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raff
05-28-2005, 06:34 PM
Lockheed P-38 Lightning
USA
http://www2.***boat.com/image_center/data/520/449p38.bmp
The P-38 Lightning introduced a new dimension to American fighters - a second engine. The multi-engine configuration reduced the Lightning loss-rate to anti-aircraft gunfire during ground attack missions. Single-engine airplanes equipped with power plants cooled by pressurized liquid, such as the North American P-51 Mustang, were particularly vulnerable. Even a small nick in one coolant line could cause the engine to seize in a matter of minutes.
P-38 Lighting USAAF, 20th FG.
The Lightning designed by Lockheed engineer Clarence "Kelly" Johnson and his team of designers, represented one of the most radical departures from tradition in American fighter development. The Lightning was a complete break-away from conventional airframe design, power, and at long last, armament. Not only did it have twice the power and almost twice the size of its predecessors, but with no less than four .50 cal. machine guns plus a 20 mm cannon, the P-38 had enough firepower to sink a ship--and sometimes did. Concentrated in the central fuselage pod, the guns fired parallel which eliminated a need for a propeller synchronizer.
The Lightning tricycle landing gear and twin-boom configuration completed the list of major deviations from what might he considered conventional Army fighters. In this respect, it was very unusual that the Lightning design progressed beyond the testing stage; such radical concepts seldom achieved production status. But the simple fact was that the P-38 design worked and the Army seemed to have found its dream plane in this 400 mph fighter.
The 370th Fighter Group formed on 25 May 1943 and activated on 1 Jul 1943. The Ninth AF, equipped with P-47s and then P-38s in Feb., trained until May 1, 1944 when the group entered combat. They dive-bombed radar installations and flak towers, and escorted bombers that attacked bridges and marshalling yards in France as the Allies prepared for the invasion of the Continent.
P-38 Lighting USAAF, 485th FS-370th FG.
The XP-38, 37-457, was built under tight secrecy and made its maiden flight on January 27, 1939, with Air Corps test pilot and P-38 project officer, Lt. Benjamin S. Kelsey, at the controls. The P-38's performance justified Lockheed's investment of nearly $6,000,000 of its own funds to complete the prototype. The Army was so delighted with the big new fighter, it lifted the wraps of secrecy from the plane for a transcontinental speed dash on February 11, 1939. This event was marred by a crash when Kelsey undershot the runway at Mitchell Field, NY. Kelsey survived the crash and remained an important part of the Lightning program. The airplane was written off, but Lockheed received a contract for thirteen YP-38s along with the usual list of improvements.
The XP-38 had been powered by two liquid cooled, Allison V-1710 engines turning 11 1/2 foot Curtiss Electric, inward turning, counter-rotating propellers. With the YP-38s and all subsequent Lightings, the propellers rotated outward negating torque when both engines were operating (A batch ordered by Britain did not have counter-rotating propellers.) One XP-38A was built with a pressurized cabin. Armament on the YPs was altered by replacement of two of the .50s with .30s, and the 20 mm cannon gave way to a 37 mm. But even before the YP-38s were completed, the original machine gun arrangement was standardized for production types. The first production order was 35 P-38Ds, followed by 210 P-3XEs which reverted back to the 20 mm cannon. These planes began to arrive in October 1941, just before America entered World War II. With the P-38D came self sealing fuel tanks and armor protection for the pilot. The Lightning was ready for war!
Richard Bong was America’s all-time leading fighter ace. He held the US record of forty victories in combat. In San Francisco Richard Bong looped-the-loop around the Golden Gate Bridge. He then buzzed Market Street in his Lightning and waved at the stenographers staring in astonishment out of office windows. Though General Kenney had given him a stiff talking to, he knew that Dick Bong had the makings of a first-rate fighter pilot. At the age of 24, Major Richard I. Bong lost his life in the fiery crash of a P-80 jet he was testing for the Air Force On August 6, 1945 (the day the B-29 Enola Gay dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima.)
P-38 Lighting USAAF, 5th AF, 9th FS-49th FG. Richard Bong.
A major problem surfaced with the loss of control in a dive caused by aerodynamic compressibility. During late spring 1941, Air Corps Major Signa A. Gilke encountered serious trouble while diving his Lightning at high-speed from an altitude of 30,000 ft (9,120 m). When he reached an indicated airspeed of about 320 mph (515 kph), the airplane's tail began to shake violently and the nose dropped until the dive was almost vertical. Signa recovered and landed safely and the tail buffet problem was soon resolved after Lockheed installed new fillets to improve airflow where the cockpit gondola joined the wing center section. Seventeen months passed before engineers began to determine what caused the Lightning's nose to drop. They tested a scale model P-38 in the Ames Laboratory wind tunnel operated by the NACA (National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics) and found that shock waves formed when airflow over the wing reached transonic speeds and became turbulent. Lockheed never remedied this problem but the firm did install dive recovery flaps under each wing in 1944 to restore lift and smooth the airflow enough to maintain control when diving at high-speed.
Major McGuire scored 38 aerial victories in a P-38, making him our nation's second highest scoring ace. Among his many decorations was the Medal of Honor awarded for his actions on December 25-26, 1944 when he shot down seven enemy aircraft. On January 7, 1945, he crashed to his death on Los Negros Island in the Philippines while risking an extremely hazardous maneuver at low altitude in an attempt to save the life of a comrade. McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey is named in his honor.
P-38 Lighting USAAF, 5th AF, 431 FS-457 FG, Maj. Thomas B. McGuire.
The fastest of the Lightnings was the P-38J with a top speed of 420 mph, and the version produced in the greatest quantity was the "L", of which 3,735 were built by Lockheed and 113 by Vultee. The P-38L was powered by two 1,475 hp Allison V1710-111 engines. As with any long-term production aircraft, the P-38 underwent many modifications. The P-38J intakes under the engines were enlarged to house core-type intercoolers. The curved windscreen was replaced by a flat panel, and the boom mounted radiators were enlarged. Some were fitted with bombardier type noses, and were used to lead formations of bomb-laden P-38s to their targets. The P-38M was a two-seat radar-equipped night fighter, a few of which had become operational before the war ended. One interesting variation had an elevated tail assembly on upswept booms; another one had an elongated center pod and was used for airfoil evaluation.
The dimensions of the P-38 remained the same throughout production, its wing spanning 52 feet with an area of 328 square feet. overall length was 37 feet 10 inches; height was 12 feet 10 inches. The P-38L weighed 12,800 pounds empty and 17,500 pounds gross. Thus, the P-38 was the largest, heaviest, and fastest "P" type to date. An internal fuel capacity of 410 gallons could be increased to 1,010 gallons with two external drop tanks and gave the Lightning a range of 450 miles, making it the first fighter suitable as a long-range bomber escort. In addition to its devastating nose armament, the P-38 could carry up to 4,000 pounds of external weapons including bombs and rockets.
Specifications:
Lockheed P-38L Lightning
Dimensions:
Wing span: 52 ft. 0 in (15.84 m) 12:49 PM 4/14/2000
Length: 37 ft. 10 in. (11.53 m)
Height: 12 ft. 10 in. (3.91 m)
Weights:
Empty: 14,100 lb. (6,395 kg)
Operational: 17,500 lb. (7,937 kg)
Performance:
Maximum Speed: 390 mph (627 km/h) @ 15,000 ft. (4,572 m)
Service Ceiling: 40,000 ft. (12,192 m)
Range: 900 miles (1,448 km) @ 30,000 ft. (9,144 m)
Powerplant:
Two Allison V-1710-111/113 , liquid cooled engines. Engine power
developed 1,425 hp (1,062 kw) @ sea level and 26,500 ft. (8,077 m).
Under war emergency conditions 1,600 h.p. (1,193 kw) was available.
Armament:
One 20 mm. Hispano AN-M2C cannon. and four .50 calibre Browing machine guns.
External bomb load of 4,000 lbs. or ten 5 in. rockets.

