more at http://scitech.quickfound.net/aviation_news_and_search.html "Shows normal and emergency operating characteristics of the P-38. Demonstrates precautions and techniques for taking off, flying, and landing, showing in detail how controls and apparatus should be manipulated. Explains how to take off and fly with only one engine, and shows how to bail out." Reupload of a previously uploaded film, in one piece instead of multiple parts, and with improved sound. Public domain film from the US National Archives, slightly cropped to remove uneven edges, with the aspect ratio corrected, and mild video noise reduction applied. The soundtrack was also processed with volume normalization, noise reduction, clipping reduction, and/or equalization (the resulting sound, though not perfect, is far less noisy than the original). http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_P-38_Lightning Lockheed designed the P-38 in response to a February 1937 specification from the United States Army Air Corps. Circular Proposal X-608 was a set of aircraft performance goals authored by First Lieutenant Benjamin S. Kelsey (later Brigadier General) and First Lieutenant Gordon P. Saville (later General) for a twin-engine, high-altitude "interceptor" having "the tactical mission of interception and attack of hostile aircraft at high altitude." Kelsey recalled in 1977 that he and Saville drew up the specification using the word interceptor as a way to bypass the inflexible Army Air Corps requirement for pursuit aircraft to carry no more than 500 lb (227 kg) of armament including ammunition, as well as the restriction of single-seat aircraft to one engine. Kelsey was looking for a minimum of 1,000 lb (454 kg) of armament. Kelsey and Saville aimed to get a more capable fighter; better at dog-fighting and at high-altitude combat. Specifications called for a maximum airspeed of at least 360 mph (580 km/h) at altitude, and a climb to 20,000 ft (6,100 m) within six minutes; the toughest set of specifications USAAC had presented to that date... A similar single-engine proposal was issued at the same time: Circular Proposal X-609, in response to which the Bell P-39 Airacobra was designed. Both proposals required liquid-cooled Allison V-1710 engines with turbo-superchargers and both gave extra points for tricycle landing gear. The Lockheed design team, under the direction of Hall Hibbard and Clarence "Kelly" Johnson, considered a range of twin-engine configurations including both engines in a central fuselage with push-pull propellers... The Lockheed design incorporated tricycle undercarriage and a bubble canopy, and featured two 1,000 hp (746 kW) turbo-supercharged 12-cylinder Allison V-1710 engines fitted with counter-rotating propellers to eliminate the effect of engine torque, with the superchargers positioned behind the engines in the booms. Counter-rotation was achieved with the use of "handed" engines, which meant that the crankshaft of each engine turned in the opposite direction of its counterpart. The V-12 engines only required that the spark plug firing order be changed in order for the direction of the crank shaft to be reversed, according to the General Motors Allison V1710 Service School Handbook. It was the first American fighter to make extensive use of stainless steel and smooth, flush-riveted butt-jointed aluminum skin panels. It was also the first fighter to fly faster than 400 mph (640 km/h). Lockheed won the competition on 23 June 1937 with its Model 22 and was contracted to build a prototype XP-38 for US$163,000, though Lockheed's own costs on the prototype would add up to US$761,000. Construction began in July 1938 and the XP-38 first flew on 27 January 1939 at the hands of Ben Kelsey... On 20 September 1939, before the YP-38s had been built and flight tested, the USAAF ordered 66 initial production P-38 Lightnings... In March 1940, the French and the British ordered a total of 667 P-38s for US$100M... In the ETO, P-38s made 130,000 sorties with a loss of 1.3% overall, comparing favorably with ETO P-51s which posted a 1.1% loss... In the Pacific theater, the P-38 downed over 1,800 Japanese aircraft, with more than 100 pilots becoming aces by downing five or more enemy aircraft.... Number built 10,037 Unit cost US$ 97,147 in 1944 Maximum speed 443 mph Range 1,300 mi Service ceiling 44,000 ft Rate of climb: 4,750 ft/min 1× Hispano M2(C) 20 mm cannon with 150 rounds 4× Browning MG53-2 0.50 in (12.7 mm) machine guns with 500 rpg Allison V-1710 Handbook (1944) Operation & Maintenance Manual http://aviationshoppe.com/manuals/allison_v-1710_engine/allison_v-1710.html Allison V-1710 Service Handbook (1943) Aero Engines Manual http://aviationshoppe.com/manuals/allison_V-1710_service_handbook/aircraft_engine_manual.html Allison V-1710 Operators manual (1942) http://aviationshoppe.com/manuals/allison_V-1710_operators_handbook/allison_v-1710_operators_manual.html

• published: 07 Nov 2014
• views: 152