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162-546: The Lockheed Corporation was an American aerospace manufacturer . Lockheed was founded in 1926 and merged in 1995 with Martin Marietta to form Lockheed Martin . Its founder, Allan Lockheed , had earlier founded the similarly named but otherwise-unrelated Loughead Aircraft Manufacturing Company , which was operational from 1912 to 1920. Allan Loughead and his brother Malcolm Loughead had operated an earlier aircraft company, Loughead Aircraft Manufacturing Company , which

324-588: A Japanese submarine chaser in March, which he mistakenly claimed as a destroyer sunk. Murray "Jim" Shubin used a less powerful F model he named "Oriole" to down five confirmed and possibly six Zeros over Guadalcanal in June 1943 to become ace in a day. The British name was retained over Lockheed's original name ' Atalanta ', the swift-running Greek goddess, following the company tradition of using mythological and celestial figures. The strategic bombing proponents within

486-653: A Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 in Korea, although by this time the F-80 (as it was redesignated in June 1948) was already considered obsolete. Starting with the P-80, Lockheed's secret development work was conducted by its Advanced Development Division, more commonly known as the Skunk works . The name was taken from Al Capp 's comic strip Li'l Abner . This organization has become famous and spawned many successful Lockheed designs, including

648-533: A convergence zone . The P-38 cannon used heavier 20 mm rounds, creating a different trajectory, so it was inclined upward slightly more than the four machine guns such that the trajectories of the cannon rounds and .50-caliber bullets came together between 350 and 400 yards. Nose-mounted guns did not suffer as much from having their useful ranges limited by pattern convergence, meaning that good pilots could shoot much farther. A Lightning could reliably hit targets at any range up to 1,000 yd (910 m), whereas

810-619: A 2,500-mile (4,000 km) ferrying range. Because of available supply, the smaller drop tanks were used to fly Lightnings to the UK, the plan called Operation Bolero . Led by two Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses , the first seven P-38s, each carrying two small drop tanks, left Presque Isle Army Air Field in Maine on 23 June 1942 for RAF Heathfield in Scotland. Their first refueling stop was made in far northeast Canada at Goose Bay . The second stop

972-528: A 20 mm shell. The duration of sustained firing for the 20 mm cannon was about 14 seconds, while the .50-caliber machine guns worked for 35 seconds if each magazine were fully loaded with 500 rounds, or for 21 seconds if 300 rounds were loaded to save weight for long-distance flying. The Lockheed design incorporated tricycle undercarriage and a bubble canopy, and featured two 1,000 hp (750 kW) turbosupercharged 12-cylinder Allison V-1710 engines fitted with counter-rotating propellers to eliminate

1134-719: A P-38E in which the guns were replaced by four K17 cameras. They joined the 8th Photographic Squadron in Australia on 4 April 1942. Three F-4s were operated by the Royal Australian Air Force in this theater for a short period beginning in September 1942. On 29 May 1942, 25 P-38s began operating in the Aleutian Islands in Alaska . The fighter's long range made it well-suited to the campaign over

1296-521: A dive. Lockheed still had to find the problem; the Army Air Forces personnel were sure it was flutter and ordered Lockheed to look more closely at the tail. In 1941, flutter was a familiar engineering problem related to a too-flexible tail, but the P-38's empennage was completely skinned in aluminum rather than fabric and was quite rigid. At no time did the P-38 suffer from true flutter. To prove

1458-581: A few aircraft in 82nd Fighter Group were to fly cover, and all fighters were to strafe targets of opportunity on the return trip; a distance of some 1,255 miles (2,020 km), including a circuitous outward route made in an attempt to achieve surprise. Some 85 or 86 fighters arrived in Romania to find enemy airfields alerted, with a wide assortment of aircraft scrambling for safety. P-38s shot down several, including heavy fighters , transports, and observation aircraft. At Ploiești, defense forces were fully alert,

1620-572: A few pilots who tried to make an attack and then pull up... One cardinal rule we never forgot was to avoid fighting the P-38 head on. That was suicide." Stigler said the best defense was to flick-roll the Bf 109 and dive, as the Lightning was slow in the first 10° of roll, and it was not as fast in a dive. Herbert Kaiser , eventually a 68-kill ace, shot down his first P-38 in January 1943. Kaiser said that

1782-520: A few were still serving that role in 1945. A few RP-322s were later used as test modification platforms such as for smoke-laying canisters. The RP-322 was a fairly fast aircraft below 16,000 ft (4,900 m) and well-behaved as a trainer. Many of the British order of 524 Lightning IIs were fitted with stronger F-10 Allison engines as they became available, and all were given wing pylons for fuel tanks or bombs. The upgraded aircraft were deployed to

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1944-806: A high-speed gunnery pass. This was the first Luftwaffe aircraft destroyed by the USAAF. After 347 sorties with no enemy contact, the 1st and 14th Fighter Groups transferred from the UK to the 12th Air Force in North Africa as part of the force being built up for Operation Torch . The Lightning's long range allowed the pilots to fly their fighters over the Bay of Biscay , skirting neutral Spain and Portugal to refuel in Morocco. The P-38s were initially based at Tafaroui Airfield in Algeria alongside P-40 Warhawks and

2106-420: A large formation of Romanian IAR.81C fighters of the 6th Fighter Group . The fight took place below 300 feet (100 m) in a narrow valley and lasted 12 minutes. Herbert Hatch saw two IAR 81Cs that he misidentified as Focke-Wulf Fw 190s hit the ground after taking fire from his guns, and his fellow pilots confirmed three more of his kills. Three of his victories were confirmed by gun camera . However,

2268-504: A leafy texture. Lockheed ranked tenth among United States corporations in the value of wartime production contracts. All told, Lockheed and its subsidiary Vega produced 19,278 aircraft during World War II, representing six percent of war production, including 2,600 Venturas , 2,750 Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bombers (built under license from Boeing ), 2,900 Hudson bombers, and 9,000 Lightnings. During World War II, Lockheed, in cooperation with Trans-World Airlines (TWA), had developed

2430-455: A maximum airspeed of at least 360 mph (580 km/h) at altitude, and a climb to 20,000 ft (6,100 m) within six minutes, the toughest set of specifications USAAC had ever presented. The unbuilt Vultee XP1015 design was offered to fill this requirement, but was not advanced enough to merit further investigation. A similar proposal for a single-engined fighter was issued at the same time, Circular Proposal X-609, in response to which

2592-468: A pilot to deal with the situation by reducing power on the running engine, feathering the prop on the failed engine, and then increasing power gradually until the aircraft was in stable flight. Single-engined takeoffs were possible, though not with a full fuel and ammunition load. The engines were unusually quiet because the exhausts were muffled by the General Electric turbosuperchargers on

2754-695: A point, one elevator and its vertical stabilizers were skinned with metal 63% thicker than standard, but the increase in rigidity made no difference in vibration. Army Lieutenant Colonel Kenneth B. Wolfe (head of Army Production Engineering) asked Lockheed to try external mass balances above and below the elevator, although the P-38 already had large mass balances elegantly placed within each vertical stabilizer. Various configurations of external mass balances were equipped, and dangerously steep test flights were flown to document their performance. Explaining to Wolfe in Report No. 2414, Kelly Johnson wrote, "the violence of

2916-483: A poor assessment of the "tail flutter" situation, and the British cancelled all but three of the 143 Lightning Is. As a loss around US$ 15M was involved, Lockheed reviewed their contracts and decided to hold the British to the original order. Negotiations grew bitter and stalled. Everything changed after Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, after which the United States government seized some 40 of

3078-463: A range of twin-engined configurations, including both engines in a central fuselage with push–pull propellers. The eventual configuration was rare in contemporary production fighter aircraft design, with the Dutch Fokker G.I heavy fighter, and the later Northrop P-61 Black Widow night fighter and Swedish SAAB 21 having a similar planform . The Lockheed team chose twin booms to accommodate

3240-976: A recently downed German aviator, as described by Life magazine in August 1943. However, the reliability of this attribution is doubtful as the clear intent of the article was to rehabilitate the P-38's reputation in the minds of the American public. No earlier independent or German attestation exists for this claim. The P-38s remained active in the Mediterranean for the rest of the war, continuing to deliver and receive damage in combat. On 30 August 1943, 13 P-38s were shot down by German and Italian fighters while escorting B-26 and B-17 bombers on raids against targets in Italy. On 2 September, 10 P-38s were shot down in combat with Bf 109s of JG 53 , with four Bf 109s, including that of 67-victory ace Franz Schieß , who had been

