The P-38 was designed from the get-go to intercept and shoot down enemy bombers - which it could do with no problem in any theater of WWII. The fact that it could be adapted to do so many other things too - quite well, speaks to the engineering excellence that Lockheed and Kelly Johnson instilled in it. The same could be said about the De Havilland Mosquito (which was designed from the get-go as a fast medium bomber)
Both were the Swiss Army Knife of military aviation. When the US 9th Air Force had their Mosquito nightfighter replaced by the P-61 Black Widow nightfighters against their wishes they immediately started converting P-38s to nightfighters.
absolutely...when it was produced with counter-rotating props pilots said it climbed like a 'home sick angel' if you ever get a chance read 'Pilot' by Tony LeVier and 'Forked Tail Devil' by Martin Caiden. what a lot of ppl don't get is it was introduced early and had a damn good record, all most know is the P-51 and all the yada yada, but it was one of the best made. It was expensive and one hinderance was that damned Allison engine. It was design wise one of the first to experience 'compressabiltiy' issues. Fowler Flaps as they were called (actually speed brakes) eleminated that but just read those two books.
One of the most beautiful aircraft ever created. The P-38 still looks modern to this very day. It looked absolutely futuristic in the original polished metal (unpainted) design of the prototype which looks like chrome. In modern times, the company Red Bull's airworthy P-38 is fitted out in the original polished "chrome" look. It's funny that Howard Hughes' experimental plane, the XF-11 looked almost exactly like a P-38 but much larger in size. One of the problems (aside from the crash of the XF-11 which Hughes at the controls), is that by the time Hughes had test flown the XF-11, the war was over and jet technology was rapidly advancing making his prototype pretty much obsolete. Had Howard Hughes managed to complete the XF-11 a few years earlier (and had he not crashed the prototype and had controversy surrounding it's development), it may have been a very successful long range reconnaissance aircraft which was the original intended use Hughes saw for the aircraft. Link to a photo and story of the XF-11: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hughes_XF-11
You've done a very good job here of listing all the advantages and disadvantages of this aircraft. You mentioned how - on losing an engine on take off - new pilots could get killed from increasing power on the remaining engine to fast. This was caused by the torque of the engine rotating the aircraft. It could also - in the hands of someone who knew what they were doing - be used to rapidly role the aircraft. The P-38 was a slow roller using only the ailerons - but - pilots could "Blit" the outboard engine in a turn, rapidly increasing it's power for a short period of time - using the torque of the engine - to rotate the aircraft. The P-38 could also loop really well because of that giant elevator. .
he (talking about Lindberg) was instrumental in showing how it could be 'fine tuned' to make it 'longer legged'. also Tony LeVeir showed 'em how it was not so dangerous and could fly on one engine among other things.
According to an in-depth P-38 video I saw, toward the end of the war, engine advances had given Lockheed the option of adding another blade to the propeller, allowing for even more speed. However, unlike the Mustang (?) and Thunderbolt, retrofitting an additional blade to the propellers, to optimize engine power and propeller was a non-trivial task, both complex, and very expensive. This, even though the engines were available to boost the Lightning, performance was locked in the later models. 😮
The P-38 could have been, and test models were, fitted with the excellent Hamilton Standard high activity paddle propellors as early as April 1943. The P-38K was submitted for testing in April 1943, it had the propellors and new engines. The War Production Board refused Lockheed permission to halt production to install the new propellors. You need to find an article by my friend, Corey C. Jordan, with contributions from Warren Bodie, and Dr. Carlo Koop, called "Whatever Happened to the P-38K" Equipped with the Hamilton Standard high activity paddle propellors, the P-38 would have been the best all around performing fighter of the war. It was capable of in excess of 455MPH in level flight, had a climb rate of over 5,000 feet per minute, an operational ceiling of 38,000 feet, and the acceleration and range, where the P-38 was already ranked first, improved as much as 20%.
There was also a mock up on the show "Combat!" that used pieces of a real lightning and some creative pieces added by the prop dept. The 38 engine issues where mostly piloted related. It was not until Tony Levier, Lockheed's chief test pilot went to Europe to see what pilots where doing that he figured out that the turbo superchargers where being set up wrong by the ground crews and the pilots where using the wrong settings. In the Pacific, it was Charles Lindberg, yes, that Lindberg, who flew the lightning in Combat, unofficially, and figured out how to get more mileage out of the Lightning.
