WW2 Flight Sim: P38 Lighting, Training Film and Pilot Interview

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A couple of interesting historical tidbits on the P38. Like the Bf110, it too entered service at the beginning of the war (at first as a photo recon platform) and stayed on through the very end. Upgrades to intercoolers, super chargers and a set of dive breaks resulted in the "J" model, viewed by most as the pinnacle of this airframes fighting capabilities. Famed aviator Charles Lindberg was tasked by the USAAF to travel to the Pacific and demonstrate to pilots how leaning out the planes fuel system could result in unprecedented effective ranges, which was critical to aerial combat over the vast spaces of the Pacific, and a key operational aspect of the famous Yamamoto raid (Operation Vengeance). And this is where the tin foil comes in - even in WW2: European Bomber Command (the "Bomber Mafia") insisted that during the 1942-43 years that no Allied fighter was capable of, or available to, provide bomber escorts deeper and deeper into Germany from English Airfields. From 1941 on however, the P38 was easily covering these distances in the Pacific, and shortly thereafter Africa and Italy. Many US Bomber crews in Europe died needlessly because of the Bomber Mafias refusal to adopt the P38 in any early fighter escort duties. They even went as far as to "slow roll" the adaptation of drop tanks for P38's, P47's and P51's - but that's another story. How might the P38 have changed the impact of the European daylight bombing campaign if it's demonstrated range in the Pacific had been acknowledged? The possibilities are many.
You can fly the P38-J yourself on IL-2 Great Battles. Join the fun!!

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