When Lightning Struck: Saga of An American War Plane
Vložit
- čas přidán 21. 08. 2024
- This program tells the story of the brave flying aces who flew and fought from the P-38 Lightning, the fastest and fiercest war bird of World War II. WHEN LIGHTNING STRUCK: SAGA OF AN AMERICAN WAR PLANE interviews some of the leading flying aces of World War II, ground crew members and current P-38 owners. Through vintage film and anecdotes, like that of Charles O'Sullivan, who was shot down in New Guinea and taken captive by a blood-drinking tribe, the program tells the remarkable history of the plane the Nazis called "the forked- tailed devil."
My Dad was in the Army Corps of Engineers that built the runways on all the islands leading to Japan. He had a deep love for the P38 and took care of them like they were his children. It is much easier to name the islands that he WASN'T on than the number of them he was on. Dad was wounded, taken back to Subic and then the States for surgeries and then, as soon as he possibly could, he returned to the front in the South Pacific. He had to fight a lot of his higher-ups to get back into the war but somehow made it. He told me, "My job wasn't to make friends with the brass, but to get back in there and take care of my boys." He's gone now and I'm not sure they make men like him anymore. God Bless You, Dad.
Thank you , I'm sure he's looking down on you , I know that sounds corny but I often talk to my dad he passed away at the age of 48 when I'm down I talk to him .
@@sidwalters7455 I talk with my Dad in the same way. Thanks.
@@dianewright8690 Agreed. They were the Greatest Generation. It is my hope that this generation, if called upon, would rise to the occasion. Thanks.
That P-38 Lightning is one of the most beautiful aircraft ever made. Even to this day, it still stands on its own as one of the most beautiful aircraft ever made up to this time period. The beautiful sloping shape and narrow nacells and the fork tail with the center cockpit, that aircraft had to be an absolute thrill of a lifetime to fly. One feature of the aircraft that many of the pilots loved was the yoke (steering wheel design) instead of the center stick most other fighters have. This made the aircraft easier to fly, especially in dogfight scenarios, when the Luftwaffe pilots were astonished at how tight of a turn the P-38 could make. The Luftwaffe named the aircraft "The Fork Tailed Devil". Although many P-38 were shot down, their kill rate averages were some of the highest in the entire air war of WWII. This aircraft was one of the most capable fighters of WWII and in the hands of a skilled pilot it was an absolutely devastating destroyer aircraft. Anything it found, it destroyed! It was feared by the AXIS pilots as they knew that a P-38 was not an aircraft to be taken lightly and never ever underestimate your opponent. Many times when a squadron of P-38's was spotted by the enemy, the enemy would fly away in the opposite direction to avoid an air battle with that many P=38's.
Exact year is long forgotten, but I flew in to see the partially restored Glacier Girl when they were working on the inter-coolers behind the leading wing edges. One of my colleagues attended the first flight, and got a few photos of her against a gray sky.
phenomenal documentary
Fighters are in the eyes and hands of the beholder.
Tommy Maguire was NOT shot down by a Japanese fighter. He snap rolled too low, stalled and crashed into the jungle. Maquire did this maneuver to try and save another P-38 pilot who was being shot at by a Japanese fighter on his tail.
McGuire- spell it correctly!
@@kevinmcguire3715 I knew his family from Ridgewood jackass. So spell check did its magic. You're more worried about " spelling" than correct historical accuracy.
@@petersullivan2207 Sometimes they are the same thing. I looked it up and all the references I found spelt his name “McGuire”. All of them.
Contrary to what the P38 pilots thought, the twin boom configuration was not unique: The Dutch Fokker G1 heavy fighter had the same layout and flew almost 2 years before the P38. Also, the Focke-Wulf 189 observation plane had the same layout and flew a year earlier than the P38. Perhaps the designer of the P38 was aware of those aircraft but it is also possibly an example of convergent evolution: There are limits to the number of configurations that designers could come up with anyway. I enjoyed the video, nonetheless.
Twin booms had been around since the Wright Brothers.
P-61.
Vampire.
Did anybody say the P-38 was the ONLY twin boom plane? What is with all the whining about the P-38, in the comments of a P-38 video no less? Bizarre. Get a life guys! Or better yet, go watch vids of whatever your favorite warbird is. Life is too short to spend it where you don't like it...
@@katmanluke7187 Even if the P-38 is one of my favorite aircraft, I do agree with the complaints of inaccuracies.
So shut your face hole, punk, and watch the video yourself.
outstanding video...but how could you ever forget the "Jandina?"
To put it into perspective, the P-38 shot down about 1,800 Japanese aircraft. That compares with more than 5,100 by the F6F Hellcat. I’m as pleased as anyone to see a P-38 flying again but let’s keep things in perspective.
Exactly.
well, yes, but remember that the far fewer P-38's were built than F6Fs. The Hellcat came later in the war in huge numbers while the Lightning had to hold the fort from the very beginning playing a defensive role against the best the Japanese and Germans had at the onset. And the Hellcat was a carrier based plane in a war where most of the battles were fought from ships while the Lightning frequently had to fly long range covering bomber formations. So, yes keeping it in perspective is important.
