Inside The Cockpit - P-38 Lightning ft. Scat III
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- čas přidán 7. 07. 2024
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- Timecodes -
00:00 - P-38J Lightning Scat III
00:39 - Nose
02:06 - Wing
02:21 - Engine
04:39 - Wing cont.
05:26 - Boom (Right)
06:47 - Tail
07:17 - Nacelle
07:58 - Boom (Left)
08:50- Wing
10:16 - Cockpit
- Audio -
Music and Sfx from Epidemic Sound
03:41 - parallel, not perpendicular (obviously)
04:03 - AWAY from the fuselage (in the P-38)
**Thank you to the people who spotted these annoying hiccups I didn't catch in the edit**
SCAT III was the name of the P-38 that Robin Olds flew back in WW2. Super cool!
Olds would fly an F-4C in Vietnam, named Scat XXVII with four credited kills and likely some uncredited ones (as an official ace the USAF would have likely send him home).
He did not allow his pilots to fly with gun pods (although he would have liked an internal gun in the F-4), because he knew that his pilots, trained under a strategic bombing centric doctrine, never practiced dog-fighting and would not be able to use them effectively. His main point was not the lack of a gun, but the lack of gun/dog fight training, that was still necessary to use the early Sidewinder missiles.
One of the greatest pilots of WW2!
Scat III was the only plane to score a confirmed kill with all engines out! Robin released his drop tanks before switching the selectors to the main tanks, causing fuel starvation moments before firing. He scored the kill, then changed the selection to the mains and restarting the engines and moving to the next BF109.
@@badcornflakes6374 ok thats a very bold statement lets put his 5 kills up against 100's of men who shot down 5 times, 8 times or even in one guys case 70 times as many or the Dive Bomber/ ground Attack guys who routinely had to go down to the deck where all the AAA was. I think a better statement was one of the greatest Pilots in POST WAR history I doubt many could argue against his thoughts on training the future pilots of the USAF
@@badcornflakes6374 one of the greatest pilots of the Vietnam war as well
One of the most beautiful planes ever built.
I respectfully disagree.
- Isoroku Yamamoto
My grandfather, who flew the P-38 in North Africa and Italy would agree.
@@leftcoaster67 My daddy often said the very same thing, about when he walked out on the field in England and first saw the P38 Lighting. The young men had trained on single engine and had never flown a twin. Several men died trying to learn to fly it as no one wanted to admit it as they were afraid they would not get a chance to fly it.
A few weeks ago I saw a P-38 Lightning flyiing over the Munich area. I told my girlfriend
"That MUST be a P-38 and it MUST be the one from the Red Bulls in Salzburg" -
"How can you know that?" -
"The twin booms, the trapeze wings, and I can't imagine that there is another P-38 roaming over Europe other than the Red Bulls"
Correct, it's the only airworthy P-38 in Europe. It was superb at Sywell Airshow in the UK recently, flew with the Red Bull Mustang, Corsair and Mitchell.
@@andrewwaller5913 It is only confusing as it is a true showplane and not a historically accurate rebuild.
It is a P-38L, which should have the "chin" radiators housing the turbocharger intercoolers, but it has the streamlined cowlings of that was used up to ca. the P-38F model.
That means as now only fly at low levels, they do not need all the equipment for performance at large heights anymore, so they threw out everything in that regard, making the plane lighter and easier to maintain.
So the whole turbocharger installation on the upper side of the booms is gone, without the turbocharger you have no heating up of intake air, so need no intercoolers anymore.
The complete armament is also gone - granted, armament is not allowed for a private plane in Germany or Austria. .
My friend at the Flugwerft Unterschleißheim (airplane collection of the Deutsches Museum Munich) would be very unhappy.
They are all for total historicity. They got the "He 111" from the movie "The Battle of Britain" painted in german markings of that time, but the movie was not the historic event that was acceptable.
So they completely rebuilt the plane to what it originally was, a CASA.111, a spanish license build, with spanish markings.
