What skin is this???

[Ack-Ack]

I love that paint scheme on that Droopsnoot.



ack-ack

[Morpheus]

yeah, rgr that akak, always liked it.

This is another nice skin that would be cool for the game.

[Treize69]

If I had a scanner, I have a killer shot of the 20th enroute to target with the droopsnoot in the lead. 28 Lightnings in the photo, looking down from a few thousand feet higher. Full invasion stripes. Tight formation. Both camo and bare-metal birds.

MAN I need a scanner!

[hubsonfire]

I had no idea any 38s were set up to haul some poor guy in the nose. And what's with the "droopsnoop" references? Was there an alternate nose configuration, or is that just the vernacular for the bombardier's spot?

[Ack-Ack]

Droopsnoops were the glass nosed P-38s that were used as Pathfinders.  Carried a crew of two, the pilot and bombadier that laid down in the nose.


There was another two crew configuration for the P-38 and that was the P-38M night fighter.  If you see in that blow up picture of the Lightning that Morph posted, you'll see a person sitting behind the pilot.  In the P-38M, that was the radar operators seat and as you can probably imagine, not all that comfortable especially after a multi-hour sortie.

P-38 also carried these pods that a person would squeeze into and be ferried around.  One pilot was asked what he'd do to the designer of these pods and he said he'd make the S.O.B. ride in one.


ack-ack

[Guppy35]

Originally posted by Ack-Ack
Droopsnoops were the glass nosed P-38s that were used as Pathfinders.  Carried a crew of two, the pilot and bombadier that laid down in the nose.


There was another two crew configuration for the P-38 and that was the P-38M night fighter.  If you see in that blow up picture of the Lightning that Morph posted, you'll see a person sitting behind the pilot.  In the P-38M, that was the radar operators seat and as you can probably imagine, not all that comfortable especially after a multi-hour sortie.

P-38 also carried these pods that a person would squeeze into and be ferried around.  One pilot was asked what he'd do to the designer of these pods and he said he'd make the S.O.B. ride in one.


ack-ack

What Ack-Ack refers to.

First is the nose of a 1st FG Droop Snoot.  Nordan bombsite in the nose.  Bombardier in place of guns.

Second is a photo lightning covering strikes in the Pacific.  Note the pod underneath with a photographer inside.  This was a combat mission

[USHilDvl]

Morph..I'm thinkin' I gotta see that avatar full size....hmmmm?  

[Morpheus]

You would have to be the craziest lunatic on the plannet to get into that pod. What if you had a problem with the gear and had to belly land?

It would turn you into a skidmark on the belly of the plane.

[Iceman24]

yeah morph I agree with a previous comment... We need to see your avatar full sized lol

[Tabasco]

Treize, is this the pic?  I got this from an old book called AIRWAR by Edward Jablonski.



The second one, from the same book, was a small photo on the corner of a page shows the same two 38's from Morph's pic.  I guess they took turns for their closeups.

[Treize69]

Originally posted by Tabasco
Treize, is this the pic?  I got this from an old book called AIRWAR by Edward Jablonski.

Yup, thats the one.

The caption for that pic from the book I have (Warren Bodie's "The Lockheed P-38 Lightning")

"Lt. Col Rau's 20th Fighter Group (all three squadrons they say) was led to a target by the colonel piloting "EZE Does It", a P-38J Droop Snoot on a "toggleer" mission. Captain Herschel F. Ezell was a well qualified bombardier, and the bomb-laden fighters in a very good formation released their loads at his "bombs away" signal. In the ETO and MTO, regular bombloads carried by the fighter contingent ranged from a single 500 pounder and 165-gallon droptank to six 500 pounders and even to two 2,000 pounders (rarely) for sub-pen busting. The Rau-Ezell mission depicted was in June 1944"

[Blixen]

pppppppppplllllllllllllleeeee eeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaassssssssse!

[FiLtH]

Thats an easy one. Its a submersible P38, the SSP-38. You can tell by the distinctive periscope on the nose.

[Treize69]

That paint scheme was applied to the model 322-B Lightning Is built for the RAF that were rejected and taken over by the USAAF to use as test ships and trainers. No superchargers or handed engines. Armament was 2 .50s and 2 .30s with no cannon.

The one pictured is the first 322-60-04 Lightning II, which was also rejected by the RAF and was reclassified as the P-38F-13-LO after being returned. Some saw combat as regular P-38Fs or Gs, but others, like this one, were retained stateside and used as testbeds by Lockheed and the AAF. That one pictured was stressed to carry 2 2,000 pound torpedoes or 1 torpedo and 1 300-gallon drop tank. The torpedo was successfully test dropped, but the rig was never tested outside the US.

[Guppy35]

Originally posted by Morpheus
yeah, rgr that akak, always liked it.

This is another nice skin that would be cool for the game.

Same bird as the glass nosed camo bird pictured earlier.  Lost in a crash.  No wartime 38J or L ever carried that scheme.  Thats a CAF bird.  The wreck is supposadly going to be restored at some point.

Edit:  My mistake.  This is Scatterbrain Kid that was lost in 1974 with the CAF.  THe glass nosed bird i Scatterbrain Kid II and it was wrecked in a crash in 1994 and is in the process of being rebuilt.  Also a CAF bird.

The camo is not authentic either way