3402-461: A rotary magazine as a substitute for the nonexistent 25 mm Hotchkiss aircraft autocannon specified by Kelsey and Saville. In the prototype YP-38s, an Army Ordnance Department T9 37 mm (1.46 in) autocannon (later designated as the M4 in production) with 15 rounds replaced the 23 mm T1. The 15 rounds were in three five-round clips, an unsatisfactory arrangement according to Kelsey, and

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3564-422: A similar alliance with either Embraer with its E-jet E2 or Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and its MRJ . On 21 December, Boeing and Embraer confirmed to be discussing a potential combination with a transaction subject to Brazilian government regulators, the companies' boards and shareholders approvals. The weight of Airbus and Boeing could help E2 and CSeries sales but the 100-150 seats market seems slow. As

3726-542: A slate of his own choosing, since he was the largest investor. His board nominations included former Texas Senator John Tower , the onetime chairman of the Armed Services Committee , and Admiral Elmo Zumwalt Jr ., a former Chief of Naval Operations. Simmons had first begun accumulating Lockheed stock in early 1989 when deep Pentagon cuts to the defense budget had driven down prices of military contractor stocks, and analysts had not believed he would attempt

3888-515: A special program to restore U.S. competitiveness across all U.S. industries, Project Socrates , contributed to employment growth as the U.S. aerospace industry captured 72 percent of world aerospace market. By 1999 U.S. share of the world market fell to 52 percent. In the European Union , aerospace companies such as Airbus , Safran , BAE Systems , Thales , Dassault , Saab AB , Terma A/S , Patria Plc and Leonardo are participants in

4050-436: A speed range where no one had ever been before, and we had difficulty convincing people that it wasn't the funny-looking airplane itself, but a fundamental physical problem. We found out what happened when the Lightning shed its tail and we worked during the whole war to get 15 more kn [28 km/h] of speed out of the P-38. We saw compressibility as a brick wall for a long time. Then we learned how to get through it. Buffeting

4212-402: A speed record by flying from California to New York in seven hours and two minutes, not counting two refueling stops. Kelsey flew conservatively for most of the way, working the engines gently, even throttling back during descent to remove the associated speed advantage. Bundled up against the cold, Arnold congratulated Kelsey at Wright Field during his final refueling stop, and said, "don't spare

4374-511: A squadron of his P-38 Lightnings attacked Field Marshal Günther von Kluge 's headquarters in July 1944; Nichols himself skipped a 500 lb (230 kg) bomb through the front door. The 370th later operated from Cardonville , France, and the 474th from various bases in France, flying ground-attack missions against gun emplacements, troops, supply dumps, and tanks near Saint-Lô in July and in

4536-481: A sure kill". On 12 June 1943, a P-38G, while flying a special mission between Gibraltar and Malta , or perhaps, just after strafing the radar station of Capo Pula, landed on the airfield of Capoterra ( Cagliari ), in Sardinia , from navigation error due to a compass failure. Regia Aeronautica chief test pilot Colonnello (Lieutenant Colonel) Angelo Tondi flew the captured aircraft to Guidonia airfield, where

4698-459: Is Japan ), strong transportation infrastructure (#5, #1 is Hong Kong ), a healthy economy (#10, #1 is China ), but high costs (#7, #1 is Denmark ) and average tax policy (#36, #1 is Qatar ). Following were Canada , Singapore , Switzerland and United Kingdom . Within the US, the most attractive was Washington state , due to the best Industry (#1), leading Infrastructure (#4, New Jersey

4860-403: Is #1) and Economy (#4, Texas is #1), good labor (#9, Massachusetts is #1), average tax policy (#17, Alaska is #1) but is costly (#33, Montana is #1). Washington is tied to Boeing Commercial Airplanes , earning $ 10.3 billion, is home to 1,400 aerospace-related businesses, and has the highest aerospace jobs concentration. Following are Texas, Georgia , Arizona and Colorado . In the US,

5022-516: Is based. Several consolidations took place in the aerospace and defense industries over the last few decades. Airbus prominently illustrated the European airliner manufacturing consolidation in the late 1960s. Between 1988 and 2010, more than 5,452 mergers and acquisitions with a total known-value of US$ 579 billion were announced worldwide. In 1993, then United States Secretary of Defense Les Aspin and his deputy William J. Perry held

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5184-471: Is done pursuant to type certificates and Defense Standards issued by a government body. This term has been largely subsumed by the more encompassing term: " aerospace industry". In 2015 the aircraft production was worth US$ 180.3 billion: 61% airliners , 14% business and general aviation , 12% military aircraft , 10% military rotary wing and 3% civil rotary wing; while their MRO was worth $ 135.1 Bn or $ 315.4 Bn combined. The global aerospace industry

5346-481: Is the successor company to numerous British aircraft manufacturers which merged throughout the second half of the 20th century. Many of these mergers followed the 1957 Defence White Paper . Marconi Electronic Systems , a subsidiary of the General Electric Company plc , was acquired by British Aerospace for US$ 12.3 billion in 1999 merger, to form BAE Systems . In 2002, when Fairchild Dornier

5508-624: The 39th Fighter Squadron of the 35th Fighter Group, joined his assorted P-39s and P-40s. The Lightnings established local air superiority with their first combat action on 27 December 1942. Kenney sent repeated requests to Arnold for more P-38s, and was rewarded with occasional shipments, but Europe was a higher priority in Washington. Despite their small force, Lightning pilots began to compete in racking up scores against Japanese aircraft. On 2–4 March 1943, P-38s flew top cover for 5th Air Force and Australian bombers and attack aircraft during

5670-622: The A320 . Tier 1 consolidation also affects engine manufacturers : GE Aerospace acquired Avio in 2013 and Rolls-Royce took control of ITP Aero . Lockheed P-38 Lightning The Lockheed P-38 Lightning is an American single-seat, twin piston-engined fighter aircraft that was used during World War II . Developed for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) by the Lockheed Corporation ,

5832-510: The Airbus A380 , less than 100 major suppliers outsource 60% of its value, even 80% on the A350 . Boeing embraced an aggressive Tier 1 model for the 787 but with its difficulties began to question why it was earning lower margins than its suppliers while it seemed to take all the risk, ensuing its 2011 Partnering for Success initiative, as Airbus initiated its own Scope+ initiative for

5994-646: The Battle of Britain and The Blitz . British displeasure with the Lockheed order came to the fore in July, and on 5 August 1941, they modified the contract such that 143 aircraft would be delivered as previously ordered, to be known as "Lightning (Mark) I", and 524 would be upgraded to US-standard P-38E specifications with a top speed of 415 mph (668 km/h) at 20,000 ft (6,100 m) guaranteed, to be called "Lightning II", for British service. Later that summer, an RAF test pilot reported back from Burbank with

6156-534: The Battle of the Bismarck Sea , in which eight Japanese troop transports and four escorting destroyers were sunk. Two P-38 aces from the 39th Fighter Squadron were killed on the second day of the battle: Bob Faurot and Hoyt "Curley" Eason (a veteran with five victories who had trained hundreds of pilots, including Dick Bong). In one notable engagement on 3 March 1943, P-38s escorted 13 B-17s (part of an attack including B-25 Mitchells and Beaufighters) as they bombed

6318-509: The Bell P-39 Airacobra was designed. Both proposals required liquid-cooled Allison V-1710 engines with turbosuperchargers and gave extra points for tricycle landing gear . Lockheed formed a secretive engineering team to implement the project apart from the main factory; this approach later became known as Skunk Works . The Lockheed design team, under the direction of Hall Hibbard and Clarence "Kelly" Johnson , considered

6480-578: The Bombardier Global Express pioneered the "Tier 1" supply chain model inspired by automotive industry , with 10-12 risk-sharing limited partners funding around half of the development costs. The Embraer E-Jet followed in the late 1990s with fewer than 40 primary suppliers. Tier 1 suppliers were led by Honeywell , Safran , Goodrich Corporation and Hamilton Sundstrand . In the 2000s, Rolls-Royce reduced its supplier count after bringing in automotive supply chain executives. On

