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Detroit, 4:33 AM
Wed Dec 2
30 posts in the last 24 hours
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11/23/09
But let's be very real - if Ken screws up, he doesn't fall out of the sky. Engine quits, you just step out, swear a few times and flip open the phone for AAA. If O'Hara has a sudden headslap moment - I tied a granny knot in the throttle control cable! - stepping out of the vehicle doesn't happen right away. There may not be time to flip open the phone.
If I could have my druthers I'd want full-scale but that may just be sour grapes talking - I haven't done anything 1/10th this awesome, ever.
Mad props, Jim - counter-rotating ones!
11/23/09
So he flew a P-38 trainer, a two-seater like the ones pauljones and Ash78 have posted below, and his job was pretty simple: Take the new guy with him for a couple of days while the rest of the class/squadron played "Follow The Leader", then move that guy to his own P-38 at the back of the line. Take the guy that had moved up all the way to right behind him over to HQ, where they would make up a squadron of the other instructors graduates, who would then learn formation flying while getting the last of their hours ferrying themselves and some new planes to the Pacific or European meat-grinders. Grab a new guy, put him in the seat behind him and go scare the hell out of him while trying to ditch the rest of the class. Get him into a plane at the back of the line, and repeat, for one war. Since his bosses didn't really care where he went as long as he got some flight-hours into the guys, he'd just go exploring, all over Arizona, California, Utah and Nevada (he was based in Kingman and Yuma, AZ), even taking his row of ducks deep into Mexico a few times. All this helped a ton when after the war he got a degree in mining engineering and was sent out into the middle of BFE on mining explorations and prospecting trips for Phelps-Dodge.
11/23/09
If the he didn't like such an agreeable chap, I bet he'd think Bob Lutz is a pussy.
You hear that Bob?! Your next A4 Skyhawk better be built by your own hands in your shed out back.
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MiG-15's had the same problem, but it's a lot easier to become crater dust at jet speeds than prop speeds.
P-38 pilots also tended to get cold because the engines were in separate nacelles.
11/23/09
The P-38 was better in one way because of the tricycle landing gear arrangement, but the twin engines did not improve safety if you lost power in takeoff or landing. The P-38 did not have enough rudder to maneuver with one engine at low speeds. If you lost power at a low speed, even a hiccup, any attempt to change the heading would put the plane into a spin.
11/23/09
Im just thinking how small the cockpit was on a full size P38 and what that has to be like on a 2/3 scale one
11/23/09
#tips
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#tips
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BTW - Just a note to you young guys (and gals) out there. Yes, there is much that is lost as one ages but there is much that is gained. The blessings of age have been a pleasent surprise to me. There ARE many delights, most astonishing and astounding. And those things lost seem rather trivial.
My grandmother used to say, "The day you stop learning is the day you start dying."
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I have a P-38 too, but it's just a can opener.
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Every year, the EAA convention in Oshkosh, WI is host to hundreds of manufacturers of home-built plane kits and hundreds of thousands of people interested in flying.
Somehow, I don't think this guy put together his P-38 replica from a kit. So badass.
Ray, may I suggest you hire an Editor to focus on Planelopnik? You should really have someone covering this stuff more intensely.
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Mad respect yo.
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Was he able to use Bondo or did he have to use P38, you know, for authenticity?
11/23/09