All language subtitles for Air.Warriors.S06E07.P-38.Lightning.WEB.h264-CAFFEiNE[eztv]

Narrator: It strikes
like a bolt from the blue...

Man: The p-38 lightning was

One of the most unique airplanes
of world war ii.

Narrator:
...Blazing into battle...

Man: The lightning
with two engines

Was able to climb very fast,

Faster than
any other fighter of its day.

Narrator: ...And delivering
a crushing blow.

Woman: When the pilot
concentrated the p-38's guns

On an enemy,

Boom, that was the end.

[explosion]

Narrator:
The p-38 shows no mercy.

Man: It seized control
of the air from the germans.

It seized control
of the air from the japanese.

It was the mount of choice for
leading american fighter aces.

Narrator: Harnessing its power,

America rides the lightning
to victory.

Man: This is the best.

This is the best.

♪

Narrator: April 18, 1943,
guadalcanal, the south pacific.

America is out for revenge.

16 pilots scramble
into their planes,

Then race away
from the airfield.

Their mission--
operation vengeance.

Their target--japanese admiral
isoroku yamamoto,

Mastermind
of the pearl harbor attack.

Their weapon--
the p-38 lightning.

Rebecca grant: The only way
to carry out the yamamoto raid

Was to use the p-38 lightning.

Narrator: Dr. Rebecca grant

Is one of the foremost
civilian experts

On air force history
and aircraft.

Grant: The p-38 had
that important combination

Of range and firepower
to carry out the attack.

No one had higher status
than yamamoto

In the japanese military.

He was the head
of the imperial navy.

He was their mastermind
and their top strategist.

No one was more valuable
to japan's war effort

Than yamamoto.

Narrator: If the p-38s
can take out yamamoto,

They'll shift the balance
of power and shorten the war.

To make this happen,
they have a secret weapon.

[beeping]

Yamamoto's movements
are being monitored

By american code breakers.

Grant: Intelligence officers
reading the japanese code

Came across an astonishing fact.

Admiral yamamoto was scheduled
to go on an inspection tour,

Leaving their island base
of rabaul and flying down

To visit frontline units
at bougainville.

Narrator: But bougainville
is right at the edge

Of the p-38's range--

Over 1,000 miles round-trip.

Dick anderegg: The breaking
of the code, the japanese code,

Was an incredible intelligence
advantage for america.

We could tell
what they were gonna do

Before they even executed it.

It then left to us to decide

Whether or not we wanted
to take action on that.

Narrator: Dick anderegg
flew over 4,000 hours

In american fighter jets

And was director

Of the air force history
and museums program.

Anderegg: There was a risk that,

Uh, they would figure out that
we knew what their code was,

But to get yamamoto,
that risk was worth it.

Narrator:
On the hunt for yamamoto,

The p-38 pilots fly deep
into japanese-held territory.

Skimming just above the waves,
they need to avoid detection

Because there's no mistaking
which plane is on the prowl.

The p-38 lightning stands apart.

Jim tyler: Anybody knew
that it was a p-38

When they looked at it.

Narrator: Jim tyler
was a p-38 pilot in world war ii

And flew dozens of missions
over Italy and southern germany.

Tyler: The twin booms,
the gondola in the middle.

Anybody knew the minute
they saw it, it was a p-38.

Anybody would know it.

♪

Narrator: The twin booms house

Two massive,
turbosupercharged engines,

Cranking out
1,100 horsepower each.

The p-38 is built for speed...

♪

...The first fighter
to break 400 miles per hour.

But over the open pacific,

Range and speed
will mean nothing

If the p-38s miss their prey,
admiral yamamoto.

Grant: Yamamoto
had to be on time.

They'd only have a few minutes.

If yamamoto was late or early,

It was possible for the p-38s
to miss him entirely.

Anderegg:
I think the probability

Of this intercept
being successful was very slim,

I mean, to almost nonexistent.

Narrator:
Never bet against the p-38.

Despite long odds,
the hunters' timing is perfect.

Near bougainville, they find
a squad of japanese zeros

Escorting what's supposed to be
a single bomber.

Grant: The surprise is
there's not one bomber but two,

And no one knows
which plane holds yamamoto.

Narrator: The p-38s
split into two groups.

12 will take on the zeros
to keep them busy,

While four aim for the bombers.

