|
|
| A Pair of Aces |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
| DESCRIPTION |
|
| 16 x 11.5 Inch Collector Size Unframed Lithograph $40.00
In 1936 the Lockheed Aircraft Company won a contract to produce a high altitude interceptor for the USAAC. This contract was won despite the fact that the company had been nearly bankrupt in 1932 and had never produced a fighter aircraft. Mr. Kelly Johnson Lockheed's chief designer on the project settled on a design incorporating a twin engine scheme utilizing twin booms to house the aircraft's supercharged engines and a central nacelle which housed the pilot and all the armament. Despite an unfortunate crash of the prototype the USAAC was impressed with the aircraft and a production order was placed for the first P-38 "Lightnings." The P-38 was to prove to be one of America's top fighters of WW II. The Lightning was fast very heavily armed had excellent range and a great rate of climb. The aircraft was capable of flying with only one engine and this proved advantageous in improving long range reliability. The two most effective models were the "J" and the "L" of which more than 6000 were produced. One early technical problem with the aircraft was the loss of control during high speed dives when the aircraft obtained speeds approximating 500 MPH. This problem was ultimately solved by the addition of a dive flap beneath the spar to offset a nose down tendency during such dives. Nicknamed the "twin tailed devil" by the Germans the P-38 saw a lot of action in the Pacific where its great range was a more important asset. America's two top aces of the War were P-38 pilots serving with the Fifth Air Force in the Southwest Pacific. Major Richard Bong was a soft spoken Wisconsin native who achieved 40 confirmed victories but was killed on August 6 1945 while testing a P-80 jet over Southern California. On July 26 1943 Bong achieved four victories on a single mission. Thomas McGuire was born in New Jersey and enlisted in the Army as an aviation cadet in 1941. Between August 1943 and January 1945 McGuire was credited with 38 victories. McGuire and Bong flew together in combat on many occasions. On December 7 1944 both Bong and McGuire chalked up two kills during a mission over Ormoc Bay. McGuire was ultimately killed in combat in early 1945 when he stalled his P-38 prior to an engagement with the enemy. Both of these gentlemen received the Congressional Medal of Honor and both flew aircraft named after women who would become their wives. In A Pair of Aces award winning aviation artist Stan Stokes depicts both Bong and McGuire over the Southwest Pacific in 1944. Bong's "Marge" is in the foreground with McGuire's "Pudgy" off his wing. |
|
|