P038 ligthning.

[chuckfourth]

Hi
I noticed that the lightning seemed to have a pretty big armament for a plane with not a lot of wing.
Here is what I found at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P-38_Lightning
"4x M10 three-tube 4.5 in (112 mm) rocket launchers or:
10x 5 in (127 mm) HVAR's (High Velocity Aircraft Rocket) and/or:
either 2x 2,000 lb (907 kg) or 1,000 lb (454 kg), 4x 500 lb (227 kg) or 4x 250 lb (113 kg) bombs "
I read this as
"4x M10 three-tube 4.5 in (112 mm) rocket launchers.
or
10x 5 in (127 mm) HVAR's (High Velocity Aircraft Rocket)
and any two bombs.
or
Maximum of four bombs at 500 lb or under
or
two bombs of 1000 lb or over.

ie there are only 4 points on the wings at which ordinance can be attached.
So in the USA OB units 487,488,489,490,492 and 493 all have the wrong bomb/rocket combinations.
Id also note that the one P38 in the USA OB that existed in v6 of the game actually had the correct loadout of 10 HVARs But was removed.
I doubt if bombs and rockets were ever loaded in combination on any one particular plane.
Best Regards Chuck.

[Marek_Tucan]

P-38L early variant with 14 rockets (later replaced with "tree" launchers)


P-38 with 12 M8 rockets

http://www.faqs.org/docs/air/avp38.html#m2
This site mentions that P-38L got also strenghtened store pylons (IE between hull and wing) to carry up to 2000lb bombs.

[chuckfourth]

Hi Marek
Nice pictures and the link also proved interesting.
I guess all I can say is that the second picture suggests that carrying of
"4x M10 three-tube 4.5 in (112 mm) rocket launchers and any two bombs"
is also possible though the picture does show droptanks rather than bombs.
I still think more than 4 bombs is unlikely.
The first picture might be an interesting addition to the OOBS, assuming as with the second that it isnt some sort of test platform.
Of course it is very difficult to prove that a particular configuration didnt exist. These "new" "improved" loadouts appeared in the upgrade to v7 as did the "incorrect" typhoons with 16 or 12 rockets. Im a bit dubious about the large loadouts. I dont know if he reads these forums but apparently Jakub Jaraczewski had a hand in the work if he could tell us where these particular lightning configurations were found that would clear up a lot.
I remember that one poster in the DOS forum had looked at the plane loadouts compared to some game he played and thought he had found a lot of errors.
Best Regards Chuck.

[Marek_Tucan]

Have looked more into the 14-ish launcher, was used only for evaluations and didn't get to frontline for reason unmentioned, though I'd dare guess too high drag of all these small pylons.