6642-479: The CSeries partnership between Airbus and Bombardier Aerospace could trigger a daisy chain of reactions towards a new order. Airbus gets a new, efficient model at the lower end of the narrowbody market which provides the bulk of airliner profits and can abandon the slow selling A319 while Bombardier benefits from the growth in this expanded market even if it holds a smaller residual stake. Boeing could forge

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6804-505: The DC-10 ) strongly opposed the bill and they feared the government would steer contracts to Lockheed to insure loan payments. Admiral Hyman G. Rickover condemned the bill saying it represented "a new philosophy where we privatize profits and socialize losses." The New York Times editorial board held that the Nixon administration was violating its own free enterprise principles by advocating for

6966-609: The Department of Defense and NASA are the two biggest consumers of aerospace technology and products. The Bureau of Labor Statistics of the United States reported that the aerospace industry employed 444,000 wage and salary jobs in 2004, many of which were in Washington and California, this marked a steep decline from the peak years during the Reagan Administration when total employment exceeded 1,000,000 aerospace industry workers. During that period of recovery

7128-604: The European Theater of Operations (ETO) P-38Js were destroyed in a mistaken identification incident in which an RAF fighter shot down the Douglas C-54 Skymaster (mistaken for a German Focke-Wulf Fw 200 ) taking the shipment to England. Back in Burbank, P-38Js coming off the assembly line in spring 1944 were towed out to the ramp and modified in the open air. The flaps were finally incorporated into

7290-554: The Falaise – Argentan area in August 1944. The 370th participated in ground-attack missions across Europe until February 1945, when the unit changed over to the P-51 Mustang . The 474th operated out of bases in France, Belgium, and Germany in primarily the ground-attack missions until November–December 1945. After some disastrous raids in 1944 with B-17s escorted by P-38s and Republic P-47 Thunderbolts , Doolittle, then head of

7452-539: The Imperial Japanese Army . At the beginning of World War II, Lockheed – under the guidance of Clarence (Kelly) Johnson , who is considered one of the best-known American aircraft designers – answered a specification for an interceptor by submitting the P-38 Lightning fighter aircraft, a twin-engined, twin-boom design. The P-38 was the only American fighter aircraft in production throughout

7614-565: The L-049 Constellation , a radical new airliner capable of flying 43 passengers between New York and London at a speed of 300 mph (480 km/h) in 13 hours. Once the Constellation (nicknamed Connie ) went into production, the military received the first production models; after the war, the airlines received their original orders, giving Lockheed more than a year's head-start over other aircraft manufacturers in what

7776-799: The Lockheed Aircraft Company ( spelled phonetically to prevent mispronunciation) in Hollywood. This new company used some of the same technology originally developed for the Model S-1 to design the Vega Model . In March 1928, the company relocated to Burbank, California , and by year's end reported sales exceeding one million dollars. From 1926 to 1928 the company produced over 80 aircraft and employed more than 300 workers who by April 1929 were building five aircraft per week. In July 1929, majority shareholder Fred Keeler sold 87% of

7938-607: The Pacific and the China-Burma-India Theaters of Operations as the aircraft of America's top aces , Richard Bong (40 victories), Thomas McGuire (38 victories), and Charles H. MacDonald (27 victories). In the South West Pacific theater , the P-38 was the primary long-range fighter of United States Army Air Forces until the introduction of large numbers of P-51D Mustangs toward the end of

8100-480: The aerial reconnaissance role, the P-38 accounted for 90 percent of American aerial film captured over Europe. Although it was not designated a heavy fighter or a bomber destroyer by the USAAC, the P-38 filled those roles and more; unlike German heavy fighters crewed by two or three airmen, the P-38 with its lone pilot was nimble enough to compete with single-engine fighters. The P-38 was used most successfully in

8262-423: The invasion of Normandy , so he could watch the progress of the air offensive over France. At one point in the mission, Doolittle flick-rolled through a hole in the cloud cover, but his wingman , then–Major General Earle E. Partridge , was looking elsewhere and failed to notice Doolittle's quick maneuver, leaving Doolittle to continue on alone on his survey of the crucial battle. Of the P-38, Doolittle said that it

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8424-712: The tailplane . Pilots taking low-altitude assignments often flew stripped down to shorts, tennis shoes, and parachute. While the P-38 could not out-turn the A6M Zero and most other Japanese fighters when flying below 200 mph (320 km/h), its superior speed coupled with a good rate of climb meant that it could use energy tactics , making multiple high-speed passes at its target. In addition, its tightly grouped guns were even more deadly to lightly armored Japanese warplanes than to German aircraft. The concentrated, parallel stream of bullets allowed aerial victory at much longer distances than fighters carrying wing guns. Dick Bong ,

8586-508: The "Last Supper" at the Pentagon with contractors executives who were told that there were twice as many military suppliers as he wanted to see: $ 55 billion in military–industry mergers took place from 1992 to 1997, leaving mainly Boeing , Lockheed Martin , Northrop Grumman and Raytheon . Boeing bought McDonnell Douglas for US$ 13.3 billion in 1996. Raytheon acquired Hughes Aircraft Company for $ 9.5 billion in 1997. BAE Systems

8748-545: The "Lockheed Loan". Even after its adoption, a further controversy developed when the Emergency Loan Guarantee Board set up by the Executive branch to oversee the loan refused to allow Congress' General Accounting Office to examine its records. They argued that the office was attempting "interference in the decision-making process" amounting to an effort to "bully" and "harass" the board. This claim

8910-553: The 1970s. Drowning in debt, in 1971 Lockheed (then the largest US defense contractor) asked the US government for a loan guarantee, to avoid insolvency. Lockheed argued that a government bailout was necessary due to the company's value for U.S. national security. On May 13, 1971, the Richard Nixon administration sent a bill titled "The Emergency Loan Guarantee Act" to Congress requesting a $ 250 million loan guarantee for Lockheed and its L-1011 Tristar airbus program. The measure

9072-403: The 1970s. In late 1975 and early 1976, a subcommittee of the U.S. Senate led by Senator Frank Church concluded that members of the Lockheed board had paid members of friendly governments to guarantee contracts for military aircraft. In 1976, it was publicly revealed that Lockheed had paid $ 22 million in bribes to foreign officials in the process of negotiating the sale of aircraft including

9234-501: The 1st FG, both credited with five wins by 26 December. Smith got a sixth enemy aircraft on 28 December, but was killed two days later in a crash landing, likely after taking fire from Oberfeldwebel Herbert Rollwage of JG 53, who survived the war with at least 71 kills. This was Rollwage's first victory over a P-38, and his 35th claim at the time. The two squadrons of the 14th Fighter Group were reduced so badly in December 1942 that

9396-531: The 1st Fighter Group were flown across the Atlantic via Iceland. On 14 August 1942, Second Lieutenant Elza Shahan of the 27th Fighter Squadron, and Second Lieutenant Joseph Shaffer of the 33rd Squadron operating out of Iceland shot down a Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor over the Atlantic. Shaffer, flying either a P-40C or a P-39, scored the first hit, causing a fire on the Condor; Shahan in his P-38F finished it off with

9558-685: The 1st and 82nd Fighter Groups took off from Italy for Ploiești , the third-most heavily defended target in Europe, after Berlin and Vienna . Instead of bombing from high altitude as had been tried by the Fifteenth Air Force , USAAF planning had determined that a dive-bombing surprise attack, beginning at about 7,000 feet (2,100 m) with bomb release at or below 3,000 feet (900 m), performed by 46 82nd Fighter Group P-38s, each carrying one 1,000-pound (500 kg) bomb, would yield more accurate results. All of 1st Fighter Group and

9720-415: The 82nd FG was flown from the UK to North Africa to cover the shortage. The first kill by the 82nd was during a bomber-escort mission on 7 January 1943, when William J. "Dixie" Sloan broke formation and turned toward six attacking Bf 109s to shoot one of them down. Known for his maverick style, Sloan racked up 12 victories by July 1943. After another heavy toll in January 1943, 14th FG had to be withdrawn from

9882-544: The American units was for the P-38s to fly near the bombers at all times rather than to defend aggressively or to fly ahead and clear the airspace for the bombers, and many American pilots were downed because of this limitation. Losses mounted, and all available P-38s in the UK were flown over to North Africa to restore squadron strength. After this painful experience, the American leadership changed tactics, and in February 1943,