A funny detail mmy friend he told me about is that due to the completely glazed, very slanted nose in rain visibility could be really bad. Therefore the pilot seat can be raised, so that you can open a large panel on top and a small windscreen folds out and you can poke your head out for landing.
Another probably unknown detail is the wing mounting.
I would have expected an extremely sturdy construction, the main spar protuding with a overlap and multiple fastenings.
Instead, the wing spar ends in two about fist-sized balls top and bottom, that fit inthemispherical sockets at the fuselage. The fastening of the ball is done with w bell-shaped nut (in german you would call it "Überwurfmutter"). That is all for load-bearing.
I hope that was interesting. I relish in such details.
I find that is what makes things truly interesting, and often opens up the door to understanding of otherwise enigmatic peculiarities "Oh, THAT is the reason for that, because they had just that part, they had to build it that way, and therefore it looks so weird/they had to use it in this way and not that".
My dad flew one of these over Italy before he was old enough to vote. It still blows my mind that the Army Air Force invested in a twenty year old to pilot a front line fighter in combat conditions.
My very favorite WW2 aircraft! (although the DO-335 is a close second). Thanks so much for this video - I've already watched it twice.
One detail worth of note is that the counterrotating props spin in the "wrong" direction when compared to most other twins, which makes it more difficult to fly with one engine out. You normally want the inboard blade to be the downgoing one, because at positive angle of attack it has a coarser pitch relative to the airflow, and therefore it has a bit more thrust, shifting the thrust vector nearer to the centerline. Also, in case of a wheels up landing, if a blade were to detach it would be less likely to hit the fuselage. And even in normal operation, spinning props can pick up pebbles and stuff from the runway and throw it towards the plane. In the case of the P38, however, the propwash interacted badly with the inboard portion of the wing, causing elevator buffeting in cruise, and this configuration was the solution.
*Thank you.* I always wondered why it had the *two* critical engines and surmised it had something to do with elevator authority but could never find anything to confirm my suspicions. Mystery now confirmed and much appreciated. 👍
My father flew over 80 missions in P38 Lighting out of England.
we have Richard Bong's P-38 Here in Superior WI and love seeing everything time go to the museum too. Glad to see this video about the P-38 :D
@@USSWISCONSIN64 HELL YEAH! DICK BONG, AMERICA'S PILOT
Hell yeah, shoutout to Dick Bong
Where’s that at? I’d love to visit on our next visit up there!
@@jeremiahrex Superior Wisconsin at the Richard Ira Bong Historical Center. Address is 305 E 2nd St, Superior, WI 54880 :)
@@jeremiahrex 305 E 2nd St, Superior, WI 54880 is the Address :D
Maybe a correction? Chris says the props rotated toward the inner wing section, but I recall reading (I'm not a pilot) that the P-38's counter-rotating props were set up to rotate toward the wingtips rather than the inboard section. What I read was that the inboard wing section provided relatively little lift compared to the outboard wing section, so the prop wash was more of a help aerodynamically if it was directed toward the wingtip. Fagen Fighters is an immaculate facility in a tiny town on the Minnesota prairie. They now have a Navy hangar, which features an F6F-5 (the plane my dad flew in combat from the USS Lexington in 1944); an F4U-4, which was beginning to replace the Hellcat at war's end; and an SB2C Helldiver, one of the very few flying examples of the type. Well worth a visit!
@@rayschoch5882 correct!
Correct, didn't catch this in the edit. Thanks for pointing it out :)
One of my relatives flew the P-38 in the 9th AF.
He was credited with shooting down and ME-109 after having his left engine shot out by a FW-190 in Aug 44.
367FG 394FS. They traded in the P-38 for the P-47 in Feb of 45.
Nice vid of the plane.
The pre-J variant 38 is the most beautiful piston engine aircraft ever.
The P-63 would like a word with you.
Is that because of the change in engine intake?
9:00
I know he said “pitot tube”, but my brain heard “Pikachu”
😂
I did not think much of the P-38 up until I read more about the Air War in the Pacific. It is interesting how the same plane can fare differently and be remembered differently on to different theaters in the same war. Nice Video
Same story with the P-39. American pilots generally disliked the P-39, Soviet pilots loved it. Different combat conditions led to different outcomes.
