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The Lockheed P-38 Lightning, less famous than the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt or the North American P-51 Mustang, led a good career as an interceptor, both in the European theater and the Pacific theater. The history of the P-38 starts in 1937 when the US Air Force gave out a note asking industries to design a new fighter dedicated to high altitudes. Many companies contacted thought that the specifications required by the army were impossible to achieve and didn't continue in their research. Nevertheless, engineers of Lockheed examined numerous solutions and chose the least orthodox one: a twin-engine fighter with two vertical stabilizers. The first prototype flew January 27, 1939 and impressed everyone by crossing the American continent in 7 hours and 2 minutes; beating the previous record. This "advertisement" was a good idea because some months later, 13 evaluation units were ordered and finally, the construction of the P-38 rose to 9 923 units.
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