Shortround6
Major General
Once again from Zeno's.
The P-38 cannot fly longer than the P-51 at high speed (380mph or so) although it can do it (Fly 380mph) while staying within max continuous power power setting at some point between 25,000 and 30,000ft. Like the Mustang, backing off a bit on the speed adds quite a bit to the range as getting down to where they could switch to the lean mixture meant they were burning 54% of the fuel and still getting 88% of the speed.
Please note that this is with tank supports only and the P-38 is NOT going to do 380mph with any size under wing fuel tank/s. The late P-38s were a big improvement on the early ones but were not going to match the P-51.
The P-38 cannot fly longer than the P-51 at high speed (380mph or so) although it can do it (Fly 380mph) while staying within max continuous power power setting at some point between 25,000 and 30,000ft. Like the Mustang, backing off a bit on the speed adds quite a bit to the range as getting down to where they could switch to the lean mixture meant they were burning 54% of the fuel and still getting 88% of the speed.
Please note that this is with tank supports only and the P-38 is NOT going to do 380mph with any size under wing fuel tank/s. The late P-38s were a big improvement on the early ones but were not going to match the P-51.