My favourite US aircraft of WW2. Definitely the epitome of the maxim 'if it looks right, it flies right.' (I have used 'if it looks right, it flies right' as this quote came from an engineer, rather than Dorothy Draper's 'if it looks right it is right.' Seemed more appropriate) Britain did order the P-38 but as the US would not supply the turbos they were rejected. Makes you wonder how things would have shaped up if the got the P-38 with the turbo. They Royal Air Force did eventually fly the reconnaissance version of the P-38. Britain did suggest that the aircraft be fitted with contra rotating propellers as this countered the engine torque which is why the aircraft could 'turn on a dime' as they say. Something all pilots of the P-38 appreciated. The US also benefited from British research into compressibility problems. One pilot who became an ace in the P-38 would go on to be the man who cost North Viet Nam about one third of the MiG 21s with Operation Bolo, Robin Olds.
I don't think "Der Gabelschwantz Teufel" translates as "The Fork-Tailed Devil", since "Schwantz" refers to another, more prominent part of the male anatomy . However WWII Civilian sensibilities might have been offended, so Allied journalists changed the name to "tail"
It's also the plane Antoine de Saint-Exupéry flew on the recon mission over France during WW2 on which he went MIA - he was the author of "The little Prince"
@@matthewmcmacken6716 you sure I heard that Ludwig Franz Stigler had found against one and got off lucky Liked them cause they were good But hated them cause they were fighting again the luftwaffle
My mother was 14 in August 1944 in Normandy and she saw a shiny metallic "deux-queues" ("two-tails") passing low near my grandfather's farm north of Rouen (there were neighbouring V1 launching ramps). Holding her little sister who was crying with fear, she made her quietter telling this plane (a P38 with no doubt) was americain. Yes it was!
My late friend, Brig Gen "P-38" Bob Clements, flew the Fork-tailed Devil in WWII and loved the aircraft. He also flew Mustangs late in the war and afterwards, but was forced to bail out of a couple of them when their engines seized. He told me that was never an issue with the Lightning, which might help explain his affection for them.
*_Outstanding Video ... However the Lockheed P-38 Lightning was never designed or even conceived as a Fighter Plane. Kelly Johnson engineered it to be a High-Speed Interceptor as per the U.S. ARMY Air Forces requirements at the time. The 20mm Cannon was requested to shoot down bombers long before they reached the American coastline. Later Lockheeds SR-71 Blackbird was a derivative of their original A-12 High Speed Interceptor as well._*
Guess you mean due to the aircraft's twin tailboom desing. There were many two-engine planes out there with single tailboom fuselages that you cannot call "fork-tailed".
1:58 in and I was bugged. Some of the clips, obviously from the same movie, reminded me of another. A Guy Named Joe (1943) seems to have been remade as Always (1989). Now, having looked it up, and finding that Van Johnson is in it, I'm going to have to see if I can buy it somewhere ... My mother is a fan, you see. OK, this is a remake, since almost all of the names are the same or very similar. (With Brad Johnson being cast in Van Johnson's role, though there is no relation)
In the movie "A Walk In The Sun " at 50 minutes in there's a scene where German fighters strafe ground troops and P-38's fly in to run the Germans off .
I think it was instrumental to the winning of the Pacific, along with other planes, they used what they had, and I’m sure they we’re happy they could join in the fight!
The Lockheed P-38 Lightning, the Vought F4U Corsair, the Grumman F6F Hellcat, and the North American P-51 Mustang were the elite US fighters in World War II.
I once read a great article explaining the shortcomings of the P-38 in Europe. This gist was that it was largely due to lack of proper pilot training for a plane that was rushed into the European theatre out of desperation for a plane that could hold its own against the German fighters (as the P-40 could not). As a twin engine fighter it was a bit more complicated than then the older P-39s and P-40s most American pilots in the theatre had trained on and they simply weren't given enough time and instruction to learn it properly. One pilot said his first actual flight in a P-38 was also his first combat mission. The P-51 didn't have that complexity and thus made for a much smoother transition for it to come into successful large-scale operational use. The author cited some pretty knowledgeable figures who stated that if the P-38 transition had been longer and better trained the P-38 would have done just fine in Europe -- but by they time they realized it, the Mustangs and Thunderbolts were already doing the job.
As I recall , the P-38 verse from the song "Give me Operations " goes :" Don't give me a P-38- the props they counter-rotate. They're scattered and spittin' , from Burma to Britain , don't give me a P-38" At least that is the way Oscar Brand sang it in "Wild Blue Yonder " (1956 LP Record)
The biggest shock of all is that there was an an Iron Eagle III! The first one has the distinction of being the only movie I ever walked out on because it was so awful. That they made two more of them is insane!