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10044-643: The B-24) were easy to burn. Once in Africa, we were six, and met eight P-38s and shot down seven. One sees a great distance in Africa and our observers and flak people called in sightings and we could get altitude first and they were low and slow." General der Jagdflieger Adolf Galland was unimpressed with the P-38, declaring "it had similar shortcomings in combat to our Bf 110 , our fighters were clearly superior to it." Heinz Bäer said that P-38s "were not difficult at all. They were easy to outmaneuver and were generally

10206-698: The CSeries, renamed A220, and E-jet E2 are more capable than their predecessors, they moved closer to the lower end of the narrowbodies . In 2018, the four Western airframers combined into two within nine months as Boeing acquired 80% of Embraer's airliners for $ 3.8 billion on July 5. On April 3, 2020, Raytheon and United Technologies Corporation (except Otis Worldwide , leaving Rockwell Collins and engine maker Pratt and Whitney ) merged to form Raytheon Technologies Corporation , with combined sales of $ 79 billion in 2019. The most prominent unions between 1995 and 2020 include those of Boeing and McDonnell Douglas;

10368-547: The Constellation obsolete. However, the design proved underpowered. The company sought to purchase Convair in 1946, but the sale was blocked by the SEC . In 1943, Lockheed began, in secrecy, development of a new jet fighter at its Burbank facility. This fighter, the Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star , became the first American jet fighter to score a kill. It also recorded the first jet-to-jet aerial kill, downing

10530-519: The Eighth in England in September 1943, and were joined by the 20th Fighter Group , 364th Fighter Group , and 479th Fighter Group soon after. P-38s and Spitfires escorted Flying Fortress raids over Europe. Because its distinctive shape was less prone to cases of mistaken identity and friendly fire , Lieutenant General Jimmy Doolittle , commander of the 8th Air Force, chose to pilot a P-38 during

10692-797: The F-104 Starfighter, the so-called Deal of the Century. The scandal caused considerable political controversy in West Germany , the Netherlands , Italy, and Japan. In the US, the scandal led to passage of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act , and nearly led to the ailing corporation's downfall (it was already struggling due to the poor sales of the L-1011 airliner). Haughton resigned his post as chairman. In

10854-769: The French, German and Spanish parts of EADS; and United Technologies with Rockwell Collins then Raytheon, but many mergers projects did not went through: Textron-Bombardier, EADS-BAE Systems, Hawker Beechcraft-Superior Aviation, GE-Honeywell, BAE Systems-Boeing (or Lockheed Martin), Dassault-Aerospatiale, Safran-Thales, BAE Systems-Rolls-Royce or Lockheed Martin–Northrop Grumman. The largest aerospace suppliers are United Technologies with $ 28.2 billion of revenue, followed by GE Aviation with $ 24.7 billion, Safran with $ 22.5 billion, Rolls-Royce Holdings with $ 16.9 billion, Honeywell Aerospace with $ 15.2 billion and Rockwell Collins including B/E Aerospace with $ 8.1 billion. Electric aircraft development could generate large changes for

11016-532: The Lockheed Aircraft Company to Detroit Aircraft Corporation . In August 1929, Allan Loughead resigned. The Great Depression ruined the aircraft market, and Detroit Aircraft went bankrupt. A group of investors headed by brothers Robert and Courtland Gross, and Walter Varney , bought the company out of receivership in 1932. The syndicate bought the company for a mere $ 40,000 ($ 858,000 in 2023). Ironically, Allan Loughead himself had planned to bid for his own company, but had raised only $ 50,000 ($ 824,000), which he felt

11178-432: The Model 322s for West Coast defense; subsequently all British Lightnings were delivered to the USAAF starting in January 1942. The USAAF lent the RAF three of the aircraft, which were delivered by sea in March 1942 and were test flown no earlier than May at Cunliffe-Owen Aircraft Swaythling, the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment (A&AEE) and the Royal Aircraft Establishment . The A&AEE example

11340-516: The P-38 incorporated a distinctive twin-boom design with a central nacelle containing the cockpit and armament. Along with its use as a general fighter , the P-38 was used in various aerial combat roles, including as a highly effective fighter-bomber , a night fighter , and a long-range escort fighter when equipped with drop tanks . The P-38 was also used as a bomber-pathfinder, guiding streams of medium and heavy bombers , or even other P-38s equipped with bombs, to their targets. Used in

11502-433: The P-38 should be respected as a formidable opponent, that it was faster and more maneuverable than the Bf 109G-6 model he flew, especially since the G-6 was slowed by underwing cannon pods. Johann Pichler , another high-scoring ace, said that the P-38 in 1943 was much faster in a climb than the Bf 109. Kurt Bühligen , third-highest scoring German pilot on the Western front with 112 victories, recalled: "The P-38 fighter (and

11664-546: The P-38 suffered its highest losses in the Mediterranean Theater. The primary function of the P-38 in North Africa was to escort bombers, but the fighters also targeted transport aircraft, and later in the campaign, they were sometimes tasked with ground-attack missions. When tied to bomber-escort duties, the P-38 squadrons were vulnerable to attack from above by German fighters, who selected the most advantageous position and timing. The initial tactical doctrine of

11826-399: The P-38, which by this time had seen success with small drop tanks in the range of 150 to 165 US gal (570 to 620 L), the difference in capacity being the result of subcontractor production variation. Arnold ordered further tests with larger drop tanks in the range of 300 to 310 US gal (1,100 to 1,200 L); the results were reported by Kelsey as providing the P-38 with

11988-510: The P-38E model, without putting his request in writing. It is possible that Kelsey was responding to Colonel George William Goddard 's observation that the US sorely needed a high-speed, long-range photo reconnaissance plane. Along with a change order specifying some P-38Es be produced with guns replaced by photoreconnaissance cameras, to be designated the F-4-1-LO, Lockheed began working out

12150-538: The P-38G onward was capable of being fitted with drop tanks straight off the assembly line. In March 1942, General Arnold made an off-hand comment that the US could avoid the German U-boat menace by flying fighters to the UK rather than packing them onto ships. President Roosevelt pressed the point, emphasizing his interest in the solution. Arnold was likely aware of the flying radius extension work being done on

12312-403: The P-38G was evaluated. On 11 August 1943, Tondi took off to intercept a formation of about 50 bombers, returning from the bombing of Terni ( Umbria ). Tondi attacked B-17G Bonny Sue , 42–30307, that fell off the shore of Torvaianica , near Rome , while six airmen parachuted out. According to US sources, he also damaged three more bombers on that occasion. On 4 September, the 301st BG reported

12474-403: The P-38s were given free rein in their battles. The first German success against the P-38 was on 28 November 1942, when Bf 109 pilots of Jagdgeschwader 53 claimed seven Lightnings for no loss of their own. Further one-sided German victories were noted on several occasions through January 1943. The first P-38 pilots to achieve ace status were Virgil Smith of the 14th FG and Jack Illfrey of

12636-526: The Pacific as USAAC F-5A reconnaissance or P-38G fighter models, the latter used with great effect in the operation that shot down Admiral Yamamoto in April 1943. Robert Petit's G model named Miss Virginia was on that mission, borrowed by Rex Barber , who was later credited with the kill. Petit had already used Miss Virginia to defeat two Nakajima A6M2-N "Rufe" floatplanes in February and to heavily damage

12798-765: The Poseidon and Trident nuclear missiles. Lockheed developed the F-104 Starfighter in the late 1950s, the world's first Mach 2 fighter jet. In the early 1960s, the company introduced the C-141 Starlifter four-engine jet transport. During the 1960s, Lockheed began development for two large aircraft: the C-5 Galaxy military transport and the L-1011 TriStar wide-body civil airliner. Both projects encountered delays and cost overruns. The C-5

12960-469: The T9/M4 did not perform reliably in flight. Further armament experiments from March to June 1941 resulted in the P-38E combat configuration of four M2 Browning machine guns, and one Hispano 20 mm (.79 in) autocannon with 150 rounds. Clustering all the armament in the nose was unusual in U.S. aircraft, which typically used wing-mounted guns with trajectories set up to crisscross at one or more points in

