The Bizarre American Aircraft that Terrified the Luftwaffe

like a true force of nature a new american fighter peeled down from the icelandic skies on august 14th 1942 the aircraft was chasing a fockervolt fw 200 condor and the german crew watched in disbelief as they had never come across such an impressive machine its airframe was sleek but its twin tails gave the warbird a radical appeal before the germans could react second lieutenant elsa shahan fired at a rate of 409 rounds a minute from the aircraft's innovative nose-mounted machine guns and the condor was dispatched in seconds it was the first successful american engagement with the left during world war ii less than six months later the fighter was taking advantage of its versatility in north africa when a lone german pilot surrendered to allied soldiers at a camp near tunisia agitated he pointed to the sky and grumbled over and over quote the goverswan's toefl he was referring to the lockheed p-38 lightning and was calling it the fork-tailed devil a different concept [Music] in early 1937 the united states army corps issued the circular proposal x-608 authored by first lieutenants benjamin s kelsey and gordon p savile the requirements called for a heavily armed interceptor capable of high altitudes and a high rate of climb at a minimum it needed to carry a thousand pounds of armament and if it was to excel at dog fighting its speed could not be less than 360 miles per hour at altitude moreover it had to be able to climb to 20 000 feet in six minutes overall the specifications were the toughest the united states army air corps or usaac had ever issued in response lockheed martin formed a secretive engineering team and the infamous skunk works was set apart from the main factory under the leadership of hull hibbard and clarence kelly johnson the design team considered several twin-engine configurations one such layout included the two engines housed in central fuselage with pus-pull propellers however no american engine available at the time produced sufficient power to meet the ambitious requirements thus hibbard and kelly johnson designed the entire aircraft around a pair of thousand horsepower liquid-cooled 12-cylinder allison v-1710 turbo supercharged engines the chosen plan forum was a rare one especially compared to its contemporaries lockheed settled on a twin boom assembly which accommodated the engines mounted in the mid-wing both missiles extended backward into tail booms fitted with twin rudders and joined by a horizontal tail [Music] in addition counter-rotating propellers eliminated the effective engine torque a balance made possible by the use of handed engines meaning their crankshafts were turned in opposite directions the assembly also considered the turbo superchargers which were placed behind the engines and at the center a pod was fitted to contain the pilot in a bubble canopy the armament assembly was unusual for an american aircraft as it was clustered in the nose instead of the wings hence skilled pilots could shoot farther than with typical configurations by not having their fire trajectories crisscrossed in a convergent zone the aircraft's landing gear with its tricycle layout also gained much attention and it was the first american fighter to use stainless steel extensively as well as smooth flush riveted butt joined aluminum skin panels by june of 1937 lockheed had emerged as the contract winner with its model 22 which then turned into the prototype xp-38 an accident gone right construction began in july of 1938 at the first skunk works location in an old bourbon distillery although the contract was for 163 000 the costs would add up to 761 000 of the three outstanding army fighters of world war ii namely the p-47 thunderbolt and the p-51 mustang p-38 was the first to fly by over two years its maiden flight took place in january of 1939 at the hands of ben kelsey and the model showed an exceptional performance two weeks later kelsey proposed relocating the aircraft for further testing consequently the aircraft flew a speed dash across the country from california to new york on february 11th during his final stop at wright field general henry happ arnold commander of the usac congratulated the pilot but the commander advised kelsey don't spare the horses making the most of the experience the pilot pushed the fighter to 420 miles per hour indeed the p-38 set a speed record achieving the goal in a little over seven hours not counting two refueling stops [Music] however upon reaching his destination kelsey was ordered to land behind other aircraft at mitchell field executing a slow landing pattern the resulting carburetor icing caused the fighter to plummet short of the runway and the prototype was wrecked still kelsey earned a promotion [Music] based on the record flight the air corps ordered a batch of 13 early production yp38s sharply accelerating the program's initial phases despite falling behind schedule the manufacturer of those first examples improved the aircraft positioning lockheed as a large government defense contractor the first yp38 flew in september of 1940 while the last did so in june