GrauGeist
Generalfeldmarschall zur Luftschiff Abteilung
The B-38 was an Allison equipped B-17
P-38 as a bomber?
- Thread starter tomo pauk
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GrauGeist
Generalfeldmarschall zur Luftschiff Abteilung
What you "say" and what is historical fact are two different things.
GrauGeist
Generalfeldmarschall zur Luftschiff Abteilung
GrauGeist
Generalfeldmarschall zur Luftschiff Abteilung
Nothing but childspeak.
GrauGeist
Generalfeldmarschall zur Luftschiff Abteilung
lol @ cyber bullying...sure, play that game.
You come to the forum with your games and when you're called to the carpet to back your claims, you cry.
You will not provide any sources for your statements, which fly in the face of historical fact.
So if having to be held accountable makes you soil your drawers, then so be it.
GrauGeist
Generalfeldmarschall zur Luftschiff Abteilung
The more you post, the more it's amusing others.
You are really trying to look like somebody, so there is a little credit due there, but your lack of knowledge is impressive.
Anyway, please carry on.
GregP
Major
Dill ...
Shortround6
Major General
Rather glosses over the fact that the planes were already in theater along with ground crew and supply chain. SO you have several choices. Just ground the P-38s and transfer the personnel to other units as replacements. Tie up shipping trying to send the planes and men to the Pacific from Europe. (Easier to send new planes from California to the Pacific or South Eat Asia).
You may be able to send the Planes From England to Italy. Getting the ground crew there might be a bit more difficult. What other personnel/cargo doesn't go to the Med instead?
The fighter jocks were still available for fighter duties should operational requirements dictate it. One day might be a short range mission by the B-17s and B-24s that needed fewer relays of escorts and freed up the P-38s to go play bomber and another day might see a long range mission by the bombers needing more fighters and the P-38s lend a hand filling in on one of the relays.
Other fighters were used as "bombers" on occasion so I fail to see how the the fighter Jocks were embarrassed.
It was a bigger embarrassment to sit on the ground while others flew over enemy territory.
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Shortround6
Major General
The P-38 as a bomber didn't work as well as hoped for several reasons.
The Droop snoots were not really "pathfinders" but lead ships. only one or two Droop Snoots flew in each mission leading a fighter group of 3 squadrons usually. the rest of the P-38s were standard fighters. The formation dropped their bombs when the Droop-Snoot did.
What was hoped was that the faster cruising speed of the P-38s would offer better "protection" than the speeds used by the normal medium bombers or heavy bombers. However the "practical" cruising speed of 210 mph IAS wasn't enough faster than the speeds used by the bombers to show a large difference in losses from flak after the first few missions. It was also hoped that should enemy fighters break through the top cover the formation leader (not necessarily the Droop-Snoot) could order a section of the P-38s to jettison bombs and engage the enemy interceptors. This didn't work in practice due to the reaction time of the formation leader, the communications lag and the time needed for the designated section to jettison stores, accelerate up to fighter combat speed and try to get into position to intercept/block the attackers before they could fire on the formation. If enemy fighters are breaking through the top cover squadron/s how many seconds do you have to arrange this 'secondary' defense?
The next problems are a bit related. The P-38 was not as stable in flight as most bombers ( you really don't want fighters that are as stable as bombers in "normal" flight) which affects accuracy a bit and the P-38 pilots were not trained in close formation flying. At least not the type of close formation flying needed to get the bomb density/pattern on the ground that was desired for this type of formation bombing. They might have gotten better with more practice.
Please note that NONE of these problems have anything to do with normal fighter-bomber operations.
The P-38 was highly though of in South East Asia for ground attack but since there were only a couple of squadrons (not even a full group) the experience might have been too small to get a good statistical result from. A few P-38s making back to base after flying 600 miles on one engine. They did show a lower loss rate than the other types of aircraft in use, but then Japanese AA might not have been as intense as German AA.
The Droop snoots were not really "pathfinders" but lead ships. only one or two Droop Snoots flew in each mission leading a fighter group of 3 squadrons usually. the rest of the P-38s were standard fighters. The formation dropped their bombs when the Droop-Snoot did.
What was hoped was that the faster cruising speed of the P-38s would offer better "protection" than the speeds used by the normal medium bombers or heavy bombers. However the "practical" cruising speed of 210 mph IAS wasn't enough faster than the speeds used by the bombers to show a large difference in losses from flak after the first few missions. It was also hoped that should enemy fighters break through the top cover the formation leader (not necessarily the Droop-Snoot) could order a section of the P-38s to jettison bombs and engage the enemy interceptors. This didn't work in practice due to the reaction time of the formation leader, the communications lag and the time needed for the designated section to jettison stores, accelerate up to fighter combat speed and try to get into position to intercept/block the attackers before they could fire on the formation. If enemy fighters are breaking through the top cover squadron/s how many seconds do you have to arrange this 'secondary' defense?
The next problems are a bit related. The P-38 was not as stable in flight as most bombers ( you really don't want fighters that are as stable as bombers in "normal" flight) which affects accuracy a bit and the P-38 pilots were not trained in close formation flying. At least not the type of close formation flying needed to get the bomb density/pattern on the ground that was desired for this type of formation bombing. They might have gotten better with more practice.
Please note that NONE of these problems have anything to do with normal fighter-bomber operations.
The P-38 was highly though of in South East Asia for ground attack but since there were only a couple of squadrons (not even a full group) the experience might have been too small to get a good statistical result from. A few P-38s making back to base after flying 600 miles on one engine. They did show a lower loss rate than the other types of aircraft in use, but then Japanese AA might not have been as intense as German AA.
