Mitchell would navigate and control the formation. Lanfeier and Lieutenant Rex Barber would make the actual intercept. At 7:13 on the morning of April 18th, the P38 formation roared down Henderson Fields steel matting runway and climbed into clear morning air. Each Lightning carried full internal fuel, two 165gal drop tanks, four 50 caliber machine guns with 500 rounds each, and one 20 mm cannon with 150 rounds.
Total takeoff weight exceeded 18,000 lb, the heaviest the P38s had ever flown operationally. The formation descended to wavetop altitude and turned northwest. Below them, the Pacific stretched empty and blue to the horizon. No landmarks, no navigation aids, just Mitchell’s compass and a stopwatch, racing against fuel consumption and a rendevous that had to be perfect to the minute.
The P38’s configuration made long range navigation possible. The twin boom design placed engines and propellers far from the fuselage, dramatically reducing cockpit noise and vibration compared to single engine fighters. Pilots could fly for hours without the physical fatigue that plagued Corsair and Wildcat pilots. The tricycle landing gear provided excellent forward visibility during taxi and takeoff.
The counterrotating propellers eliminated torque effects that made other fighters difficult to handle. But it was the Allison engines that made the Lightning a long range weapon. Unlike air cooled radials that ran hot and required careful cylinder head temperature management, the liquid cooled allisonens could maintain consistent temperatures indefinitely.
The turbo superchargers fed by exhaust gases maintained manifold pressure at altitude without the parasitic power losses of mechanical superchargers. This efficiency translated directly into range. The formation maintained strict radio silence as they crossed the 200m mark. Mitchell checked his navigation constantly, comparing compass heading against drift indicators, verifying air speed and fuel consumption against his flight plan.
At 185 mph indicated, the lightning formation was making roughly 220 mph over the water, accounting for wind. At 0833, 1 hour and 20 minutes into the flight, the southern coast of Buganville appeared ahead, exactly where Mitchell’s calculations predicted. The navigation error over 435 mi was less than 2 mi.
The formation had arrived precisely on schedule, precisely on target. Fuel consumption tracking Mitchell’s meticulous predictions with legendary precision. Then someone spotted the enemy formation. At 0934, within 1 minute of the predicted intercept time, Mitchell’s wingman called out two formations of aircraft approaching from the north.
Yamamoto’s transport precisely on schedule, exactly where American intelligence had predicted, flying straight toward them at 8,000