Don't forget the wonderfully ridiculous "Road Raiders" where several wrecked aircraft including a p-38 are cobbled into armoured vehicles. A silly yet fun action film featuring Bruce Boxleitner. 🤔😊😋
It's true improved dive flaps helped curve that issue but the plane flying them over got shot down by friendly fire so very few of them were equipped with them lol
No doubt that the P38 was among the elite planes of WWII, its record obviously supports that, with BOTH our #1 and #2 aces flying it. One Hollywood treatment you missed--even though it is not a movie--is the pilot episode of Green Acres. The link is below, it shows the star Eddie Albert flying a P-38 during WWII before he "buys the farm" that made the series. Go to the 6:30 mark to watch. th-cam.com/video/tqu8fWpyosw/w-d-xo.html
In the tv show Green Acres, Oliver. Wendell Douglas was a P-38 (F4 or 5 recon pilot actually) when he was short down in Hungary snd rescued by Hungarian partisans, including his future wife, Lisa.
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry Aviator writer, born June 29, 1900 in Lyon and disappeared in flight in a P38 on July 31, 1944 off the Marseille coast. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry écrivain aviateur, né le 29 juin 1900 à Lyon et disparu en vol dans un P38 le 31 juillet 1944 au large des côtes marseillaises.
Oh, Hedy Lamar is a beautiful gal, Madeline Carroll is too. But you’ll find if you query a much different theory amongst any bomber crew That the loveliest thing of which one can sing This side of the heavenly gates Is no blonde or brunette of the Hollywood set But an escort of P-38s In all the days past when the tables were massed with glasses of scotch and champagne It’s quite true that the sight was a thing to delight us intent on feeling no pain. But no longer the same nowadays in this game as we sail onto the missing state Take your sparkling wine but always make mine An escort of P-38s. Byron, Shelley and Keats ran each other dead heats describing the views from the hills Of the valleys in May where the winds gently sway an army of bright daffodils Take your daffodils Byron, the wild flowers Shelley, yours is the myrtle, friend Keats Just preserve me those cuties, all-American beauties An escort of P-38s. Sure we’re braver than hell on the ground all is well, in the air it’s a much different story. As we sweat out our track through the fighters and flak we’re willing to split up the glory. Well, they wouldn’t reject us so heaven protect us until all this shootin’ abates Give us courage to fight ’em and another small item An escort of P-38s
the best part of this plane is speed and the low hight it could opperate at, yes the p38 hadt it´s problems, but in general, a good pilot could make use if it in a very effecktive way
The P-38 was the first. The last leg of Kelsey's transcontinental dash (Wright Field to Mitchel Field) was clocked at 410 miles per hour. The Corsair was the first to do it with one engine.
Since the top two American USAAF aces of the war (Thomas McGuire and Richard I. Bong) flew them, no one gets a vote on whether the P-38 was one of the best fighters of the war, much less a bunch of civilian gamers whose flying experience, like their love lives, is the same: Solo and on Video only!
problem with black sheep is they used 51s for the yammato shoot down should have swaped the lighting would have been historicallt correct. use the 51s in this ep
Bit eerie seeing that blue on blue with tge UK Warrior MICVs. My Dad's worknate's son, who was 17, was the Royal Fusilier killed in that attack. Bright irangd dayglo was draped over the roof of both Warriors. The Yanks have a bad reputation on being quick to shoot. I think it's down to the sheer quantity of airpower they have & how it's used as a default.
The Battle of Barking Creek was a friendly fire incident over England on 6 September 1939 that caused the first death of a British fighter pilot in the Second World War.
BEST AIRCRAFT OF WW2 Remember the P51 also had allision engines and dumped them for better Merlin Rolls Royce engines! If the government would have spent the money for a same engine change the P38 would have been best WW2 AIRCRAFT period
? why is there a guy behind the pilot? p38 was single seat... I know, Burt rutan modified the only one to ever have twin seats...he had to get rid of most of the radion equipment but he did it
Because he's dead and he's a "ghost" who has been given the task of helping that pilot become a good pilot. He can only "train" him through the power of suggestion and nobody but the movie viewers can see him. The movie _A Guy Named Joe_ was remade as the movie _Always_ in 1989 where Richard Dreyfuss played the same role, but as an aerial firefighting pilot instead of a war pilot.
