Hello, P‑38 Fans:

Well, the holidays are upon us once again. 

Whichever one of the holidays you'll be celebrating this month, enjoy yourself and treasure your blessings, especially during these tough times for America.

Blue skies,

Kelly

• Compressibility Problem?

• St-Exupéry Crash Recovery

• Way Back Machine

• New Photos on the Web

• Red Bull Startup Video

• P-38 Skins

• A Look Inside the Red Bull P-38

• Want to Dig Up a P-38?

• Rear-View Mirror

• P-38 Hardstand

• P-38 Association News

• New Members

• Hot Product

• Archives

Compressibility problem?

Daniel Haston was nine when his mother urgently called him into their back yard. It was a sunny day in late July 1944. His mother was hearing an unusual noise coming from the sky. The sound was a P‑38 Lightning airplane undergoing "compressibility."

Find out what happened next.

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WAY BACK MACHINE

If you'd like to see the very first airshow that Glacier Girl was in, check out this video. It was taken at the Columbia, MO, air show on May 23, 2003.  It runs about 7-1/2 minutes and has quite a bit of background noise, but it's fun to watch.

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red bull startup

There's  a video on YouTube that shows the Red Bull P‑38 start-up.  It's about 4 minutes long, and not much happens other than turning the engines over, but you might want to watch it just to see this beautiful P‑38.

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P-38 Skins

For those of you who know what a computer "skin" is, you can find some  P-38 skins here.  If you don't know what they are...never mind.

RED BULL GUTS

If you want to see every detail of the inside and outside of White Lightnin'  during its transformation to the Red Bull P‑38, you've got to see this incredible site.

want to excavate a P-38?

Colorado Aviation Archaeology is looking for volunteers to help them excavate a P-38 (F-4) from a crash site in Colorado.

They say, "While it's been more than 66 years, this is probably the most preeminent crash site in Colorado, thanks to private ownership of the land upon which it has rested since 1942.  Whereas little remains to be salvaged at this site, it does offer an incredible learning experience for those interested in the scientific discipline of aviation archaeology."

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St-EXPURY REPORT

"On May 23rd, 2000 Luc Vanrell, in the course of a sea dive southwest of the Corsica, identified scattered and heavily damaged debris, for what appeared to be a twin-boom aircraft."

Thus begins the report on the discovery and recovery of the P-38 flown and crashed by the noted author (The Little Prince) and P‑38 pilot, Cmdr. Antoine de St-Exupéry. He disappeared under mysterious circumstances off the coast of France on July 31, 1944, and the remains of his aircraft were discoverd 56 years later.  Read all about it, and see photos of the remains.

P-38 Photos on the Web

Here are a few nice shots of "23 Skidoo" sent in by Kevin Baquet, who was recently at the Planes of Fame with his Mini Maniacs car club.

These Time Magazine P‑38 photos have never been published before. Most are far away but there a few good ones, including a shot of four 38s over the Aleutians, a couple of GIs using a P‑38 tail as a backrest, and a P‑38 pilot arriving at his plane in a captured German "off road" vehicle -- all available for purchase through Time.

Here are a few shots of the Red Bull P‑38 (in the hangar) sent in to us by Dr. C. Geeslin.

Check out this, um, interesting P-38 rendering.

Good picture of the P-38 at the National Air & Space Museum, taken by Maj. Mark Gardner.

Here's a nice photo of some of the mechanics inside Glacier Girl, taken at the Lakeland Air Show.

Nice to know the younger generation is helping to keep alive the memory of our favorite plane.

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Before you volunteer for the P-38 excavation in Colorado, have a look at the crash-site photo sent in to us by newsletter subscriber, Einar Ketilsson. Looks pretty desolate out there!

rear-view mirror

Check out the archives if you've missed past topics. Reprinted as originally written:

"We've logged a lot of hours on this ship and, basically, all use the same flight technique; but since we differ sometimes on the fine points, a good strong argument will bring those differences out in the open-so that we can settle on the ONE most effective procedure. For instance, on a certain fogged-in A.M. we were discussing the 38's rate of climb:

"I can get upstairs in a hell of a hurry at 140 indicated," said one pilot.

"I won't have as sharp an angle," said another, "but at 180 I will beat you up there."

So, out came the spec and we settled the question for all time.  We found that at 140 to 180 there is little or no difference in the rate of climb. If you want the most effective climb it's 160, but it's reassuring to know that in combat you can increase the angle, slow down to as low as 140 indicated, and still hold your rate of climb.