In the Pacific, range was king. The P-38 flew efficiently with its sleek lines and could really stretch the fuel when using a lean mixture. A plane that performs mediocre but at least can reach the enemy is better than one that performs excellently but has bad range so it can only defend an island not attack from it. In Europe you could always build a new forward airfield close to the front when the front moves. In the Pacific you are stuck with the islands that are already there. Close to the front might be wide open ocean.
One of the issues in WWII was the 8th was originally led by a "Bomber Mafia" die hard while Kinney in the Pacific was much more pragmatic. When Doolittle replace Eaker in Europe was the leadership much more pragmatic. Kinney and Doolittle were more about winning the war doctrine be damned than idiots like Eaker (or should I say traitors like Eaker). The P-38 and P-47 did very well in the Pacific because Kinney was about solving problems and results not doctrine. That meant both birds could show their capabilities much better than under Eaker in the ETO.
YES, thank you! My father has been building plane models since 70's and flown in finnish air forces in the 80's, and i noticed in war thunder simulator (out of al the places) the mirrors on the engines inner sides. Me and my father were wondering what they were for, he had never known about them. Now i can tell him the right answer
P-38 is my favorite warplane. I first saw one at the WPAFB with the scouts back in 93 or 94.
I've had the pleasure of seeing it fly at Oshkosh... back in 2015? It's nice to get a peek into the cockpit and to learn about some of the more subtle details. Thanks!
That is such a beautiful and lethal plane. And the Mustang behind... war-turner.
@@PalleRasmussen hi palle
@@ClaraBells-u8z hej Clara.
@@PalleRasmussen Where ya from ? Howdy from d states..
It's a very cool museum on the Minnesota prairie. The Fagens built it to honor their dad who actually stormed Omaha beach. I saw this P 38 fly during their airshow in 2018 before they matched Robin Old's color scheme. Granite Falls is approx. 3 hours west of Minneapolis.
I live in Granite Falls and have seen this plane fly over my house.
Saw a P-38 fly in 2022. Truly a great sight and I must admit that seeing you dwarfed by it is surprising. A truly big bird compared to its single engine contemporaries.
A beautiful bird in fantastic shape. An excellent Inside The Cockpit episode.
Check out Chris's video on the Avenger. That is a _huge_ aircraft despite being single-engined, he could easily fit under the wing. The P-47 comes in as a close second, that is really large as well.
Thanks, again, Fagen Fighters!
Thank you very, very much, Chris. Even after that brief tour I can really see why the P-38 was such a handful and a challenge to fly. Your technical quality, both audio and visual has really come a long way. Exceptionally professional.
Thanks a lot! Though I will say that the more recently shot videos (which will come out later this year) are much better in video quality. Looking forward to sharing those!
@@MilitaryAviationHistoryWow!!! The specifications for the new, multi-barrel, rotary video camera and flush riveted, supercharged microphone are very impressive. 😊 I'm looking forward to seeing the enhanced speed, roll rate, and firepower that these improved technologies bring to your presentations.
Just a quick clarification:
Yes, the P38 did have counter rotating props; however, unlike most twin engine planes they have the downward (descending) blades out board. This makes it more nimble when both engines are operating, but gives more asymmetrical thrust when one engine fails.
Thanks for the great video on Scat III!
Thanks!
Great video Biz!!!!!
The most American thing was the built in ladder for pilots to mount their ships. Such a degree of finish and detail is a touch of understated genius.
I'm really impressed with how sleek but purposeful the aircraft looks even by today's standards. Many thanks to you and your videographer for this excellent video!
Excellent walk around and cockpit review!
Another great video as always.
Thank you
Definitely my favourite USAAF aircraft of WW2, up in my top 5 overall. Such a beast of a plane.
A very distinctive, and (imo) beautiful, aircraft: Cheers for making your videos, Chris, always looking forward to these :)
Finally!!!!
I'm pretty sure a recent Chieftain video mentioned that if a military vehicle isn't leaking hydraulic fluid something is wrong with it.
