P-38L-5-LO Lightning - The Lockheed P-38 Lightning was a World War 11 American fighter aircraft built by Lockheed Developed to a United States Army Air Corps requirement, the P-38 had distinctive twin booms and a single, central nacelle containing the cockpit and armament Named fork-tailed devil by the Luftwaffe, the P-38 was used in a number of roles, including dive bombing, level bombing, ground-attack, photo reconnaissance missions, and extensively as a long-range escort fighter when equipped with drop tanks under its wings