Luftwaffe accounts of "The Forked Tailed Devil

[Guppy35]

Originally posted by Raptor
It was in fact, the forgotten theatre

If I didn't have the 80th FS Headhunters, I'd have my second favorite 38 Squad in AH, and that's the 54th FS that flew those 38Es in the Aleutians in the toughest conditions imaginable and did the job without a lot of support or complaint.

Typical conditions for those 38 drivers

[Raptor]

Great picture! Whenever I think of the Aleutian Theatre, I think of a P38 landing on a flooded runway

[Guppy35]

I have two all time favorite 38 pictures that kind of shape my idea of AH.  Both have a pair of 38s in them.  First is this pair of 54th FS P38Es out on the prowl.  They just look tough and there's nothing like heading out with a wingman in AH and having some fun on the hunt.


And this one of 80th FS P38Hs with Porky Cragg in A "Porky II" and Cy Homer in V, "Cotton Duster", covering the 25s to Rabaul.  This one probably goes back to  the old AW Carthwheel Scenario when Del had the 80th and we covered the 25s.  Again it's a pair of 38s out on the prowl doing the job.  Just looks cool to me.


Think I better get some sleep now that I've gone goofy on 38s again

[Raptor]

Darn it Dan, you caused me to whip out the Terrain Editor and try some things.
First I tried to put a runway .5 ft below water and see if I could land on it. Turns out I was able to land on it, so it looked like the 38 was standing on water. Next I tried to see if I could get some wake (like seen on the PT Boats) to form when running across the runway. Sadly, planes and landing gear do not cause wake or splashes going across the water. Time to bug HTC about this, hopefully will see it in a future terrain;)

[Debonair]

that was very clever.
have you just opened the door for float & sea planes or was this a well known trick?

[Knegel]

I would say the P38 realy could shine in the pacific, simply cause the extreme speed advantage over most japanese planes.
It was somewhat like the 262 in 1945.

In Europe it dont had more to offer than the german planes. The Speed was similar(depending to the altitude), it had a relative bad initial roll, up to the J the roll ratio at highspeed also wasnt good and its dive problems are also well known.
But all this dont mean it was bad. The missing torque, the good upzoom (not climb, the constant climb wasnt outstanding, it only was the best US climber in 1941-44, the good upzoom is related to the big inertia at highspeed), the dive acceleration, the range, the firepower and good manouverability at medium to highspeed gave the pilot some possibilitys to get a kill and to survive.
At the end the performence of the P38(specialy J and L), same count for the 110, 410, P51 and  P47(specialy late D´s) depends much to the current fuelload, this planes must have had very big differents in dogfight performence from take off to landing due to this.

So once more it depends to the pilot(and team), the tactical need and the tactical situation when the fight start, if the plane is successful or not.

In the ETO the Spit(great interceptor) and P51(great escorter) could do all needed things better(at least the german pilots had more respect for them) and it was more cheap, so the P38 got replaced.


Greetings,

Knegel

[LEADPIG]

I think the P-38 is a forerunner of the F-15 Eagle today, Big, Powerfull, multirole, huge vertical performance, two engines, weapons layout, makes them similiar in their time.

[F4UDOA]

Leadpig,

The F-15 has been a front line fighter for over 20years. The service life of the P-38 was relatively short even for it's time.

Do you know when the last P-38's were in service in the US?

[Knegel]

btw, german groundtroops called the P38 "Gabelschwanzteufel", not the german pilots.

[Bruno]

Originally posted by Knegel
btw, german groundtroops called the P38 "Gabelschwanzteufel", not the german pilots.

Even then it wasn't a wide spread 'nick name' for the P-38 used by Landser. It's just one of those over exaggerated Ami myths that has been spoon fed to the faithful. Cult of Der Gabelschwanz Teufel...

[Angus]

This overexaggerated "ami myth" seems to pop up in books all the time.
Just like so many other nicks picked up in the spur of the moment.
So which are true and which not....Whistling Death.......?

[LEADPIG]

Originally posted by F4UDOA
Leadpig,

The F-15 has been a front line fighter for over 20years. The service life of the P-38 was relatively short even for it's time.

Do you know when the last P-38's were in service in the US?

Due to today's technology it's possible to upgrade figters to more modern standards. Not so easy in 1940's, but in it's day it was the F-15's great grandaddy.

[Bruno]

Yeah, Jugs, P-51s, F4Us, F6Fs etc... never were multi-role. I mean they didn't fly the exact same missions as P-38 and do them better did they...?

Hell, look at the short 'lifespan' of the P-51 and F4Us, one or 2 wars and they were done...



Seriously, you P-38 cultists get more comical with new batch...

[Raptor]

I would say the P38 is more like the F-14, except for the navy factor. Both manouverable and capable fighters. But the F-14 is replaced by the cheaper F-18, and the P38 replaced by the cheaper P-51.
F-15 on the other hand, being replaced by the more expensive F-22. F-18 may end up being replaced by the more expensive F-35.

[Treize69]

And they wonder why I've stopped flying the AvA and rarely tune 200 in any arena...