the following year substantially redesigned from the hand-built prototype the yps were lighter and featured changes in engine fit moreover the propeller rotation was reversed and while spinning outward the fighter's stability as a gunnery platform was enhanced but even though the p-38 showed significant potential in its early days the army was more emphatic on producing the cheaper albeit less capable p-39 and p-40 as a result by the time the us joined the war in december of 1941 there were less than 100 available p-38 lightnings little did anyone know that they would become one of the top fighters of the war [Music] all around the world the lightning first saw combat in north africa as a tactical support aircraft for ground forces while there it was unwittingly forced to fight at low altitudes rendering the otherwise powerful fighter vulnerable to the nimble german me109s and fw190s furthermore many pilots were actually intimidated by the sheer size and complexity of the p-38 in addition to the army air force's ambivalence towards the model the lightning failed to exploit its superior range and high altitude performance during its first encounters even as it was the only fighter in europe capable of escorting bombers deep into german territory still the fighter would shine brighter in other places in the world the lightning's turbo supercharged engines excelled in the pacific theater as they guaranteed decisive altitude advantage against the enemy after that a substantial amount of lightnings were deployed in the area it was in the vast extension of the far east and oceania that the unmatched range of the aircraft proved particularly valuable and most of the top army aces in the pacific campaign flew p-38s including richard bong thomas maguire and charles h mcdonald a symbol of victory beyond its rootenary missions and deployments in the area the p-38 played a vital role when the american forces resolved to take revenge for pearl harbor in april of 1943 a u.s naval intelligence initiative called magic intercepted japanese communications and the american forces learned that admiral isaroku yamamoto would be carrying out an inspection tour on the solomon islands the goal was clear as president franklin d roosevelt simply put it quote get yamamoto 18 lightnings of the 339th fighter squadron 347th fighter group were chosen for operation vengeance as only a specialized variant of the lightning the p-38g with its drop tanks with extra fuel could accomplish the 1 000 mile round trip on the morning of april 18th the fleet took off from guadalcanal in complete radio silence and at merely 50 feet to avoid radar detection two hours later they spotted the admiral's transport and escorts and the fighters then jettisoned their extra fuel tanks and climbed into the engagement while his teammates diverted the zeros escorting yamamoto's bomber lieutenant rex t barber chased after the target until he had a clear shot he then hit the right engine fuselage and tail assembly with his 50 caliber machine guns and the bomber crashed into the jungle the operation was the longest fighter intercept mission of the war and proved to be a turning point with crushed japanese morale the operation arguably contributed to setting the stage for an allied victory in the pacific [Music] versatility the p-38 combat legacy is unmatched and its long-range and high ceiling made it a remarkable photo reconnaissance aircraft ranking second only to the british mosquito and accounting for 90 of the aerial film captured over europe at the time [Music] a handful of lightnings were also fitted with a bombardier's position in the nose called droop snoot besides its role as a general fighter the lightning branched into 18 distinct models including fighter bomber knight fighter and long range escort fighter but also bomber pathfinder [Music] first one available in quantity was the f model with self-sealing tanks and armor [Music] much later into the war the p-38 appeared with a top speed of 414 miles per hour and a ceiling of 44 000 feet featuring a 0.8 inch auto cannon and 4.5 inch machine guns however as it was exclusively manufactured by lockheed the p-38 was built in considerably smaller quantities than the p-47 or p-51 and roughly 10 000 examples were produced together the lightnings flew more than 130 000 missions in all theaters of the war and all their pilots combined shot down more japanese aircraft than any other fighter the p-38 was dropped from service after the war ended but it remains fondly remembered by those who flew it as now colonel ben kelsey described it quote that comfortable old cluck would fly like hell fight like a wasp upstairs and land like a butterfly [Music] thank you for watching my video please let us know your thoughts in the comments below and don't forget to subscribe to all our dark documentaries 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Channel: Dark Skies

Views: 860,610

Keywords: aviation, airplanes, aircraft, air force, history, documentary, history channel, documentary channel, dark docs, dark skies

Id: f5stpbJpLao

Length: 11min 57sec (717 seconds)

Published: Fri May 27 2022