Originally posted by Hazzer
I read somewhere that the p38 perfomed badly at High Altitude due to problems with the Radiators and spark plugs,these problems weren't solved until the J model,by which time the P51 was King...
The only problem with the radiators was the pilots didn't operate the radiator doors correctly. Fail to operate the cowl flaps or radiator doors on any plane and you'll have engine problems.
Once Lockheed an Allison personnel were dispatched, and diagnoses the problems as primarily caused by pilots not reading the manual, or worse, ignoring it, often at the suggestion of command staff or line mechanics, many, or actually most, of the problems were quickly solved.
The problem wasn't really the spark plugs, but rather the lead in the British fuel. Actually, the lead was not mixed well and came out of suspension. When Doolittle got Shell to get some decent fuel to the 8th, the detonation, burnt valves, and fouled plugs were for the most part a thing of the past.
As an aside, the P-51 suffered severe teething issues, with cracked heads dumping coolant, causing the engines to seize, among other problems, and including the same problem with fouled plugs due to the lead, only to a somewhat greater degree. And a P-51 with a dead engine doesn't fly at all.