Usually, it's because it's out of hydraulic fluid.
I would welcome a comparison of the turbo-supercharging systems of the P-38 and the P-47.
I hoped since long time ago to see the P-38 in this serie ! I love this plane !
Thank you so much for inside the cockpit and special thanks for this épisode !!
If I have something to add, it will be cool to have the start up process
Excellent presentation, thank you.
I am impressed with the Lightning's instrument panel layout. It reminds me of the Me262 with the flight instruments to the left and the engine instruments clustered logically to the right. The yoke control certainly makes sense for the early P-38 models without boosted control surfaces. This make me wonder if the P-38L, with its hydraulically boosted controls, could have been redesigned with a center stick.
Hi 👋
I’m surprised how big the P-38 is. When Chris was stood at the back between the 2 tail booms, it puts it into perspective.
Hi
Its tiny to be honest, for a twin engine aircraft. Takes up a lot of space, though, for sure.
@@mandowarrior123 Where ya from?Howdy from d states..
Excellent work!!
Outstanding walkaround. I'm currently building a series of 1:48 scale Lightnings, so I found this quite helpful. I would have liked to have also seen the pilot seat and radio compartment, but am very pleased with what you have shown here.
Great stuff as always😀
2:22 The engines were indeed different on each side-- to achieve counter-rotation on the propellors the left engine was set up to turn one way and right engine spun the other way. This was achieved by flipping the crankshaft around, so it was possible for someone to receive a shipload of left-turning engines and still be able to convert half of them to a right-handed configuration without having to send them back to the factory.
13:28 The gap between the propellor circuit breakers and the magneto/ignition set used to house the gun charging apparatus. This was the thing you used to manually clear and cock the .50 caliber machine guns and it consisted of a lever and a four-position dial used to slam in a fresh round of ammo into each gun.
I wish you could have sat in the pilot’s seat and shown us the actual view from the cockpit with the canopy closed, but it was an informative video nonetheless. 👍
One of my favorite ww2 planes, and my favorite plane to fly in simulators (12.5:1 K/D)
Easy landings, good speed, solid maneuverability for a twin boom, amazing armament, solid roll rate, and excellent flaps
It’s amazing how survivable it is, too, limped back to base on a single engine many times
Excellent as always, Chris! A little but of expansion on a point- The P-38 didn't get Dive Brakes added - they were Dive Recovery Flaps. The P-38, and P-47 had wing airfoils that gave low drag at subsonic speeds - up to about 400-420 mph (650 km/h, more or less), but the flow started going transonic a little bit after that, and at about 470 mph (750 km/h) - Mach 0.68 - the supersonic airflow over the wings and tail would make give a nose tuck (Nose-down pitch) that couldn't be countered. All WW 2 era fast airplanes operating in those speed ranges would d this, but at somewhat higher speeds (around Mach 0.75 - 525 mph / 845 km/hr) With level flight speeds around 400 mph (Typical speeds in combat, not necessarily the airplane's max speed) it didn't take much of a dive to get a P-38 or P-47 in trouble. At best they'd dive out of the fight, recovering somewhere below 10,000' (3000 m) above sea level, and at worst breaking up on recovery or flying straight into the ground. The U.S. and U.K. put a lot of effort into understanding and dealing with the problem. In the Spring of 1944, they came up with yjr Dive Recovery Flap. The difference is that instead of adding drag, they changed the pitching moment of the wing to create a nose up pitch, which would allow the pilot to pull out while in the Transonic region.
One P-38 problem that never got fixed was Cockpit Heating. It was pretty much impossible to seal up the nose and cockpit bulkheads, so the -45 degree (F or C, it's the same) outside air was always leaking in. With the engines out on the wings, instead of keeping the pilot's feet warm, severe frostbite was a common problem.
Correct, however the mechanism is at or near the spar on the underside of the wing outboard of the nacelles. So, more of a reverse spoiler.