The P-38 was designed from the get-go to intercept and shoot down enemy bombers - which it could do with no problem in any theater of WWII. The fact that it could be adapted to do so many other things too - quite well, speaks to the engineering excellence that Lockheed and Kelly Johnson instilled in it. The same could be said about the De Havilland Mosquito (which was designed from the get-go as a fast medium bomber)
Both were the Swiss Army Knife of military aviation. When the US 9th Air Force had their Mosquito nightfighter replaced by the P-61 Black Widow nightfighters against their wishes they immediately started converting P-38s to nightfighters.
I've always thought that the Mosquito was the British version of the P-38, the former being better suited to colder climates and vice versa.
absolutely...when it was produced with counter-rotating props pilots said it climbed like a 'home sick angel' if you ever get a chance read 'Pilot' by Tony LeVier and 'Forked Tail Devil' by Martin Caiden. what a lot of ppl don't get is it was introduced early and had a damn good record, all most know is the P-51 and all the yada yada, but it was one of the best made. It was expensive and one hinderance was that damned Allison engine. It was design wise one of the first to experience 'compressabiltiy' issues. Fowler Flaps as they were called (actually speed brakes) eleminated that but just read those two books.
One of the most beautiful aircraft ever created. The P-38 still looks modern to this very day. It looked absolutely futuristic in the original polished metal (unpainted) design of the prototype which looks like chrome. In modern times, the company Red Bull's airworthy P-38 is fitted out in the original polished "chrome" look. It's funny that Howard Hughes' experimental plane, the XF-11 looked almost exactly like a P-38 but much larger in size. One of the problems (aside from the crash of the XF-11 which Hughes at the controls), is that by the time Hughes had test flown the XF-11, the war was over and jet technology was rapidly advancing making his prototype pretty much obsolete. Had Howard Hughes managed to complete the XF-11 a few years earlier (and had he not crashed the prototype and had controversy surrounding it's development), it may have been a very successful long range reconnaissance aircraft which was the original intended use Hughes saw for the aircraft. Link to a photo and story of the XF-11: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hughes_XF-11
My favorite ww ii fighter plane. After he designed this, Kelly Johnson went on to designed the sr-71... Truly visionary engineer
Well… there were a COUPKE of other designs in between the P-38 and SR-71… 😆😂🤣
The XP 58 was a double sized P 38. It didn't go beyond testing.
The crash scene in the Aviator was amazing.
i hate that movie!
According to Cinefex magazine it was done with a minature plane and buildings.
Not a p-38.
Terrible, the scene I mean, to watch and listen to, and the scene after when the doctor tells his friend and girlfriend how injured he is.
You've done a very good job here of listing all the advantages and disadvantages of this aircraft.
You mentioned how - on losing an engine on take off - new pilots could get killed from increasing power on the remaining engine to fast.
This was caused by the torque of the engine rotating the aircraft.
It could also - in the hands of someone who knew what they were doing - be used to rapidly role the aircraft.
The P-38 was a slow roller using only the ailerons - but - pilots could "Blit" the outboard engine in a turn, rapidly increasing it's power for a short period of time - using the torque of the engine - to rotate the aircraft.
The P-38 could also loop really well because of that giant elevator.
.
Many pilots found themselves in P-38s with insufficient multi-engine training.
My deja Vu is starting to get out of hand lately.
Same
I'm freakin out, man!
@@12what34the This video has some kind of copyright curse on it
@@JohnnyJohnsonEsq ah OK, return to DEFCON 4, I am no longer freakin out...man.
Cant agree more
Second highest scoring ace in the Pacific Theater was another P-38 Lightning pilot Tommy McGuire.
Charles Lindbergh also flew P-38 Lightnings.
my state has a nice memorial to a p-38 pilot named Richard Bong, they have a full p-38 that you can view in the museum.
he (talking about Lindberg) was instrumental in showing how it could be 'fine tuned' to make it 'longer legged'. also Tony LeVeir showed 'em how it was not so dangerous and could fly on one engine among other things.
@@moss8448 I read that Bob Hoover performed a similar demonstration while stationed in North Africa.
Lindy flew one mission illegally.
P-38 Lightning is remembered among Japanse people that it shot down Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto`s airplane, and was feared as "Two-headed devil".
I believe it was referred to as the "forked tailed devil".
forked tail devil amigo
Wow, I don't think I've ever heard you talk about the P-38 before! What an interesting video!
