A change order to the initial contract provided for the completion of
one P-38-LO (Ser No 40-762) equipped with a pressurized cockpit. This
airplane was redesignated XP-38A. In order to offset the extra weight
of the pressurized cockpit, the 37-mm cannon was to be replaced by a
20-mm unit, but no armament was actually fitted to XP-38A prototype.
Manufacturer’s trials were performed between May and December of 1942,
and the XP-38A was accepted by the USAAF at the end of that year.
Much of the information gained on the XP-38A project was later used in
the XP-49 design.
References:
-
Lockheed Aircraft Since 1913, Rene J. Francillon, Naval Institute
Press, 1987
-
The P-38J-M Lockheed Lightning, Profile Publications, Le Roy Weber
Profile Publications, Ltd, 1965.
-
War Planes of the Second World War, Fighters, Volume Four, William
Green, Doubleday, 1964.
-
Famous Fighters of the Second World War, William Green, Doubleday,
1967.
-
The American Fighter, Enzo Anguluci and Peter Bowers, Orion Books,
1987.
-
Wings of the Weird and Wonderful, Captain Eric Brown, Airlife, 1985.
- United States Military Aircraft since 1909, Gordon Swanborough and Peter M. Bowers, Smithsonian Institution Press, 1989.