Grant: The four p-38s
at lower level

Immediately roll in for attack
through broken clouds.

Narrator:
Now the japanese bombers

Are in a race for their lives.

[gunfire]

One speeds
for the safety of base.

The other charges
out over the ocean.

But they can't outrun
the lightnings,

And there's nowhere to hide

Once they're
in the p-38s' gun sights.

The lightnings' guns
rip into both bombers,

Unloading hundreds of rounds
in just a few seconds.

[gunfire]

Grant: One bomber
crashes into the sea.

The other, on fire,
crashes onto the island itself.

This is the bomber
that holds yamamoto.

Narrator: Yamamoto
plummets to his death.

[gunfire]

In the sky over his wreck,

The lightnings take out
five more of his escort,

While losing
just one of their own.

Grant: For japan,
it's an incalculable loss.

Yamamoto was their number-one
strategic thinker.

Without yamamoto, japan's
war plans are very uncertain.

[gunshots]

[gunfire]

Narrator: The p-38
blasts its way into history

With the yamamoto shoot-down.

[gunfire]

What makes the p-38 so lethal?

Devastating firepower.

Each plane pours lead from four
.50-caliber machine guns.

They surround
a 20-millimeter cannon.

Firing 4,000 rounds per minute,

The p-38 chews up targets
like a giant buzz saw.

[gunfire]

Tyler: A lot of firepower.

Anything in front of it,
you made a mess of it.

When you pulled that trigger,
it exploded literally.

Complete devastation,
complete devastation.

[gunfire]

The firepower
was all concentrated

Because it's right in the nose
of the aircraft.

[gunfire]

Anderegg:
It had excellent aiming

Because those guns were mounted
on the center line,

As opposed to out on the wings,

Which meant everything
shot straight ahead.

This made gunnery much easier
for the p-38 pilot.

♪

Narrator: The p-38s'
shoot-down of yamamoto

Signals a turning point
for america's airpower.

But just six months earlier,

The p-38 got off
to a rough start.

November 8, 1942.

Allied troops hit the beaches
in casablanca, morocco.

It's the first step
in taking occupied lands

Back from nazi control.

Richard hallion:
Operation torch was the name

For the invasion
of north africa.

Narrator: Dr. Richard hallion
is an author

And aerospace historian.

Hallion: And it was designed
to strike eastwards,

Uh, toward, uh, the remnants
of the afrika korps and rommel.

And that gave the p-38

Really its first opportunity
to show its stuff.

Narrator:
The battle-hardened axis troops

Control most of north africa.

[artillery fire]

And their commander,
erwin rommel,

Is one of germany's best.

Anderegg: As the americans,
uh, and the british

Advanced across north africa,
they learned as they went.

[artillery fire]

And eisenhower
made a lot of mistakes,

And he was the first
to admit that.

Narrator: February 19, 1943,
kasserine, tunisia.

Rommel's armored units
tear into american defenses.

If he breaks through,

The u.S. Could be driven
from north africa.

Hallion: The army commander...

[explosion]

...Put american forces
into a disadvantageous position,

Where his command was
almost completely destroyed

And certainly rendered
combat-ineffective by rommel

At the battle of kasserine.

Narrator: The p-38s
are rushed into the breach,

But in early 1943,
some american p-38 pilots

Have less than
40 hours' flight time

And almost no gunnery practice
in the lightning.

Anderegg: Fighter pilots
have a little saying

That if it hasn't been shot at,
it's not worth anything,

Because that's
how you learn, is in combat.

Hallion: The p-38 came
to the north african campaign

As an unproven system.

[crash]

And so pilots
had to learn on the job,

And it was a cruel business.

Uh, basically
most of the losses occurred,

Occurred
in the first ten missions.

If you got through ten missions,

You had a very good chance
of surviving your tour.

Narrator: The lightning pilots
literally learn under fire,

Often against the best elements
of the luftwaffe.

Anderegg: The, the principal
german fighters of that time,

The, uh, me 109 and the fw 190,

Were very, very advanced
fighters for their day.

They were designed
for maneuverability,

But they also had
some pretty good firepower...

...So those airplanes were very,
very difficult adversaries

For the new p-38 pilots.

Narrator: Facing enormous odds,
the p-38 counterattacks.

But no one knows
if this unproven plane,

With its green pilots,
can rise to the challenge.