According to an in-depth P-38 video I saw, toward the end of the war, engine advances had given Lockheed the option of adding another blade to the propeller, allowing for even more speed. However, unlike the Mustang (?) and Thunderbolt, retrofitting an additional blade to the propellers, to optimize engine power and propeller was a non-trivial task, both complex, and very expensive. This, even though the engines were available to boost the Lightning, performance was locked in the later models. 😮
The P-38 could have been, and test models were, fitted with the excellent Hamilton Standard high activity paddle propellors as early as April 1943. The P-38K was submitted for testing in April 1943, it had the propellors and new engines.
The War Production Board refused Lockheed permission to halt production to install the new propellors.
You need to find an article by my friend, Corey C. Jordan, with contributions from Warren Bodie, and Dr. Carlo Koop, called "Whatever Happened to the P-38K"
Equipped with the Hamilton Standard high activity paddle propellors, the P-38 would have been the best all around performing fighter of the war. It was capable of in excess of 455MPH in level flight, had a climb rate of over 5,000 feet per minute, an operational ceiling of 38,000 feet, and the acceleration and range, where the P-38 was already ranked first, improved as much as 20%.
There was also a mock up on the show "Combat!" that used pieces of a real lightning and some creative pieces added by the prop dept. The 38 engine issues where mostly piloted related. It was not until Tony Levier, Lockheed's chief test pilot went to Europe to see what pilots where doing that he figured out that the turbo superchargers where being set up wrong by the ground crews and the pilots where using the wrong settings. In the Pacific, it was Charles Lindberg, yes, that Lindberg, who flew the lightning in Combat, unofficially, and figured out how to get more mileage out of the Lightning.
My favourite US aircraft of WW2. Definitely the epitome of the maxim 'if it looks right, it flies right.' (I have used 'if it looks right, it flies right' as this quote came from an engineer, rather than Dorothy Draper's 'if it looks right it is right.' Seemed more appropriate)
Britain did order the P-38 but as the US would not supply the turbos they were rejected. Makes you wonder how things would have shaped up if the got the P-38 with the turbo. They Royal Air Force did eventually fly the reconnaissance version of the P-38.
Britain did suggest that the aircraft be fitted with contra rotating propellers as this countered the engine torque which is why the aircraft could 'turn on a dime' as they say. Something all pilots of the P-38 appreciated. The US also benefited from British research into compressibility problems.
One pilot who became an ace in the P-38 would go on to be the man who cost North Viet Nam about one third of the MiG 21s with Operation Bolo, Robin Olds.
Black Sheep Squadron! Oh the nostalgia!!
Most beautiful Aircraft design ever!!! ❤❤❤
Japanese pilots nicknamed the P-38 Mezashi (目刺し), which means fish on a skewer
And P-39 was called Katsuobushi (鰹節)
The Luftwaffe called the P-38 “The Fork Tailed Devil.”
I don't think "Der Gabelschwantz Teufel" translates as "The Fork-Tailed Devil", since "Schwantz" refers to another, more prominent part of the male anatomy . However WWII Civilian sensibilities might have been offended, so Allied journalists changed the name to "tail"
@@carltonstidsen8806 your mistake with "schwanz" & schwantz
Nice video. I’ve always liked the P-38 Lightning; along with the F4U Corsair
Good job Johnny I really enjoyed the video makes me wanna go back and watch Baaba black sheep
Hey there Johnny, I'm eagerly awaiting for an A6M Zero - In the Movies video! Keep up with the excellent videos, love em
It will be a fun project once I get to it!
It's also the plane Antoine de Saint-Exupéry flew on the recon mission over France during WW2 on which he went MIA - he was the author of "The little Prince"
The "Forked tailed Devil". One of my favorite designs of birds from WW2!
Was that said by a Japanese officer
Or...
Ludwig Franz Stigler R.I.P ( he spared a b17s crew)
@@lachlanpike5469 - Nah. That name was from Hermann Goring.
@@matthewmcmacken6716 you sure I heard that Ludwig Franz Stigler had found against one and got off lucky
Liked them cause they were good
But hated them cause they were fighting again the luftwaffle
@@lachlanpike5469 - I can't confirm, but this is what I recall from 'history'. Cheers.
(not so ) fun fact, Antoine de Saint-Exupery, the author of The Little Prince, served and died as a pilot of a recon P-38
another banger of a video I love the P-38 a lot haha in movies and games keep up the good videos i enjoy them always.
