Well, most planes already have the option of MG's or cannons or different loadouts..and those sure as heck did not come "from the factory"..they were installed in the field.
I remember some websites stating that most of the P-38's that flew out of Henderson Field had been modified to 6 .50's due to the Zeke's vulnerability to API rounds AND because they had to strafe a lot of small freighters and troop ships. I can't find the damn link!!! ARGH.
From:
http://home.att.net/~jbaugher1/p38_15.html "P-38L-1-LO Ser No 44-23601 was fitted with three 0.60-inch machine guns in a postwar experiment. However, tests at Elgin AFB in 1946 were not successful. The guns themselves betrayed structural deficiencies, and the shell links failed whenever the aircraft underwent either positive or negative acceleration.
P-38L-1-LO Serial No 44-24649 was modified as a specialized ground strafing version with eight 0.50-inch guns in the nose and two underwing pods each carrying two more 0.50-in machine guns
P-38L-5-LO Ser No 44-25605 was rebuilt by Hindustan Aircraft in India as a special VIP aircraft for a General Stratemeyer. The plane had a transparent nose, which made it look a lot like the "Droop Snoot" pathfinder Lightnings used in the European theatre. The General sat in a special seat inside the nose, and the inside walls of his "office" were lined with leather. There were even provisions for a built-in Thermos jug (I won't even ask what was IN the jug :-)). Sort of reminds me of General Dreedle in the movie *Catch 22*. Nowadays, if *Sixty Minutes* were to get wind of such an extravagance on the part of the military, heads would roll."
From:
http://perso.wanadoo.fr/christophe.arribat/stofp38.html The P-38 Droop Snoot (based on the P-38H/J/L airframe) had a plexiglas bubble bombardier nose, containing a Norden bombsight and its operator; the plane was used to lead fighter-bombers in level-bombing missions, and had no guns. Up to 100 such planes were built.
Also, the P-38M would be nice
http://home.att.net/~jbaugher1/p38_16.html "This modification was successful, and provided the USAAF with a night fighter having a top speed of 406 mph at 15,000 feet as compared to only 369 mph at 20,000 feet for the Northrop P-61A Black Widow. Consequently, the Army issued a contract change calling for the Lockheed Modification Center in Dallas to convert 80 additional P-38L-5-LOs into P-38M twin-seat night fighters (some sources give 75, but 80 serials are identified). They were painted glossy black overall. These were just entering service when the war ended. The P-38M saw operational service in the Pacific in the last few days of the war. It was an effective night fighter with very little performance penalty over the standard single-seat Lightning"
[This message has been edited by Tac (edited 08-12-2000).]