I think this is probably the first video of yours that I've watched. I enjoyed it very much. I'm a boomer, born in '58, so WWII airplanes were a big part of the models I built growing up and the P-38 was one of my favorites. Such a cool looking airplane. I like the way you moved around the plane, pointing out and explaining all the features and some differences you might find between variants. I really enjoyed the way you outlined and explained the controls in the cockpit. I spent 20 yrs in the USN in a technical rating and that kind of stuff just fascinates me. All in all. Great video. Am going to subscribe and check out some more. Thanks.
Thank you for an excellent walk-around and guide to the cockpit. If I had to pick one, the P-38 would be my favorite WWII fighter plane, although the P-51 would be a very close second.
Thankyou for covering this plane. I think the p38 is often overshadowed by the mustang abd thunderbolt, but for me it's the coolest U.S. fighter of the war. Excellent video!!
Great tour, always wondered about all the intakes and radiators for air, oil, turbo and superchargers...
Such a magnificent looking plane. A Highly functional work of art….beautiful and lethal.
Actually, the J model had 1750HP per engine at War Emergency Power.
The Allison V-1710 had a two stage centrifugal supercharger, but it was not two speed. That's why it used the General Electric B series turbocharger.
Absolutely love the p-38, even as a kid i remember thinking how cool the twin engine airframe looked. Always reminded me of the tailspin show 😅
That looks like a great museum collection.
your doin a good job.
While I still liked this video as it gives some unique information, I do find it disturbing that Military Aviation History had somewhat little history content in its video of one of the most iconic aircraft of ww2. I personally like the history and context segments the most.
The boardgame Axis and Allies used little plastic P-38 pieces to represent US fighters. The designer said they picked that even though it wasnt a numerous model nor the best performing. They picked it because it was distinctively American and you could instantly identify it at a glance.
Always an Outstanding video and presentation.
Hey look, it's America Bot 😑
@@MrLBPug He does have some very well explained and detail walk around videos.
Hehe, your comment is so generic that you _could_ be a bot 🤖
But yes, Chris's videos are very good.
I forget where I read this, but the P-38 inspired the fins on American cars of the 1950s.
Wikipedia, in the P-38 article under 'popular culture': 'The P-38 was also the inspiration for Raymond Loewy and his design team at Studebaker for the 1950 and 1951 model-year Studebakers.' The photo shows the front of the car, however, not the rear. Apparently the headlights and the central chrome portion were inspired by the Lightning's nose and engines. I believe rockets and jet aircraft were design influences for the classic American 'finned' cars. They show much sharper angles.
My high school teachers were mostly WWII veterans and, if I remember correctly, one of the math teachers and the Spanish teacher were both fighter pilots. They both commented that the cockpit of the P-38 was smaller than that of a P-40 and P-5 and about the same space as the P-47.
Awesome video keep up the great work 👍 👍 👏
There was a large car museum just outside Reno, NV, back in the 1980s. They also had at least a dozen P-38s !
I believe that museum changed ownership, and the collection somewhat redistributed.
Nice job. Fully feathering propeller....actually the blades parallel the airflow when they are feathered.
Yes, misspoke!
An excellent tour and kudos to you for remembering the facts and figures from memory with no notes !
It was an excellent design just a shame it struggled a bit in the European climate .
I must build another model of one of these beauties!
Yes.
You could also have mentioned the transition from flush fasteners. The tail is fastened to the boom with screws with proud heads, which would induce turbulence if the flow there wasn't ALREADY turbulent. Trouble (and money) could have been saved by eliminating all flush fasteners aft of the transition to turbulent flow, where flush fasteners don't matter anymore.
All those ducts and exposed turbos caused a high level of parasitic drag to the P-38, limiting top speed. Unless it was diving - then it came down like a meteor.
Just a note - to solve high speed dive compressibility issues, “dive flaps” were added starting with the P38J.
NICE
German pilot nicknamed it the devil with two tails. Guns of most ww2 airplane were located in the wings. And so they need to aim at a crosspoint: 200m, 400m, 600m... By having all weapon in the nose it was able to hit target at all range and hit target at very long range.
"... and offset to the left we have the propeller warning lights." Which, interestingly enough, is labeled, "OUTER WING FUEL WARNING - INDICATES 10 MIN FUEL SUPPLY..."