February 1943,

German troops
blast into kasserine pass,

Sending the allies reeling.

P-38s, new to battle,

Are pushed to the front lines
to counter the german attack.

Russell lee: Initially, pilots
were a little bit ambivalent

About first taking
the airplane into combat

Because it was so new--

Cutting edge
and state of the art--

And they hadn't trained
on them before.

Narrator: Russell lee is chair
of the aeronautics department

At the national
air and space museum.

Lee: But very quickly,

The airplane's strengths,
uh, were apparent.

The p-38 was
a very versatile airframe.

It could be equipped with bombs.

[explosion]

Of course it had
its heavy nose-mounted armament

Of machine guns and cannon.

[explosion]

It was also equipped at one
point with, uh, rockets...

[explosion]

Air-to-ground rockets that, uh,

Were almost like firing
an artillery round

And had a devastating effect
on, uh, ground units.

Narrator: The p-38
is designed to carry

2,000 pounds of extra fuel
or weaponry.

Former p-38 pilot jim tyler used
to fly a variety of payloads.

Tyler: Between the engine
and the cockpit,

There was a pylon
stuck down here, and you--

The pylon could support
one of a number of things.

It would support
either a 500-pound rdx bomb,

Or it would support
a 165-gallon belly tank,

Or it would support
a 310-gallon belly tank,

Depending on
what the mission was.

But it'd carry a lot of weight,
let's put it that way.

Narrator: In 1943,
above kasserine pass,

The p-38s bring
all their firepower to bear

And pour down fury from the sky.

Under heavy artillery
and air attack,

The german advance stalls.

Anderegg:
Rommel learned very quickly

That if he marshaled his forces

In large areas

And large concentrations,

That american air power
could be very devastating

And deliver some really,
really horrible results

On the ground.

[gunfire]

Hallion: The only bright spot
in kasserine

Was that the air corps units
performed well,

And ultimately the p-38
played in all of those.

Narrator: The germans retreat,

The first in a series
of axis reversals.

North africa proves
that the p-38

Is a deadly
air-to-ground weapon...

[explosions]

...And has developed
into a plane far more robust

Than its original design.

Hallion: The p-38
grew out of the need

That the army air corps
perceived in the late 1930s

To develop an interceptor
that could attack

The new generations
of high-performance bombers

That were appearing
in germany and japan.

Lee: In fact,
in the early thirties,

There were
some american bombers

That were faster
than the american fighters.

Narrator:
Earlier american fighters

Rarely break 250 miles per hour

And struggle at altitudes
over 20,000 feet.

Lee: The army came up
with a document

That laid out
in very exacting terms

What the performance
needed to be

For a cutting-edge
fighter aircraft.

One of the criterion
was a minimum speed

Of 360 miles per hour
at about 20,000 feet.

Narrator: Many of
the large aviation companies

Enter the competition,
but one design stands out.

Lee: Lockheed came up
with the xp-38,

A highly experimental airplane

Which, uh, was
the only one of its kind.

Hallion: The p-38's designer
was a unique american,

Uh, kelly johnson,
uh, probably overall

The most gifted
aircraft designer

In the united states
in the 20th century.

Narrator: The p-38 is the first

Of johnson's
many radical designs.

Lee: And his claim to fame
is that he designed

Some of the most
spectacular airplanes

In the history of aviation,

Including the p-38,
the lockheed u-2,

The sr-71 blackbird.

Kelly johnson is a legend.

Narrator: Lockheed accommodates
the p-38's huge inline engines

And the super turbocharger

By extending the booms
all the way to the tail.

Lee: The first cross-country
flight of the p-38

Was just a couple of months
after its first flight,

And one of the reasons was

Because lockheed was
very interested in demonstrating

What the p-38 could do

In order to win
a massive production contract.

Narrator: The plane
blazes cross-country,

Reaching speeds
of 420 miles per hour

And breaking
the transcontinental record

Set by howard hughes in 1935.

Lee: As it was
coming in to land,

Uh, the airplane's
engines faltered,

And it crash-landed
in a golf course.

[crash]

Narrator: Ice in the carburetors
brings down the p-38.

The plane is totaled,

But the pilot escapes
with just minor scratches.

Hallion: This could have
killed the program,

But the promise
of the aircraft was such

That the army air corps
stayed with it.

