Lockheed ZF-38L 44-53236 PA-236 611th AAF Base Unit Eglin Proving Ground Command

These are 1/72 scale decals for Lockheed ZF-38L 44-53236, buzz number PA-236, assigned to the Air Proving Ground Command (611th AAF Base Unit) at Eglin Army Air Field, Florida, wearing natural metal with Olive Drab (ANA 613) anti-glare panel, bold "USAF" fuselage titling, and the Air Proving Ground Command shield insignia.

This aircraft holds a unique place in American aviation history: it was almost certainly the last P-38 Lightning in active USAF service. By 1947, every other P-38 had been retired — but 44-53236 remained flying because it was the only airframe with sufficient nose space and propeller clearance to house the Davis-Draper radar-ranging computing gunsight, developed by Col. Leigh Davis and Dr. Stark Draper of MIT. This was the world's first radar-ranging, automatically computing gunsight used by the Army Air Forces — a revolutionary system that calculated lead and range automatically, pointing toward the precision guided weapons of the future.

The test program was flown primarily by Captain Donald S. Lopez, who later recalled the aircraft vividly in his memoir Fighter Pilot's Heaven (Smithsonian Books, 1995). Lopez described flying the only P-38 in the Air Force as prompting emotional reactions from former Lightning pilots at every refueling stop: "the airplane would be surrounded by former P-38 pilots and mechanics lovingly renewing their acquaintance with it. It was lucky that the airplane was made of aluminum or it would have rusted away from the tears shed on it." His squadron commander, a wartime P-38 veteran, asked Lopez to taxi past his office and rev the engines before every flight just to hear the distinctive throaty purr of the turbosuperchargers one more time.

Lopez achieved remarkable results with the Davis-Draper sight — tracking errors of half a mil at 750 yards, 25–27% hit rates on towed flag targets, and direct bomb hits on pyramid targets while pulling out above an overcast. The sight was tested in air-to-air gunnery, dive bombing, and eventually rocket modes, with MIT technicians at Eglin and regular ferry flights to Bedford, Massachusetts for major modifications. The aircraft was formally redesignated ZF-38L (obsolete fighter) on 1 July 1948 — the official end of the P-38's service life in the United States Air Force.

The buzz number PA-236 — applied under the postwar aircraft identification system — is believed to be unique among P-38s, making this almost certainly the only Lightning ever to carry a buzz number in USAF service. Includes two serial size options.

The last of her kind — an essential subject for any P-38, postwar USAF, or Cold War flight test collection. Please allow some time for decal printing and shipping.