Lockheed P-38 Lightning

102 Pages·1996·29.841 MB·English

by  Frederick A Johnsen

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LOCKHEED I
VOLUME 2
I
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• Early British Version ·"Night Lightning"Fighters
• Ground-Breaking Designs • Droopsnoot Ver~;ions
• Gun and Cannon Configurations • Photo Reeon Models
5 E R I E 5
VOLUME 2
LOCKHEED
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By A.
FREDERICK JOHNSEN
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Copyright© 1996FrederickA.Johnsen
Publishedby
SpecialtyPress PublishersandWholesalers
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UnitedStates ofAmerica
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Distributedin the UKandEuropeby
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England
ISBN0-933424-65-5 •
Allrights reserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereproduced
ortransmittedinanyform orbyanymeans,electronicor
mechanicalincludingphotocopying,recording orbyany
information storageandretrievalsystem,
withoutpermission from thePublisherin writing.
Materialcontainedin this bookis intendedforhistoricaland
entertainmentvalueonly,andisnotto beconstruedasusable
foraircraftorcomponentrestoration,maintenanceoruse.
DesignedbyGregCompton
•
Printedin the UnitedStatesofAmerica
TABLE OF CONTENTS
THE LOCKHEED P-38 LIGHTNING
FOREWORD •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 4
By ANTHONYW."TONY"LEVIER
5
PREFACE ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
ACKNOWLEDGINGTHOSEWHO MADE ITALL POSSIBLE
CHAPTER 1: FIGHT FORTHE AIR•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 6
P-38 PROPELLED AIR CORPS INTO MODERN FIGHTERS
2: 20
CHAPTER LIGHTNING LINEAGE ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
MADE INTHE USA
3: 46
CHAPTER LIGHTNING STRIKES ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
DOUBLETROUBLE FORTHE AXIS
SPECIAL FULL COLOR SECTION: KODACHROME COLLECTION ••••••••••••••••• 65
THE LIGHTNING IN LIVING COLOR
CHAPTER 4:THE COLOR OF LIGHTNING ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 76
To SEEOR NOTTO SEE
5: 86
CHAPTER DROOPSNOOT•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
NICKNAME FOR A KNOCKOUT-DROPPER
ApPENDIX A: SERIAL CONVERSION LIST••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 98
ARMY AIR FORCETO LOCKHEED SERIAL NUMBERS
ApPENDIX B: EIGHT MAJOR SECTIONS•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 99
PRIMARY ASSEMBLIES FORTHE LIGHTNING
SIGNIFICANT DATES ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 100
KEY DATES INTHE HISTORY OFTHE P-38 LIGHTNING
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FOREWORD
I was one of four pilots to be Iam proud to say Icontributed to skin"ofthe P-38 by using technical
taken into Kelly Johnson's the P-38 program, both at home art from the manuals to illustrate
Experimental Flight Test and overseas.This was a sophisti details of the Lightning.The text
Division in mid-1942. Shortly cated airplane that pioneered con relies heavily on official Air Force
after, I was invited to participate in cepts and solutions to problems of and Lockheed documents to tell
the P-38 compressibility dive pro high-speedflight,aswell as combat the P-38's story, along with some
gram using a new device called a suitability. The P-38 did much to stories from guys like me who are
"compressibility dive flap." Milo establish the reputation of the loyal to the Lightning to this day.In
Burcham (my boss) and I con Lockheed company, and designer these ways, the reader can under
ducted those tests with great suc KellyJohnson. stand what we went through in
cess and the rest is history. wartime to perfect the P-38 and
As complex and lengthy as the keep it in fighting trim right to the
We at Lockheed knocked our Lightning's development and end ofthewar.
selves out trying to solve all the deployment was, its history has
crazy things that happened to our been approached from many ANTHONYW."TONY"LEVIER
verygreatP-38. angles.This book"gets under the 1996
u.K.
LeVierin thecockpitofaP-38somewherein England.Hewastheonlyflying tech.rep.in the atthetime,and
wassomesortofodditybecauseheworeanAirCorpsofficeruniformbutnoinsigniaofrank.Forevertrying to
explainhisposition,hebecameanexpertat"salutingeveryone."(TonyLeVier)
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PREFACE
ACKNOWLEDGING THOSE WHO MADE IT ALL POSSIBLE
T
he Lockheed P-38 phenomena.) This P-38 story and his insights are greatly appre
Lightning helped solidify strives to be more than a paean to ciated.
designer Kelly Johnson's this airplane, although the sculpt
reputation as an innovator. ed shape of the Lightning is wor Many people lent pictures, infor
The P-38 proved to be an econom thy ofappreciation on the basis of mation,and time to this book pro
ic boon to the Lockheed company, aesthetics as well as performance. ject.They include: Jeff Ethell,Tom
as well as an engineering milepost More than a half-century after P Foote, Don Heyn, Ben Howser,
that explored problems of com 38s issued twin contrails high over Kenneth G.Johnsen,Don Keller (Air
pressibilityat high speeds,and sta Europe and the Pacific,the point is Depot),Mrs.Stephen McElroy,Dave
bility and control with two neitherto lionize nor minimize this Menard, Jim Morrow, the always
engines. Perhaps serendipitously, piece of hardware.The P-38 stands supportive Leo M. Myers, San
the original design was spacious as an icon of World War Two; the Diego Aerospace Museum (Ray
enough to allow for many addi story of its development embraces Wagner), Dave and Jeff Sturges
tions and mission adaptations issues of strategy, tactics, world (Columbia Airmotive), and Fred C.
