File:Lockheed P-38J-25-LO Lightning ‘267762’.jpg

Built in 1943 as a P-38J-10-LO with the US military serial 42-67762. Lockheed immediately converted her to a two-seater and used her for training the civilian pilots who would test fly newly built Lightnings off the production line. In April 1944 she was returned to stock P-38J-25-LO standard before being delivered to the US Army Air Force Engineering Division at Wright Field, Ohio. The records of the Flight Test section show her to have been at Wright Field by May 1944. For the remainder of the year she was involved in a number of different tests, including those by the Aeromedical Laboratory, Power Plant Laboratory and Bombing Branch Armament Laboratory. On 16th April 1945 she was flown by America’s top-scoring Ace, Major Richard I. Bong, who intended to carry out a test flight in relation to throttle control. Unfortunately the starboard engine failed before the test had been carried out and the aircraft returned safely on one engine. In June 1945 she was allocated for museum use and was flown to Oklahoma City for airworthy storage. She carried out occasional maintenance check flights before going into long-term store at Park Ridge, Illinois, in August 1946. Ownership was then transferred to the Smithsonian Institute and she later moved to Silver Hill, Maryland. Unrestored and in very original condition, she is seen on display in the Steven F. Udvar Hazy Center as part of the National Air and Space Museum. Washington Dulles International Airport, Chantilly, Virginia