13122-661: The Transfer Orbit Stage (under subcontract to Orbital Sciences Corporation ) and various satellite models. Lockheed's operations were divided between several groups and divisions, many of which continue to operate within Lockheed A partial listing of aircraft and other vehicles produced by Lockheed. Aerospace manufacturer The aircraft industry is the industry supporting aviation by building aircraft and manufacturing aircraft parts for their maintenance . This includes aircraft and parts used for civil aviation and military aviation . Most production

13284-706: The U-2 (late 1950s), SR-71 Blackbird (1962) and F-117 Nighthawk stealth fighter (1978). The Skunk Works often created high-quality designs in a short time and sometimes with limited resources. In 1954, the Lockheed C-130 Hercules , a durable four-engined transport, flew for the first time. This type remains in production today. In 1956, Lockheed received a contract for the development of the Polaris Submarine Launched Ballistic Missile ( SLBM ); it would be followed by

13446-662: The U.S. Eighth Air Force, went to the Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough , asking for an evaluation of the various American fighters. Test pilot Captain Eric Brown , Fleet Air Arm , recalled: We had found out that the Bf ;109 and the FW ;190 could fight up to a Mach of 0.75, three-quarters the speed of sound. We checked the Lightning and it couldn't fly in combat faster than 0.68. So, it

13608-659: The USAAF, nicknamed the Bomber Mafia by their ideological opponents, had established in the early 1930s a policy against research to create long-range fighters, which they thought would not be practical; this kind of research was not to compete for bomber resources. Aircraft manufacturers understood that they would not be rewarded if they installed subsystems on their fighters to enable them to carry drop tanks to provide more fuel for extended range. Lieutenant Kelsey, acting against this policy, risked his career in late 1941 when he convinced Lockheed to incorporate such subsystems in

13770-1077: The United States ( Boeing ), Montreal and Toronto in Canada ( Bombardier , Pratt & Whitney Canada ), Toulouse and Bordeaux in France ( Airbus , Dassault , ATR ), Seville in Spain and Hamburg in Germany ( Airbus ), the North-West of England and Bristol in Britain ( Airbus and AgustaWestland ), Komsomolsk-on-Amur and Irkutsk in Russia ( Sukhoi , Beriev ), Kyiv and Kharkiv in Ukraine ( Antonov ), Nagoya in Japan ( Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Aerospace and Kawasaki Heavy Industries Aerospace ), as well as São José dos Campos in Brazil where Embraer

13932-497: The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). Circular Proposal X-608 was a set of aircraft performance goals authored by First Lieutenants Benjamin S. Kelsey and Gordon P. Saville for a twin-engined, high-altitude "interceptor" having "the tactical mission of interception and attack of hostile aircraft at high altitude." Forty years later, Kelsey explained that Saville and he drew up the specification using

14094-764: The United States' highest-scoring World War II air ace (40 victories in P-38s), flew directly at his targets to ensure he hit them, in some cases flying through the debris of his target (and on one occasion colliding with an enemy aircraft, which was claimed as a "probable" victory). The twin Allison engines performed admirably in the Pacific. General George C. Kenney , commander of the USAAF 5th Air Force operating in New Guinea , could not get enough P-38s; they had become his favorite fighter in November 1942 when one squadron,

14256-566: The YP-38s had been built and flight tested, the USAAC ordered 66 initial-production P-38 Lightnings, 30 of which were delivered to the (renamed) USAAF in mid-1941, but not all these aircraft were armed. The unarmed aircraft were subsequently fitted with four .50 in (12.7 mm) machine guns (instead of the two .50 in/12.7 mm and two .30 in/7.62 mm of their predecessors) and a 37 mm (1.46 in) cannon. They also had armored glass, cockpit armor, and fluorescent instrument lighting. One

14418-506: The aerospace suppliers. On 26 November 2018, United Technologies announced the completion of its Rockwell Collins acquisition, renaming systems supplier UTC Aerospace Systems as Collins Aerospace , for $ 23 billion of sales in 2017 and 70,000 employees, and $ 39.0 billion of sales in 2017 combined with engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney . Before the 1980s/1990s, aircraft and aeroengine manufacturers were vertically integrated . Then Douglas aircraft outsourced large aerostructures and

14580-517: The aircraft fitted with two right-handed engines (not counter-rotating) without turbosuperchargers. Performance was supposed to be 400 mph (640 km/h) at 16,900 ft (5,200 m). After the fall of France in June 1940, the British took over the entire order and gave the aircraft the service name "Lightning". By June 1941, the War Ministry had cause to reconsider their earlier aircraft specifications based on experience gathered in

14742-410: The aircraft's stability as a gunnery platform. Test flights revealed problems initially believed to be tail flutter . During high-speed flight approaching Mach 0.68, especially during dives, the aircraft's tail would begin to shake violently and the nose would tuck under (see Mach tuck ), steepening the dive. Once caught in this dive, the fighter would enter a high-speed compressibility stall and

14904-432: The almost 1,200-mile (1,900 km)-long island chain, and it was flown there for the rest of the war. The Aleutians were some of the most rugged environments available for testing the new aircraft under combat conditions. More Lightnings were lost due to severe weather and other conditions than enemy action; cases occurred where Lightning pilots, mesmerized by flying for hours over gray seas under gray skies, simply flew into

15066-491: The basis of the record flight, the Air Corps ordered 13 YP-38s on 27 April 1939 for US$ 134,284 (~$ 2.31 million in 2023) each. (The "Y" in "YP" was the USAAC's designation for service test, i.e. small numbers of early production aircraft, while the "X" in "XP" was for experimental .) Lockheed's chief test pilot , Tony LeVier , angrily characterized the accident as an unnecessary publicity stunt, but according to Kelsey,

15228-552: The bombing were not observed by the USAAF pilots because of the smoke. The dive-bombing mission profile was not repeated, though the 82nd Fighter Group was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for its part. Experiences over Germany had shown a need for long-range escort fighters to protect the Eighth Air Force 's heavy-bomber operations. The P-38Hs of the 55th Fighter Group were transferred to

15390-421: The buffeting completely and its fillet solution was fitted to every subsequent P-38 airframe. Fillet kits were sent out to every squadron flying Lightnings. The problem was traced to a 40% increase in air speed at the wing-fuselage junction where the thickness/chord ratio was highest. An airspeed of 500 mph (800 km/h) at 25,000 ft (7,600 m) could push airflow at the wing-fuselage junction close to

15552-602: The company should be allowed to go into bankruptcy citing the recent decision to leave Penn Central railroad to that fate, and the fact that the airbus program at issue was commercial rather than military. Naval scholar Thomas Paul Stanton notes that the opposition to the bill held it was "the beginning of the socialization of the American aircraft and aerospace industry." Proponents responded by claiming "this socializing process had taken place many years before", and some witnesses before Congress discounted "the very notion of 'free enterprise'." Treasury Secretary Connally pointed to

15714-520: The controls would lock up, leaving the pilot no option but to bail out (if possible) or remain with the aircraft until it got down to denser air, where he might have a chance to pull out. During a test flight in May 1941, USAAC Major Signa Gilkey managed to stay with a YP-38 in a compressibility lockup, riding it out until he recovered gradually using elevator trim . Lockheed engineers were very concerned by this limitation, but first had to concentrate on filling

15876-608: The current order of aircraft. In late June 1941 , the Army Air Corps was renamed the U.S. Army Air Forces (USAAF), and 65 Lightnings were finished for the service by September 1941, with more on the way for the USAAF, the Royal Air Force (RAF), and the Free French Air Force operating from England. By November 1941, many of the initial assembly-line challenges had been met, which freed up time for

16038-567: The effect of engine torque , with the turbochargers positioned behind the engines, the exhaust side of the units exposed along the dorsal surfaces of the booms. Counter-rotation was achieved by the use of "handed" engines; the crankshafts of the engines turned in opposite directions, a relatively easy task for the V-1710 modular-design aircraft powerplant . The P-38 was the first American fighter to make extensive use of stainless steel and smooth, flush-riveted, butt-jointed aluminum skin panels. It

16200-445: The effort of the pilot's actions. Expert test pilot Ralph Virden was given a specific high-altitude test sequence to follow and was told to restrict his speed and fast maneuvering in denser air at low altitudes, since the new mechanism could exert tremendous leverage under those conditions. A note was taped to the instrument panel of the test craft underscoring this instruction. On 4 November 1941, Virden climbed into YP-38 #1 and completed

