Display at "La Ferte Alais" airshow on 19 may 2013..
The Lockheed P38 Lightning ( Flying Bulls ) was a World War II American fighter aircraft built by Lockheed. Developed to a United States Army Air Corps requirement, the P38 had distinctive twin booms and a single, central nacelle containing the cockpit and armament. Named "forktailed devil" (der GabelschwanzTeufel) by the Luftwaffe and "two planes, one pilot" (2飛行機、1パイロット Ni hikōki, ippairotto?) by the Japanese,[5] the P38 was used in a number of roles, including dive bombing, level bombing, groundattack, night fighting, photoreconnaissance missions,[6] and extensively as a longrange escort fighter when equipped with drop tanks under its wings.
The P38 was used most successfully in the Pacific Theater of Operations and the ChinaBurmaIndia Theater of Operations as the mount of America's top aces, Richard Bong (40 victories) and Thomas McGuire (38 victories). In the South West Pacific theater, the P38 was the primary longrange fighter of United States Army Air Forces until the appearance of large numbers of P51D Mustangs toward the end of the war.[
The Chance Vought F4U Corsair was a carriercapable fighter aircraft that saw service primarily in World War II and the Korean War. Demand for the aircraft soon overwhelmed Vought's manufacturing capability, resulting in production by Goodyear and Brewster: Goodyearbuilt Corsairs were designated FG and Brewsterbuilt aircraft F3A. From the first prototype delivery to the U.S. Navy in 1940, to final delivery in 1953 to the French, 12,571 F4U Corsairs were manufactured by Vought,[1] in 16 separate models, in the longest production run of any pistonengined fighter in U.S. history (19421953).[2][3][4]
The Corsair served in the U.S. Navy, U.S. Marines, Fleet Air Arm and the Royal New Zealand Air Force, as well as the French Navy Aéronavale and other, smaller, air forces until the 1960s. It quickly became the most capable carrierbased fighterbomber of World War II. Some Japanese pilots regarded it as the most formidable American fighter of World War II,[5] and the U.S. Navy counted an 11:1 kill ratio with the F4U Corsair.[6] As well as being an outstanding fighter, the Corsair proved to be an excellent fighterbomber, serving almost exclusively in the latter role throughout the Korean War and during the French colonial wars