Narrator: To make the p-38
easier to handle,

The lockheed engineers come up
with a clever innovation--

Counterrotating propellers.

This eliminates any torque,
or pull, in one direction

When the plane accelerates,

Making the plane
extraordinarily stable,

And with dual engines,
the p-38 is also very rugged.

Evan fagen: P-38 was different
than the other fighters

In a lot of ways.

Narrator: Evan fagen
is the chief pilot

At fagen fighters
world war ii museum.

Fagen: It had two engines,
so you have two of everything,

So if one was shot out
or had mechanical problems,

It could fly back on one engine.

Narrator:
But the p-38 could still be

A challenging plane to fly,
as jim tyler discovered.

Tyler: The first time
I got in one of these,

It was an overwhelming,
overwhelming experience

For a 20-year-old kid,
I'll tell you that.

After you studied and studied

And studied
where everything was,

Then they gave you what
they called the blindfold test,

Where they put on a blindfold

And would say,
"where's the prop controls?

Where's the throttles?
Where's the fuses?

Where's the gas selector
switches?

Which tank are you on,
left, main?"

Got used to it, I--

It's just, it's just like
driving your car.

It's, it's automatic.

Brings back a lot of memories,
I'll tell you that.

♪

Narrator: April 1943, tunisia.

After four months
of brutal fighting,

The p-38 has helped drive back
the german ground troops.

Their next mission--
choke off enemy supply lines.

Anderegg: An army travels
on its belly.

You had to feed the soldiers,

And then you have to
feed the tanks,

And you have to feed
everything with petrol

And soldiers
with food and ammunition.

They were highly experienced.
They were great combat warriors.

They had great equipment.

But if you can't supply it,
you can't fight with it.

Narrator: Allied navies
have cut off axis seaways

Across the mediterranean,

So to keep their
north african army supplied,

Germany assembles a fleet
of 500 transport planes.

Shuttling over 88 tons
of material every day,

They dash from Italy to africa.

But they're flying right
into the teeth of the p-38s.

April 11, 1943, eastern algeria,

19 p-38s form up at daybreak.

Their leader is
first lieutenant alex hamric,

A 22-year-old
from tennessee.

Their mission--intercept
german transport planes

And bring them down.

Hallion: In April 1943,

We undertook
a very significant action,

And what that was
was operation flax.

This was to use air attacks

To destroy the german
logistical supply line

Between Italy and north africa.

Anderegg: And because a p-38
had a lot of gas on it,

It could loiter,
and it could look

And wait and be on station,

And they could either
engage fighters,

Or they could zoom,
fly very fast past the fighters

Out of a dive
and hit the transports.

[explosion]

Narrator: Battle tested,

The p-38 pilots now take
the fight to the germans.

Grant: The p-38 pilots used

That superior climb rate
of their airplane

To get up to high altitude.

They'd spot the germans
and dive down,

Slashing with guns blazing
to make the attack...

[gunfire]

...Then break off.

Anderegg: The german fighters
would like to fight

In a phone booth,
very close-in,

Lots of turning,
close-in turning.

The p-38 pilots wanted
to fight in a big beach ball,

A geo-dome that was big

So that they could maneuver up
and slash and go away,

Climb away up,
and back and slash.

Grant: They called it
dive and slash, boom and zoom.

[gunfire]

Narrator: April 11, 1943,
heading south from sicily,

20 german ju 52
transport planes,

Escorted by a dozen
fighters and bombers.

They're on a collision course
with the p-38s.

Over open ocean, the lightnings
spot the transports.

Lieutenant hamric
slashes through the formation

And sends one transport
flaming into the ocean.

The other p-38s pounce.

[gunfire]

Smelling blood,
they chase down the transports

And pick off one after another.

At close range,

The p-38s pour lead and
cannon shells into their prey.

Hamric scores
a second victory,

Taking out another transport...

[gunfire]

...While above them, p-38s duel
with the german fighters,

Keeping them at bay.

When the smoke clears,
two p-38s are lost,

And their leader, alex hamric,
is missing in action.

But, in return, the p-38s
have downed 27 german planes,

Including 18 of the crucial
ju 52 transports.

It's only the beginning of weeks
of allied aerial assaults.

The german resupply efforts

Stagger under daily losses
of this size.