16362-496: The engine nacelles, and in action, they extended downward 35° in 1.5 seconds. The flaps did not act as a speed brake; they affected the pressure distribution in a way that retained the wing's lift. Late in 1943, a few hundred dive flap field-modification kits were assembled to give North African, European, and Pacific P-38s a chance to withstand compressibility and expand their combat tactics. The kits did not always reach their destination. In March 1944, 200 dive flap kits intended for

16524-425: The engineering team to tackle the problem of frozen controls in a dive. Lockheed had a few ideas for tests that would help them find an answer. The first solution tried was the fitting of spring-loaded servo tabs on the elevator trailing edge designed to aid the pilot when control yoke forces rose over 30 pounds-force (130 N), as would be expected in a high-speed dive. At that point, the tabs would begin to multiply

16686-500: The entirety of American involvement in the war, from Pearl Harbor to Victory over Japan Day . It filled ground-attack, air-to-air, and even tactical bombing roles in all theaters of the war in which the United States operated. The P-38 was responsible for shooting down more Japanese aircraft than any other U.S. Army Air Forces type during the war; it is particularly famous for being the aircraft type that shot down Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto 's airplane. The Lockheed Vega factory

16848-453: The faltering economy and worries about unemployment while testifying "the time has come within the United States when we have to look at things differently. Free enterprise is just not all that free." Questions arose whether letting Lockheed fail would be bad for the market due to decreased competition or good by screening out inefficient competitors and mismanagement. Lockheed's competitors, McDonnell Douglas and General Electric (collaborators on

17010-570: The first fighter ever to be delivered across the Atlantic under its own power. Kelsey himself piloted one of the Lightnings, landing in Scotland on 25 July. The first unit to receive P-38s was the 1st Fighter Group . After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the unit joined the 14th Pursuit Group in San Diego to provide West Coast defense. The first Lightning to see active service was the F-4 version,

17172-542: The front to reorganize, with surviving pilots sent home and the few remaining Lightnings transferred to the 82nd. The 14th was out of action for three months, returning in May. On 5 April 1943, 26 P-38Fs of the 82nd claimed 31 enemy aircraft destroyed, helping to establish air superiority in the area and allegedly earning it the German nickname " der Gabelschwanz Teufel " – the Fork-tailed Devil, coming from

17334-524: The global aerospace industry and research effort. In Russia , large aerospace companies like Oboronprom and the United Aircraft Corporation (encompassing Mikoyan , Sukhoi , Ilyushin , Tupolev , Yakovlev , and Irkut , which includes Beriev ) are among the major global players in this industry. Important locations of the civil aerospace industry worldwide include Seattle , Wichita, Kansas , Dayton, Ohio and St. Louis in

17496-509: The horses" on the next leg. After climbing out of Wright Field and reaching altitude, Kelsey pushed the XP-38 to 420 miles per hour (680 km/h). Nearing his destination, Kelsey was ordered by Mitchel Field tower ( Hempstead, New York ) into a slow landing pattern behind other aircraft. Carburetor icing caused it to be brought down short of the Mitchel runway, and it was wrecked. However, on

17658-738: The introduction of the P-38J, by September 1944, all but one of the Lightning groups in the Eighth Air Force had converted to the P-51 Mustang. The Eighth Air Force continued to conduct reconnaissance missions using the F-5 variant. The P-38 was used most extensively and successfully in the Pacific Theater, where it proved more suited, combining exceptional range with the reliability of two engines for long missions over water. The P-38

17820-637: The largest industrial bases in 2017 were the United States with $ 408.4 billion (representing 49% of the whole), followed by France with $ 69 billion (8.2%), then China with $ 61.2 billion (7.3%), the United Kingdom with $ 48.8 billion (5.8%), Germany with $ 46.2 billion (5.5%), Russia with $ 27.1 billion (3.2%), Canada with $ 24 billion (2.9%), Japan with $ 21 billion (2.5%), Spain with $ 14 billion (1.7%) and India with $ 11 billion (1.3%). These ten countries represent $ 731 billion or 87.2% of

17982-553: The late 1980s, leveraged buyout specialist Harold Simmons conducted a widely publicized but unsuccessful takeover attempt on the Lockheed Corporation, having gradually acquired almost 20 percent of its stock. Lockheed was attractive to Simmons because one of its primary investors was the California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS), the pension fund of the state of California. At

18144-459: The leading "Lightning killer" in the Luftwaffe with 17 destroyed. The Mediterranean Theater had the first aerial combat between German fighters and P-38s. German fighter pilot appraisal of the P-38 was mixed. Some observers dismissed the P-38 as an easy kill, while others gave it high praise, a deadly enemy worthy of respect. Johannes Steinhoff , commander of JG 77 in North Africa, said that

18306-405: The loan. (Later, historian Stephen J. Whitfield viewed the passage of the loan guarantee as a support for the argument that America was shifting away from Lockean liberalism.) Following a fierce debate, Vice President Spiro T. Agnew cast a tie-breaking vote in favor of the measure on August 2, 1971. President Nixon signed the bill into law on August 9, 1971 - which became colloquially known as

18468-488: The loss of B-17 "The Lady Evelyn," 42–30344, downed by "an enemy P-38". War missions for that plane were limited, as the Italian petrol was too corrosive for the Lockheed's tanks. Other Lightnings were eventually acquired by Italy for postwar service. In a particular case when faced by more agile fighters at low altitudes in a constricted valley, Lightnings suffered heavy losses. On the morning of 10 June 1944, 96 P-38Js of

18630-420: The loss of the prototype, rather than hampering the program, sped the process by cutting short the initial test series. The success of the aircraft design contributed to Kelsey's promotion to captain in May 1939. Manufacture of YP-38s fell behind schedule, at least partly because of changes to meet the need for mass production, making them substantially different in construction from the prototype. Another factor

18792-530: The outnumbered 71st Fighter Squadron took more damage than it dished out, losing nine aircraft. In all, the USAAF lost 22 aircraft on the mission. The Americans claimed 23 aerial victories. The Romanians and Germans lost five Bf 110s, four Ju 52s , and one Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 on the ground, as well as three Focke-Wulf Fw 58 , three IAR 38 , and three IAR.81C in the air. Eleven enemy locomotives were strafed and left burning, and flak emplacements were destroyed, along with fuel trucks and other targets. Results of

18954-490: The problems of drop-tank design and incorporation. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, eventually about 100 P-38Es were sent to a modification center near Dallas, Texas , or to the new Lockheed assembly plant B-6 (today the Burbank Airport ), to be fitted with four K-17 aerial photography cameras. All of these aircraft were also modified to be able to carry drop tanks. P-38Fs were modified, as well. Every Lightning from

19116-416: The production line in June 1944 on the last 210 P-38Js. Despite testing having proved the dive flaps effective in improving tactical maneuvers, a 14-month delay in production limited their implementation, with only the final half of all Lightnings built having the dive flaps installed as an assembly-line sequence. Johnson later recalled: I broke an ulcer over compressibility on the P-38 because we flew into

19278-408: The ramifications of the Lockheed loan guarantee soon resurfaced in late 1975 with discussions on possible aid to New York City during its fiscal crisis . Lockheed finished paying off the $ 1.4 billion loan in 1977, along with about $ 112.22 million in loan guarantee fees. The Lockheed bribery scandals were a series of illegal bribes and contributions made by Lockheed officials from the late 1950s to

19440-722: The rest of the 12th Air Force. P-38s were first involved in North African combat operations on 11 November 1942. The first North African P-38 kill was on 22 November, when Lieutenant Mark Shipman of the 14th downed an Italian airplane with twin engines. Shipman later made two more kills – a Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter and a very large Me 323 Gigant transport. Early results in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations were mixed. Some P-38 pilots scored multiple kills to become aces, while many others were shot down due to inexperience or tactical strictures. Overall,

19602-410: The speed of sound. Filleting solved the buffeting problem for the P-38E and later models. Another issue with the P-38 arose from its unique design feature of outwardly rotating (at the "tops" of the propeller arcs) counter-rotating propellers. Losing one of two engines in any twin-engined, non- centerline thrust aircraft on takeoff creates sudden drag, yawing the nose toward the dead engine and rolling