throughout World War Two. This politics,and necessity. Wise. As photos get swapped and
built-in accommodation for design passed around, origination may
growth is a valued and deliberate Most importantly, the people get obscured.We all owe a lot to a
part ofaircraft design in the 1990s; who designed, built, flew, and generation of aviation historians
in the 1930s, the lack of growth maintained P-38s were our par and photographers including
potential stunted some other ents, our neighbors, our friends; a Warren Bodie, Peter M. Bowers,
designs and limited their overall cross-section of America.This vol William T. Larkins, Boardman C.
utility. ume is a tribute to their collective Reed, and others who tirelessly
Yankee ingenuity,an American trait photographed the aircraft ofWorld
But the P-38 Lightning is not that binds usall together in time of War Two, and have shared their
without faults. Air battles involving trial. photos with many individuals and
P-38s proved the Lightning could museums ever since. Thanks, to
give a good account for itself, and The footnotes can be used as a these people and all who contri
yet many P-38s were downed by bibliographic list of some excellent buted.
Axisfighters.ThetoptwoAmerican sources on the P-38. Paint and
aces of World WarTwo (and of all markings enthusiasts will parti And to mywife,Sharon Lea John
wars to date), Richard Bong and cularly appreciate Dana Bell's sen,goes my heartfelt love and ap
Thomas McGuire,scored 40 and 38 groundbreaking workinthatarea. preciation for your fresh approach
victories, respectively, in P-38s in tothis project.
the Pacific.Yet the top scoring ace The P-38 Lightning could have
over Europe was Francis Gabreski, no finer advocate than AnthonyW. Abbreviations used in some ofthe
wielding a P-47 Thunderbolt. And "Tony" LeVier. As a Lockheed test caption creditsincludeSDAMforSan
the Eighth Air Force in England pilot, Tony LeVier embraced the DiegoAerospaceMuseum andUSAF
made a conscious decision to Lightning and applied his finesse forUnitedStatesAirForce.
replace its P-38s with P-51s. Diving as a flier, along with analytical
speed limits were placed on early curiosity and an uplifting enthusi FREDERICKA.JOHNSEN
Lightnings until a change in the asm, to nurture the development 1996 '
horizontal tail improved flight and deploymentofthe P-38during
characteristics. (Later, dive flaps World War Two. Tony LeVier gra
altered the aerodynamics ofpoten ciously made observations after
tially treacherous compressibility reading a draft of this manuscript,
LOCKHEED
P-38 LIGHTNING
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FIGHT F THE AIR
P-38 PROPELLED AIR CORPS INTO MODERN FIGHTERS
F
ew warplanes ofthe Second ceptor in 1937, prevailing thinking Contemporary with Bell's diminu
World War had such a dis said contemporary bombers would tive XP-39 Airacobra single-engine
tinctive planform as the P defend themselves in formations; pursuit,the XP-38 used two Allison
38 Lightning, and few fight escort duty was not a primary rea V-1710 engines in narrowboomsto
erscaught publicfancythe waythe son for the Lightning's inception. address an Air Corps-specified
Lightning did. As the Army Air Ultimately, the need for American speed of 360 miles an hour at
Forces'only twin-engine day fight interceptors was overshadowed by 20,000 feet. Both the P-38 and P-39
er, the sleek Lockheed Lightning the need for escort fighters, air were designed as pursuits to meet
largely lived up to the promises its superiority fighters, and ground Air Corps specifications.The Lock
aesthetic shape and evocative attack aircraft, and the P-38 was heed design addressed Air Corps
name implied.When the Air Corps evolved to meetthe need. Type Specification X-608, dated
established the need for an inter- February 19, 1937; the P-39 res-
Photos ofthe XP-38 (37-457) are limited by the early demise ofthe prototype Lightning at the end ofa
transcontinental record flight only two weeks afterit first flew. Evident is counter rotation ofpropellers, turning
inwardattop halfofarcs, unlikeoutward-turning laterLightnings.Nacelles ofXP-38 accommodatedearlyAllison
enginesandhaddifferentcontourfromproductionvariants.(Stephen D.McElroycollection)
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Basicform oftheP-3BwasputonpaperbyLockheedin 7939.
