P-38 Lightning and P-51 Mustang (World Fighter Aircraft Collection)

The P-38 Lightning "Glacier Girl" in formation with the P-51D Mustang "Tempus Fugit" during the 2006 "Aviation Nation" airshow in Nevada.

The Lightning and the Mustang both had relatively long range compared to contemporary British and German fighters like the Spitfire, Hurricane and Bf109.   This allowed the American aircraft to provide long-range escort duties for American bombers flying against German and Japanese targets, and it also allowed deep penetration strike and interdiction missions, such as the shooting down of Japanese admiral Yamamoto, who planned the Pearl Harbor attack.

There are far fewer Lightnings still flying than Mustangs, and "Glacier Girl" is a particularly interesting aircraft because of its unique history.   In July of 1942 it was flying across the Atlantic to Great Britain with five other P-38s and two B-17 Flying Fortress bombers.   Bad weather forced all of the aircraft to make anemergency landing on an ice sheet in Greenland, from where the crews were rescued.   The aircraft remained behind and by the time a recovery effort was launched in 1992, they were buried under 270 feet of ice.   Using imaging techniques it was determined that this particular Lightning was in better condition than the others, and hot water was used to melt a passage down to the aircraft, which was dismantled, brought to the surface and then restored to flying condition.   In 2007 it was sold for five and a half million dollars, making it one of the most expensive warbirds now flying.