19764-401: The tail assembly, engines, and turbosuperchargers, with a central nacelle for the pilot and armament. The XP-38 gondola mockup was designed to mount two .50-caliber (12.7 mm) M2 Browning machine guns with 200 rounds per gun (rpg), two .30-caliber (7.62 mm) Brownings with 500 rpg, and a United States Army Ordnance Department prototype T1 23 mm (.90 in) autocannon with

19926-467: The takeover since he was also at the time pursuing control of Georgia Gulf . Merger talks between Lockheed and Martin Marietta began in March 1994, with the companies announcing their $ 10 billion planned merger on August 30, 1994. The headquarters for the combined companies would be at Martin Marietta headquarters in North Bethesda, Maryland . The deal was finalized on March 15, 1995, when

20088-539: The target was concealed by smoke screen , and antiaircraft fire was very heavy, seven Lightnings were lost to antiaircraft fire at the target, and two more during strafing attacks on the return flight. German Bf 109 fighters from I./JG 53 and 2./JG 77 fought the Americans. Sixteen P-38s, called " Indieni cu două pene " (Indians with two feathers) by the Romanians, of the 71st Fighter Squadron were challenged by

20250-423: The test sequence successfully, but 15 minutes later, was seen in a steep dive followed by a high-G pullout. The tail unit of the aircraft failed at about 3,500 ft (1,000 m) during the high-speed dive recovery; Virden was killed in the subsequent crash. The Lockheed design office was justifiably upset, but their design engineers could only conclude that servo tabs were not the solution for loss of control in

20412-430: The tests, which were done up to Mach 0.74. The P-38's dive problem was revealed to be the center of pressure moving back toward the tail when in high-speed airflow. The solution was to change the geometry of the wing's lower surface when diving to keep lift within bounds of the top of the wing. In February 1943, quick-acting dive flaps were tried and proven by Lockheed test pilots. The dive flaps were installed outboard of

20574-465: The time, the New York Times said, "Much of Mr. Simmons's interest in Lockheed is believed to stem from its pension plan, which is over funded by more than $ 1.4 billion. Analysts said he might want to liquidate the plan and pay out the excess funds to shareholders, including himself." Citing the mismanagement by its chairman, Daniel M. Tellep , Simmons stated a wish to replace its board with

20736-603: The twin Allison V12s. Early problems with cockpit temperature regulation occurred; pilots were often too hot in the tropical sun as the canopy could not be fully opened without severe buffeting, and were often too cold in Northern Europe and at high altitude, as the distance of the engines from the cockpit prevented easy heat transfer. Later variants received modifications (such as electrically heated flight suits) to solve these problems. On 20 September 1939, before

20898-499: The two companies' shareholders approved the merger. The segments of the two companies not retained by the new company formed the basis for L-3 Communications , a mid-size defense contractor in its own right. Lockheed Martin also later spun off the materials company Martin Marietta Materials . The company's executives received large bonuses directly from the government as a result of the merger. Norman R. Augustine who

21060-452: The unit's old Bf 109s were "perhaps, a little faster" than the P-38, but a dogfight with the twin-engined fighter was daunting because its turning radius was much smaller, and it could quickly get on the tail of the Bf 109. Franz Stigler , an ace with 28 kills, flew Bf 109s against the P-38 in North Africa. Stigler said the Lightning "could turn inside us with ease and they could go from level flight to climb almost instantaneously. We lost quite

21222-613: The vibration was unchanged and the diving tendency was naturally the same for all conditions." The external mass balances did not help at all. Nonetheless, at Wolfe's insistence, the additional external balances were a feature of every P-38 built from then on. Johnson said in his autobiography that he pleaded with National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics to do model tests in its wind tunnel. They already had experience of models thrashing around violently at speeds approaching those requested and did not want to risk damaging their tunnel. Gen. Arnold, head of Army Air Forces, ordered them to run

21384-432: The war. Unusual for an early-war fighter design, both engines were supplemented by turbosuperchargers , making it one of the earliest Allied fighters capable of performing well at high altitudes. The turbosuperchargers also muffled the exhaust, making the P-38's operation relatively quiet. The Lightning was extremely forgiving in flight and could be mishandled in many ways, but the initial rate of roll in early versions

21546-441: The water. On 9 August 1942, two P-38Es of the 343rd Fighter Group, 11th Air Force , at the end of a 1,000-mile (1,600 km) long-range patrol, happened upon a pair of Japanese Kawanishi H6K "Mavis" flying boats and destroyed them, making them the first Japanese aircraft to be shot down by Lightnings. After the Battle of Midway , the USAAF began redeploying fighter groups to Britain as part of Operation Bolero and Lightnings of

21708-459: The whole industry. In 2018, the new commercial aircraft value is projected for $ 270.4 billion while business aircraft will amount for $ 18 billion and civil helicopters for $ 4 billion. In September 2018, PwC ranked aerospace manufacturing attractiveness: the most attractive country was the United States , with $ 240 billion in sales in 2017, due to the sheer size of the industry (#1) and educated workforce (#1), low geopolitical risk (#4, #1

21870-435: The wing guns of other fighters were optimized for a specific range. The rate of fire was about 650 rounds per minute for the 20×110 mm cannon round (130-gram shell) at a muzzle velocity of about 2,850 ft/s (870 m/s), and for the .50-caliber machine guns (43-gram rounds), about 850 rpm at 2,900 ft/s (880 m/s) velocity. Combined rate of fire was over 4,000 rpm with roughly every sixth projectile

22032-456: The wingtip down on the side of the dead engine. Normal training in flying twin-engined aircraft when losing an engine on takeoff is to push the remaining engine to full throttle to maintain airspeed; if a pilot did that in the P-38, regardless of which engine had failed, the resulting engine torque and p-factor force produced a sudden, uncontrollable yawing roll, and the aircraft would flip over and crash. Eventually, procedures were taught to allow

22194-473: The word "interceptor" as a way to bypass the inflexible Army Air Corps requirement for pursuit aircraft to carry no more than 500 lb (230 kg) of armament including ammunition, and to bypass the USAAC restriction of single-seat aircraft to one engine. Kelsey was looking for a minimum of 1,000 lb (450 kg) of armament. Kelsey and Saville aimed to get a more capable fighter, better at dog fighting and at high-altitude combat. Specifications called for

22356-661: The world in 1937. Subsequent designs, the Lockheed Model 12 Electra Junior and the Lockheed Model 14 Super Electra expanded their market. The Lockheed Model 14 formed the basis for the Hudson bomber, which was supplied to both the British Royal Air Force and the United States military before and during World War II . Its primary role was submarine hunting. The Model 14 Super Electra were sold abroad, and more than 100 were license-built in Japan for use by

22518-500: Was bankrupt , Airbus, Boeing or Bombardier declined to take the 728JET /928JET large regional jet program as mainline and regional aircraft manufacturers were split and Airbus was digesting its ill-fated Fokker acquisition a decade earlier. On September 4, 2017, United Technologies acquired Rockwell Collins in cash and stock for $ 23 billion, $ 30 billion including Rockwell Collins' net debt, for $ 500+ million of synergies expected by year four. The Oct. 16, 2017 announcement of

22680-653: Was "the sweetest-flying plane in the sky". A little-known role of the P-38 in the European theater was that of fighter-bomber during the invasion of Normandy and the Allied advance across France into Germany. Assigned to the IX Tactical Air Command , the 370th Fighter Group and 474th Fighter Group and their P-38s initially flew missions from England, dive-bombing radar installations, enemy armor, troop concentrations, and flak towers , and providing air cover. The 370th's group commander Howard F. Nichols and

22842-661: Was a rough airstrip in Greenland called Bluie West One , and the third refueling stop was in Iceland at Keflavik . Other P-38s followed this route with some lost in mishaps, usually due to poor weather, low visibility, radio difficulties, and navigational errors. Nearly 200 of the P-38Fs (and a few modified Es) were successfully flown across the Atlantic in July–August 1942, making the P-38 the first USAAF fighter to reach Britain and

