Wanna know a few more factoids about the Fork-tailed Devil? Read on, my esteemed friends! Read on!!!

Lockheed's chief engineer, Hall Hibbard, and the then youthful Clarence "Kelly" Johnson, ginned up one of the nerviest departures from traditional American fighter development ever. Hibbard figured that not an engine in the world could satisfy all the demands for speed, range, climb, firepower and other specifications heaped on his warbird—but two engines might. Hibbard examined the newly tested Allison V-1710 engine that delivered an incredible 1,000 hp for 150 hours and considered slapping two of these turbocharged dawgs on the warbird’s wings, sure the new design would exceed those specifications—and did. Thus, the Lightning became an out-and-out break from orthodox airframe design, power and armament, almost twice the size of its predecessors, sporting a twin-boom configuration and central cockpit “pod.” With four .50 caliber machine guns plus a 20 mm cannon clustered in its nose—the fighter had enough firepower to sink a ship. Positioning the guns this way eliminated the need for propeller synchronization, plus the twin booms afforded extra space for the power plants, landing gear, and turbochargers.

The P-38 was the first fighter to fly faster than 400 mph.

It was the only American fighter aircraft in production throughout WWII.

German pilots nicknamed the P-38 the 'fork-tailed devil'; Japanese pilots the “two planes, one pilot.”

Owing to its muffled turbo-superchargers, the P-38 was remarkably quiet comparatively.

The Lightning’s nose-mounted guns provided superior gun range over contemporary fighters, whose wing-mounted guns had crisscross trajectories.

The P-38s guns were so effective, in fact, it could consistently bag targets at up to 1,000 yards. Most contemporary fighters piddled around at 100-250 yards.

The P-38 employed a counter-rotating engine on its starboard wing to counterbalance the left-turning, hyper-crazy, torque-producing 1,000-hp engine on its port wing. The props spun outward from the cockpit, producing (as a result) an exceptionally stable gun platform. The only problem was, when the pilot lost an engine, the operating engine habitually flip-flopped the aircraft.

The P-38 was the US Army’s primary long-range fighter until the P-51D joined the war.

The Lightning was the first American fighter to significantly use stainless steel and flush-mounted rivets.

The first active service P-38s were deployed as reconnaissance aircraft by the Australia 8th Photographic Squadron in April 1942.

Because pilots had to shut the Lightning’s canopy windows owing to tailplane buffeting, the cockpit became a veritable oven, all the more in steamy island conditions. As a result, pilots often flew in shorts, tennis shoes, and a parachute.

Charles Lindbergh loved the Lightning and, as a civilian contractor, developed throttle settings and engine-leaning practices that drastically increased the fighter’s range.

The P-38 flew over 130,000 sorties in the European theater and downed over 1,800 aircraft in the Pacific theater.

The Lightning was faster than the Zero—even on one engine.

It shot down more Japanese airplanes than any other fighter during World War II. (Yep, that’s right: ...more than any other fighter.)

Seven of the top scoring USAAF aces in the Pacific flew the P-38.

The P-38 was basically a hand-built airplane never intended for mass production. All skin sections were butt-joined using flush riveting, and all flight controls were metal covered. Lockheed expected the USAAF to order only fifty aircraft; so when orders deluged the company, Lockheed went postal trying to accommodate demand. Bob Gross, Lockheed’s president, purchased the old 3-G whiskey distillery for $20,000 to house an additional production line, but even this didn’t help much: By the time Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, only 69 Lightnings were ready for combat.

Until Lockheed installed dive flaps on the Lightning, P-38 pilots were cautioned not to dive the aircraft because it often didn't recover. The Germans figured this out early and used it to their advantage. Every time Luftwaffe ace Hans Pichler broke contact from a P-38, he merely performed a “split S” and dove for the deck. Opposing P-38s could only wave bye-bye.

Lots of folks don’t know this, but the European Theatre proved a bit too difficult for the P-38. Speculation ran rampant…

• The Lightning’s twin booms rendered it easily identifiable to Axis aviators.

• The ‘38’s cockpit heating was inadequate resulting in frigid cockpits.

• Early Lightnings couldn’t dive (without killing the pilot).

• Engine failures and fire plagued the warbird.

• The Lightning’s roll rate was laughable.

Pissed-off with the Lightning's weak showing, Jimmy Doolittle, then commander of the 8th Air Force, bounced the P-38 from Europe to the Pacific, where it came into its own. The Lightning slaughtered Japanese fighters and bombers by the boatload, though the warbird’s engine problem persisted. Fortunately, a maintenance genius (named Einstein, believe it or not) determined that acid buildup in the lubricating oil prematurely wore out the engine bearings. Lickety-split, Wright Aeronautical changed the oil formulation and the problem vanished. General Doolittle didn’t care.

In total, over 10,000 P-38s were produced during the war.

Which all goes to show, just because a baseball player goes antwhacky on one team doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll bomb on another. Sometimes just the opposite.