Lockheed P-38 Lightning

My father repaired these planes in the south Pacific after dog fights and he always told me that they were far superior to the Zero's in manuvering.

reply

The P-38 was able to recharge a jammed 20mm Hispano M2 cannon in flight. This helped address the unreliability problem due to light striking of the firing pin on the cartridge. The firing chamber was 2cm too long on the M2 vs the improved RAF Mk II Hispano cannons on the Spitfire.

reply

Major Richard Bong, Ace of Aces grew up on the farm across from us in Poplar Wisconsin I always remember him flying over our house while he was doing his stunts above his home when he was learning to fly. When he returned stateside while on the war bond tour after shouting down I think his 26th enemy aircraft. He flew over his home in the p-38 and i looked up and he came over the big elm trees and pulled up and climbed up a few thousand feet and came down and over our house and did a few more times. I was in high school then and will always remember him as my idol growing up. He returned state side before the war ended and he was attached to Lockheed testing the new jet P-80 in which he was killed in an accident on one of his test runs.If you want lots of info on his life there is so much on the internet so just type in Major Richard Bong and you will enjoy all his history..I joined the Air Force in 1948 after high school and ended up as a radio operator on B-29s..Great web site you have...

reply

When I was a line boy at Centennial airport a 172 ran into the nose of a privately owned P-38. It tore the right wing off the Cessna but, pretty much just scratched the paint on the P-38.

reply

Typical Americans - a fine 'plane, but not allowing the Brits to purchase it /the better version due to the turbocharger, when both were allies, defies belief.

reply

My drafting teacher in college was Mr. Gibbs. He had been in charge of designing the landing gear for the P38 before retiring from Lockheed in the 1950's. He told me that because the XP38 had crashed while attempting to land in New York state, he, as the designer of the landing gear, was the first to inspect the wreckage after it was sent back to California. He said that the wire fence from Mitchel Field in Hempstead, New York was still wrapped around the remains of the aircraft when they opened the railroad boxcar.

reply

The 20mm Mk2 Hispano could fire 650 rpm and I believe the Colt .50 Cals fired 850 rpm each.

reply

I lived in a small community in northern Wyoming and worked for William C. Powell who was a P-38 pilot who flew recon out of England. He flew over the beach heads of Normandy and into the interior of Normandy. In 1951 they declassified all the photos of the pre-D-Day invasion and he received an apple box full of these photos. His son John and I would spend hours looking at these photos.

reply

Does someone know if the Hispano 20mm x110 APT projectile was 168 g and if it was the APT used in P-38 and RAF fighters?

If so, that beefs up the 130 g AP and HEI shell ammo WoF.
that reminds me of the Ho-3 in many Nakajima Ki 44-IIc with a 20mm shell in the same weight class.

I figure a P-38F had a WoF of about 3.513 kg per sec. if I'm not mistaken.

reply

We have one of these for sale. Never used. If interested contact me.

reply

My father flew a p 38 during the war. As i understood it he flew in India. I got these facts from my grandmother as, upon his return to the states he died in
june 1949. I was 2. His name was Maj Charles "Rex" Langdon

reply

I flew 51 P-38combat missions in the MTO with the 94rh "Hat-In-the Ring" squadron. 1943 /44
I have published a book entitled "Look Mom -- I Can Fly" It's about my military training and combat. More info. is available on my web site: p38book.com
The book has received 17 5 star ratings on Amazon. Signed copies are available from my web site.

reply

I lived with my family near Lockeed Aircraft and we would see the P-38's all the time during WW2. We would watch 5 or 6 P- 38'practicing "dog fighting" high in the sky. It was something to see. I was 8 years old

reply

Any info on a WW11 ace named Bong who flew P38's and was from Wisconsin?

reply

The 339th Fighter Squadron Association was formed in the 1970's to commemorate the World War squadron that flew the mission that shot down Admiral Yamamoto. The Association is alive and kicking and meets once a year to swap stories. Anyone interested can contact me at the above email or call Robert Murphy at 386-364-1454.

reply

It never fully overcame it's engine problems until the 'L' model,but it did shoot down more Japanese aircaft than any other allied aircraft.

reply

A turbo-supercharger is a large and heavy piece of machinery that has to be located at a relatively remote distance from the engine in order to function properly. Due to the configuration of the aircraft's tail booms, the P-38 was one of the few single-seat fighters in which a turbo-supercharger could be effectively used (the other was the P-47, another large aircraft in which the turbo-supercharger was installed in the rear of the fuselage).

Unfortunately, the early P-38s (pre-H model) were very complex aircraft that were difficult and labor-intensive to maintain, and which suffered from many engine problems, particularly due to their complex cooling systems, which were somewhat simplified in later models. Another problem stemming from the P-38's peculiar configuration was the fact that the cockpit was remote from the engines, and thus became very cold and uncomfortable for the pilot during long, high-altitude escort missions over Europe. That was among the reasons why the 8th Air Force switched to P-51s for performing it's escort missions. That wasn't so much of an issue over the Pacific, where P-38s usually operated at somewhat lower altitudes.

The P-38 was also one of the first fighters to experience Compressibility problems due to it's ability to approach the speed of sound. That problem was also addressed in later P-38 models by means of the installation of air brakes under the wings, which could slow the plane down enough for the pilot to be able to regain control.

reply

Does anyone know where I could get a complete set of engineering drawings for the P-38? I want to build a 2 /3 scale aircraft.

reply

Charles Lindbergh shot down a Japanese Zero in July, 1944 while flying P-38s with the Army Air Corps 475th Fighter Group out of New Guinea. He actually flew about 50 combat missions in P-38s and Corsairs(with the Marines). This was against Washington's orders, but the operational troops liked him so and admired his abilities so, that they helped him bend the rules. His official mission was to help the forces find ways to extend fighter range(which he did). Details can be found in Lindbergh's Wartime Journals.

reply

The P-38,P-47, and P-51 were all excellent weapons of war. My comments are for those who don't seem to have the facts about Maj. Thomas B. McGuire's last flight exactly correct. McGuire's flight of 4 P-38's were engaged by 2 Japanese fighters, a Ki-43 flown by WO Akira Sugimoto and a Ki-84 flown by Sgt Mizunori Fukuda. Both Japanese aviators were veterans flying highly manuverable aircraft at low altitude. They were in their element. Why McGuire didn't disengage, drop tanks, gain speed and altitude and re-engage we will never know. Maj. Jack Rittmayer was shot down, McGuire stalled and crashed both were killed. But the Japanese did not escape unscathed. Lt. Douglas Thropp hit Sugimoto's Oscar so heavily he was forced to crash land his fighter only a few miles from where the 2 Americans died. Capt Ed Weaver shot up Fukuda's Frank so badly it crash landed at Manalpa. Sugimoto was killed by Filippino guerillas at his crash site. The aerial battle was not a lopsided victory for the Japanese in fact considering that McGuire was killed accidentally one could almost rationalize that the Americans emerged victorious. Of course the loss of 2 highly experienced USAAF pilots (Note: Maj Rittmayer had 4 aerial victories and had flown numerous missions) for the destruction of 2 JAAF fighters can not be considered a victory especially since Maj McGuire's 38 victories made him the 2nd highest scoring ace in USAAF history. At the time of the tragic events of January 7th 1945 it was not known that 2 Japanese aircraft had also been destroyed. Perhaps this information might have lessened the pain felt by the 475thFG having lost 2 valuable leaders ,including the legendary "Iron Major" but probable not. At least we can now realize that on the evening of 1 /7 /45 the score was not JAAF 2-0 but 2-2.

reply