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Location: West Los Angeles and Rancho Palos Verdes
13,580 posts, read 15,585,521 times
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Furthermore, it was faster than and could out-dive most *** fighters. In fact, the P-38 employed dive brakes to help dissipate the plane's remarkable dive speed, regardless of the planes role as a dive bomber, and the problem of control response loss due to high speed dives was constantly an issue for engineers.
The Lightning was a fine plane, but I think you may be overstating the case.
The Lightning was the only fighter that had the range to escort heavy bombers deep into the continent during the early phases of the 8th AF's campaign. During this time the P38 offered the only resistance the Luftwaffe fighters ecountered as they feasted on the bomber formations, hence the germans disdain for the aircraft.
Later it was superceeded in this role the P51 and, to a lesser extent the P47.
IMHO the P38 was bested by several US aircraft during the war, including the P51, P47 in the USAAF and the F4U and F6F in the USN. The P38 was a prewar design that held up well and had several advantages due to its twin engine design (range, payload, speed), but by 1945 it was a second teir fighter.
Thanks for the history
But still think lightning would out fight one on one anything of her time.
Her speed and Guns alone would tell the tail [pun]