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FINALLY saw a P-38 fly
And I thought that Oshkosh this year would finally bring my long-anticipated
viewing of a P-38 in flight, with Glacier Girl's anticipated participation. Much to my delight and surprise, Porky II, the "Planes of Fame" museum's flying P-38, was at the Quad City Airshow yesterday, in Davenport, Iowa. We flew over in the morning, and were able to get a hand's on, close up view of this awesome plane. Talk about perfection! It looks like it just rolled off the assembly line! In my opinion, this aircraft completely stole the show from the Thunderbirds and everyone else who did their usual excellent job. (Although the T-birds flew short a plane -- I suppose one of the pilots was under the weather?) Even though the Lightning only did one low pass during the airshow (and a bunch of mid-level passes up around 500 feet AGL), it was still the thrill of a lifetime to see that beautiful forked-tail devil in flight. I had never heard a P-38 start up or take off, and I was amazed at the silky smoothness of those huge Allison engines. Compared to the Corsair or even the Mustang, it sounds like a precision machine working in an oil bath. And seeing it coming right at you -- wow! What a great silhouette, and remarkably small, given the plane's immense (relatively, for its day) size. From the front, it's obvious that Kelly Johnson put a great deal of effort into aerodynamic slipperiness... QC always puts on a great airshow, but this one really topped them all. -- Jay Honeck Iowa City, IA Pathfinder N56993 www.AlexisParkInn.com "Your Aviation Destination" |
#2
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In a previous article, "Jay Honeck" said:
We flew over in the morning, and were able to get a hand's on, close up view of this awesome plane. Talk about perfection! It looks like it just rolled off the assembly line! In my opinion, this aircraft completely stole the I took these pictures with an incredibly primitive digital camera at the "1941 Historical Aircraft Group" air show in 1997: http://xcski.com/~ptomblin/1941/p38_1.jpg http://xcski.com/~ptomblin/1941/p38_2.jpg http://xcski.com/~ptomblin/1941/p38_3.jpg Even though the paint job needed a lot of work, it was a very impressive aircraft. -- Paul Tomblin http://xcski.com/blogs/pt/ Some days violence is just a nice quick solution to a problem that would need thought, planning and actual work to do justice to. -- Wayne Pascoe |
#3
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Much to my delight and surprise, Porky II, the "Planes of Fame" museum's
flying P-38, was at the Quad City Airshow yesterday, in Davenport, Iowa. See http://www.alexisparkinn.com/aviation_videos.htm for a couple of low-res videos of this P-38 in action... (Just scroll down to see the P-38 videos.) -- Jay Honeck Iowa City, IA Pathfinder N56993 www.AlexisParkInn.com "Your Aviation Destination" |
#4
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I took these pictures with an incredibly primitive digital camera at the "1941 Historical Aircraft Group" air show in 1997: http://xcski.com/~ptomblin/1941/p38_1.jpg http://xcski.com/~ptomblin/1941/p38_2.jpg http://xcski.com/~ptomblin/1941/p38_3.jpg Even though the paint job needed a lot of work, it was a very impressive aircraft. Is that plane still flying? I've seen two P-38s with the "Marge" paint job -- one in the EAA Museum in OSH, and one in the Bong Museum in Superior, WI. -- Jay Honeck Iowa City, IA Pathfinder N56993 www.AlexisParkInn.com "Your Aviation Destination" |
#5
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("Jay Honeck" wrote)
Is that plane still flying? I've seen two P-38s with the "Marge" paint job -- one in the EAA Museum in OSH, and one in the Bong Museum in Superior, WI. In your P-38 aviation video (Start-Up) the two props are spinning in the same direction. Is this normal for P-38's? British? http://www.alexisparkinn.com/aviation_videos.htm (scroll down to "P") http://www.aviation-history.com/lockheed/p38.html "The XP-38 had been powered by two liquid cooled, Allison V-1710 engines turning 11 1/2 foot Curtiss Electric, inward turning, counter-rotating propellers. With the YP-38s and all subsequent Lightings, the propellers rotated outward negating torque when both engines were operating (A batch ordered by Britain did not have counter-rotating propellers.)" BTW, the missing T-Bird pilot is down for the season, unless he can complete his retraining before then. Something medical(?) knocked him off the team a while back. Ok, he's still on the team, but he's not on the tour. Montblack |
#6
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Jay Honeck wrote:
Is that plane still flying? I've seen two P-38s with the "Marge" paint job -- one in the EAA Museum in OSH, and one in the Bong Museum in Superior, WI. That's probably Tallichet's plane. Here's a photo of what it looked like in 1997. http://www.475thfghf.org/Photos/p38_2.JPG This is what it looks like now. http://www.warbird-photos.com/Airsho...s/IMG_2890.JPG If it's the same plane, it's still flying. George Patterson Why do men's hearts beat faster, knees get weak, throats become dry, and they think irrationally when a woman wears leather clothing? Because she smells like a new truck. |
#7
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Montblack wrote:
In your P-38 aviation video (Start-Up) the two props are spinning in the same direction. Is this normal for P-38's? British? That's not normal. It has, however, proven to be extremely difficult to locate parts for the oddball engines on warbirds with counter-rotating props (another example is the twin Mustang). I think it likely that they simply replaced the engine with a standard Allison at some point in time. George Patterson Why do men's hearts beat faster, knees get weak, throats become dry, and they think irrationally when a woman wears leather clothing? Because she smells like a new truck. |
#8
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Montblack wrote:
In your P-38 aviation video (Start-Up) the two props are spinning in the same direction. I've watched that quite a few times now, and I think this must be some kind of optical illusion. If you freeze the display when one of the right prop blades is vertical and above the wing, it appears to be in line with the camera. That is consistent with the prop rotating clockwise as viewed from behind. If you freeze the display when one of the left prop blades is vertical and *below* the wing, it appears to be in line with the camera. That is consistent with the prop rotating counter-clockwise. The 2004 publicity shot I posted earlier also seems to have counter-rotating props. George Patterson Why do men's hearts beat faster, knees get weak, throats become dry, and they think irrationally when a woman wears leather clothing? Because she smells like a new truck. |
#9
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In your P-38 aviation video (Start-Up) the two props are spinning in the same direction. Is this normal for P-38's? British? http://www.alexisparkinn.com/aviation_videos.htm (scroll down to "P") Wow -- that is TOTALLY bizarre. The props most certainly are contra-rotating on Porky II, yet, I agree -- the video makes it look like they're both turning the same direction. Of course, it also makes them look they're turning about 60 rpm. Must be some side effect of the low frame rate? -- Jay Honeck Iowa City, IA Pathfinder N56993 www.AlexisParkInn.com "Your Aviation Destination" |
#10
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From memory only, all P-38s had counter-rotating props. The early
version the props turned "in" as in most designs today with counter-rotating props. Most production models had the props turning "out"...the direction that most adversely effects handling/performance during single engine flight. -- Dale L. Falk There is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing around with airplanes. http://home.gci.net/~sncdfalk/flying.html |
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