I noticed that as well and came to see if others had. I don’t know enough to know whether Chris is right or the restoration moved things around when updating the avionics.
Mine are usually based on the manual but we adapt for the aircraft. Here, we may just have mixed it up on the edit - but labelling fixes it.
Such a unique aircraft for the US. An absolute favorite of mine.
My favorite WW2 aircraft. I hope they bring it back to Oshkosh this year.
Very nice. Would be nice to hear your subject feelings of sitting in the different cockpits - like you used to do when say, in the Avenger for example. But very interesting, thank you :)
I think I need to visit. It’s only 2.5 hours west of the twin cities!
My understanding, the P 38’s propellers rotated outward, not inwards towards pilot’s cockpit.
This was due a stability issue.
This made single engine out, procedures more complicated.
The "first" compass is actually a DG (Directional Gyro) is suction driven and is synchronised with the actual compass (the second one) every 15 minutes due to drift. It is easier to read as it is stable and doesn't bounce around like the actual compass but like the AH (Artificial Horizon) it can topple when certain angles are exceeded. Don't know if these gyros can be caged to stop the toppling say when they went into a dogfight.
The _Vertical Speedometer_ is called a VSI (Vertical Speed Indicator) and reads in feet per minute. The other Speedometer is an ASI (AirSpeed Indicator). The ASI has some pretty coloured lines that are very useful to know especially in times of trouble. These can indicate the airspeed in MPH, Knots and KPH depending on your location on the planet but in WWII it was all MPH on the Allies side.
*Thank you* for the video. 👍👍 I knew it had a yoke and not a stick but I didn't know it was like the early _Forked Tail Doctor Killers_ and ran down the side of the fuselage like the C-47 aka DC-3.
The gyros could be caged.
Please visit the National Museum of WW2 Aviation in Colorado Springs. They have roughly 25 planes and all in flying condition.
The P-38 Lightning and the F-15 Eagle, in my opinion, are the two best fighters and most beautiful airplanes every built. Sorry for submitting this correction, but the propellers on the P-38 do not rotate inboard toward the fuselage. They rotate outboard toward the wingtips.
Hi Steve 👋
Hello Clara
@@stevesp38 Where ya from ? Howdy from d states..
I am originally from Kentucky but I currently live in Georgia
Where U Clara
Interesting that the fuel selectors are color-coded opposite to the usual red=port, green=stbd convention.
At about time 2:50 he mentions a two-speed two-stage supercharger and then also a turbosupercharger. That makes it sound like three stages in all. As I recall the blower geared to the engine was single-stage single-speed, and of course the turbosupercharger is the second stage and has no set speed.
Germans called it the "Pitched Forked-Devil"
10:43 Bis: then we will also have a look at the stick.
Past Bo: It’s more of a yoke.
Stick looks like a yoke to me. But I guess you figured that out after a few minutes in the cockpit.
Interesting. Saint-Exupéry, who flew the P 38 from Italy, found the amount of systems and switches in the P 38 overwhelming and said it‘s a plane for accountants.
For a plane at the leading edge of development at it’s time I find the complexity of the cockpit quite limited and well organized.
It's still a futuristic looking plane...
At 9:33 you can see it is a P-38J-10-LO subtype. Aileron booster and dive brakes were factory installed from the J-25 subvariant, as far as I'm correct. The generator were only installed on one engine for a while (sorry, I cannot recall which side), but from some of the J variant both engine had a generator. But I'm not sure from which J subtype. The Lightning had so called Fowler-flaps, which were very good slow speed maneuvering flaps. But unfortunately the flaps control handle were positioned in a very bad place, pilot had to manipulate it with his right hand. First taking off left hand from throttle quadrant and grab the "control wheel", than right hand put on the flaps control and manipulate that. A bit messy in combat situation, IMHO. I love the Lightning more than the Mustang, but the Mustang had a much ergonomic and thought after cockpit layout, hands down.
P-38s were provisioned to house generators on both engines, but it depended on the state of supply whether or not they rolled of the factory with two generators or just the one in the left engine.