My mother was 14 in August 1944 in Normandy and she saw a shiny metallic "deux-queues" ("two-tails") passing low near my grandfather's farm north of Rouen (there were neighbouring V1 launching ramps). Holding her little sister who was crying with fear, she made her quietter telling this plane (a P38 with no doubt) was americain.
Yes it was!
The idea of power steering on cars came from the P-38, as later models implemented hydraulically boosted ailerons.
i think it came from german tanks most them had power streering like tiger and panther
I have a diecast model of a P 38 in my office along with a corsair. The two best planes, but the P-38 is my favorite.
My late friend, Brig Gen "P-38" Bob Clements, flew the Fork-tailed Devil in WWII and loved the aircraft. He also flew Mustangs late in the war and afterwards, but was forced to bail out of a couple of them when their engines seized. He told me that was never an issue with the Lightning, which might help explain his affection for them.
Great video. I had always wondered about the P38. Now I know. Thank you.
P-38s were used in the ambush of Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto over the Solomon Islands in 1943.
Nice rundown of the Movies . I've never heard of many of the titles.
*_Outstanding Video ... However the Lockheed P-38 Lightning was never designed or even conceived as a Fighter Plane. Kelly Johnson engineered it to be a High-Speed Interceptor as per the U.S. ARMY Air Forces requirements at the time. The 20mm Cannon was requested to shoot down bombers long before they reached the American coastline. Later Lockheeds SR-71 Blackbird was a derivative of their original A-12 High Speed Interceptor as well._*
Many Luffwaffe pilot called it Fork-Tailed Devil due to the aircraft's twin engine design of the P-38
Guess you mean due to the aircraft's twin tailboom desing. There were many two-engine planes out there with single tailboom fuselages that you cannot call "fork-tailed".
Wait... didn't you already make a P-38 vid because I clearly remember watching one a while ago...
Sorry about that O Cheesy one. Was having some copyright issues with this cursed video.
@@JohnnyJohnsonEsq Understandable, have a great day!
1:58 in and I was bugged. Some of the clips, obviously from the same movie, reminded me of another. A Guy Named Joe (1943) seems to have been remade as Always (1989).
Now, having looked it up, and finding that Van Johnson is in it, I'm going to have to see if I can buy it somewhere ... My mother is a fan, you see.
OK, this is a remake, since almost all of the names are the same or very similar. (With Brad Johnson being cast in Van Johnson's role, though there is no relation)
Very cool to see you reference botime gaming in your vid! Also quite enjoy your content, keep it up!
Thanks William! Bo's the man.
Rip maj. bong, real American hero
My favorite American WWII fighter aircraft.
In the movie "A Walk In The Sun " at 50 minutes in there's a scene where German fighters strafe ground troops and P-38's fly in to run the Germans off .
I think it was instrumental to the winning of the Pacific, along with other planes, they used what they had, and I’m sure they we’re happy they could join in the fight!
Excellent stuff bro
The narrator said that only 10 P-38s remain. One of them in St Paul MN. As for Dick Bong, the airport in Duluth still bears his name.
There is a great P-38 Museum in Superior WI, honoring Bong
Iron eagle 3 was a fun watch, haha!
It was the best sequel!!! Still waiting for someone to remake it today!
Great video of a Great Airplane
You forgot to mention it was one of the first aircraft that the legendary Kelly Johnson helped design
The Lockheed P-38 Lightning, the Vought F4U Corsair, the Grumman F6F Hellcat, and the North American P-51 Mustang were the elite US fighters in World War II.
The angel in overalls could do it all. The best piston warbird. Only held back by her cost and the complexity of switching to modern super props.
Great video. Thanks a lot Johnny!!!!
This plane really came through in the Pacific at a time in which I was desperately needed . Not so much in Europe .
I once read a great article explaining the shortcomings of the P-38 in Europe. This gist was that it was largely due to lack of proper pilot training for a plane that was rushed into the European theatre out of desperation for a plane that could hold its own against the German fighters (as the P-40 could not). As a twin engine fighter it was a bit more complicated than then the older P-39s and P-40s most American pilots in the theatre had trained on and they simply weren't given enough time and instruction to learn it properly. One pilot said his first actual flight in a P-38 was also his first combat mission. The P-51 didn't have that complexity and thus made for a much smoother transition for it to come into successful large-scale operational use. The author cited some pretty knowledgeable figures who stated that if the P-38 transition had been longer and better trained the P-38 would have done just fine in Europe -- but by they time they realized it, the Mustangs and Thunderbolts were already doing the job.
