The P-38 is one of my all time favorite aircraft. From participating in the first US kill against a German aircraft (a FW-200 Condor along with a couple of P-40s) to the mission to Get Yamamoto (a good book) to flying over the beaches of Normandy on D-Day and every other front during the war the Lightning did what no other US fighter could do, come home after losing and engine. The Fork-Tailed Devil was flown by the top two US Aces of all time and you can find some pictures of Bong’s Marge and many others in this nice collection.

Richard Marmo has gathered a bunch of great shots of the Lightning in it’s many forms and put them together on one CD.

The disc is in HTML format and while it does require an internet browser to open you do not need an internet connection.

Richard has collected 517 photos, 6 pieces of art and a bunch of documents. These are from Lockheed, the US Air Force and other parties and while some have been seen before there are many I haven’t seen before.

The pictures are split into sections with coverage of the YP-38, P-38D, E/F/G, H, J, L, M, RP-38, and even the XP-58 Chain Lightning. There is a list of Serial Numbers and even a survey.

Most of the pics on this CD are in black and white and cover overall shots, interior pics, engine shots and a bunch of nose art. There are also copies of some pages from 1940s vintage magazines and a press release from Lockheed Aircraft. The section on Glacier Girl is very nice showing many pictures of the restoration of this bird found under the ice in Greenland.

The pictures are a good size and the descriptions seem accurate for what I have looked at so far. Lots of good diorama ideas and while not a bunch of walk around type of shots, there are some good detail pics.

I would like to be able to move through each section by clicking on the pictures to get to the next one instead of going back and clicking a new shot. Even with that limitation I be making use of this reference when I build the many Lightnings in my stash.

Thanks to Richard and IPMS/USA for the review sample.