Jbb
05-28-2005, 06:38 PM
Kelly Johnson was way ...way ahead of his time.......

coolchange
05-28-2005, 07:01 PM
up with this one

coolchange
05-28-2005, 07:52 PM
helluva airplane

JustMVG
05-28-2005, 08:31 PM
Hey Raff you know where Hollywood Way meets Glenoaks? Well they used to tow the '38's up that way and used the mountains as gunnery pratice and for sighting the guns in!!! Where Villa Cabrini is was the target area!!
Little P-38 trivia since we had the subject up.

DMVQUEEN
05-28-2005, 08:38 PM
Yep, we have even seen pictures of the hangers at Burbank Airport where they would put up clothes lines, and coverings to make it look like a regular street, incredible pictures.
Have seen some VERY wierd stuff at Burbank Airport growing up as kids.
My brother used to work at Burbank A/P as a fueler, one night, when they were bringing in the C-5 Hercules airplane, he was out on the tarmac, they rounded him up, stuck him in a janitors closet for about 2 hours until that plane took off, about 20 years ago, very secret stuff used to go on there when the Skunk works was still there.
Cool stuff

JustMVG
05-28-2005, 08:55 PM
DMV who'd you brother work for ? Mercury Refueling, Martin aviation or Aircraft Services Group? I worked for all three at on time or another many years ago, used to watch the C5 every moonless or near moonless friday night and every time just before 9pm and out by 12:30 am, they'd taxi up to bldg 360, every light at the ariport had to be shut off, even the runway and taxiway lights were off, we had a group of folks that would have C5 parties down off of the end of 16-33, right there on Empire.
Best seat i had was the top of the Corporate terminal at Martin aviation right across from 360, MP's used to drive by and flash their spotlights at us and remind us that they had guns.... funny and fun stuff Ahh the good ol days at BUR