I love all WII aircraft & dream that maybe one day I’ll be able to fly one before I die
Gladly To Accept This,
Can You May Add 1942 The Battle Of Midway Music?
was is not the first USAAF to exceed 400 mph at sea level?
Oh, give me a P 38, With props that counter-rotate
As I recall , the P-38 verse from the song "Give me Operations " goes :" Don't give me a P-38- the props they counter-rotate. They're scattered and spittin' , from Burma to Britain , don't give me a P-38" At least that is the way Oscar Brand sang it in "Wild Blue Yonder " (1956 LP Record)
The P51 was a sexy airplane
But the P38 was the coolest.
The biggest shock of all is that there was an an Iron Eagle III! The first one has the distinction of being the only movie I ever walked out on because it was so awful.
That they made two more of them is insane!
Third upload, did the last one get Suzan’d?
Hard Suzan'd. But I don't give up.
It should also be noted that in Europe almost all the first deliveries of the P-38 did NOT have the superchargers and were incredibly underpowered.
ooh secret video 👀
You got some skills finding this one :P
@@JohnnyJohnsonEsq hahahha just got it ^^
Clearly needs a follow-up video on the Pathfinder and Bomber, "Droop Snoot" variants.
Don't forget the wonderfully ridiculous "Road Raiders" where several wrecked aircraft including a p-38 are cobbled into armoured vehicles. A silly yet fun action film featuring Bruce Boxleitner. 🤔😊😋
My favorite fighter in WWII ever😚
If I remember correctly, the German nickname for p-38 was teuful kreus. Basically, devil cross.
Noo I'm late but keep up the good content johnny :)
It's true improved dive flaps helped curve that issue but the plane flying them over got shot down by friendly fire so very few of them were equipped with them lol
Untrue.
The dive flaps lost were for pre P-38J-25-Lo models. They were part of retro-fit kits.
Actually, more P-38's had dive flaps than didn't.
such a awesome plane
well, i guess it's time for a rewatch
Whats the film with the bad guy from jaws 3? That looks good and ive never seen of heard of it
I think you're referring to Louis Gossett jr. And the movie is Iron Eagle 3.
@@WALTERBROADDUS thanks 🙏
No doubt that the P38 was among the elite planes of WWII, its record obviously supports that, with BOTH our #1 and #2 aces flying it. One Hollywood treatment you missed--even though it is not a movie--is the pilot episode of Green Acres. The link is below, it shows the star Eddie Albert flying a P-38 during WWII before he "buys the farm" that made the series. Go to the 6:30 mark to watch. th-cam.com/video/tqu8fWpyosw/w-d-xo.html
In the tv show Green Acres, Oliver. Wendell Douglas was a P-38 (F4 or 5 recon pilot actually) when he was short down in Hungary snd rescued by Hungarian partisans, including his future wife, Lisa.
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry Aviator writer, born June 29, 1900 in Lyon and disappeared in flight in a P38 on July 31, 1944 off the Marseille coast.
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry écrivain aviateur, né le 29 juin 1900 à Lyon et disparu en vol dans un P38 le 31 juillet 1944 au large des côtes marseillaises.
1:11 image a P-38 with p47 engines?
Oh, Hedy Lamar is a beautiful gal, Madeline Carroll is too.
But you’ll find if you query a much different theory
amongst any bomber crew
That the loveliest thing of which one can sing
This side of the heavenly gates
Is no blonde or brunette of the Hollywood set
But an escort of P-38s
In all the days past when the tables were massed
with glasses of scotch and champagne
It’s quite true that the sight was a thing to delight
us intent on feeling no pain.
But no longer the same nowadays in this game
as we sail onto the missing state
Take your sparkling wine but always make mine
An escort of P-38s.
Byron, Shelley and Keats ran each other dead heats
describing the views from the hills
Of the valleys in May where the winds gently sway
an army of bright daffodils
Take your daffodils Byron, the wild flowers Shelley,
yours is the myrtle, friend Keats
Just preserve me those cuties, all-American beauties
An escort of P-38s.
Sure we’re braver than hell on the ground all is well,
in the air it’s a much different story.
As we sweat out our track through the fighters and flak
we’re willing to split up the glory.
Well, they wouldn’t reject us so heaven protect us
until all this shootin’ abates
Give us courage to fight ’em and another small item
An escort of P-38s
the best part of this plane is speed and the low hight it could opperate at, yes the p38 hadt it´s problems, but in general, a good pilot could make use if it in a very effecktive way
... the P-38 had* its* problems (it's = it is) / effective*
The debate continues: Was it the Lightning or Corsair that first flew over 400?
