Originally posted by fscott:
Tac, Fishu, The P38 could dive faster than the P47D and the P51D. I can back that up with reference to "America's Hundred Thousand", again the Bible on American fighters, which lists the fastest divers in order with the P38 at the top. Saying nothing could outdive a Jug, is a general statement. The P38 could accel faster in a dive, but of course the Jug and 51 could handle higher speeds in the dive.
fscott
For the record, the P-38 did have the best dive acceleration of the three. However, that meant that it would venture into compressibility rather quickly. Indeed, the P-38 may hold the initial edge, but it would fall behind in a prolonged dive.
The Critical Mach for the P-38 was 0.68
The P-51 came in next at 0.75, with the P-47
very close to the Mustang. P-38s could be pressed to Mach 0.72, and the Mustang could manage 0.80, but this was pushing it.
The P-47 was able to reach Mach 0.83 under controlled circumstances.
For the P-38 to match the others, it would require a new airfoil design. This should not be a surprise when you consider that the P-38s wing differed little from the Lockheed Electra.
My regards,
Widewing