FINALLY saw a P-38 fly

In a previous article, Dale said:
From memory only, all P-38s had counter-rotating props. The early

No, the British ones turned the same way. They also didn't have
superchargers, which probably explains why P-38s are thought of as a
Pacific theatre plane.

--
Paul Tomblin http://xcski.com/blogs/pt/
Usenet is a co-operative venture, backed by nasty people -
follow the standards.
-- Chris Rovers

Paul Tomblin wrote:

In a previous article, Dale said:
From memory only, all P-38s had counter-rotating props. The early

No, the British ones turned the same way. They also didn't have
superchargers, which probably explains why P-38s are thought of as a
Pacific theatre plane.

Yep, Chuck Yeager said in his book that the P38 was the worst plane that
you could possibly make for the mission it was given over there in Europe.

That's pretty big for an insect, Jay. Are you sure it was a fly? :-)

--
Bob (Chief Pilot, White Knuckle Airways)


"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:RiTve.109135$xm3.88742@attbi_s21...
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"

Probably the props weren't quite synched, so the strobe effect of the video
showed one turning "backwards".

--
Bob (Chief Pilot, White Knuckle Airways)


"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
oups.com...

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"

"Paul Tomblin" wrote in message
...
In a previous article, Dale said:
From memory only, all P-38s had counter-rotating props. The early

No, the British ones turned the same way. They also didn't have
superchargers, which probably explains why P-38s are thought of as a
Pacific theatre plane.

The British rejected the special run of P-38s and they were used for
training in the US. Give me some time and I can even dig up the exact
designation and probably the serial numbers. The British version wasn't
actually designated a P-38 and something of an oddball. Wish I could
remember the title of the book. You really can have to many books
sometimes, but that is another story and part of how I got started in
flying.

The P-38 was used quite a bit in Europe and the Pacific by the US until it
was replaced by the P-51. I don't think the British ever flew a P-38 in
combat.
The F-4/F-5 (P-38 photo versions with no guns) recce birds remained for a
time after the regular P-38s were retired.

Which reminds me of a joke about the pilot who screams over the radio
in a panic "My engine quit. What do I do?"

To which the old P-38 pilot replies "Feather the prop, bank into the good
engine and fly it home."

The other pilot replies "But I only have one engine it's a P-51".

The old P-38 pilot replies back. "Then I guess you are going swimming."

Or something like that. So I was told or maybe read somewhere.

One thing that impressed me when I saw Glacier Girl at SnF was the way Steve
Hinton flew a really tight, relatively slow pattern with it. It looked to
be a much better flying aircraft in the slow regime than most of the other
WWII fighters I've seen - particularly P-51's. Also, the P-38's climb angle
after takeoff was much higher than the other WWII fighters I've seen.

Paul Tomblin wrote:

They also didn't have
superchargers, which probably explains why P-38s are thought of as a
Pacific theatre plane.

They're considered a Pacific theatre plane because Ira Eaker wanted to set the
8th Air Force up with only one type of fighter escort (to reduce spare parts
counts and other maintenance issues). Lockheed could not provide enough P-38s to
supply the entire 8th. North American could provide enough P-51s. Eaker had the
Lightnings transferred out.

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.

On Mon, 27 Jun 2005 19:10:52 +0000 (UTC),
(Paul Tomblin) wrote:

No, the British ones turned the same way. They also didn't have
superchargers, which probably explains why P-38s are thought of as a
Pacific theatre plane.

The P-38 sometimes gets a bum rap for it's appearance in the European
theatre. The initial versions had excessively complicated controls
and had the turbocharger tubing running up and down the D section of
the wing. Naturally there were a lot of leaks in this system.

The oil being used apparently congealed at very low temperatures, the
type encounted at the typical high altitudes at which combat occured.

The fuel seemed to be a problem too, with seperation of components
occuring, which reduced it's octane rating leading to severe
detonation and engine failure. Frequently.

The cockpit heater was not adaquate leading to frosting of the
windshield and canopy, which of course made it difficult to see out
of. Seeing out is considered reasonably important in a combat zone.
In addition, the lack of heat severely incapacitated the pilots.

In addition, there was the problem of not being able to exceed a
certain speed in a dive, which allowed the Messerschmitt's and Focke
Wulf's to dive away vertically with impunity.

The DC-4 bringing dive flaps that would have alleviated this situation
was mistaken by an intercepting Spitfire for a Focke Wulf Condor, and
shot down off the coast of Scotland.

The P-38's shape is and was of course unique, a disadvantage in a
combat zone as the enemy knows for sure that you are foe, no mistake.
Plus the P-38 was a big airplane which meant that it could be seen
from a greater distance.

As if this weren't all enough to make the fighter unpopular, it's
controls stiffened up at high speeds, a characteristic shared by most
fighters designed early in the war.

Finally, at least one expert remarked that to transition from cruise
power settings to combat power required so many control manipulations,
coolant flap settings, and myriad other adjustments that pilots had
their heads down in the cockpit making them all while being bounced,
all the while flying in a straight line.

That last may be a slight exaggeration.

In any event, the last model of P-38 deployed to Europe had boosted
controls and automated cooling controls. The boosted controls made it
instantly more maneuverable than most of it's opponents. It was a
formidable fighter and few German or Allied airplanes were it's match.
But by then the orders were cut and the P-38 was replaced by the P-51.
It cost a lot less to manufacture P-51's than P-38's, more could be
built in a month than P-38's and the performance was essentially
equal, especially in regards range.

So the P-38 was sent to the Pacific where it excelled.

Corky Scott

Yep, read a book that said the P-38 was a success in the pacific and
africa/med theatres because the the combat was low alt, while the
european theater was high alt where the P-38 wasn't a good performer.

John

The British rejected the special run of P-38s and they were used for
training in the US. Give me some time and I can even dig up the exact
designation and probably the serial numbers. The British version wasn't
actually designated a P-38 and something of an oddball. Wish I could
remember the title of the book. You really can have to many books
sometimes, but that is another story and part of how I got started in
flying.

That would probably be "Fork-Tailed Devil" by Martin Caidin.

An absolutely outstanding book, by the way. It started my love affair with
the P-38 when I first read it, some 35 years ago...
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"