The P-38 Lightning is my favorite prop plane.
"On my first confrontation with the P-38, I was astonished to find an American aircraft that could outrun, outclimb, and outdive our Zero which we thought was the most superior fighter plane in the world. The Lightning's great speed, its sensational high altitude performance, and especially its ability to dive and climb much faster than the Zero presented insuperable problems for our fliers. The P-38 pilots, flying at great height, chose when and where they wanted to fight with disastrous results for our own men. The P-38 boded ill for the future and destroyed the morale of the Zero fighter Pilot."...Saburo Sakai, Japanese Ace
The P-38 was my father's favorite, as well. "If you saw one of those twin boomed beauties, you knew every plane in the sky was American." Dad was in the Philippines and Okinawa during WWII.