LOCKHEED
P-38 LIGHTNING
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early performance that its untimely
demise in acrash at Mitchel Field,
NewYork,on 11 February 1939,two
weeks after its first flight, did not
bring an abrupt end to the twin
engine Lockheed design.Follow-on
production of 13 YP-38s used V
1710-27/29engineswith about200
more horsepower apiece than the
engines of the XP-38.These intro
duced a new reduction gearbox
that altered the thrust line, and
cowl elevation, of the YP-38s, a
change thatwould again metamor
phose with the introduction of a
deeper chin on the P-38J's engine
nacelles to accommodate inlets for
intercoolersand oil coolers.
EarlyCalTech windtunneltestsweremonitoredbyKellyJohnson,nurturing
the Lightning design.Extremelyclean lines ofwindtunnelmodelwerebro
As the twin-boom Lightning con
ken in reality by vents andprotuberances, but the P-38 remained an aes
figuration matured and evolved,by
theticdesign byanystandard.(CalTech GALCITwind tunnel collection)
July 1944 Lockheed produced a
ponded toAirCorpsType Specifica Where the P-39 and P-S1 used design analysis that ultimately was
tion X-609, dated March 19 of that mechanical superchargers to abet given to wartime readers of
year.' As first shown to the Air altitude performance, the P-38 and Aviation magazine.Written by Will
Corps in 1939, both the XP-38 and the radial-engine P-47 relied on Nelson and Hall Hibbard for the
the XP-39 used turbo turbosuperchargers mounted aft of byline of Hibbard, then vice-presi
supercharging to boostengine per the engines to deliver air ofproper dent and chief engineer at
formance at altitude. combustion quality.In the P-38,the Lockheed, a draft of the design
Turbosuperchargers effectively turbosuperchargers were accom analysis touted the Lightning as a
compressed air.fed to the Allison modated in both booms, culmi pioneer, unorthodox design to
engines, forcing a higher oxygen nating in exhaust spilling out ofthe meet demanding specifications
content for better combustion at turbo from the top of each boom. levied by the Air Corps in the late
altitudes whereoxygen is rarefied. The retention of turbosuper 1930s. Originally intended as an
charging in the P-38 rendered ser interceptor, the P-38 metamor
The subsequenthistoriesofP-38s vice ceilings of39,000 feet for early phosed into a long-range escort
and P-39s diverged rapidly from models including the P-38E and F, fighter, a fighter-bomber, a photo
this point, as turbosupercharging and 44,000 feet for the J- and L reconnaissance platform, and a
was deletedfrom production P-39s, models. variety of roles that capitalized on
but retained on P-38s. (The deci the Lightning's inherent range, alti
sion to remove turbosupercharging The heat generated bythe turbo tude, and speed combination.The
from the P-39, following NACA superchargers' exhaust necessitat design analysis said the P-38 was
wind tunnel tests, may have been ed the incorporation of stainless the first American airplane to use
fostered or at least approved by steel in portions of the booms. A flush skin panel joints; the first in
Lawrence Bell, who possibly Lockheed report said company the over-400 MPH category, and the
grasped quickly the fact that his engineers"were forced to do consi first successful twin-boom design.
small P-39 had more promise as a derable research and other pio The draft design analysis noted:
ground-attack weapon than ahigh- neering" with the stainless steel "Everydesignfeature ofthe P-38,as
fabrication.' in most successful airplanes, was
altitudefighter.)'
originated by necessity.The distin
So promising was the XP-38's guishing twin booms, for example,
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were not selected because they well for the Lightning's steadiness with an offset, torque-compensat
would be different.... In the Light as agun platform.The great length ing rudder arrangement.This can
ning, they evolved as a logical backto the tail surfaces allowed for celed torque condition also meant
development of engine nacelles smaller tail surfaces than would be the P-38 did not require changes in
made long (to house the turbo required of a short-coupled air rudder trim for changes in speed,
superchargers and allied equip plane,becausethe long-boomed P unlike mostairplanes where power
ment)."4 38 could achieve movement with or speed changes altered the
smaller rudders because ofafavor amount of torque, and therefore
Air Force fighter project officer able momentarm situation.Smaller the amount of rudder offset
and XP-38 first-flight pilot tails gave another bonus by pro required.This constant-state trim
Benjamin Kelsey described features ducing less drag and requiring less for the P-38 added to the aircraft's
of the P-38's twin booms and twin weight. Since the P-38 used value as a stable gun platform in a
tails, including the exceptionally engines with opposite directions of dynamicdogfightsituation.'
long distance back to the tail sur rotation, the forces of torque were
faces. One result ofa long tail con canceled.This had the advantage The twin-engine design ofthe P
figuration was increased damping, forthe P-38 ofnot requiring rudder 38 enabled Lockheed engineers to
meaning the P-38 was less likelyto or vertical fin offset, which in turn use space in the nose of the air
leave trimmed flight; this augured produced less drag than an aircraft plane for then-radical nosegear
In aneraofmarkingssimplicity,aYP-38wasphotographedwithred-white-and-bluerudders.andnationalinsignia
on the wings, butnoton the booms. Exhausthas smudgedthe uppersurfaceofthe boom and the engine coolant
radiatorhousingon thesideoftheboom.(USAF)
LOCKHEED
P-38 LIGHTNING
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