Originally posted by Kweassa
Why would it be any harder than any other plane?
It wasn't structured with titanium or something.
For the benefit of those who would actually read and think about it:
Consider for a moment that the tail of the P-38 is unlike the tail of any other fighter plane from World War II. One look and that fact should be very obvious to even the most uninitiated.
As far as how tough the tail was, it was tough enough to permanently deflect over 12" when pulling out of a compression dive and not snap off.
The two booms are several feet apart (You can't stand between them and touch them both at the same time).
The booms are very narrow once you get behind the radiators (which is where the tail breaks off in AH). So narrow in fact that in real life enemy pilots were quick to mention that they were near impossible to hit there.
At any point where the weight of fire from an enemy plane would be heavy enough to do serious structural damage to one boom, the other boom would almost certainly not even be hit.
In order to break the tail off like happens in AH, you'd have to cut both booms nearly in two, or cut one completely in two and cut the other one near half way through. It just ain't real likely if you think about it.
Think about it for a minute. Consider the fact that the P-38 itself has a 30" circle of fire at any effective distance. Now consider that several times I've cut the tail off of another P-38. Now, a 30" circle of fire ain't even gonna come close tohitting both booms, period. So I should practically never be able to cut the tail completely off of a P-38 with a P-38. But it happens often.
The natural tendency is to aim dead center of what you're shooting at. And you'll generally shoot where you look and where you aim. Ever looked at the tail of a P-38? Only the elevator is in the center. From the elevator forward to the wing is empty air space. That is why enemy pilots often commented that the back of a P-38 was hard to hit, and hard to hurt. When you consider that the center nacelle, and both the twin booms, are as narrow, or even more narrow, than the fuselage on most planes, you'll realize that the P-38 is only a big target if you're shooting the elevator or across the wing. Every where else, from above, below, and the side, it actually has a relatively narrow profile where vital areas are. Compare profiles with a lot of other fighters, and you'll see that from many angles, the P-38 just does not present as big a target as you think. The vital areas are well seperated as well.
I cannot remember seeing any film of the tail of a P-38 being shot off. I cannot remember reading about any P-38 pilot seeing one get shot off, nor having one shot off. I do remember reading about a collision between two P-38's where the wing of one sliced the tail off of another. But then, the wing has a massive stainless steel spar in it. I also cannot remember ever reading about a German or Japanese pilot claiming to have shot the tail off of a P-38. It may have happened, I just haven't read, seen, or heard of it. I'd like to see evidence of it, it'd make the tail coming off of a P-38 in AH a lot more believable.