In just one month,

The allies shoot down
over 400 german planes,

While losing only 36.

Hallion: If you take a look
at the impact

That the p-38 operation flax

And these counter
air activities had

Against the german air force,
it's absolutely devastating.

Bases are taken away.

The whole infrastructure
of air operations

That the germans have
in the mediterranean

Is completely undone,

And they're basically pushed
back across the other side,

If you will,
of the mediterranean.

Narrator: May 1943,
the axis forces,

Running low on fuel
and munitions, surrender.

[cheering]

The allies liberate
grateful north african towns.

[cheering]

The p-38 helps win
the north african campaign,

But it's in the pacific

Where the fighter
really seizes control.

[gunfire]

March 2, 1943,
the solomon islands.

More than a year
after pearl harbor,

The japanese still
dominate the pacific,

And now, they're
on the move again.

A japanese convoy
carrying 7,000 troops

Churns through the bismarck sea,
heading to new guinea.

Hallion: To the japanese,

Control of new guinea
was crucial.

If they controlled new guinea,
possibly they could launch

A, uh, springboard invasion
into australia.

Narrator: The allies and japan
have been waging a brutal fight

Over new guinea
for more than a year.

Grant: Now japan's plan
is to reinforce new guinea

And push back
on the u.S. And our allies

From that position.

To reinforce, they have to bring

A naval convoy of soldiers and
supplies and land them ashore.

This sets up the battle
of the bismarck sea.

Narrator:
This fleet of destroyers

Escorting eight transports

Could be the reinforcements
that turn the tide for japan.

The army air forces
has a top-priority mission--

Stop this convoy.

But since the start
of the new guinea campaign,

The japanese pilots
rule the sky.

Lee: The japanese fighter force
was highly experienced,

And so american pilots,
they were quite surprised

At the level of cooperation

That the japanese pilots
used with each other,

And most of all,
the incredible maneuverability,

Uh, of these japanese airplanes.

Narrator:
Now it's up to the p-38

To take down
the japanese fighters.

American commanders
throw everything they can

To stop this convoy.

Grant: General george kenney

Realized this is
a huge opportunity.

He'll send three separate
groups of aircraft

From three directions
to attack the convoy.

Over top of it all
is the p-38 lightning.

They'll defend all the bombers
as they attack japan's ships.

Narrator: One p-38 pilot,
already an ace,

Takes off from new guinea.

He's a 22-year-old from
wisconsin named richard bong.

Grant: Richard bong stood
about five feet five.

He was a natural pilot.

Anderegg: Dick bong was, uh, not
a stereotypical fighter pilot,

In fact, he was a quiet man,
um, stayed well within himself.

However, in an airplane,

He was very skilled
and very aggressive.

[gunfire]

Grant: His style was to get
as close as he could

To the japanese aircraft
and unload with all his guns.

Bong always said he wasn't
the best at gunnery,

But his willingness
to be aggressive

And close tightly with the enemy
was the secret to his success.

It was a punishing style.

Narrator: Bong's aggressive
fighting style

Is perfectly suited to the p-38.

Hardened with armor,
the lightning can take a hit,

Unlike japanese planes.

Lee: The japanese airplanes
were highly maneuverable,

And they had great range,

But these attributes came

At the expense of armor plate
to protect the pilots primarily

And to protect vital systems
on the airplanes

Such as, uh, oil tanks
and the engine.

And these japanese airplanes,

Uh, almost invariably lacked
self-sealing fuel tanks.

Narrator: The p-38's
self-sealing tanks

Are lined with rubber

That swells up
and closes off bullet holes.

Lee: Very, very often,
american pilots,

When they were shooting
at the japanese airplanes,

They'd report
that they just disintegrated.

They just turned
into pieces and exploded,

Uh, immediately when they were
attacked and shot at.

[gunfire]

Narrator: Over the bismarck sea,

Richard bong
escorts allied bombers

As they close in
on the japanese convoy.

Suddenly,
japanese fighters attack.

Bong climbs as quickly
as his p-38 can handle.

From above,
he picks out one plane

And dives straight at it...

[gunfire]

...Sending it in flames
to the sea.

Bong turns and hammers
a second fighter,

Then helps chase off the rest.

[gunfire]

With the p-38s flying cover,

The bombers can focus
on the convoy.

