[WTE_Galway]

Some wartime interviews ... overall consensus would seem to be "the P38 does not stall easily but that does not make it a turn fighter". The interviews are worth reading in full.


Interview with MAJOR JOHN W. MITCHELL, USAAF in the Bureau of Aeronautics 18 June 1943

http://www.researcheratlarge.com/Air...dalcanalP-38s/ (Page 6)

Q. For fighter airplanes, would you comment on the desirability of twin engines versus single engines?

A. I've flown twin engine planes only a couple of hundred hours; but I like them much better than single engine, especially in that over-the-water fighting, because if one engine is damaged you can come back on the other. That is the main advantage. Stability in maneuvering is also important - you can pull up and slow down, do a loop and get out in zero miles an hour; and it will just mush down a little, come around and pull down and out. There's no tendency to spin. The P-38 is the most stable airplane I've flown. You can do aerobatics with it beautifully.




Interview with Joe Foss (US Medal of Honor), 26 April 1943, about the P38 ...

http://www.researcheratlarge.com/Aircraft/VMF-121/ (page 5)

Q. What was your impression of the P-38's?

A. The P-38 is really a good plane as an interceptor, above 20,000 feet. If you get notice that a bogey is coming in, and don't have much time, give it to the P-38's; they can really get up there. If it's above 20,000 feet they make their runs, go on out far enough to make a turn, and come back for another run, When the P-38's were sparring around with me, they would buzz way down below me, take a look, then go up through a hole in the clouds, take a short look around and come back down. They ran all around the sky while I was doing my best just to stay where I was.

Q. Was any attempt made to use them at the limit of their range?

A. They went clear up to Bougainville. They sent P-38's to fly cover on B-17's and on B-24's. There would be Zeros above them and below them would be more Zeros, float bi-planes and float Zeros, but their orders were to stay in formation with the bombers. If any of the enemy fighters made an attack, they'd just pull up, give a short burst, and the enemy fighter would pull right back up out of range. When they failed to do this one day, three of them were shot down. They went down below 20,000 feet to get some "easy meat", (these float bi-planes that can turn on a dime) - went down and tried to dogfight - that was the end of three P-38's.




Interview with CAPTAIN THOMAS G. LANPHIER, USAAF, Bureau of Aeronautics, 18 June 1943

http://www.researcheratlarge.com/Air...dalcanalP-38s/ (Page 11)


One day about thirty Zero's came over the field. Fifteen Grummans, a few P-40's and six P-38's were up. The P-40's saw the Zeros come in and went after them; the Grummans didn't see the fight for about five minutes. The Zeros, up around 20,000 feet, had pulled us off to the side; and while we were fighting them, the Jap bombers sneaked in at about 500 feet and dropped their bombs, doing little materiel damage but killing a few men. The Grummans went after the bombers and left us six P-38's to fight the thirty Zeros, and we shot down seven. We lost two men. One followed a Zero, and at Cape Esperance over a hill about 3,000 feet high both planes went into a cloud and neither was seen to come out. The other boy went after two Zeros trying to get home; his belly tank was still on, and a Zero probably put a couple of incendiaries through it because he blew up. That's the only time I've seen an American plane blow up; it just went all to pieces. We lost two planes and got seven -- not very good since we had plenty of altitude.

If we spotted Zeros first, we had no trouble keeping up with them. If we saw each other at the sane time and on the same level, we could always climb with them; they can't climb any faster than we. We have the advantage of being able to launch a high speed climb of about 190 miles an hour. (On one mission Captain Lanphier indicated 200 miles an hour, climbing about 2200 feet a minute - about wide open). One of our best ways of getting away from the Japs was to pull up in a high speed climb. Of course, if they began to climb when we did, we'd get up at the same time; but we were usually so far away they couldn't shoot at us.

The P-38's never tried to tangle with the Japs at any altitude. We'd follow them from 30,000 feet to sea level, but never tried to fight them; couldn't possibly do it at any altitude, regardless of whether we used our flaps or not. (Those new flaps, incidentally, are a great help in turning). We can outrun the Zeros straight and level at any altitude, from sea level up.




Interview with MAJOR JOHN W. MITCHELL, USAAF in the Bureau of Aeronautics 18 June 1943

http://www.researcheratlarge.com/Air...dalcanalP-38s/ (Page 3)

Q. What kind of tactics do you use in the P-38's against the Zeros?

A. Well, I had a four-plane section which had flown together for about a year, which is unusual for the Army. Each of us felt very responsible for the others; I was responsible for my wing man and he for me. We never had occasion to use any evasive maneuvers; we were never surprised from behind. We had planned that if we were completely surprised and had to get out in a hurry we would pull off in a dive and scissor the way naval aviators do in the dive, except we would endeavor to pull off sidewise and back. In an attack, my first two planes would go in formation.

Four Grummans, away beyond their altitude at 26,000 feet, were jumped by some Japs from above. We P-38's went in at 240-250 miles an hour indicated and had a lot of speed when we got up to the Jap planes. I got a direct hit at one; another pulled off to the side and followed me. I pulled away at full throttle, about 180-190 miles indicated. The Jap fell back and back, keeping at the same level but no longer shooting. When he turned around to leave, My wing man got him.

We try to stay in a ball within a mile area, each keeping his wing man in sight. The leader, being the ranking man, has first chance to shoot; and the wing man, although he also wants to shoot down enemy planes, suppresses that desire until the leader has taken care of his Jap. Then it's the wing man's chance, with the leader protecting him. We operate that way - just two fellows working together. It is the leader's responsibility, however, to keep the two pairs of planes in proximity to each other. Naval aviators are far better disciplined than Army, primarily because they've flown together longer.

Q. Is the high wing loading of the P-38 a handicap in combat?

A. It has a high wing loading on paper but not in the air. It won't stall because of the action of the two engines. You pull it right up; when it is time to stall, you look at the altimeter. You feel no sensation until it starts to drop. You can get right up steeply; if something is following you keep pulling up and up until it indicates zero, then start falling.

Q. You went head-on at the Zeros?

A. I only got two head-on passes. If the Zeros saw there was a chance of our getting around them, they'd turn and go off; we couldn't seem to get them to tangle with us. The P-38 is a very maneuverable plane, despite its size.