BY REQUEST: HOW TO RETRACT THE LOCKHEED P-38 LIGHTNING LADDER. The ladder is how the pilot would climb on to the aircraft to enter the cockpit. 🤓 SPECIAL THANKS TO JEREMY M. whose idea it was to go to the museum today. @scottklaers for taking time out of his busy day for us. @worldwariiaviation for allowing us such an opportunity to experience and share these rare pieces of history. To @av8rstuff for sponsoring these posts. 🫶 #pilot #aviation #airplane #flight #fly #trendingreels #museum #colo

Germans Never Expected P 38 Dive Recovery Flaps To Out Dive Their Messerschmitts Discover how ⚙️✈️ a small piece of engineering genius changed the skies over Europe in 1944. The Lockheed P-38 Lightning, once feared as unstable in high-speed dives, was reborn after American engineers developed dive recovery flaps — a seemingly simple fix that transformed air combat. Before this innovation, German Messerschmitt Bf 109s and Focke-Wulf Fw 190s could escape by diving steeply, knowing P-38 pilots risk

The P-38 Lightning has an unusual cockpit feature for a fighter. The center nacelle is narrow, which means a floor-mounted stick would not have had enough room for full side to side movement. To give pilots complete aileron authority, Lockheed equipped the Lightning with a yoke instead of the traditional stick. #FHCAM #WWII #WWIIHistory #Warbirds #P38Lightning #History | Flying Heritage & Combat Armor Museum