Hallion: In a series of attacks,

The combination of skip-bombing
b-25 mitchells,

Australian bristol beaufighters,
heavily armed with cannon,

And american p-38s
and other aircraft

Absolutely savaged their convoy.

♪

Narrator: The allies sink
all eight japanese transports

And four of the destroyers

And shoot down 30 planes.

The u.S. Loses just
three bombers and three p-38s.

♪

Grant: The naval historian
samuel eliot morison

Called it the single
most devastating air attack

Against ships of the entire war,
except for pearl harbor.

This was a devastating blow
by land-based air power

Against japan's reinforcements.

Japan wasn't able to land
the troops it needed,

And because of this,

It ended any threat
of invasion to australia.

It also meant that japan could
never again take the initiative

In new guinea.

♪

Narrator: With victory
at the battle of bismarck sea,

Richard bong is just getting
started in the pacific,

While p-38 pilots prepare

For one of the biggest days
of the war in europe.

May 1944,

Wattisham air base, England,

Newly arrived p-38 pilot
robin olds

Is itching for a fight.

Christina olds:
My father's mindset

When he went into training
for the p-38

Was, "I've got to get to war.

They're taking too long
to train us.

We need to go fight."

Narrator:
Christina olds is an author

And daughter
of p-38 ace robin olds.

Olds: He was very impatient.

Narrator: Days after arriving,
olds gets his wish.

May 30, 1944, in the skies
above german-occupied France,

Olds and his fellow p-38 pilots

Are ordered to clear all german
planes from western France

And to ignore everything else.

Olds: When my dad was first
flying missions over France,

There were very strict orders

Not to engage
in any ground targets.

He was very frustrated

That he wasn't allowed
to shoot at anything.

He could see
truck convoys and supplies

Being moved around
on the ground,

And their orders were not to
go down and engage on anything,

And the whole group
was very frustrated by that.

Narrator: But then olds
flies over a target

That's just too tempting.

♪

Olds: That day,
he spotted a train,

And he said to the commander,

"I'm going down
after that train.

Will you cover me?"
and he heard back, "roger."

He flew down and strafed it
from back to front

And unleashed on it.

[gunfire]

And then he found out

The whole squadron
had come down behind him,

And they were shooting
the train up, too.

[gunfire]

[explosion]

When they got back,
the commander in the debriefing

Just lit into all the guys,
said, "what were you thinking?

And, olds, you broke formation.
Why did you do that?"

And my dad said, "well, sir,
I heard you say okay.

I heard you say roger."

And the commander said,
"that wasn't me."

Narrator: Olds talks his way
out of trouble

And faces
no disciplinary action.

Olds: Later on, my dad admitted

That he had worked it out
with his roommate ahead of time

That if either one of them
had spotted a target,

They would say roger
to each other

After asking permission.

[gunfire]

[explosion]

Narrator: Olds' rogue attack
is just a warm-up.

When they're finally
given the green light,

The allied planes rain down
so much destruction,

German trains
only travel at night.

And olds has
only begun to fight.

♪

August 25, 1944,
olds and his group

Get the order to sweep
all german planes from the sky

In front of a fleet of bombers.

Olds: He was tremendously
excited about that because

That meant they were going
to engage the enemy that day.

Narrator:
Olds is about to face off

Against some
of the luftwaffe's best.

August 1944, occupied France.

P-38 pilot robin olds
is on a mission

To hunt and destroy
german fighter planes.

Olds: As they were
flying over in formation,

My dad worked his way
over to the left,

A little bit more, a little
bit more, and a little bit more

Because he thought that would be
his piece of the sky.

As he drifted over to the left,

And he spotted
50 german aircraft,

So he just went full throttle.

As he closed in
on those aircraft,

He dropped his external tanks.

He was so excited
to get behind them.

But as he closed in
faster and faster,

All of a sudden,
his both engines quit.

Narrator: Now,
completely without power,

Olds still manages
to squeeze off a quick round

And takes out one german plane.

Olds: He said he was
the first fighter pilot

To ever shoot down another
in glide mode.

Narrator: Seconds before
plunging out of control,

Olds makes a discovery.

Olds: And he realized
with, with terror,

That he had forgotten
to switch to his internal tanks

But decided to fire anyway.

