the P-38J, 123 conversions XF-5D: Prone-observer variant, one conversion from a F-5A F-5E: Reconnaissance variant converted from the P-38J and P-38L, 705 converted F-5F: Reconnaissance variant conversions of the P-38L F-5G: As reconnaissance variant conversions of the P-38L, they had a different camera configuration from the F-5F. XFO-1: United States Navy designation for four F-5Bs operated for evaluation. Operators Military Civil Noted P-38s Yippee The 5,000th Lightning built, a P-38J-20-LO, 44-23296, was painted bright vermilion red, and had the name YIPPEE painted on the underside of the wings in large white letters, as well as the signatures of hundreds of factory workers. This and other aircraft were used by a handful of Lockheed test pilots including Milo Burcham, Jimmie Mattern, and Tony LeVier in remarkable flight demonstrations, performing such stunts as slow rolls at treetop level with one prop feathered to dispel the myth that the P-38 was unmanageable. Glacier Girl On 15 July 1942, a flight of six P-38s and two B-17 bombers, with a total of 25 crew members on board, took off from Presque Isle Air Base in Maine headed for the UK. What followed was a harrowing and life-threatening landing of the entire squadron on a remote ice cap in Greenland. None of the crew was lost and they were all rescued and returned safely home after spending several days on the ice. Fifty years later, a small group of aviation enthusiasts decided to locate those aircraft, which had come to be known as "The Lost Squadron", and to recover one of the lost P-38s. It turned out to be no easy task, as the planes had been buried under 25 stories of ice and drifted over a mile from their original location. The recovered P-38, dubbed Glacier Girl, was eventually restored to airworthiness. Surviving aircraft Of the ten thousand aircraft built, there are 26 survivors of which ten are airworthy. Noted P-38 pilots Richard Bong and Thomas McGuire The American ace of aces and his closest competitor both flew Lightnings and tallied 40 and 38 victories, respectively. Majors Richard I. "Dick" Bong and Thomas B. "Tommy" McGuire of the USAAF competed for the top position. Both men were awarded the Medal of Honor. McGuire was killed in air combat in January 1945 over the Philippines, after accumulating 38 confirmed kills, making him the second-ranking American ace. Bong was rotated back to the United States as