Marseille did die afaik the first flight in his new G2 when his engine began to smoke and he bailed out. No enemies involved at all.
I seem to recall reading about a theory that Marseilles probably requested the mechanics to alter the engine settings to achieve full emergency power, and that went bad during his test flight, which caused the engine troubles. Not sure where I read that though.
It was done by more than just "some". After all, there was a reason why Fowler flaps were put in the plane in the first place.
No doubt Fowler types are more efficient than others methods, but there could be a number of reasons to put in a Fowler type flaps than just about combat.
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Even McGuire's tactical manual talks about using flaps and the flight training film for the P-38 talks about the use of the combat flaps. So, despite what you think, using flaps to aid in the maneuvering of the P-38 was a common practice used by the majority of the P-38 pilots in all theaters of operation.
This is what intrigues me most, because I think it has a lot to do with what kind of "leaders" are present at that specific theater. Top aces are influential people and often become a role-model as well as a mentor in the way they share their wisdom and practice among the rookie pilots.
Among all the theaters and airforces that served in WW2, there's not a single reference that states flap usage was a common practice, or, should be encouraged in combat.
P-38s were not the only planes installed with Fowlers. The Fowlers on the P-38 also weren't necessarily the most efficient use of Fowlers in fighter planes. The P-47s also had Fowlers, which could certainly help against the usually more agile Luftwaffe planes. The Ki-84 probably had the best designed Fowlers to ever be installed on a WW2 fighter plane.
And yet the notations of flap usage is common only among P-38 pilots, or at least, is claimed to be so.
Why is that?
There could be a number of possible reasons;
1) All of the other pilots of other airforces in other theaters, weren't as skilled as P-38 aces
2) The P-38 was the only unique plane that could utilize such use of flaps during combat
3) There was something about the PTO conditions which allowed far more aggressive usage of flaps, than compared to the Med, ETO, or the Eastern Front.
IMO 1) and 2) is both highly unlikely, and it would be delusional for anyone to claim so. The only possible explanation lies in 3).
One must look at the general PTO conditions where aerial opposition was practically decimated since the great counter offensive of '42, and countless numbers of Japanese veterans were lost. All of the major carriers were sank, and the aerial power the Japanese could wield were to be split apart and straggled along the lines of the numerous islands scattered apart in the Pacific.
Not to mention the fact that unlike in any other theaters of the war, the Japanese planes were more often than not clearly overmatched by the USN/USMC planes in so many ways.
It is frankly not much of a surprise, that a group of pilots with superior skills and superior planes, superior numbers and superior logistics, would quickly become more belligerant and aggressive than any other theater in the world.
Again, no derogatory intent towards the PTO pilots of the war, but the USN or USMC definately was not in such hectic conditions as compared to the RAF in 1940, or the daylight bombing raids of the USAAF(AAC) in '43~'44, or the deadly tangles between the Luftwaffe and the VVS in the Eastern Front throughout the war.
There are many famed and noted aces among American pilots. Some like Johnson, were especially noted for their individual prowess. And yet, the description of their combat practices is hardly anything like the how Bong or McGuire would have fought. In a sense it is much more team oriented, conservative, careful, and less 'exciting', when compared to reading how aggressively McGuire or Bong would fight.
This is probably because the planes they were flying were different, but also because the opposition they were facing were different as well. And perhaps, IMO, this is why the PTO pilots have that distinct belligerant, swash-buckling aura as compared to their counterparts in the ETO.
As long as that particular environmental conditions are at work, the distinct aggressive style of fighting which would typically be a lot more 'personal' than compared to the P-51s or P-47s in the ETO, would certainly work well.
IMO the influence of the P-38 aces in the PTO, is what got the P-38 pilots in the practice of using flaps a lot more than other airforces. And also the fact that they could still get away with it more often than not, since they were in so much better planes. Fighting Tonys or Zeros in P-38Gs and Js, can't be possibly as difficult as having to fight 190s or 109s in P-47s, especially when the Luftwaffe was still maintaining its qulaity of pilots to a high level.
In the end, despite numerous excuses given to the P-38, the USAAF in the ETO just gave up on the P-38s. Sure, you could argue that the ETO pilots were dumb, and did not know how to use the P-38s as well as PTO pilots. But in the end, if a certain majority of pilots find it difficult to use it under certain conditions, then that effectively represants the view of the whole theater.
The P-38s were driven out. The P-51Ds came in.
To quote Rau, "not every pilot can fly like Ben Kelsey", and if they had to fly like Kelsey to prove its worth under ETO conditions, then its certainly not a plane that is 'easy to handle', especially when you look at this matter from the perspective of average/normal pilots, not from the shoes of the belligerant and confident few.
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I wonder what it is that gets you so riled up when you see "flaps" and "P-38s" in the same sentence?
Quite simple, really. Because the P-38 fanboys are the only guys arguing that their plane is special when it comes to 'flap usage', and it has been done injustice in terms of flap usage in AH.
My take is, nothing's special. Neither the P-38 nor its flaps.
As a casual reminder to the readers, for any reason if a flame war erupts around the flap issue, "it wasn't me who started to get personal."
