Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Custom Skins => Topic started by: Vraciu on September 30, 2023, 09:29:42 PM
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P-38L-1-LO "HO-HUM The Second"
S/N 44-23652 (F5N)
428th FS, 474th FG, 9th AF, USAAF
Lt. Lloyd Wenzel
Florennes, Belgium, March 1945
This is Lt. Lloyd Wenzel's P-38L-1-LO, "Ho-Hum The Second" (S/N listed as 44-23652) coded F5N of the 428th FS, 474th FG. There is some disagreement as to whether or not it is a late-model P-38J-25-LO with the dive flap kit installed or a P-38L-1-LO. This has not been resolved by visual evidence of the production number which is obscured in all presently available photos of the aircraft. The P-38L was deployed in the ETO in limited numbers with several being lost before D-Day and I've depicted it as such. I leave it to the player to decide which is correct until further data is made available.
Thanks again to Lyric1 for his help digging up pictures of this airplane.
Converting to jpg and uploading just takes a little something off the images which drives me crazy but here you go. Click to enlarge.
(https://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=408175.0;attach=36935)
(https://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=408175.0;attach=36939)
(https://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=408175.0;attach=36937)
(https://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=408175.0;attach=36943)
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Pure gorgeousness - nothin Ho-Hum about this one!
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Very nice.
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:aok
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Beautiful skin Vraciu, very nicely done.
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Thanks guys.
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Awesome V!!! :aok
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Thanks, Ken. Quite a difference compared to the old shape.
(https://i.imgur.com/0JFVbeih.png)
Wentzel spoke German and after the war was involved with the jet/rocket scientists we captured. He wound up working on the F-15's development before retiring as a Colonel.
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Glad to see more gorgeous 38’s I can crash and burn in being added.
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Ha ha ha!
Thanks, man.
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Late to the party. The 474th FG has been a long time history obsession of mine. I had the pleasure of talking to Lloyd Wenzel, the pilot of Ho Hum the second.
She as a P38J-25 Serial number 44-23652 F5-N Images of Wenzel and Ho Hum the second below.
Lloyd Wenzel in the cockpit of his 38
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/s199/guppy35/Wenzel.jpg)
Lloyd on the left with Bobby Rankin standing by Ho Hum the second
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/s199/guppy35/HoHum2.jpg)
Another image of Wenzel with Ho Hum the Second
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/s199/guppy35/474th_wenzel.JPG)
Ho Hum from the front quarter. You can see the dive flaps under the wing and the wing edge landing light
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/s199/guppy35/Hohum.JPG)
Ho Hum from the left side
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/s199/guppy35/Hohun3.jpg)
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Great pics. A couple of these I did not have.
Do we have any pics of the stencils that say J-25?
Since it has the dive flap I'm leaving it in the L category for the game but will update the history.
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Isn't the landing light position different between the J and L?
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Isn't the landing light position different between the J and L?
Some lighting is different but the dive flap is more important. It may be possible to hide the leading edge light on the L.
Looking at the next to last photo... is that an LE light on the left wing?
I'm leaving it in the L box regardless.
Guppy's picture solved one riddle I could not: the color of the NO STEP stencils.
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Great pics. A couple of these I did not have.
Do we have any pics of the stencils that say J-25?
Since it has the dive flap I'm leaving it in the L category for the game but will update the history.
No close up of the stencil. The info comes from a combat report in the 428th FS, 474th FG History "The Geyser Gang".
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I think the J-25 is essentially a P-38L, with power-boosted ailerons, dive flaps and landing light location in the leading edge of port wing.
http://www.aerofiles.com/JBlock-p38j.html (http://www.aerofiles.com/JBlock-p38j.html)
Our P-38J is probably a J-15, so I'd definitely leave Ho Hum as an "L".
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I think CURLY SIX is also a J-25. Hmph. Darn it.
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I think the J-25 is essentially a P-38L, with power-boosted ailerons, dive flaps and landing light location in the leading edge of port wing.
http://www.aerofiles.com/JBlock-p38j.html (http://www.aerofiles.com/JBlock-p38j.html)
Our P-38J is probably a J-15, so I'd definitely leave Ho Hum as an "L".
