USAAF armorer 1st Lieutenant H. A. Blood examining the 20mm cannon ammunition of P-38 Lightning aircraft 'Babe', date unknown

Caption     USAAF armorer 1st Lieutenant H. A. Blood examining the 20mm cannon ammunition of P-38 Lightning aircraft 'Babe', date unknown ww2dbase
Photographer    Unknown
Source    ww2dbaseUnited States Air Force
More on...   
P-38 Lightning   Main article  Photos  
20 mm M2 Hispano   Main article  Photos  
Photo Size 860 x 653 pixels
Added By David Stubblebine
Licensing  Public Domain. According to the United States copyright law (United States Code, Title 17, Chapter 1, Section 105), in part, "[c]opyright protection under this title is not available for any work of the United States Government".

Please contact us regarding any inaccuracies with the above information. Thank you.



Please consider supporting us on Patreon. Even $1 per month will go a long way! Thank you.

Please help us spread the word:

 Reddit
 Bluesky
 Mastodon

Stay updated with WW2DB:

 RSS Feeds

Visitor Submitted Comments

1. Commenter identity confirmed Bill says:
28 Dec 2015 03:38:16 PM

LIGHTNING BLITZ:

The Lockheed P-38 was armed with 1 x 20mm cannon with 150 rounds and 4 x .50 caliber machine guns with 500 rounds per gun. That sounds impressive.
However, the firing time for the cannon was 14 seconds and 35 seconds for the fifty caliber machine guns. Did you know the P-38 cost the US Tax Payer $97,147 1940s Dollars back in the day, that was a lot of money.

WAR SURPLUS:

At wars end surplus P-38's were going for $1,200
dollars fly away...believe it or not. the USAAF kept a few in service, most were scrapped and the P-38 was later retired from service survivors were bought or transferred to friendly post-war nations.

WAR LOAD: TAKE IT TO THE ENEMY

Besides the fixed armament, the Lightning could carry located on the inner hard points long range drop tanks and napalm
4 x M10 4.5 in rocket launchers
2 x 2,000 lb bombs
2 x 1,000 lb bombs
4 x 500 lb bombs
4 x 250 lb bombs
6 x 250 lb bombs

Outer hard points

10 x 5in HVAR (High Velocity Aircraft Rockets) or
2 x 500lb bombs
2 x 250lb bombs

All visitor submitted comments are opinions of those making the submissions and do not reflect views of WW2DB.

Posting Your Comments on this Topic

Your Name 
Your Webite 
Your Email 
 Your email will not be published
Comment Type 
Your Comments 
 

Notes:

1. We hope that visitor conversations at WW2DB will be constructive and thought-provoking. Please refrain from using strong language. HTML tags are not allowed. Your IP address will be tracked even if you remain anonymous. WW2DB site administrators reserve the right to moderate, censor, and/or remove any comment. All comment submissions will become the property of WW2DB.

2. For inquiries about military records for members of the World War II armed forces, please see our FAQ.
Search WW2DB
News

Random Photograph

Z.501 Gabbiano aircraft taxiing on water, 1934

Current Site Statistics

Famous WW2 Quote
"We no longer demand anything, we want war."

Joachim von Ribbentrop, German Foreign Minister, Aug 1939


Support Us

Please consider supporting us on Patreon. Even $1 a month will go a long way. Thank you!

Or, please support us by purchasing some WW2DB merchandise at TeeSpring, Thank you!