It was considered a radically different design—even funny looking, some said. It wasn’t to me. There was a reason for everything that went into it, a logical evolution. The shape took care of itself. In design, you are forced to develop unusual solutions to unusual problems.
For the new fighter, we were required to use the liquid-cooled Allison engine. This meant that we had to have a Prestone radiator. We had a long engine so we had to use a General Electric turbo supercharger. And we had a landing gear that had to retract into the nacelle. By the time we had strung all of that together we were almost back to where the tail should be. So, we faired it back another five feet and added the tail. It was a twin-engine airplane, and that produced the characteristic twin-tailed airplane that would go through 18 versions in all theaters of action in World War II, set some records, and make some design contributions.
The use of counter-rotating propellers on the P-38 was a new and important feature for fighters. It eliminated the torque effect, or pulling to one side.
With the first plane faster than 400 miles an hour, I knew we would be entering an unknown region of flight and possible trouble. It was the phenomenon of compressibility—the buildup of air ahead of the airplane at high speed. In 1937, in connection with our proposal, I had warned the Air Corps, “… as airplane speeds and altitudes (thinner air) increase, consideration must be given to the effect of compressibility.”
-- Kelly Johnson, More Than my Share of it All
Controls
- Custom camera 1: gun camera view.
- Throttle, Pitch, Roll, Yaw, LandingGear: work as expected.
- FireWeapons: fire cannons.
Landing
- Set throttle to 12%, once around 100 mph, enable AG2.
- Keep pitch at between 5 and 10 degrees.
Specifications
General Characteristics
- Created On Windows
- Wingspan 50.2ft (15.3m)
- Length 41.0ft (12.5m)
- Height 14.5ft (4.4m)
- Empty Weight 6,898lbs (3,128kg)
- Loaded Weight 9,709lbs (4,404kg)
Performance
- Horse Power/Weight Ratio 3.295
- Wing Loading 10.0lbs/ft2 (49.0kg/m2)
- Wing Area 966.6ft2 (89.8m2)
- Drag Points 7480
Parts
- Number of Parts 731
- Control Surfaces 7
- Performance Cost 2,009
@anonymoususer976 The book is full of interesting details like that.
Love the quote in the desc.
@99807 For good reason...
@Hedero To each his own, I guess.
Actually yes BogdanX did advise that. I am building a racing p-38 for his "F.U.N." challenge, so he said that because of all the p-38s that have been uploaded, I should upload my racing p-38 first and wait a good few days to upload my original one. So I guess we'll see how that plays out.@SledDriver
@SledDriver True. The part count is pretty high
@99807 It's not an exact replica. I left out quite a few things to keep the part count below 800.
@Hedero That seems counterproductive, then. Surely it's better to wait a while so your P-38 will be fresh?
Where are the turbochargers on the top?
I have slightly the same mentality as BogdanX as far as uploading goes. If I upload an aircraft that two other people have already uploaded, it sort of brings down the "specialty"of my creation. Because everyone has already seen a P-38. So mine won't stand out as strong. That's why I need to get mine out first. I agree with your statement for certain circumstances though. @SledDriver
@Hedero What I said still applies. Just because a few other people uploaded P-38s, regardless of who started first, why should that affect when you choose to upload yours?
Actually I was meaning a different message. I was working on my p-38 before any of the new p-38s were uploaded on the site. What I meant was that I should get mine up before letting someone else upload another p-38.@SledDriver
Thanks, @Treadmill103. I've wanted to add this Kelly Johnson design to the stable for a while.
@Hedero Generally, I don't recommend letting other people's actions drive yours. Just because a few (or a lot of) people are doing something doesn't mean you should follow suit....
Dangit that's two p-38s that have been uploaded so far. I better get mine up pronto!@SledDriver
@BuiltBionixInd10 Yeah, can't go wrong with black.
Nice black colour scheme
@DarDragon Smooth curves require a lot of parts. I suggest you use the X-ray feature to reveal the structure of the build.
Just a friendly question, why does it have so many parts?
@SupremeDorian Since when is expressing a personal preference interpreted as a rule?
Also, I have no desire to have any interaction with you whatsoever, so unless I do something that requires mod intervention, I'd appreciate it if you could leave me alone.
@SledDriver Since when do you need to upvote something to comment on it?
Glad you like it, @Belloaka
This lands absolutely amazingly! I pulled off 80 mph landing and that's pretty hard to do, but this plane makes it easy.
@EternalDarkness If you don't want to upvote it, I'd rather you not comment either. And I'd appreciate it if you'd refer to me as SledDriver.
I must be seeing things, propellers and landing gear on a Sleddy build...
It looks nice, I just don't upvote builds with covered control surfaces as a principle.