Lockheed P-38 Lightning —

How cool is this? You don't see one P-38 that often, let alone two together in formation. Ten Stars for this shot Dave!

100% agree - ten stars

I would like to add my vote for 10 stars also. Great shot. By the way, the P-38 numbered 162, is also named "23 Skidoo" on the other side of the nose, and I think that 120 may be Glacier Girl. Glacier Girl is a P-38 that was actually retrieved from a glacier in Greenland. It was quite an extensive operation.

extrordinary!
when do you fly to Lyon-Saint Exupéry Airport to celebrate the most world famous writter-pilot?
Waiting for this mémorable event...

Sweet picture. Have loved these planes since I was a kid. Certainly a sight to appreciate when the opportunity presents itself.

Great photo! I agree 10+! When these are on the ground I just want to run right up and give it a big hug! An ALL TIME Favorite!!

If 120 is Glacier Girl, I watched it at times being rebuilt by Roy Shoffner who retrieved the plane from the glacier in Greenland) and his crew in Middlesboro, Ky. I wanted to be there when it flew again after repairs, but was out of town and didn't get to see it's "rebirth".

I actually captured these at an air show put on by Planes of Fame in Chino, California. It was called "Lightning Strikes Chino". They had 5 Lightning's plus on f5 that did not fly.

They were:

Skidoo
Glacier Girl
Tangerine
Thoughts of Midnight and
Honey Bunny.

120 is "Thoughts of Midnight".

Fork-Tailed Devil, 'Two Planes-One Pilot' Kelly sure knew what he was doing.
Lefty's White lighting was my favorite.

Beautiful. I doubt Yamamoto thought so when they came for him, though.

Fantastic pix.

We should also praise the hard work and craftsmanship of those dedicated individuals who volunteered tens of thousands of hours on restoration projects for those who remember and many that will learn.

as a child...my first airplane model kit was a P-38....always loved these planes.....A friend in Franklin , Pa. (Kfkl) bought 2 at auction....Burce Taylor passed last week in his mid 80's........uHe owned more total King Aires than anyone on earth.....He has earned his wings for his trip thru eternity .....

My father used to tell me stories of when he flew a P-38 Lightening. How he would approach targets... How he shot down 2 Japanese Zeros. Then he was shot down in the German theater. He was strafed after he bailed out and woke up in the hospital. In 1954 he bought the family a '54 Buick... I think it reminded him of a P-38.

You bet Admiral Yamamoto remembers the P-38

My flight instructor back in the "60's, flew these during the war. Said he could spin them by cutting all power on one engine and full power to the other. I suppose he worked the rudders too. Now that would be fun! Probably would confuse the enemy too.

Greate p38 s where are they out of

Greate p38 s where are they out of

Great image Dave! Happy Christmas

My college buddy, Jeff Ethell, lost his life flying a P-38 painted like his Dad's(Irving Ethell) plane from the North Africa campaign. He had said, "Flying formation with another P-38--is that heaven or what!" A marvelous aircraft.

In the mid-fifties the U.S. Geological Survey contracted with a number of firms including HYCON Aerial Surveys out of Santa Barbara, Calif, to take aerial pictures of the most important mountains from the Sierras in Mexico all the way down to the Andes in Chile and Argentina to establish the extent of "Warmer temperatures affecting the glaciers". Can you imagine that smart peope in Washington already knew this 60 years ago. Most of aircraft used were highly modified P-38s with enlarged nose section to house special cameras, a big plexiglass nose and an operator. Only one or two were fit with a pressurization system but the rest were standard so pilot and cameraman had to wear thick clothing and had to breath oxygen.

The top ace of WWII was Richard Bong. Forty kills flying a P38.
Bing returned home and was a test pilot. He died testing a P-80 jet.

Amazing photo!