@@stanmo4331 The Hellcat was operated from ships. The service life tended to be a lot shorter. I would argue that the Lightning was far from the only type operated by the USAAF or USN at the time. The Grumman F4F did sterling work as a fleet defender, while the P-40 supported USAAF operations at that time.
@@thethirdman225 Actually the Lightning was principally flown by Army air corp and never by the USN. The F6F was a stellar plane but arrived in '43-'44 timeframe and yes, as I said, it was a carrier based plane whereas the P-38 could only be as close to the front as airbases were available. I don't think there was anything about the service life which could be argued between these planes, btw. The heat and humidity and supply of parts was as much a challenge for the Lightning as it probably was for the Hellcat. My point was that you have to consider the full role of both planes... the P-38 was an amazing multi-role, long range plane never designed as a dog fighter but as a bomber interceptor. Yet is could fly over 2000 miles and carried bomb loads of up to 5200 lbs (not at the same time, of course). A good read is the 475th squadron in the Pacific where you get a real sense of Bong, McGuire and Lynchs' success with the plane.
@@stanmo4331 I don’t think I said anything about the P-38 being operated by the Navy. I was merely contrasting the two. I’m not sure what you mean about the service life of each not being arguable. Carrier aircraft have to be much tougher than land-based types because they are subjected to such severe stresses on both take off and landing. They are also exposed to salt air on a level that goes way beyond anything shore based types are. A Lightning damaged in a wheels up landing, for example, would probably be assessed for repair. A Hellcat in the same circumstances would be shoved over the side. Same goes for battle damage. The criteria for disposal versus repair was a lot harsher for carrier types than for land based types.
As for its dogfighting ability, there are just as many who argue that it _could_ dogfight. Those kinds of arguments are mostly centred around cherry-picked factoids that limit people’s ability to see the bigger picture (not saying you said this - it’s just an attitude I encounter a lot). A great aircraft will stand on its own merits and doesn’t need anyone to gild the lily. In my opinion, the Lightning doesn’t rank with the Hellcat _because the Hellcat had a greater overall influence on the outcome of the war in the Pacific._ Equally, in my opinion, the F6F is slightly underrated, while the P-38 is somewhat overrated. But when aesthetics are taken into account, the argument loses its objectivity.
The small cone of fire of 4x.5 + 1x 20mm ...well @4:54 then.
The Lightning was not the most fearsome warplane in the sky. In the European theatre, it could barely keep out of its own way. It was good in the Pacific because it had the advantage of being a twin (with no critical engine), meaning that if one engine conked out it could get back. The Japanese may have hated it but they had at least as much reason to fear the Hellcat.
In reality, of course, what made the difference wasn’t engineering or “technology” but the fact that US pilots had a relatively leisurely and very thorough training system while the Japanese, after Midway, were thrown into combat with very little training in anything other than operating their aircraft and they were shot down in droves. I’m not saying it was easy. Pilots still had to take risks and every now and again they would come across a seasoned veteran, as McGuire did on his last flight.
But the notion that this was due to the quality of the P-38 is simply wrong. In my way of thinking, the aircraft is rather overrated.
My great uncle flew many different planes but he loved the p-38. Those 38'in the European War didn't have a supercharged engine the later one did.
@@jamiebong1612 he knows this, he's a Hellcat fanboy that has nothing better to do than go in the comments of P-38 videos to bash the 38 & elevate his stump ugly Hellcat. True story! 🤣
Hail to the Hellcat fanboy trolling about P-38 video comments bashing the 38 & trying to elevate his Hellcat! You again? Issues dude. Get a life! Nobody cares about your skewed way of thinking or the weird thing you have against the P-38 making you cook up stories against it. Go oil up about your beloved Hellcat & quit trolling about, before we start thinking you're an escapee from the looney ward!
@@katmanluke7187 Who is bashing the P-38? Not me. Thats just _your_ skewed way of thinking. But to put things in perspective, P-38 pilots shot down about 1,800 Japanese aircraft. The Hellcat pilots shot down more than 5,100.
@@thethirdman225 You are all about how many kills each aircraft had. Why don't you compare the number of P-38's in the Pacific, verses the number of F6F's. No comment??? Maybe because the F6F FAR outnumbered the P-38 in the Pacific, so it SHOULD have had FAR more kills. Add to that, the Hellcat showed up AFTER most of the highest experienced Japanese pilots were long gone. After the battles of the Coral Sea and Midway, the quality of the Japanese pilots diminished greatly, and continued to diminish for the remainder of the war. Most of the F6F pilots were fighting Japanese pilots with not much more than very basic flight instructions. They were killing fish in a barrel, or a "Turkey Shoot" as it were. The P-38, and the P-39 and P-40 and F4F Wildcat as well, took out that majority of superior Japanese pilots long before the F6F showed up. And, those aircraft managed that while the Navy and Army brass were still demanding their pilots dogfight with the Zero. It took WAY too long for the brass to begin using the tactics Chennault used with the P-40 in the Flying Tigers. Even the P-40 was deadly against the Japanese, when used with the correct tactics. And, those improved tactics were in place well BEFORE the F6F arrived in the theater. The number of kills is meaningless, when you take into account the P-38, and the P-39 and P-40 and F4F, were up against seasoned battle hardened experienced pilots. While the majority of F6F's were up against a bunch of pilots barely able to get an aircraft off the ground.