We knew it was a J-25 during it's first skinning for DGS. The powers that be agreed J-25s would be considered L's. Baby Shoes filled the 474th J model. Oh how I wish we had the numbers where I could lead 36 P38s of the 474th in a scenario again :)
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Some lighting is different but the dive flap is more important. It may be possible to hide the leading edge light on the L.
Looking at the next to last photo... is that an LE light on the left wing?
I'm leaving it in the L box regardless.
Guppy's picture solved one riddle I could not: the color of the NO STEP stencils.
NO STEP definitely red :)
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/s199/guppy35/38color006.jpg)
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I think the J-25 is essentially a P-38L, with power-boosted ailerons, dive flaps and landing light location in the leading edge of port wing.
http://www.aerofiles.com/JBlock-p38j.html (http://www.aerofiles.com/JBlock-p38j.html)
Our P-38J is probably a J-15, so I'd definitely leave Ho Hum as an "L".
You are correct, sir. The J-25-Lo had dive flaps, boosted ailerons, and flat bullet proof glass. There were some detail changes between it and the L-1-Lo.
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We knew it was a J-25 during it's first skinning for DGS. The powers that be agreed J-25s would be considered L's. Baby Shoes filled the 474th J model. Oh how I wish we had the numbers where I could lead 36 P38s of the 474th in a scenario again :)
Those were the days, my friend, those were the days.
The feeling reminds me of the picture that Blumer sent Ilfrey, of the P-38 Blumer had well after the war, it was signed "Jack, remember when? Scrap"
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NO STEP definitely red :)
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/s199/guppy35/38color006.jpg)
Well, not red with white letters then any way.
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We knew it was a J-25 during it's first skinning for DGS. The powers that be agreed J-25s would be considered L's. Baby Shoes filled the 474th J model. Oh how I wish we had the numbers where I could lead 36 P38s of the 474th in a scenario again :)
Lots of sites still call it an L.
I'll have to move CURLY SIX to the L category...
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Well, not red with white letters then any way.
Only on the OD/Gray birds :)
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/s199/guppy35/38color007.jpg)
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Only on the OD/Gray birds :)
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/s199/guppy35/38color007.jpg)
Again, without photo evidence--and not being an expert on 38s--it's one of those things that I wasn't sure about. Lots of NMF profiles show the OD-style NO STEP so without pics I was unsure what to do. Looks like I have a bunch of updates to make now.
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Oh, and thanks for the compliment on my great work. /sarc
:neener:
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NO STEP definitely red :)
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/s199/guppy35/38color006.jpg)
I love how the lower "NO STEP" stencil is partially worn away from being stepped on. :rofl
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I love how the lower "NO STEP" stencil is partially worn away from being stepped on. :rofl
Yeah, but I think you can step THERE just not above it. But I don't know. Lol
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Oh, and thanks for the compliment on my great work. /sarc
:neener:
LOL I thought your great work was a given. :aok
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LOL I thought your great work was a given. :aok
Good recovery, Mav. :rofl
But seriously, thanks for the compliment--and the research help.
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But seriously, thanks for the compliment--and the research help.
Guppy and Virgil are the two guys I'd go to for any questions on the P-38. Those two guys have taught me so much, man!
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Yeah, but I think you can step THERE just not above it. But I don't know. Lol
All of the fillet radius where the wing root meets the center nacelle is super critical, as is the side window itself. if you damage the fillet radius, or don't have the side window rolled all the way up, it causes a massive airflow disruption, and severe buffeting, even at take off. It is actually the fillet radius, from the leading edge back, at the center wing where the wing root meets the center nacelle, that is the cause for the relatively low critical Mach of 0.67, and the compressibility problem. Most do not know, but Hap Arnold convinced NACA to allow Lockheed to test it in the wind tunnel, and help develop a fix. They did introduce a slightly improved fillet radius. However, NACA developed an entirely new fillet radius, and a leading edge modification that worked with the airfoil and the center nacelle, it increased the critical Mach to nearly 0.75 without the dive flaps. However, as was the case with the 1875HP engines and the 13'6" Hamilton Standard hydrostatic high activity paddle props that were on the P-38K, the War Production Board denied Lockheed a short production interruption to introduce the new wing improvement.
I had a friend who said that he actually took off once with both side windows down. He said it nearly shook him out of the plane even before he raised the flaps and gear. It may have been Ken Lloyd, as he was a Pacific theater pilot.