Right after
he got that first one,

He was able to get
his engines restarted

And got in
behind the second one,

And he was able
to take out the second one.

[explosion]

Narrator: The other
german planes scatter,

But far below,
olds spots a p-51 mustang

Being chased
by a german me 109.

Olds: So, my dad dove down

To get that 109
off the mustang's tail,

But as he dove,
he was going too hard,

And his controls froze.

Narrator: The p-38 was so fast,

It could trigger a phenomenon
called compressibility.

In a steep dive, air traveling
over the p-38's wings

Approaches the speed of sound,

And shockwaves disrupt
air flow over the tail.

The nose points down,
and the controls freeze.

Lee: And it would literally

Put the airplane in a vise-grip,

And this will continue

With the airplane
just frozen in a dive

Until it slows down,

And one thing to slow it down

Is to dive down lower
to get into denser air,

But, of course,
if you're going

At a tremendously high
rate of speed,

Uh, you may not be able
to recover the airplane,

Pull it out of the dive,
before you reach the ground.

Narrator:
In the lower, thicker air,

Olds muscles his p-38
out of the dive.

Olds: He was pulling so many gs

That his cockpit window
actually blew out,

And he pulled out level
just right above treetop.

He told me he was no more
than 100 feet off the ground.

And when he finally leveled off,

He realized
that he was being chased.

Narrator: The german me 109
is right on the p-38's tail.

One mistake, and olds is dead.

He stands his p-38 on one wing,
slowing it dramatically,

And the german flies past him.

Olds: And my dad was able
to shoot him down.

[explosion]

[gunfire]

On the day he ended up shooting
down three enemy aircraft,

He became the first ace, total
of five, for the whole group.

[explosion]

Narrator: After months
of combat in his p-38,

Olds switches to a p-51 mustang.

The mustang handles
high altitudes

And quick-turning dogfights
better than the lightning,

But the p-38 is still
a favorite among many pilots.

Olds: My dad was thrilled
about the p-38.

It became his first love,
his first combat aircraft.

He absolutely adored
that machine.

He loved the smell of it
and the sound of it,

The feel of it.

Narrator: Late in the war,

The p-51 becomes the top
american fighter in europe,

But in the pacific,
the p-38 still reigns supreme.

July 28, 1944, new guinea.

[gunfire]

The allies pound japanese bases
across the pacific.

And p-38s from the 475th fighter
group are on a mop-up mission.

Their goal--to clear the skies

Of any remaining
japanese planes.

Flying one p-38 is america's
most famous aviator,

Charles lindbergh.

Hallion: Charles lindbergh
is an iconic figure

In american aviation.

We always think
of lindbergh, of course,

In terms
of the great flight to paris

In 33 and 1/3 hours.

But after that flight,

He was an adviser to a number
of aircraft companies,

Airlines,
and to the federal government.

Charles lindbergh:
It is now obvious

That England is losing the war.

I believe...

Narrator: Lindbergh is
controversial through the 1930s,

Insisting that america
stay out of the war

Against nazi germany,

But after pearl harbor, he's
eager to help in the war effort,

Even though
he remains a civilian.

Grant: Lindbergh went out
to the pacific

As a representative
for united aircraft corporation,

Advising on fixes
to the marines' f4u corsair.

Next, lindbergh comes
to a base in new guinea,

Where the p-38 lightning
is in operation.

So, when lindbergh walks
into the squadron ready room,

These young pilots
can't believe it.

This is their hero.

A lot of them became pilots
because of charles lindbergh.

Lindbergh had never flown
the p-38,

But it was a natural.

They gave him a few
familiarization flights

In the local area,

And suddenly
he's mission-qualified

And ready to fly
combat missions.

Narrator: Even though
he's a civilian,

Lindbergh joins
the other p-38 pilots

In strafing japanese barges...

[gunfire]

...And going on bombing runs.

[explosions]

Grant: Although the flyers
loved him,

Lindbergh was really
skating close to the line

In terms of regulations.

Narrator: Even as lindbergh
attacks ground targets,

He rarely sees a japanese plane.

Anderegg: By 1944,

The tide is shifting
towards american air power,

And a big part of that
is the fact

That the highly experienced
japanese pilots

Are being attrited gradually
by american air power.

American pilots
are becoming more experienced.

They're coming in
in greater numbers.

