One aspect of the P-38 seldom discussed was the fact that Lockheed did not design in much "stretch".
By "stretch", I refer to the ability of the airframe to be upgraded and improved to remain competitive as the general level of performance increased during the course of the war. I suppose that the best examples of "stretch" are the F4U, P-51s, Spitfires and 190 series. Adding to this was Lockheed's prolonged development of the Lightning. It took four years to get the P-38 into combat. It took almost 6 years to get to the ultimate version. Some of this can be laid at the feet of the USAAF, some to the WPB, but the majority of the blame belongs squarely at the feet of Lockheed. By late 1943, Lockheed had done about all it was willing to do with the P-38. They had already moved on to the XP-80 and saw the Shooting Star as their future, which it was.
Documentation certainly indicates that the USAAF was unhappy with the speed with which upgrades were made, as well as the relatively slow delivery rate. Indeed, Lockheed failed to make its contracted monthly delivery quotas 7 times between July of 1942 and January of 1944. Usually the margin was less than 40 aircraft, but the USAAF was not pleased and the War Production Board sent an audit team to Lockheed to discover what was causing the production delays. They found a host of problems, from poor procurement management to unmotivated assembly line personnel. Allison was also found to be deficient in on-time delivery and you can't deliver planes without engines. On several occations, P-38 production was halted due to not receiving engines. Allison blamed the lack of P-38 engine production capacity on the WPB for continuing P-40 production long after the fighter's usefulness was past. Hindsight shows Allison to have been correct. Another issue was unreliable delivery of turbochargers....
Other issues were never fully rectified by Lockheed. Poor to non-existent cockpit heating and a miserable cockpit layout were serious problems that greatly contributed to pilot efficiency and workload. These were fundamental flaws that should have been corrected very early in the program. Field reports flooded back to Lockheed about needed improvements, but they were exceptionally slow in getting needed design improvements into the production line. Not all blame falls on Lockheed as the WPB was often obtuse as well. However, after years of hearing excuses from Lockheed, the WPB was disinclined to authorize production line stoppages for retooling as Lockheed was already behind on deliveries. Major changes, such as those asked for to retool for the P-38K were summarily squashed.
I've had the opportunity to sit in the cockpit of a P-38, a P-51D, a P-47N and an F6F-5. Compared to the Lightning, the others were much better in terms of simplicity and layout, with the F6F being a marvel of ergonomic design in comparison to the Lightning.
We need only look at the Fw 190's engine management system to see how to do it right....
On the other side of the coin was Republic and North American, who delivered on time every month, and both managed to deliver more aircraft than the quota required.
If we examine the Navy's fighter manufacturers, we find that Vought also suffered from a delivery standpoint, as well as a slow and prolonged development. This was greatly mitigated by Goodyear being a second supplier with excellent efficiency. Brewster, on the other hand, was miserable and eventually lost their contract.
Grumman was the Navy's darling. Not only did it get the F6F from prototype to squadrons in 16 months, it exceeded the minimum delivery every month the fighter was produced. Indeed, Grumman's efficiency of manufacture was so great that the work force was reduced by 20% and the manufacturing rate still increased! In March of 1945, Grumman delivered 605 Hellcats from its only factory, a record for monthly production that no other American manufacturer even came close to matching. Grumman completed F6Fs faster than the Navy could accept them.
Lockheed's biggest issue was management... Not until 1945 did Lockheed demonstrate manufacturing efficiency competitive with the other major manufacturers, and that is probably due to the switch-over to the less complicated P-80.
In general, the P-38 was a capable aircraft, a reasonable match for anything it encountered right up until 1945. By then, it's performance was marginal compared to the late-war fighters entering service. Like the F6F, it was being surplanted rapidly by newer types. However, like the F6F, it was the best available when it was most needed, and it certainly acquitted itself very well and was generally loved by those who flew it. Its multi-role ability was never exceeded by any other WWII fighter.
My regards,
Widewing
Edited for typos.....
