The Cloverleaf maneuver, done properly can give the P-38 the edge it needs to defeat superior turning planes like the Spitfire.
Now as with any tactic or maneuver, it's not a 100% guaranteed to work but it might just give you that much needed edge if you're caught in a low speed situation.
Here's an example of the cloverleaf in action. This is the brief story of the famous duel between Lowell in a P-38H vs. a Spitfire XV.
During the late winter of 1944 ocurred the famous dual between a
Griffon-engined Spitfire XV and a P-38H of the 364FG. Col. Lowell few the P-38, engaging the Spitfire at 5,000 ft. in a head-on pass. Lowell was able to get on the Spitfire's tail and stay there no matter what the Spitfire pilot did. Although the Spitfire could execute a tighter turning circle than the P-38, Lowell was able to use the P-38's excellent stall characteristics to repeatedly pull inside the Spit's turn radius and ride the stall, then back off outside the Spit's turn, pick up speed and cut back in again in what he called a "cloverleaf" maneuver. After 20 minutes of this, at 1,000 ft. altitude, the Spit tried a Spit-S (at a 30-degree angle, not vertically down). Lowell stayed with the Spit through the maneuver, although his P-38 almost hit the ground. After that the Spitfire pilot broke off the engagement and flew home. This contest was witnessed by 75 pilots on the ground.
Here's another example of the maneuver being used.
It was not a common maneuver, but a sort of last ditch hole card. Gerry Johnson, ops exec of the 49FG used it to break contact with a Ki-44 he was in a rough one-on-one with on a mission to the oil refineries of the DEI in the fall of 1944. As he told it, he had fought the Tojo from 24,000 ft. down to the deck, where it had latched onto his tail. He didn't dare straighten out and try to run, because it was too close. He couldn't dive. He was forced to try to out-turn it because he didn't have anything else to try. He started clover-leafing and, to his great relief, the Tojo was unable to stay with him and broke off contact, whereupon Johnson, master fighter pilot that he was, turned the tables on the Tojo and shot him down.
Here's the description of the maneuver.
The cloverleaf was a horizontal maneuver that took advantage of the P-38's exceptionally gentle stall characteristics. It was a low-speed maneuver. The pilot would tighten his turn until he actually stalled out, ease off and let the plane unstall itself, then tighten back up into a stall, ease up....
Viewed from above, the pattern the airplane flew through the air looked something like a cloverleaf, and this simile was used in teaching the maneuver.
You can also use High Yo-Yo's to do the maneuver instead of keeping it on the horizontal plane.
Next will be Part II - More P-38 vs. Spitfire Tactics.
Ack-Ack
