Gotta love old documentaries, where you get to hear all the stories first hand.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBcvm9bmHDA
Now this is all we get...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBcvm9bmHDA
Now this is all we get...
Fantastic P-38 documentary
- Thread starter Mikel
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I worked with a Nazi fighter pilot who was shot down and brought to the US in '43. The guy was amazing to talk to. He helped the OSS bring scientists out at the end of the war. He was given the keys to a fighter plane, not sure which one in '39 when he was 17 and graduating from their Air Force high school at the time.
Okay I was trying to figure out how much of a documentary could you have on a folding can opener
I put together a model of one when I was a kid. One of my favorite WWII planes. In fact the key chain for my Dodge is a P38, my wife got it for me but she didn't know what it was, she was begging me to stop after 5 minutes. I love the fact it was a patrol of them that shot down Admiral Yamamoto.
Oh, so fighter planes do have keys? They have to be more secure than, say, a helicopter?
Oh, so fighter planes do have keys? They have to be more secure than, say, a helicopter?
The fork tailed devil!
Excellent documentary 
I just read "Race of Aces" https://www.amazon.com/Race-Aces-Airmen-Battle-Become-ebook/dp/B07RGJPJXY?tag=91812054244-20 and it has lots of details of the P-38's in the Pacific.
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My buddy's Uncle flew P-38's in the Pacific and shot down a Zero. He hit second Zero also but couldn't confirm whether it went down. He said it was crazy and the Zeros were really tough planes to deal with.
l knew him when I was a kid and he was always really cool. These days, you go into their business and they have a wall with all of his letters to his parents framed on the wall. It's cool to read his thoughts and adventures from that time. The funniest one is when he related this stuff to his dad in a letter and said, "Don't tell mom what happened."
l knew him when I was a kid and he was always really cool. These days, you go into their business and they have a wall with all of his letters to his parents framed on the wall. It's cool to read his thoughts and adventures from that time. The funniest one is when he related this stuff to his dad in a letter and said, "Don't tell mom what happened."
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The P-38 was a man-killer when it first flew. Planes fly by accelerating air over the top of the wing. The P-38 has that cross-wing between the engine nacelles that holds the fuselage and pilot. Well in a dive, that accelerated air gets double-accelerated first over the wing, then over the vertical stabilizer on the tail, and forms a standing shockwave. Basically the air is at the speed of sound..... over the veritcal stabilizer.
Now the plane will not pull up because it has an air 'Sonic Boom' sitting on it. You can pull the stick out of the floor and it will not pull up, and you're in a dive.
The procedure to recover from that condition was to invert, and do an inverted dive, upside-down, with your head pointing at the ground. The shockwave would help you push the vertical stabilizer down. If you didn't do it early enough or your went 'red out' from the blood rushing to your head, you'd smash into the ground upside down, head first.
Then they added air-brakes to them.
The entire Great Planes series is on YT in various pieces, and even the earlier Discovery Channel series that formed most of the Great Planes series which aired in the 1980s.
The Wings series is also on there.
Here's the Great Planes version of the P-38.
And here's the Wings take on the XB-70 Valkyrie, IMO the most remarkable plane ever developed for it's time frame. That plane is a 1958 design.
^^^ 1958 design! Mach 3.2 at 70,000 ft. 6 after-burning turbojets with variable geometry intake ducting.
For reference, the SR-71 Blackbird has a max of Mach 3.32, and it only delivers cameras. The Valkyrie was designed to eventually deliver 50,000 lbs of bombs and carry 300,000 pounds of fuel.
Now the plane will not pull up because it has an air 'Sonic Boom' sitting on it. You can pull the stick out of the floor and it will not pull up, and you're in a dive.
The procedure to recover from that condition was to invert, and do an inverted dive, upside-down, with your head pointing at the ground. The shockwave would help you push the vertical stabilizer down. If you didn't do it early enough or your went 'red out' from the blood rushing to your head, you'd smash into the ground upside down, head first.
Then they added air-brakes to them.
The entire Great Planes series is on YT in various pieces, and even the earlier Discovery Channel series that formed most of the Great Planes series which aired in the 1980s.
The Wings series is also on there.
Here's the Great Planes version of the P-38.
And here's the Wings take on the XB-70 Valkyrie, IMO the most remarkable plane ever developed for it's time frame. That plane is a 1958 design.
^^^ 1958 design! Mach 3.2 at 70,000 ft. 6 after-burning turbojets with variable geometry intake ducting.
For reference, the SR-71 Blackbird has a max of Mach 3.32, and it only delivers cameras. The Valkyrie was designed to eventually deliver 50,000 lbs of bombs and carry 300,000 pounds of fuel.
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Good video, thanks. I have quite a few books on the P38 and the massive V's For Victory, a comprehensive story of the Allison V12. The Lockheed test pilot briefly described the engine detonation issue in the cold air..But there were other problems with turbo over boosting due to frozen pressure regulators , oil congealing in the oil coolers and poor cockpit heating. These issues were overcome but not before the 8th Air Force gave up on the P38 when the P51 became available.a few European units wouldn't give up the 38, but it was no longer the favorite.
I thought the Pacific theater got more P38s because they were a twin engine fighter and flying long distances over water having two engines doubled your odds if you had engine problems.
My son and I are watching it now. It is very interesting.
Oh, so fighter planes do have keys? They have to be more secure than, say, a helicopter?
Their keys are right next to the military HMMWV keys!
NIce thanks, taken a late liking to the P38's.
My Grandfather was in the Army Air corps and was trained to work on P38s. He said he never worked on or with any in theater.
He was in India and China. He liked to talk about his time nd what he saw in India. Didn't talk about China much at all.
Never saw any direct action and was glad for that.
One of my favorite stories of his was were he was issued a Thompson. He swapped the Thompson for a M1 carbine from a navigator who wasn't watching it. He wanted to stay farther away from the enemy than the Tommy gun would let him.
If you have any WWII vets in your life make sure to spend time with them while you still can.
He was in India and China. He liked to talk about his time nd what he saw in India. Didn't talk about China much at all.
Never saw any direct action and was glad for that.
One of my favorite stories of his was were he was issued a Thompson. He swapped the Thompson for a M1 carbine from a navigator who wasn't watching it. He wanted to stay farther away from the enemy than the Tommy gun would let him.
If you have any WWII vets in your life make sure to spend time with them while you still can.