LIGHTNING P-322 I

Lockheed P-322 Lightning is a twin-engine fighter and training aircraft in a double-hull configuration from the World War II period, American production. The machine was 11.53 meters long with a wingspan of 15.85 meters. The Lockheed P-322 Lightning designation applied to the P-38 Lightning fighter planes, in which the French military, and later the British RAF, were interested in 1939-1940. Ultimately, however (in 1942), the British side withdrew from the purchase of these aircraft. They were then taken over by the American USAAF. The main difference between the P-322 and the serial P-38 was that the former did not have turbocharged engines, which clearly worsened their performance and maneuverability. In total, the USAAF received not two batches of these machines, designated as: P-322-I and P-322-II. Strengthening the comparison, it can be said, though not entirely precisely, that at the time of the USAAF takeover, the first of these versions corresponded to the P-38E machines, and the second - the P-38F. In the US Air Force, P-322 aircraft (both versions!) Were used primarily as advanced training machines, intended for training future P-38 Lightning fighter pilots.