Aerial Reconnaissance in World War Two Gallery
By Allan Williams
Last updated 2011-06-06
P-38 'Lightning'
P-38 'Lightning'
This legendary aeroplane was widely used by US reconnaissance pilots during World War Two. The trimetrigon camera setup in the P-38 made it ideal for mapping, and was best illustrated on D-Day when several sweeps of P-38s covered the entire Normandy beach-head landings. The 'dicing' camera, installed in the aircraft's nose, was effectively used during the battle against V-weapons, when pilots flew as low as 15.2m (50ft) to photograph the launching sites.
World War One Centenary
- Find out more about how the BBC is covering the World War One Centenary, and see the latest programmes and online content
Surviving the trenches
Pack Up Your Troubles
BBC iD
BBC iDBBC navigation
BBC links
BBC © 2014 The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more.
This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.
