I added more tidbits to my old P-38.
Upgrades are as follows:
-Replaced modded missiles with actual unguided rockets.
-Added landing gear doors.
-Made landing gear struts fully articulated.
-Removed extra fuel tank blocks, and used XML fuel scale instead.
-Set dive flaps to pitch+AG3.
-Added throttle response to radiator flaps.
Controls are all the same, but the Action Groups have been changed.
This is IMPORTANT.
-AG1 is lights
-AG2 is the landing lamp
-AG3 is for the dive flaps
-AG4 retracts and opens the landing gear doors
-AG6 is what all the floppy hinges in the gear are set to so they don't make noise
-AG7 releases the drop tanks.
-AG8 is the ignition for Engine 2. Turn it off to practice flying with one engine out.
Rockets can now be fired one at a time.
TO USE THE LANDING GEAR PROPERLY: Retract gear with the landing gear button, then activate AG4 to automatically retract the doors. Reverse this order to extend the landing gear.
Performance:
The plane is slightly asymmetrical. Because of this, there is an asymmetrical drag, and imperfect lift force. This results in a drift on the ground at takeoff, and a tendency to roll in flight. These can be worked around easily. To take off, throttle to maximum. Lightly tap your yaw controls to keep you straight. You can rotate very soon (100 mph or so), and even sooner with flaps. Retract landing gear once airborne. In flight, the plane behaves a lot like the real thing, reaching a little over 400 mph in level flight, having decent roll, and great pitch. The pitch is actually just a little bit better than it was in real life. The engines are modded to help achieve its top speed, so DO NOT touch them in the editor, or the horsepower will reset.
Landing is just a little bit tricky, but thanks to the flaps, your stall speed is super-low, so you probably won't have problems. Approach throttle with full flaps is 10%. Touch down level and straight around 100 mph, then cut power. Hold back on the pitch to keep the nosewheel lifted to give you more precise rudder control to keep straight while rolling. Don't brake until the plane is going straight, all three wheel are on the ground, and the plane is not wobbling.
LEGACY DESCRIPTION From Version 1.0:
Here's what I've been pouring my blood, sweat, and tears into the last 2 weeks. It's the updated P-38L replica! This time, I measured it again and again against every technical drawing, blueprint, and photograph I could find. When it comes to size and shape, I know for a fact there is no better Lightning out there. Everything is where it should be. Carefully, painstakingly nudged into place. I tossed away the normal landing gear, and built my own accurate set of Lightning gear, complete with realistic actuating speed and accurate 9 degree forward fully-extended angle. The guns are now accurately staggered like they are in real life, to prevent jamming. I reshaped the fuel tanks to match their real-life size. I redid the coolant radiators to make them look more realistic. I completely redid the front of the booms, giving them accurate propeller cones, and newer, more aesthetic intercooler intakes. I even went so far as to place the lights in their correct places on the wingtips and tails. I also placed the landing light in the correct place, and added little details like the pitot and the chin-mounted radio antenna. Lastly, I made the made the rocket rack look and function more realistically.
Specifications
Spotlights
- RailfanEthan 6.6 years ago
General Characteristics
- Predecessor Sky Lightning Detail Update
- Created On Windows
- Wingspan 52.0ft (15.9m)
- Length 37.5ft (11.4m)
- Height 12.7ft (3.9m)
- Empty Weight 10,690lbs (4,849kg)
- Loaded Weight 15,909lbs (7,216kg)
Performance
- Horse Power/Weight Ratio 0.377
- Wing Loading 20.4lbs/ft2 (99.6kg/m2)
- Wing Area 779.6ft2 (72.4m2)
- Drag Points 8780
Parts
- Number of Parts 308
- Control Surfaces 17
- Performance Cost 1,378
Ah. I thought that they were a bit big for rivets.
@Sunnyskies
@NicePlanes By the way, the 6 circles are the filler caps for the wing tanks, not rivets.
@NicePlanes Interesting. I balanced the fuel based on the location and capacity of the actual fuel tanks, but I will definitely try that out. Thanks.
by the way, I just put 100% fuel in the rivet on the left wingtip, and it reduced the roll some. @Sunnyskies
You're welcome. I will tell you if I find any. @Sunnyskies
@NicePlanes Thanks! If you find any small fixes that improve handling further, please feel free to let me know.
I did all of the testing a while ago, so the flight model might have been wonky. I also did it on mobile. thanks for telling me, as it had been confusing me for ages. it is a very good build.@Sunnyskies
@NicePlanes Ah yes. The wings were never mirrored. I placed all the parts on those by hand, using nothing more than the nudge keys for fine translation. It's understandable there is a slight variation. That few millimeters is actually pretty close to a realistic tolerance. I mostly eyeballed this build, believe it or not. I don't care much for mathematical perfection. It's more-or-less a waste of time and energy. If it flies good, and looks good, it's good. Additionally, weight and drag are distributed unevenly due to a number of smaller details, so perfectly balancing everything is next to impossible anyway. I trimmed out most of the wing heaviness by unbalancing the total lift generated by each wing, similarly to how such things are fixed in real life. I flight-tested it extensively. It flies very well on my PC. It doesn't need to be symmetrical at all.
(Disclaimer long, detailed message ahead.)
When the location editing function came out for mobile, I checked every part that I could find and the wings were about 0.01 to 0.001 units (meters?) different from each other. I fixed that, and it started flying better. However some of the other parts were also off center. When I discovered this, I took all unnecessary parts off (ex. weapons, oil coolers, radio wire, rivets, lights, landing gear, extra fuel tanks...) This did not fix the problem. Adding fuel to the wings on the side that I thought might be causing trouble made it worse. @Sunnyskies
@NicePlanes Most planes have an inherent asymmetry. Anyway, which part is the one that bugs you?
@Sunnyskies noooooo! I got the original version of this on mobile and it was slightly asymmetrical - I was hoping that you would fix this for new versions
@BogdanX Thanks. I tried to keep the handling similar to the other versions. Had to shift some ballast after installing the gear doors and radiator flap actuators.
@Salamandastron You'll get there with enough practice.
You should of seen my VERY first attempt at a P-38! It was pretty bad.
makes my Baby Lightning look like a wooden toy :(
@CeeToTheZee Thanks!
@getorge And thank YOU!
congratulations on platinum!!!
@Sunnyskies ah ok. Again, really nice creation
@CeeToTheZee Here is the best image I could find.
LINK
@CeeToTheZee That's one configuration, yes. But, I chose the "Christmas-tree" style mounted on the outboard wing.
You can see it in this image
That's a P-38M, but they were mounted on the L pretty frequently.
In fact, there was a good half-dozen different ways to mount the rockets. The tubes being just one of many. It's hard to find historical photographs for the type I chose. I'll do some more digging.
Really nice! But P38s usually have rockets mounted in tubes under the two sides close to the cabin.
@Freerider2142 Thanks!
damn fine plane ;)
Sh*t. Typed in another zero by accident XD
@AWESOMENESS360 Actually, it's only 900. I have 24,100 points.
Actually, now that I say that, 9000pts. is kind of a lot...