Lockheed F-5 Lightning
The Lockheed P-38 Lightning used twin booms and a central pilot pod, allowing its two engines to be separated while concentrating the guns in the nose. This gave it exceptional firepower and made it one of the fastest Allied fighters early in the Second World War. The P-38 served as a fighter, bomber escort, and photo-reconnaissance aircraft; the F-5 reconnaissance version is represented by this catalogue code. Its twin-boom silhouette remains one of the most recognisable shapes of the war.
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Did you know?
This F-5 is the unarmed photo-reconnaissance version of the twin-boom Lockheed P-38 Lightning, one of the most recognisable fighter silhouettes of WWII.
Specifications
| Length | 11.5 m (38 ft) |
|---|---|
| Wingspan | 15.9 m (52 ft) |
| Height | 3.9 m (13 ft) |
| Persons on board | 1 |
| Crew | 1 |
| Maximum take-off weight | 7 t |
| Range | 1,300 NM (2,408 km) |
| Maximum speed | 414 kt (767 km/h) |
| Stall speed | 91 kt (169 km/h) |
| Service ceiling | 44,000 ft (13,411 m) |
| Rate of climb | 4,750 ft/min (24.1 m/s) |
| Engines | 2x Allison V-1710 |
| Units built | 10,037 |
Curated by CatchFlights from manufacturer documents, ICAO Doc 8643 and reference works; values are left out where no source could confirm them. Sources are listed on our credits page.
In CatchFlights
In CatchFlights the Lockheed F-5 Lightning starts as a Legendary catch. The tier is an editorial judgement of how special a sighting of this type is. The more often you catch it, the closer it moves to Common for you. The first catch of a legendary type pays a bonus of its own.
A catch counts for the manufacturer Lockheed, the F-5 Lightning family and the model in your collection, and the daily Type Rating quiz asks about the types of each family.
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