At 458 Miles Per Hour!
HURTLING over the Los Angeles Municipal aerodrome at 458 miles per hour, the Lockheed P-38 interceptor, America's fastest warplane, was given its first public demonstration before 100,000 spectators. The twin-motored ship, looking like three torpedoes on a wing, was flown to the airport by Test Pilot Milo Burcham from the Lockheed plant about 15 wjlps away. Only Army Air Corps officers and Lockheed officials were permitted within 100 ft of the powerful ship. When the plane landed a warning was broadcast that anyone taking a photograph would be arrested. Burcham put the P-38 through most of its paces He knifed the interceptor straight up like a rocket, climbing at an estimated 300 miles an hour—five miles a minute. The plane flew so fast on a level course above the airport that spectators saw it disappear on the horizon before they heard the thunder of its engines.
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Bibliographic details
Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 121, 24 May 1941, Page 1 (Supplement)
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151At 458 Miles Per Hour! Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 121, 24 May 1941, Page 1 (Supplement)
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