If your ship had two generators installed at the factory, you were permitted to start which engine you liked. If your ship only had the left generator (or had a second generator installed at the Army depot or in the field) you were told to start up the left engine first and practice all your single-engine flights by shutting down the right engine and keep the left motor running.
I would point out the props rotate opposite of your statement. Look at the leading edge of the props.
Very nicely done, beautiful plane. I don’t know a lot about the P-38 but I did have a question about the top of the two fuselages. What are the two holes on the tops of the two fuselages used for? Are they for use on the ground or is there some use in the air?
Nice one. Lovely aircraft. The offset yoke surprised me, does it not get in the way of your leg?
Chris, glad you got to visit God's country, Minnesota. While you were there, I hope you noticed how strong the German influences are.
It's not the most popular warbird but America's two top aces flew it
I never really considered the cramming of two sets of engine guages in a single cockpit.
The RPM and Manifold Pressure gauges are a single-face, dual-needle configuration to aid in synchronization. Only the diagnostic gauges (temperature and oil pressure) are segregated into two indicators.
“Perpendicular to the airflow” (3:34). I think you mean parallel!
No German fighter pilot wanted to see this plane. It scared them to death.
Question. Why do they have they have the right engine (as viewed from the pilot’s perspective) turning clockwise and the the left engine turning counterclockwise. Wouldn’t it be better if, in the event of an engine failure, for it to be the other way around. That way the moment arm from the p-factor would be shorter. In this configuration both engines would act like the ‘critical’ engine in a non-counter rotating design.
There's an even better reason to do it the typical way. When your landing gear won't deploy, the props hit the floor and ocasionally snap off and fly off toward the cockpit the p-38 way.
They tried it the 'good' way originally but the wash caused aerodynamic issues I think. You're spot on, though.
There was only one P-38 which had the propellors spin inward-- the XP-38 prototype. Every other P-38 had them spin the 'wrong' way. Kinda tells you they thought it was an acceptable compromise.
Oh, and it was written in the manual to un-feather any props prior to a belly landing so the blades would bend rather than snap upon impact.
Not allowed to sit in it? would have liked to have your take on ergonomics and visibility, but great video, regards 😊
It feels a little under-gunned, no? It's basically 6 - .50 cal machine guns like all the single-engine American fighters. I was expecting 4 - 20mm cannon, for example, in a two-engine plane.
Hi 👋
The four 50 BMG and single 20MM cannon was actually a very hard hitting combination.
The forked tailed devil!!
Which version of the P-38 had the air brakes that helped it to prevent or recover from air compression issues that froze the control surfaces during dives?
Hi Michael 👋
None
The J-25-Lo had dive recovery flaps, there were no dive brakes.
@@AlanRoehrich9651 hi Alan
@@AlanRoehrich9651 hi Alan
@@AlanRoehrich9651 hi Alan
Thanks for the fascinating journey to the cockpit of the most unique WW2-era aircraft - beautiful and dangerous. Maybe you know, that the Grievous spaceship from Star Wars Revenge of the Sith was inspired by P-38. But I found two things surprising:
- How did the counter-rotation work? Did Allison made specific right and left engines or was it done by gearboxes?
- Why yoke? Wasn't a stick more comfortable for a fighter pilot?
For your first question, Allison did indeed make right and left handed engines so that the crankshafts rotated in opposite directions.
As to your second question, I have no idea why Lockheed decided to go with a yoke instead of a stick, unlike almost every other American fighter/pursuit/interceptor aircraft.
@@jayfrank1913 As to the first question, no, Allison _didn't_ build right- and left-handed engines. The engines themselves were the same left and right. However, Allison built the V-1710 in such a way that they could be fitted with several different modules, two of those being gearboxes for clockwise and counter-clockwise rotation.
As for the second question, the yoke was a necessity due to the Lightning being both two-engined _and_ quite a bit larger and heavier than a single-engined fighter at the time of its design. The weight distribution was also different. The yoke and its associated control systems, cables, pulleys and all that, gave more leverage for moving the control surfaces than a stick could provide.