1.) Dive Speed limitations: Last night in my testing the P-38 has the same divespeed limitations as the P-51. It starts creaking and groaning at 500 IAS. According to AHT the divespeed limitations for the J/L were 440mph IAS at 1g (p.605), and my P-38 Pilots manual confirms this.
2.) Compression: I realize its not in yet, but couple that with #1 and this bird will be much different. Even with Dive Flaps/Brakes, its noted that the P-38 shouldn't exceed the dive limitations (440) by more than 20mph, because extreme nose tuck will occur.
3.) Induced Drag: The P38 FM makes the old "pre-gelded" Pony (the one everyone complained about no E loss in vertical manuvers)look horrible in comparison. I was amazed how I could pull into turns and manuevers and lose very little E. In the vertical its simply amazing. Last night I was at 30-31k, auto-leveled at WEP waited till my speed stabilized and turned on auto-climb. I zoomed up over 4,000ft !! Try that in any other fighter. This issue is very hard to quantify, but it seems like it is not in the similar range as the other planes currently in the game, especially given the size/weight and other design characteristics of the P-38.
4.) Roll Inertia: To me this is the area that the FM seemed the weakest. Now I don't doubt, given Pyro's meticulous attention to detail, that the
sustained roll numbers are pretty close. But the initial roll rate is just as quick, and it reverses with very little to no feel of inertia. Something that should be pronounced given the engines outside the centerline of roll. Here is how the P-38 is described in AHT, and I have read similar descriptions in other sources.
The P-38 was a large heavy fighter not suited for quick "snap" or "slam-bang" manuevers, and had a particularly slow initial response in roll due to a high lateral inertia characteristic. The problem was a slow start into a roll and thus an inability to switch quickly from one attitude to another, as in reversing from a turn in one direction to one in another. As one pilot said "It was disconcerting to have a fighter barreling in on you, crank the wheel over hard, and just have the P-38 sit there. Then after it slowly rolled the first five to ten degrees of bank it would turn quickly. The hesitation was sweat-producing. Many combat losses, particularly in North Africa, were attributed to this creaky initial rate of roll. Another pilot noted "The first ten degree's of bank came very slow."
Now, Im sure someone will jump in here and claim that because the L had hydraulic boosted ailerons, that is correct. Well.. that person would be wrong
Power boosted ailerons, introduced the same time as dive recovery flaps, gave the P-38 pilot a lot more "muscle" to improve roll characteristics at high speeds, but did nothing to improve them at low to moderate speeds where maximum roll performance was dependent on full aileron deflection, instead of pilot effort
I personally talked to a WWII P-38 pilot on this issue when I toured the NASM Garber Facility in Washington DC. He had flown the F, early J, and the L model. When asked how much the boosted ailerons helped, his exact words were with a chuckle "Not much".
Now in AH, the P-38 has very little feel of inertia and in my opinon actually has a quicker roll than some other planes like the N1K2.
Couple that with the low induced drag, and this bird will do an amazing series of flat scissors on the deck. It should be horrible at this.
The only weakness I could find in the P-38 last night was its large size, and that it had inheirited the infamous "glass tail" of the WB's P-38.
To be honest, this plane right now literally scares me more than any other plane in the game. Moderately fast, good climber, turns forever, accelerates quickly, and it has good guns with alot of ammo. I can't find a weak point with its performance.
MUCH more deadly than the F4U-1C ever was.
Will do some more hard testing on climb & speed later.
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Vermillion
**MOL**, Men of Leisure,
"Real Men fly Radials, Nancy Boys fly Spitfires"
