P-38 or Mosquito?

[Lightning Guy]

Interesting list twilight. I thought I would post a few facts about the P-38.

It was the first military aircraft (possibly first aircraft of any type) to use tricycle landing gear.
It was the only US fighter in production for the entire period of US involvement in the war.
It was the first aircraft to encounter compressibility.
It was the only fighter of the WWII era to ferry across the Atlantic.
It was the first Allied fighter plane over Berlin.
It was the first aircraft to be equipped with power-boosted controls.
It was used in every theater America was involved in.
It saw it's bomb capacity go from the designed 0lbs to 5,200lbs.
It could carry 4 x.50cal + 1 20mm + 2 x 1,600lb bombs + 10 x 5in rockets.
It was the only fighter to carry two torpedoes.
It was the only fighter (at the time) capable of flying 500miles over open ocean and still intercepting Yammamoto.
It shot down more Japanese aircraft that any other plane.
The top two American aces scored all of their victories in P-38s.
It earned a really cool nickname from the German pilots who flew against it.

This isn't meant to devalue the Mossie in anyway. I've just found that most people are terrible unaware of the P-38.

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

yet it's strange that even most of the people that are educated about the P-38, myself included, still side with the mossie....................

 

[Lightning Guy]

And yet isn't it interesting that the P-38 has lead (and continues to lead) the Mossie in the voting on this poll.

 

[ev0]

I think that "the fork tailed devil" was the p-38's nickname? Correct me maybe?

 

[Lightning Guy]

You are right. Der Gabelschwanz Teufel.

 

[MichaelHenley]

P-38 By far!

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

no way........................

 

[lesofprimus]

I'm still severely amazed that anyone would think the Mossie was better than the Lightning...

 

[plan_D]

Well look through the whole discussion, there's a lot of argument for it. And in fact there was a very nice comparison between the two, the Mosquito came out on top in more areas than the Lightning.

 

[Lightning Guy]

Possibly, but the Lightning was closer to the Mossie in those areas than the Mossie was when the Lightning came out on top.

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

stop being a bad looser....................

 

[plan_D]

And it's not possibly, it was the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. It wasn't nearly the truth.

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

look, we've all agreed that both were exelent planes, but the mossie simply had the little extra that made it better.................

 

[toffi]

...

 

[plan_D]

Exactly toffi, see, he gets it.

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

and the mossie's closing on the P-38 in the poll...............

 

[jamon51]

Wow--cool site. I'm a 23 year old World War II buff--very excited to see this website. And I'll admit it up front, I am prejudiced toward the P-38 in this discussion. But I did learn some about the Mosquito at the same time!

Several points to make that haven't been, if you don't mind:
1. One of the most important roles of the P-38 has been totally overlooked in this discussion--that of a long-range bomber escort. Our B-17's and 24's were being chewed up by the Luftwaffe fighters and the P-47, although an incredible fighter in its own right, didn't have the range at the time. The P-38 more than filled this gap. I've never heard of the Mosquito providing escort for anything.

2. When discussing the merits of a "bomber role" vs. a "fighter role," don't just focus on payload. Think of the destructive capability of the aircraft as a whole. As a "Fighter Bomber" the P-38 was absolutely feared and did more from the air to win the Normandy invasion. Read "Invasion--They're Coming!" by Paul Carell and you will see what a devastating effect the fighter bombers had, even when using smaller bombs and strafing a lot. The German reinforcements couldn't move during the day! The Mosquito might have done this too but I haven't heard much about it.

3. A P-38 was tested with Merlin engines (a great engine design, and yes, British) and performed fantastically. But by then the P-51 and all of the British planes were taking nearly all of the Merlins and the P-38 took a back seat to it. I know we're not playing "What if's" here...but...that was an advantage the Mosquito had.

4. Richard Bong, USA top ace and P-38 pilot, was able to turn inside of Japanese Zeros. No one can discount that achievement.

I don't think anyone's going to be convinced it was better by these points, but hey, give cred where cred is due. Fighter, intercepter, escort, fighter-bomber, recon, the P-38 did whatever was asked of it. The Mosquito was an incredible design and did everything that was asked of it as well.

I think most of the Lighting advocates would agree that the P-38 gets dismissed as a sub-par airplane that was quickly replaced while the Mosquito gets the "glamour" in most cases. Maybe that's why we're so passionate about it.



Jamon

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

I've never heard of the Mosquito providing escort for anything

no because they weren't flying at night fighting off german nightfighters to protect their bomber friends................

The Mosquito might have done this too but I haven't heard much about it.

if anything the mossie did it more than the P-38, and it did it better.............

Richard Bong, USA top ace and P-38 pilot, was able to turn inside of Japanese Zeros. No one can discount that achievement.

that is down to pilot skill, not the aircraft..................

and a point that hasn't been mentioned before, the mossie remained the fastest plane of the war for 3 years until the introduction of the tiffy, i think................

 

[Lightning Guy]

The Lightning was never tested with Merlins. Lockheed produced the design sketches and their performance estimates were most impressive but the airframe was never actually mated with the engines.

 

[Sagaris]

Reading back through the pages, the Lightning seems the more impressive plane to me.