The P-38 was the first. The last leg of Kelsey's transcontinental dash (Wright Field to Mitchel Field) was clocked at 410 miles per hour.
The Corsair was the first to do it with one engine.
I've seen Glacier Girl at Aviation Nation here in Las Vegas
Asique bien moderno el.avion sito megosta grasias
Since the top two American USAAF aces of the war (Thomas McGuire and Richard I. Bong) flew them, no one gets a vote on whether the P-38 was one of the best fighters of the war, much less a bunch of civilian gamers whose flying experience, like their love lives, is the same: Solo and on Video only!
Greetings from 2007 heroes of the Pazifik xbox
Bong , Macguire , and Foss couldn't be wrong .
Foss was a Marine pilot, and did not fly the P-38.
Does anyone know of a p, 38 used in radar bombing at night, thanks.
8:26 Oh, nooooo! What an unfortunate name XD
Is this channel might be a lightning rod? Because we've been stuck 4 times now
The P-38 video is cursed by the copyright gods
problem with black sheep is they used 51s for the yammato shoot down should have swaped the lighting would have been historicallt correct. use the 51s in this ep
Reupload of a reupload?
It’s the 4th reupload lol. TH-cam troubles and whatnot
@@basementdustproductions1069 Sometimes youtube wants to wrestle
@@JohnnyJohnsonEsq hi Johnny is this caused by that dreadful t*l*g**m message? I didnt type that out, it seems to home in on the full word!
@@bongodrumzz I doubt it but I still have issues with that damn spam. =/
@@JohnnyJohnsonEsq they need shooting, out of a circus cannon lol
My 6' tall father wanted to fly P-38s but was too tall (I think he said 5' 11" was the maximum height), so he ended up in a B-25.
Bit eerie seeing that blue on blue with tge UK Warrior MICVs. My Dad's worknate's son, who was 17, was the Royal Fusilier killed in that attack. Bright irangd dayglo was draped over the roof of both Warriors. The Yanks have a bad reputation on being quick to shoot. I think it's down to the sheer quantity of airpower they have & how it's used as a default.
The Battle of Barking Creek was a friendly fire incident over England on 6 September 1939 that caused the first death of a British fighter pilot in the Second World War.
This seems familiar... any way i will see it again.
I hope there’s an A-10 pilot named Ernest… that way, you could have BRRRRRRTTTTTTTTTTT and be Ernie
Reupload? Or my having a serious case of deja vu?
This video has a curse on it.
9:59 I think this is a Hurrikane dressed up as a 109.
why is this reuploaded like 3rd time?
cursed by the copyright gods
@@JohnnyJohnsonEsq jeez they are not merciful for you
I got to sit in the cockpit of a P-38 once. It was... not comfortable. I was 12 years old.
i need to watch the bo time gaming video
BEST AIRCRAFT OF WW2 Remember the P51 also had allision engines and dumped them for better Merlin Rolls Royce engines! If the government would have spent the money for a same engine change the P38 would have been best WW2 AIRCRAFT period
? why is there a guy behind the pilot? p38 was single seat... I know, Burt rutan modified the only one to ever have twin seats...he had to get rid of most of the radion equipment but he did it
They modified plenty of P-38s back in the day so someone could ride piggyback where the radio used to be. It was how they trained new pilots.
Several times people have ridden over the radio equipment behind the pilot in a P-38.
👍
Did Louis Gossett Jr send you a cease order? Nevermind, there he is
Is Gosset jr the mascot in "Top Gun Mavrick" ?!
How is Spencer Tracy talking to that pilot who is wearing earphones?
Because he's dead and he's a "ghost" who has been given the task of helping that pilot become a good pilot. He can only "train" him through the power of suggestion and nobody but the movie viewers can see him. The movie _A Guy Named Joe_ was remade as the movie _Always_ in 1989 where Richard Dreyfuss played the same role, but as an aerial firefighting pilot instead of a war pilot.
@@arkwill14 Before 1989 they did the same thing in1977 with Alec Guinness and Mark Hamill.
Hey Johnny, the F4U Corsair was the first to reach 400mph.😊
Wrong. The P-38 exceeded 400 MPH before the first F4U ever took flight.
i love the P-38, my choice is the Beaufighter.
It's Was a Nose Straight Shooter is Why US Fighters Stop Using Wing Guns I 'll Bet.
I approved this video
Thank you P38J !