The experienced pilots
are training the new ones,

And the japanese pilots who've
been in combat since 1936,

Starting in china,

Are now up into seven
or eight years of combat,

And they are falling one by one.

[gunfire]

Narrator: But many top japanese
pilots remain in the fight,

As lindbergh
is about to discover.

July 28, 1944,
in the skies over new guinea,

A p-38 races toward
a fleeing japanese plane

Known as a sonia.

Grant: So, this japanese
aircraft code-named sonia

Is down at low level.

It's jinking and turning

And trying to run away
from a group of p-38s.

Suddenly, one p-38 sees this
sonia come almost right at it.

It's the perfect shot--
close range, full guns--

And down goes the airplane.

[gunfire]

The pilot at the controls,
it's charles lindbergh.

Narrator: Lindbergh makes
his first and last kill.

It's partial redemption
for his prewar isolationism,

But since he's still a civilian,
it officially never happened.

Next, lindbergh makes
an even bigger contribution

To the war effort.

He realizes
the lightning's range,

Already a strength,
can be extended.

Grant: One problem by 1944
was that the p-38s were flying

Increasingly long missions as
japan retreated up the pacific.

Even with modifications,
this put the lightning

At the very edge
of its fuel consumption.

And by teaching them
to manage their rpms

And other technical factors,

Lindbergh could get a p-38 many,
many minutes more combat time.

Anderegg:
Lindbergh was successful

In increasing the ranges
10 to 15 percent

By these engine techniques.

This 10 to 15 percent increase

In range was really important

Because every drop of fuel

That you save
getting to the fight

Is fuel that you can use
in the fight.

Narrator: Lindbergh
returns to the u.S.,

While america's top ace,
richard bong,

Continues to fly and fight
in his p-38.

Grant: Bong exemplified
what a good pilot could do

With the p-38.

He had to know that airplane
really well to be able

To tuck it up so close
in a combat situation.

Bong could turn, he could dive,

And like
the best fighter pilots,

His aggressive style
produced results.

Narrator: December 17, 1944,

Over mindoro island,
the philippines,

Richard bong and his wingman
tangle with japanese planes.

One plane tries to run,
and bong gives chase.

He fires a quick burst,
then a second.

[gunfire]

The fighter catches fire
and drops.

It's bong's
40th confirmed shoot-down,

A record that stands
to this day.

P-38 pilot richard bong
is america's ace of aces.

Awarded the medal of honor,
he's called home.

There, he uses his flying skills

To test the next
generation of planes.

Grant: Back
in southern california,

Bong becomes a test pilot
flying the lockheed p-80 jet.

Bong loves to fly.
It's a dream job.

But on August 6, 1945,

The fuel pump
in bong's p-80 goes bad.

Narrator: Too low to parachute,
bong crashes in a field.

Grant: Richard bong is dead just
days before his 25th birthday.

Narrator: His death announcement
comes just below the headline

For the atomic bomb drop
at hiroshima.

And with the end of the war,

The p-38 is quickly phased out
and becomes a museum piece.

Hallion: The p-38 did not long
survive the second world war

Because the technology
of flight was changing.

We were going from the era

Of the piston-powered
propeller-driven airplane

Toward the much sleeker,

Streamlined
turbojet-powered airplane.

And so the p-38, uh, became
an element of, uh, air racing.

You would see at air shows.

Uh, reconnaissance p-38s stayed
in service a little bit later.

Uh, there were some flying
in foreign air forces

Into the 1950s,

But basically by the very
early 1950s, the p-38 was gone.

♪

Narrator: Today,
fewer than ten are flight-ready.

And evan fagen
is one of the few people

Who still flies a p-38.

Fagen: It's more like a monument
than anything.

You know, you're flying
something that's very important

To the history
of our, our country,

So you feel
very fortunate to fly it

Because it's such
a historic airplane

That had so many
iconic figures flying it--

Doolittle
and lindbergh and bong,

And all the people
who flew them and did so many,

Uh, wonderful things
in every theater.

Narrator: From alaska to africa,

From berlin to tokyo,

The p-38 lightning
earns its name.

It's fast, powerful,
and deadly...

[gunfire]

...Blazing across the sky
and into the record books.

Tyler: Oh, I've flown probably
18 different airplanes.

This one is by far,
by far the gem, the best.

Even today, it's the best.

♪