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P-38 TACTICS ETO

The P-38 was a proven fighter in the late summer of 1943 when it was deployed to the heavy bomber campaign in northern Europe. However, there were several factors in the theater that proved a disadvantage to the Lockheed, and required some major adjustments in the way the P‑38 was used.

Perhaps the most severe obstacle to face the P‑38 was the harsh conditions it faced at high altitude. Cold, humid and thin air restricted performance, and more than a few times the Luftwaffe was able to attack P‑38 formations and dive away, or simply ignore Lightning formations to attack less protected portions of the bomber stream. The P‑38 suffered an unfavorable weight to power ratio at heights over 24,000 feet, making it a decided maximum speed and maneuverability underdog at heights over 30,000 feet. Some performance deficits were overcome with the P‑38J‑25 equipped with power ailerons, dive brakes and occasionally installed war emergency water injection, making the fighter a solid contender to heights around 30,000 feet.

Unfortunately, the P‑38J‑25 was not apparently supplied to the strategic Eighth Fighter Command, thus pilots using mainly P‑38J‑15s and 20s had to develop tactics that used favorable characteristics of their mounts. One of the tactics used by 8th P‑38 escort pilots was to endure the numbing cold of higher altitudes and then to draw attacking Bf 109 and Fw 190 pilots into a tail chase down to 24,000 feet where, “things were just fine,” according to one 55th Fighter Group pilot with experience on both P‑38 and P‑51 escort missions. It must have taken a certain degree of confidence in their mount for pilots to descend five or six thousand feet with enemy fighters on their tails, and then turn around to do battle.

One 364th pilot suggested that it was a standard procedure for a P‑38 element to split up in opposite directions in a climbing turn, trapping any hapless Luftwaffe pilot in a difficult trap if he were foolish enough to continue pursuit of either P‑38 before the other came around to complete the circle onto the tail of the enemy fighter. In general, the pilots of single‑engine Luftwaffe fighter avoided contact with the easily identified P‑38 to give the American fighter an impressively low bomber loss rate, but a disappointingly low claim rate over enemy interceptors at the same time.

The unique performance features of the torqueless Lightning allowed it some effective techniques to lose pursuing fighters. One of the most effective allowed the P‑38 to escape when enemy fighters managed to close in close behind. The beset P‑38 pilot would shove full power to one engine, and apply full opposite rudder while he pulled the control yoke hard back into his lap. The effect would throw the P‑38 into a hard climbing turn that usually threw off any pursuing fighter into a shuddering stall. It was a desperate last chance maneuver, but used the positive features of the P‑38 to make pursuing German pilots shake their heads in appreciation of an American fighter that created great respect with its performance in the hands of savvy, experienced pilots.

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P‑38 National Association News

HOLIDAY PARTY

Ron Smith (President of the P-38 National Association) and his wife Marilyn are hosting our annual holiday party at their home this year.  If you are a member of the Association and live in the Southern California area, be sure to email Ron and let him know you'll be attending.  The holiday open house will be held on Saturday, December 13, from noon until 4PM, and each guest should plan to bring a favorite dish plus one unwrapped gift -- which Association Member Don Pechous will be delivering to the Marine Corps for their annual Toys for Tots drive.

OUR P-38 CALENDAR

These calendars have turned out to be the most popular product we've had in quite some time.  If you haven't ordered your yet, you can do so here.  All proceeds go to the P-38 National Association.

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MORE DONATIONS

A quick thank you to new member, Fred Miller, for his kind donation to the P-38 Association.  We also received donations this month from Marjorie Philippe and Todd Waller.  Thank you all. As we continue with our efforts to "spread the word" the Archie Jackson display that we have planned will begin construction in Decmeber at the Planes of Fame Valle, AZ, location.  The exhibit is shaping up to be a beauty, so don't forget to stop by the Museum the next time you're heading to the Grand Canyon.  It's right on the way!

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ADVISORY COUNCIL update

We've been receiving applications to the Advisory Council from both online and via USPS.  The Board of Directors met on November 18, and we've decided on a preliminary roster for the Advisory Council.  President Ron Smith will be sending email notices shortly to let you know if we've added you to the Council, so keep an eye peeled for that email.

If you haven't yet submitted your application, and have an interest in being more involved with the development of the P-38 Association, you can read about the Council and submit your application to join at these links:

Guidelines

Application

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