P38 Drivers Notice

[T1loady]

Hey Murdr, Im still looking for round 2......(S)

[Sway]

Hey, Killnu and Murdr... Maybe we should try it together so we have a better chance of living.  Im too scared to try it alone...

[gofaster]

Originally posted by T1loady
I was so close to him most of the time I could see him working his flaps and rudder

That reminds me, last night I took up a P-38 just for kicks. It was just after sundown and the shadows were getting long when a lone Spitfire V started milkrunning my burning airfield.  I managed to get airborne when he got distracted vulching something and we got into a low-alt turnfight.   We would go around in a tight turn with me pumping the flaps and rudder while he just yanked and banked but neither one of us could get a lead turn for a shot.  He'd break off and accellerate away before I could get my nose around in time to fire off a shot, then come back and we'd turn some more, then he'd break off again and set up for another merge.

After awhile of my chasing him through the smoke of the airfield (we're both on the deck now), he rev's back in a climbing turn to my right, so I kick right rudder and as we pass I open up with my cannon and stitch a line of shells from his engine to his canopy.  Then I hear the thud of cannons in my plane and it falls to pieces.

As I'm hanging in my chute, I look over to see if I got the Spitfire and sure enough he's hanging in his chute, too.

Then he gets on Channel One and gives me grief about ramming him!

As near as I could tell, I had popped him at point-blank range as he crossed my nose to the right, and I thought I had been popped by another plane, like a low LA-7 or Typhoon or something, because of the cannons hitting my frame.  He said I'd clipped him with my right wing.  Well, I don't know if I did or not, but if a nimble Spitfire V can't get out of the way of a slow P-38, that's just poor pilotage.

Lesson learned? I should stick to the Corsair for night-time engagements.  I would've had him after the first merge on an overshoot.

[Hazard69]

Originally posted by Ack-Ack
The P-38 is one of the best BnZ fighters in the game because of it's fantastic vertical performance.

I'm not the only one as most of the veteran P-38 pilots can tell you, the P-38 is controllable at 500mph TAS. Heck, I routinely get my P-38 up to about 475-490mph IAS in high speed dives and can easily pull out of my dive (without having to use manual trim). The key is don't enter into a high speed dive above 20,000ft. Below that altitude, you can dive safely and with the proper throttle managment and a little secret know-how, dives above 475mph IAS where you can still retain control of the Lightning is quite possible.


ack-ack

How about sharing that "little secret know how" amongst fellow P38 drivers......c'mon spit it out.....cought it up......
Seriously could you please tell me how to dive my P38 that fast and not loose control....u can drop me a mail if u like at

mailrush2003@yahoo.com

[dedalos]

Originally posted by gofaster
That reminds me, last night I took up a P-38 just for kicks. It was just after sundown and the shadows were getting long when a lone Spitfire V started milkrunning my burning airfield.  I managed to get airborne when he got distracted vulching something and we got into a low-alt turnfight.   We would go around in a tight turn with me pumping the flaps and rudder while he just yanked and banked but neither one of us could get a lead turn for a shot.  He'd break off and accellerate away before I could get my nose around in time to fire off a shot, then come back and we'd turn some more, then he'd break off again and set up for another merge.

After awhile of my chasing him through the smoke of the airfield (we're both on the deck now), he rev's back in a climbing turn to my right, so I kick right rudder and as we pass I open up with my cannon and stitch a line of shells from his engine to his canopy.  Then I hear the thud of cannons in my plane and it falls to pieces.

As I'm hanging in my chute, I look over to see if I got the Spitfire and sure enough he's hanging in his chute, too.

Then he gets on Channel One and gives me grief about ramming him!

As near as I could tell, I had popped him at point-blank range as he crossed my nose to the right, and I thought I had been popped by another plane, like a low LA-7 or Typhoon or something, because of the cannons hitting my frame.  He said I'd clipped him with my right wing.  Well, I don't know if I did or not, but if a nimble Spitfire V can't get out of the way of a slow P-38, that's just poor pilotage.

Lesson learned? I should stick to the Corsair for night-time engagements.  I would've had him after the first merge on an overshoot.

Am I reading this right? Are you saing that a Corsair will get a Spit V cause the Spit will always overshoot and night has something to do with this?

[slimm50]

Heheheh, I'm sorta puzzled myself about this one.

[Sway]

Try cutting throttle before dive, slipping rudder to create drag, do large barrel rolls on the way down, and if you ever get to the point where you can't move enough with just your stick, hit the dive breaks and trim out manually.  Thats how I do it anyways, and Im a nOob.

[mos]

Originally posted by Hazard69
How about sharing that "little secret know how" amongst fellow P38 drivers......c'mon spit it out.....cought it up......
Seriously could you please tell me how to dive my P38 that fast and not loose control....u can drop me a mail if u like at

mailrush2003@yahoo.com

After I searched for all posts by Ack-Ack I became twice the pilot I used to be.  Keep an eye out for films, they're a big help.

[XtrmeJ]

Hehe what lazer said hazard. Pretty simple to do once you start compressing, and you can still have control.

[GWDJRR]

[Your right it's not the plane it's the pilot.

[killnu]

i cut throttle and use rudder, if need be ill use dive brake.  
~S~

[Hornet]

unless your handle is beet1e your whole game is easy mode.

you should probably just log off and kill yourself.

[Silat]

Originally posted by Ack-Ack
Geez, that AKAK sounds like a real jerk



ack-ack

He is way beyond "JERK".

             

[Silat]

Originally posted by T1loady
By the way, his wingman,  the one we thought was killed by the other 2 ship in our flight swooped down at about 600KIAS and nailed me as I was making my victory roll over his chute..  
SkipNutz

I really didnt want to kill you <>

             

[SlapShot]

The P38 has always intrigued me, and I am always in awe when watching a competent P38 pilot fly, but I have never been really had much success in it. Well, this thread inspired me to try it last night.

I hooked up with the Nomads, Delirium in particular, and between him and Silat, I got a brief, but comprehensive tutorial on how to fly this behemoth.

COMBAT TRIM OFF !!! - MANUAL TRIM ONLY !!! (new concept for me)

Well, I got my arse handed to me quite a bit for the first hour or so but as the time passed and I became more familar with trimming this bird, the results started to slide back in my favor.

Had a great fight with Souls ... him buzzin my P38 on the deck with a 109 I believe, for what seemed like hours. I started to get a blister on my thumb, trimming and workin the flaps like a madman to create the evasives and finally produce a snapshot that got him smokin. In the end, someone in a LaLa decided that he and I were having too much fun and wacked me while climbing in the vert to get another shot. <> Souls ... <> to the LaLa

After that sortie, I believe I then went something like 16 or 18 and 0 in the P38. It was an ephiphany to say the least. That is one killin machine but far from EasyMode !!! I am not getting a big head over my success, I realize that I have a long way to go, but it gave me the impetus to continue trying.

<> and thanks to my Nomad buddies ... Delirium and Silat for taking some time to introduce me to the world of the P38.

I will be scouring the threads looking for links to films from some of the P38 aces we have here in AH. You could save me some time and put some in this thread ...