MagicMtnDan
05-28-2005, 08:58 PM
RESURRECTED LOCKHEED P-38 ‘GLACIER GIRL’ MAKES RETURN TO EAA AIRVENTURE 2005
http://www2.***boat.com/image_center/data/520/672Glacier_Girl_01.jpg
"Glacier Girl," shown here flying during this year's Sun 'n Fun Fly-In at Lakeland, Fla.
May 10, 2005 - A Lockheed P-38 Lightning named “Glacier Girl,” the subject of one of the world’s most intriguing aircraft recovery stories, will return to EAA AirVenture Oshkosh this summer to mark the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II. The 53rd annual EAA AirVenture gathering, the world’s greatest aviation celebration, is July 25-31 at Wittman Regional Airport in Oshkosh, Wis.
The P-38 will fly to EAA AirVenture 13 years after its first appearance at the EAA event. In 1992, the airplane was nothing more than a collection of aircraft parts that had just been rescued from under the Greenland ice cap after 50 years. The recovery team that extracted the parts from below more than 250 feet of ice and brought the parts to display at Oshkosh even before taking them home to begin the decade-long aircraft restoration.
http://www2.***boat.com/image_center/data/520/672Glacier_Girl_00.jpg
“We are absolutely thrilled to welcome Glacier Girl back to Oshkosh as a fully airworthy P-38 this year, because the aircraft has always held a special place for EAA members,” said Tom Poberezny, EAA president and AirVenture chairman. “When the P-38 parts were first brought here in 1992, it was a high point of that year’s EAA fly-in. Since then, a recurring annual question has been, ‘Will we see it at Oshkosh this year?’ Glacier Girl’s participation, along with the other rare World War II aircraft already confirmed, will truly make EAA AirVenture 2005 an unmatched spectacle.”
Glacier Girl will be on display throughout the weeklong EAA AirVenture event and will be parked on the main showcase AeroShell Square. The aircraft will also participate in warbirds flying activities during the spectacular air shows celebrating the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II.
Some of the parts of "Glacier Girl," displayed at EAA OSHKOSH '92, shortly after they were extracted from beneath the Greenland ice cap.
This P-38 was originally part of “Operation Bolero,” a massive buildup of U.S. warplanes in Great Britain in 1942. Enroute to Europe, it and several other aircraft were forced to ditch on the ice. Beginning in the early 1980s, several people had considered rescuing at least one of the ditched aircraft, but simply finding the airplanes under the massive ice buildup proved daunting. After discovering this aircraft, the recovery teams drilled down more than 250 feet and created an ice cave to bring the P-38 airframe to the surface.
After several delays slowed the reconstruction process, Kentucky resident J. Roy Shoffner eventually became sole owner of the project and dedicated his effort to complete the P-38’s rebirth. After a meticulous, 10-year restoration, Glacier Girl was flown for the first time on October 26, 2002. The P-38 is currently housed at the Lost Squadron Museum in Middlesboro, Kentucky.
“For the past 13 years, we’ve been hearing from people who say, ‘We saw the airplane back in 1992 at Oshkosh when all the parts came there in a DC-3,’ so this is a very big appearance for us.” said Bob Cardin of the Lost Squadron Museum, who has been with the airplane since the recovery effort began. “This is our way of thanking everyone for their support of the project. If you’re going to go someplace with the airplane, there’s no better place than Oshkosh, because it’s the mecca for aviation.”
The Lockheed P-38 Lightning was developed in the late 1930s and first delivered to the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1941. In its time, it was the fastest aircraft in the American military, with a top speed of more than 400 miles per hour. It is also visually memorable, with its twin engines and twin tail booms earning it the nickname “Fork-tailed Devil” among enemy forces in the Pacific Theater. Of the more than 10,000 P-38s built, fewer than 10 remain airworthy today.
The EAA AirVenture Museum has featured a P-38 as part of its Eagle Hangar display for more than 15 years. That particular airplane is painted in the colors of Maj. Richard Bong, a northern Wisconsin farm boy who became America’s all-time aerial ace during World War II with 40 air victories.

MagicMtnDan
05-28-2005, 09:04 PM
Here's a great true story about the P-38s in WWII (http://www.acepilots.com/usaaf_mitchell.html)
By the way, Bob Hope Airport (Burbank) has a large scale model of a P-38 on display inside. You can see it and the P-38 memorabilia on the way to the gates for American, Alaska and United.

raff
05-28-2005, 10:14 PM
DMV who'd you brother work for ? Mercury Refueling, Martin aviation or Aircraft Services Group? I worked for all three at on time or another many years ago, used to watch the C5 every moonless or near moonless friday night and every time just before 9pm and out by 12:30 am, they'd taxi up to bldg 360, every light at the ariport had to be shut off, even the runway and taxiway lights were off, we had a group of folks that would have C5 parties down off of the end of 16-33, right there on Empire.
Best seat i had was the top of the Corporate terminal at Martin aviation right across from 360, MP's used to drive by and flash their spotlights at us and remind us that they had guns.... funny and fun stuff Ahh the good ol days at BUR
He worked for Martin.
MVG how long a go were in Burbank?
JBHS class of 83
Mark out