23004-452: Was also the first military airplane to fly faster than 400 mph (640 km/h) in level flight. Lockheed won the competition on 23 June 1937 with its Model 22 and was contracted to build a prototype XP-38 for US$ 163,000, though Lockheed's own costs on the prototype would add up to US$ 761,000. Construction began in July 1938 in an old bourbon distillery purchased by Lockheed to house expanding operations. This secure and remote site

23166-405: Was another early aerodynamic problem. Distinguishing it from compressibility was difficult, as both were reported by test pilots as "tail shake". Buffeting came about from airflow disturbances ahead of the tail; the airplane would shake at high speed. Leading-edge wing slots were tried, as were combinations of filleting between the wing, cockpit, and engine nacelles. Air-tunnel test number 15 solved

23328-694: Was at the time CEO of Martin Marietta received an $ 8.2 million bonus. Both companies contributed important products to the new portfolio. Lockheed products included the Trident missile , P-3 Orion maritime patrol aircraft , U-2 and SR-71 reconnaissance airplanes , F-117 Nighthawk , F-16 Fighting Falcon , F-22 Raptor , C-130 Hercules , A-4AR Fightinghawk and the DSCS-3 satellite. Martin Marietta products included Titan rockets , Sandia National Laboratories (management contract acquired in 1993), Space Shuttle External Tank , Viking 1 and Viking 2 landers,

23490-593: Was built in any number (141 aircraft) was the Vega first built in 1927, best known for its several first- and record-setting flights by, among others, Amelia Earhart , Wiley Post , and George Hubert Wilkins . In the 1930s, Lockheed spent $ 139,400 ($ 2.29 million) to develop the Model 10 Electra , a small twin-engined transport. The company sold 40 in the first year of production. Amelia Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan , flew it in their failed attempt to circumnavigate

23652-718: Was built to vague initial requirements and suffered from structural weaknesses, which Lockheed was forced to correct at its own expense. The TriStar competed for the same market as the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 ; delays in Rolls-Royce engine development caused the TriStar to fall behind the DC-10. The C-5 and L-1011 projects, the canceled U.S. Army AH-56 Cheyenne helicopter program, and embroiled shipbuilding contracts caused Lockheed to lose large sums of money during

23814-448: Was completed with a pressurized cabin on an experimental basis and designated XP-38A . Due to reports the USAAF was receiving from Europe, the remaining 36 in the batch were upgraded with small improvements such as self-sealing fuel tanks and enhanced armor protection to make them combat-capable. The USAAF specified that these 36 aircraft were to be designated P-38D . As a result, no P-38Bs or P-38Cs were designated. The P-38D's main role

23976-440: Was delivered to the USAAC in June 1941; 12 aircraft were retained for flight testing and one for destructive stress testing. The YPs were substantially redesigned and differed greatly in detail from the hand-built XP-38. They were lighter and included changes in engine fit. The propeller rotation was reversed, with the blades spinning outward (away from the cockpit ) at the top of their arc, rather than inward as before. This improved

24138-432: Was denied by Comptroller General Elmer B. Staats , and efforts were made by Senator William Proxmire to get Treasury Secretary John Connally to testify due to the suspicion that the loan guarantee was in jeopardy. The editorial board of The New York Times blasted the situation, citing it as another argument against the propriety of the loan guarantee and the precedent it set for other failing companies. The debate around

24300-400: Was easily foreseen as the post-war modernization of civilian air travel. The Constellation's performance set new standards which transformed the civilian transportation market. Its signature tri-tail was the result of many initial customers not having hangars tall enough for a conventional tail. Lockheed produced a larger transport, the double-decked R6V Constitution , which was intended to make

24462-517: Was hotly debated in the US Senate. The chief antagonist was Senator William Proxmire (D-Wis), the nemesis of Lockheed and its chairman, Daniel J. Haughton. Some of the debate in Congress developed over what conditions should be attached to the bailout. Senator Alan Cranston demanded that the management be forced to step down, lest it set a precedent rewarding wasteful spending. Others argued that

24624-429: Was later identified by Johnson as the first of five Lockheed Skunk Works locations. The XP-38 first flew on 27 January 1939 at the hands of Ben Kelsey. Kelsey then proposed a speed dash to Wright Field on 11 February 1939 to relocate the aircraft for further testing. General Henry "Hap" Arnold , commander of the USAAC, approved of the record attempt and recommended a cross-country flight to New York. The flight set

24786-536: Was located next to Burbank's Union Airport which it had purchased in 1940. During the war, the entire area was camouflaged in case of enemy reconnaissance. The factory was hidden beneath a huge burlap tarpaulin painted to depict a peaceful semi-rural neighborhood, replete with rubber automobiles. Hundreds of fake trees, shrubs, buildings, and even fire hydrants were positioned to give a three-dimensional appearance. The trees and shrubs were created from chicken wire treated with an adhesive and covered with feathers to provide

24948-474: Was low relative to other contemporary fighters; this was addressed in later variants with the introduction of hydraulically boosted ailerons . The P-38 was the only American fighter aircraft in large-scale production throughout American involvement in the war, from the Attack on Pearl Harbor to Victory over Japan Day . The Lockheed Corporation designed the P-38 in response to a February 1937 specification from

25110-587: Was operational from 1912 to 1920. The company built and operated aircraft for paying passengers on sightseeing tours in California and had developed a prototype for the civil market, but folded in 1920 due to the flood of surplus aircraft deflating the market after World War I . Allan went into the real estate market while Malcolm had meanwhile formed a successful company marketing brake systems for automobiles. On December 13, 1926, Allan Loughead, John Northrop , Kenneth Kay and Fred Keeler secured funding to form

25272-522: Was the sudden required expansion of Lockheed's facility in Burbank , taking it from a specialized civilian firm dealing with small orders to a large government defense contractor making Venturas , Harpoons , Lodestars , and Hudsons , and designing the Constellation for TWA . The first YP-38 was not completed until September 1940, with its maiden flight on 17 September. The 13th and final YP-38

25434-617: Was to work out bugs and give the USAAF experience with handling the type. In March 1940, the French and British, through the Anglo-French Purchasing Committee , ordered 667 P-38s for US$ 100M, designated Model 322F for the French and Model 322B for the British. The aircraft was a variant of the P-38E. The overseas Allies wished for complete commonality of Allison engines with the large numbers of Curtiss P-40 Tomahawks both nations had on order, so they ordered

25596-443: Was too small a sum for a serious bid. In 1934, Robert E. Gross was named chairman of the new company, the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation, which was headquartered at what is now the airport in Burbank, California . His brother Courtlandt S. Gross was a co-founder and executive, succeeding Robert as chairman following his death in 1961. The company was named the Lockheed Corporation in 1977. The first successful construction that

25758-642: Was unarmed, lacked turbochargers and restricted to 300 mph (480 km/h); though the undercarriage was praised and flight on one engine described as comfortable. These three were subsequently returned to the USAAF; one in December 1942 and the others in July 1943. Of the remaining 140 Lightning Is, 19 were not modified and were designated by the USAAF as RP-322-I ('R' for 'Restricted', because noncounter-rotating propellers were considered more dangerous on takeoff), while 121 were converted to counter-rotating V-1710F-2 engines without turbosuperchargers and designated P-322-II . All 121 were used as advanced trainers ;

25920-421: Was used in a variety of roles, especially escorting bombers at altitudes of 18,000–25,000 ft (5,500–7,600 m). The P-38 was credited with destroying more Japanese aircraft than any other USAAF fighter. Freezing cockpit temperatures were not a problem at low altitude in the tropics. In fact, the cockpit was often too hot since opening a window while in flight caused buffeting by setting up turbulence through

26082-416: Was useless. We told Doolittle that all it was good for was photoreconnaissance and had to be withdrawn from escort duties. And the funny thing is that the Americans had great difficulty understanding this because the Lightning had the two top aces in the Far East. After evaluation tests at Farnborough, the P-38 was kept in fighting service in Europe for a while longer. Although many failings were remedied with

26244-422: Was worth $ 838.5 billion in 2017: aircraft & engine OEMs represented 28% ($ 235 Bn), civil & military MRO & upgrades 27% ($ 226 Bn), aircraft systems & component manufacturing 26% ($ 218 Bn), satellites & space 7% ($ 59 Bn), missiles & UAVs 5% ($ 42 Bn) and other activity, including flight simulators , defense electronics, public research accounted for 7% ($ 59 Bn). The Top 10 countries with

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