Aces High Bulletin Board

General Forums => Aircraft and Vehicles => Topic started by: [Sg]ShotGun on April 23, 2002, 12:02:20 AM

Title: 38 instability
Post by: [Sg]ShotGun on April 23, 2002, 12:02:20 AM

was the 38l really that unstable at 450 indicated? buffeting i mean.  i was thinking the 38 was a good diver even w/o that dive brake.

Title: 38 instability
Post by: Vermillion on April 23, 2002, 07:52:24 AM

Yes it was really like that.  The P-38 (all models) had a very low critical mach number due to its wing design.

Title: 38 instability
Post by: Masherbrum on April 23, 2002, 08:17:21 AM

Yes, echoing Vermillion.

Title: 38 instability
Post by: lord dolf vader on April 23, 2002, 12:27:03 PM

hehe what dive brake ? our 38 got no dive break ( real one did )

Title: 38 instability
Post by: Widewing on April 23, 2002, 12:38:50 PM

Quote

Originally posted by lord dolf vader
hehe what dive brake ? our 38 got no dive break ( real one did )

Yup, the dive recovery flaps as modeled, do not function correctly.

What they did in the actual aircraft was:

1) Increase drag, limiting speed and acceleration.
2) Changed the air flow characteristics, inducing pitch-up.
3) Prevented the center of lift from shifting aft along the wing's chord, preventing Mach tuck.

A P-38 with dive flaps deployed, trimmed neutral, would execute a 3g, hands-off pullout.

My regards,

Widewing

Title: 38 instability
Post by: [Sg]ShotGun on April 23, 2002, 02:42:31 PM

so untill the dive brake is 'turnd on' the 38 is a nice lo speed fiter?

Title: 38 instability
Post by: Sikboy on April 23, 2002, 02:48:12 PM

Not at all, you just have to take a little more time lining up shots. It works real well in the verticle too.

-Sikboy

Title: 38 instability
Post by: [Sg]ShotGun on April 23, 2002, 03:00:06 PM

i tried last sat to fly it in the same manner as my spit9 and took for granted the hi speed control of the 9 compared to the 38.

even shallow dives gained great speeds due to its weight. so i coodnt even control it with any certainty to make it a good vert fiter.

but i did come out the winner with a 202. somting iv had trouble with when flying the 9. love dem flaps ;)

Title: 38 instability
Post by: [Sg]ShotGun on April 23, 2002, 03:15:50 PM

im just bitter now when i think about the old days of WB b4 RL FMs when i cood trim the L to fly invert and i wood fly that way over nme fields looking for the inattentive.

when i found them i wood swoop down from hi alt to an indicated 550+mph and sneek up behind them to blow them up...

ah the good ole days  ;)

Title: 38 instability
Post by: Tac on April 23, 2002, 04:00:03 PM

what widewing said. Note half of it aint even in AH yet.

Title: 38 instability
Post by: palef on April 23, 2002, 11:48:07 PM

Why don?t you guys ask Earl1? He flew the suckers and decrys the myth that they tumbled or were unstable at high speed.

Regards

palef