I saw that biography on the P-38 on the History Channel/ Heavy Metal. Was it really as effective in the war against Japan as they said it was?
I've always been in awe of the plane and the men who flew it. But I am far from an expert on aircraft, so I'll let the words of a Japanese pilot who had to face the P-38 suffice. "On my first confrontation with the P-38, I was astonished to find an American aircraft that could outrun, outclimb, and outdive our Zero which we thought was the most superior fighter plane in the world. The Lightning's great speed, its sensational high altitude performance, and especially its ability to dive and climb much faster than the Zero presented insuperable problems for our fliers. The P-38 pilots, flying at great height, chose when and where they wanted to fight with disastrous results for our own men. The P-38 boded ill for the future and destroyed the morale of the Zero fighter Pilot."...Saburo Sakai, Japanese Ace
The P-38 Lightning's toughness, power, and range enabled it to dominate the Pacific campaigns. P-38s were the planes used for the Yamamoto ambush.
I supposed the fact that America's "Ace of Aces" Richard Bong, with 40 victories, flew the P-38 shows something of how effective it could be. All in all the P-38 had it's strengths and weaknesses, like any other aircraft. I'd rate it below the P-51, F6F, P-47, above the P-40 or P-39.
I am a big fan of the P-38 although my favourite allied fighter is the P-47. The P-38 was perfectly suited to the Pacific Theater
The introduction of high performance aircraft such as the P 38 Lightning, the F4U Corsair and the F6F Hellcat gave the US air supremacy in South East Asia and the Pacific but only after the US war machine had been put in top gear. At the start of the Pacific war, the Zero could outclimb and fight at a greater height than anything the US could muster.The Zero had a better combat range than the standard American fighter,the Curtis P 40.Moreover the Zero packed a lethal cannon.This supremacy vanished with the introduction of the new American fighters.The pool of Japanese skilled and experienced pilots were soon adversely effected as the Zeros were shot from the skies.The performance of the P38 with a maximum speed of 414 mph and its excellent long range combat capability of up to 1500 miles made it the most successful fighter in the Pacific War..It was the ideal aircraft for bomber escorts to long range targets.In combat it was a lethal weapon possessing a 20mm cannon and 4 X.5 inch machine guns .Some variants had a 37 mm cannon installed and could perform the role of a fighter bomber. In Europe, the P38 long range capability made it the ideal air reconnaissance aircraft and it was used in this capacitity as well as its fighter role.
The P38 was a great combat aircraft but not an aircraft for the inexperienced or over-confident. It's accident rate, although not awful, was higher than many other US types. It was easy to stall one wing in certain manouevres, and not easy to fly on one engine. Two highly experienced Preservation and Display pilots have been killed in restored P38's in recent years - Jeff Ethell and Hugh Proudfoot. Adrian
I think we should not forget that the majority of aircrew who flew in the Second World War were products of flying schools whose remit was to turn out aircrew as fast as the training schemes would allow and get them quickly into a threatre of war. Consequently there were trainees who fell early before they could gain much experience of flying let alone experience in air warfare.Where the training schemes were affected by the need to pass out pilots quickly as hurried replacements or the training programmes were pruned back for lack of resources such as aviation petrol as befell the Axis Powers, the aircrew carnage was greater. Aircraft such as the P 38 although an advanced fighter did require a degree of airmanship to fly it.If aircrew survived that long, they were then assimulated to the type and provided they followed the rules of flying the aircraft and enjoyed fortune in air combat, the superiority of the aircraft would ensure they survived. Fortunes are reversed when the enemy's technology overcomes yours.One has only to look at the Fairy Battle, a relatively new untried aircraft in air warfare.A complete waste of money and equally important, a source of loss of valuable aircrew. Pushed into the Battle for France, the Battle failed in its role against battlefield targets and cost its country precious airman.Then there was the Junkers 87,Stuka, a formidable aircraft against the poorly equipped Polish Air Force as it was in the autumn of 1939 and as against an enemy in full retreat as the BEF and French forces were in the summer of 1940.It proved to be an inferior aircraft against Fighter Command and was quickly withdrawn from what became the Battle of Britain.
One has only to look at the Fairy Battle, a relatively new untried aircraft in air warfare.A complete waste of money and equally important, a source of loss of valuable aircrew. Pushed into the Battle for France, the Battle failed in its role against battlefield targets and cost its country precious airman.Then there was the Junkers 87,Stuka, a formidable aircraft against the poorly equipped Polish Air Force as it was in the autumn of 1939 and as against an enemy in full retreat as the BEF and French forces were in the summer of 1940.It proved to be an inferior aircraft against Fighter Command and was quickly withdrawn from what became the Battle of Britain. I always use this comparison when the fate of the Fairey Battle is used as a means of criticizing the RAF commanders and the British Government. The Stuka was possibly superior as a bomber in the sense that the dive-bombing could be more accurate than level bombing, but it was just as vulnerable as the Battle in aerial combat - in fact it was slower. Light bombers of all nations had high loss rates when used against targets with heavy AA protection and when their escorting fighters did not have air superiority. The Russian SB2, the French Potez 63, the American A21 and TBD Devastator all suffered in this way. Even the Mosquito would have been vulnerable to the ME262 and HE219 if the war had gone on longer. Adrian
The performance of the P38 with a maximum speed of 414 mph and its excellent long range combat capability of up to 1500 miles made it the most successful fighter in the Pacific War The P-38 was the most successful USAAF fighter in the Pacific war with 1,700 credited kills, but it wasn't the most successful fighter. That honour belongs to the USN Hellcat with 5,163 credited kills, followed by the Corsair with 2,140 kills.
