Help with a P38 serial number please

[Alex Smart]

Help Please with a P-38 serial number.

From "Lockheed P-38 Lightning in Italian Service 1943-1955" by Marco Mattioli.
Pages 26 & 28 show a photo of the nose of an F-5 which has a number "7316" on its nose.

The caption says it is an F-5 serial number 44-67316.

This cannot be as that serial number belonged to a Radioplane OQ-3RPP.

The only P-38/F-5 that I can find with the number 7316 that would match is 42-67316.

Can any one help with any details of 42-67316 please as there seems to be nothing known of her .

Thanks

Alex

[Horst Weber]

Alex !

The book is wrong in this detail. According Warren M. Bodie's book "THE LOCHEED P-38 LIGHTNING", the serial-block 42-67312 to 42-67401 was the "last production of F-5s. P-38Js with camera noses".

There is definitely no serial-block 44-67... on a Lockheed P-38 (F-5) LIGHTNING.

Hope this helps a bit.

Best regards

Horst Weber

[Alex Smart]

Hello Horst,

Yes I have to agree with you .

42-67316 is the correct one.

Must have been a misprint or printers error.

many thanks for your reply.

Alex

[vzlion]

The 4 digit number on the nose of a P-38 usually was the Lockheed construction number. There were two P-38s with that construction number. P-39G 222-7316 (222-7305/7401 42-12870/12966) and P-38L 422-7316 (422-6063/8262 44-25059/27258). The one you're looking for is probably among the latter, as 500 aircraft from this block was converted to F-5Es. If my arithmetic is correct the USAAC serial for 422-7316 would be 44-26312. Hope this helps. Source: P-38 Lightning At War
Walt

[NUPPOL]

Related link: http://forum.armyairforces.com/tm.aspx?m=117643

P-38 44-23725. stolen by Monti 10/13/1944:
http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?t=58686