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The P‑38 had several variations which made it all the more versatile for use in combat. In addition to being able to switch out the tanks on the bottom (large fuel tanks for long-range missions OR 500-lb bombs over shorter distances), special P‑38s were built:
"Photo Joes" were gigantic flying cameras, used to take pre-mission target and surveillance photos.
"Night Fighters" (AKA "Night Lightning") guns had special blast shields on the muzzles to prevent blinding the pilots when they were fired.
"Droopsnoots" were converted P‑38Js with a complete bombardier's station located in the nose
"Pathfinders" had special ground-mapping radar.
The P‑38J (so-called "Droop Snoot"), was typically the lead plane on level bombing missions. The concept of converting a P‑38 into a "leader" bomber was from General Don Ostrander and Col. Cass S. Hough.
They wanted to modify the P‑38 to accommodate a bombardier by changing out the powerful firepower of the plane and installing a plexiglas nosecone, a top-secret Norden bombsite and extra body armor. Ostrander served as bombardier on the initial test missions of the Droopsnoot over Europe.
As the bombardier was tucked into the nose, not sure how he would bail out from that postition.
The original color scheme was olive-drab-over-gray camouflage, and was most often associated with the 8th AF in Europe, although they were also flown in the CBI theater.
"American Eagles" covers many of the P‑38 variances, including the Droop Snoot. The Droop Snoot P‑38 model is not all that easy to locate, but we found one. Here are the details. |
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