Its been a day now... what are your views on the new 38?

[AKDejaVu]

I only flew it one sortie and didn't care for it much.  It accelerates well in a dive and is totally maneuverable in the verticle, but it is too big of a target.

Most of my experience was against p-38's in my f4u-1c.  So far I am 5:0 against them.  Their guns seem a tad weak (took several pings from a 38 once and only lost a cannon) and they don't bleed e well making them seceptable to overshoots.  I got two kills against someone by forcing the overshoot... a move I'm not usually too good at.  This was a pilot that was 12:2 in the 38 without my help... 12:4 in it with my help.

It looks to be a plane that can be one of the trickier aircraft to fly with skill.  A pilot that takes the time to learn the ins and outs and master it will be quite succesfull.  Most of the rest will be one hell of a big target.

AKDejaVu

[Citabr]

well to me seems the p38 has that mystic learning curve the one in wb has hence why its so fun to fly  

but its gonna be less good in its e with the new adjustment made to the FM but I'll be flying it just the same thankfully with less cries of uberness.

its got a mean spin that will snap at ya though, which is fine, I like the challenge  

[Hangtime]

So far; it looks to be a competent airplane. As noted above; there will be those that will become masters with it.. and the addition of another USAAF fighter is always welcome.

Salute .38 drivers. And check yer rather large blindspots for me.  

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[This message has been edited by Hangtime (edited 03-01-2000).]

[artoo]

Hang, is that Fat Freddie's cat????
Just curious.

[humble]

Wow, is all I can say. I suffered a bit in it yesterday..as always for me in a new ride.
I think it is about as honest a plane as there is in set. Not really an uber plane, but the most complete package..in the right hands.

I,m not an ex WB flier so I'm limited to AW for comparision..but I think it will be same here, 38 will become the plane of aces while being a good "starter" plane for the rest of us.

[Camel]

Very glad to have it, kinda feels like home!

[Gh0stFT]

well, what can i say about the P38, after
some flight-testings it felt like a F-16  
Superb fast, and she holds E realy realy good. Sliping the Plane dont work much here.
We need Airbrakes for the P38 otherwise its
realy hard to dive-attack or just landings,
it takes 1-2 passes more then in other planes
till i have good angle/speed for landing.
The views are a bit a problem u need to check
views more then in other Planes.
Bad thing is i forgott my Anti-G Pants thats
why i blackouted way to often  


greets
GhostFT

[Aussie]

Where did someone post the other day (might have been the other board) that the P38 has a smaller profile than most other A/C, particularly in the 6 or 12 view. The plan form looks bigger but theres a lot of air in the middle. Big tailplane though.

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aussie
Phoenix Squadron
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Any ship can be a minesweeper... once.

[Westy]

I've yet to land a P-38. And I've tried too. That rocket will just NOT bleed any speed  

-Westy

[Rojo]

So far, I like it. Back in the old days flying Aces of the Pacific, I loved the P38. When WarBirds came along, I tried if for a while, then gave it up; SA was just too hard, what with the poor 3/9/6 views. With the great view adjustments available in AH, I'm falling in love with it all over again. It is a big target, but was not what I'd classify as fragile. Lost the outer part of one wing and was able to successfully ditch; shutting down the opposite engine helped even out the roll and yaw in the final moment of the ditch.  Another time, I lost an engine attack Phantom4's B-26, but managed to make it home fine on just one engine.

BTW, I think this is a first, AKDejaVu; someone complaining an aircraft "don't bleed e well." Yeah, you have to watch speed in a dive, and it really builds up a head of steam quick; however, it makes the zoom and extention a most effective escape maneuver. And I really found it easy to hit with that buzz saw of a gun package. Best centerline package in the game.

Sabre (a.k.a. Rojo)

[Wanker]

Finally, my ride of choice is available in AH!

That being said, my experience being shot down in it last night shows me that I have a big learning curve ahead of me. You said it, Rojo, the ability to adjust the views makes it possible to cover most blindspots.

Vila, is you're out there, let me be the first to sign up for lessons with you!  

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banana
**MOL** (Men of Leisure)

[Karaya One]

I only flew the 38 for a few quick hops but it was the first plane I did well in via Warbirds.

You need to remember that Mr. Bong himself used the P38 as a B&Z airplane. It is downright excellent in that respect. You can dogfight in it but you need to make sure its a fair fight because the limited viewing area will work against you. However, once you get used to the views it is easy to overcome this problem. Dont be afraid to fly upside down for better visiblity.

38 is an excellent all around plane. Great for buff busting, A/G that turns into A/A fights etc..

This is my favorite ride outside of LW airplanes and I think the AH FM is right on the money.

K1

[Vila]

Well, so far, so good.  Only problem I've had with it, is getting suckered into a furball and dieing there    Only flew it for 5 sorties so far but here's my observations:

 - Does the vertical NICELY, the way it should.

 - It's OK in the stall fight, but the large target issue means that if there are numberous bad guys around, your chances of dying to a snap shot are pretty good.

 - Of course, right now it's dive performance is pretty phenomenal

 - Up close the guns are pretty deadly.  Inside of 2-300 yards, anything I hit took serious damage. At greater ranges, I could hit pretty well, but the .50's are kinda weak out there (could get consistent pings on a running target at 1.0-1.1K with the .50s, but didn't cause any damage)

 - Visibility can be "tweaked" to be better than it probably should, but visibility below the waterline is still not so great... good forward vis though.

 - None of the annoying "spongeyness" in pitch of the WB FM.

 - The roll intertia is a tad less pronounced than I'd have tought.  It's still there, but not as significant as in WB.  Who's model is right?  I have no clue.  Roll feels reasonably "heavy" when slow, but downright "spritley" when fast.

 - Stall characteristics seem more in  line with anecdotal accounts than in WB (with the insta-death spins), but you can still spin it slow if you are not careful.

Overall, I feel at home in this machine.. it should do nicely  

Vila
Once and Future P-38 Dweeb

[funked]

Hmmmm Joemud filmed the his P-38 last night at 50,000 feet altitude.  Then he dove to 900 mph TAS.  Apparently the MiG-21 and P-38L flight models were confused.  Jury is definitely out on this plane.  HTC has some work to do yet.

[Minotaur]

 

Originally posted by aussie:
Where did someone post the other day (might have been the other board) that the P38 has a smaller profile than most other A/C, particularly in the 6 or 12 view. The plan form looks bigger but theres a lot of air in the middle. Big tailplane though.

You make the call?  Bigger yes, but not alot bigger.
     


This really surprized me.  I thought P-38 would be alot bigger by comparison.
     


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Mino
The Wrecking Crew
Trainer

[This message has been edited by Minotaur (edited 03-02-2000).]