this P-38!!

     



Murray Schubin, who splashed 5 Japanese aircraft in one day, with his P-38.

     



W.G. Broome (whose may have been an ace, I don't know)... look at this field! Probably didn't even have perf'd metal for the runway... but the P-38 performed very well in such primitive conditions, despite its size, complexity, and trike configuration.





C.M. Isaacson had 4 kills when this pic was taken...
           


Two legends, who were also friends and rivals: Richard Bong and Tommy McGuire, who scored 40 and 38 kills each. they are still the top two US aces of all time, and they achieved most of their victories in the P-38. McGuire was eventually killed in combat over the Philippines.

     


Here we see "Old Mac" having a word with Bong, who was killed test-flying the P-80 Shooting Star in the US on the same day the A-bomb was dropped on Hiroshima.





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