Late P-38 Yoke
- Thread starter Gary Cain
- Start date
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MIflyer
1st Lieutenant
VERY NICE! I read that originally the P-38 had one button on the yoke for firing the cannon and a separate button for firing the machine guns. The "horn button" in the center of the yoke was used to transmit on the radio. The button for jettisoning the drop tanks was in some place that was hard to find in the heat of battle.
So one unit connected the machine guns and cannon to the same button, used the other former gun button for the mike transmission, and relocated the drop tank jettison switch to the "horn button" in the center. They had a short period of time where some pilots would drop their tanks when they were on the ground and needed to talk to the control tower but that did not last very long. I guess they should have located somewhere else a separate "ARM" switch for jettisoning the tanks, one that had to be switched on before the horn button would work.
So one unit connected the machine guns and cannon to the same button, used the other former gun button for the mike transmission, and relocated the drop tank jettison switch to the "horn button" in the center. They had a short period of time where some pilots would drop their tanks when they were on the ground and needed to talk to the control tower but that did not last very long. I guess they should have located somewhere else a separate "ARM" switch for jettisoning the tanks, one that had to be switched on before the horn button would work.
- Thread starter
- #3
Yeah, there were all sorts of issues with the earlier wheels. I may be picking one of those up too.
My grandfather was involved in the wing production. He came up with a procedure that increased the wing production by 400%.
They treated him very well for that little innovation!
