Lockheed P-38F-15-LO Lightning - The Lightning That Scored First Aerial Victory Against the Luftwaffe

[Nostalgistic]

Would you like to see this in-game?

• Yes
• No

Lockheed P-38F-15-LO Lightning

   Hello everybody. I’d like to introduce and suggest the Lockheed P-38F Lightning for War Thunder. The P-38F is an intermediate variant between P-38E and P-38G with different engines, underwing racks, and combat flaps.

Key Characteristics

• Heavy fighter and interceptor
• First production variant with inboard underwing racks after P-38E
• Turbo-supercharged Allison V-1710-49/-53 (1,325 hp each) powerplants
• New combat flaps, which the P-38E lacked
• New provisions for 2 x 1000-lb bombs

History

The P-38F variant was the first Lightning version and was considered fully combat-ready in late 1942. It had two significant changes made to the ‘F’ variant from the ‘E’ variant; it was given new and powerful engines of Allison V-1710-49/53s and new pylons between the engines and the cockpit for 1,000 lb bombs or fuel drop tanks. However, it had a significant increase in the weight of P-38F.

Lockheed built the first production block P-38F-1-LO with new wing racks. Each rack could carry a smoke curtain installation or a 22-inch torpedo. 149 of the P-38F-1-LO subvariant were built. The P-38F-5-LO was the next production block with revised landing lights, desert equipment, identification lights, and other minor changes, and 100 of the P-38F-5-LO were built. The P-38F-13-LO and P-38F-15-LO were the last block production subvariants. A total of 29 F-13-LO only had modified instruments for British usage, and a total of 212 F-15-LO had new combat flaps that could be extended to 8 degrees, improving lift and maneuverability.

The P-38F entered service in February 1942. About 200 P-38Fs flew to Britain by July-August 1942 during Operation Bolero (US military troop buildup in Britain) before an Allied invasion of Europe. The 1st Fighter Group and 14th Fighter Group had flown their P-38Fs across the Atlantic with four stops via air bases in Maine, Labrador, Greenland, and Iceland. These P-38Fs were marked as the first fighters ever to be delivered across the Atlantic under the command of the US Army Air Forces.

A P-38F had scored the first Luftwaffe aircraft kill in August 1942 on a technicality. The P-38F from the 27th Fighter Squadron flew out of Iceland on a patrol on August 14, 1942, to assist in the destruction of a Fw-200 Condor that had been pursued by either a P-40C or a P-39 from the 33rd Squadron. Fw-200 received hits and caught on fire, and then the P-38F executed a high-speed defection shooting to finish it off.

Around 347 sorties later, without enemy contact, the P-38Fs from the 1st and 14th Fighter Groups were transferred and redeployed to the 12th Air Force in North Africa to participate in Operation Torch. They would initially station at an airfield in Algeria alongside P-40 Warhawks. The P-38Fs would see their first combat operations on November 11, 1942, against Italian and German forces.

Lockheed built a final total of 527 P-38Fs and shipped them to the squadrons stationed in the Mediterranean and Pacific before being replaced by P-38Gs and P-38Js.

Specifications

Lockheed P-38F-15-LO Lightning

General Characteristics

• Crew: 1 (Pilot)
• Dimensions:
  • Length: 37 ft 9.8125 in (11.53 m)
  • Height: 9 ft 9.75 in (2.99 m)
  • Span: 52 ft (15.85 m)
  • Wing area: 327.5 sq ft (30.42 sq m)
• Propellers: 2 x 3-bladed constant-speed propellers
• Powerplants: 2 x turbo-supercharged piston engines, Allison V-1710-49(Right)/-53(Left)
  • Output: 2,650 hp (2,686.76 ps)
• Fuel/Oil:
  • Internal Fuel: 300 US gal. (1,135 L)
  • Oil Tankage: 26 US gal. (98.4 L)
• Weights:
  • Empty: 12,200 lb (5,533 kg)
  • Gross: 15,900 lb (7,212 kg)

Engine Ratings

• Take-Off (Sea Level):
  • 1,240 hp @ 3,000 rpm @ 44.5” hg
• Military Power (S.L. - 15,000 ft):
  • 1,325 hp @ 3,000 rpm @ 47.0” hg
• Maximum Continuous (S.L. - 27,000 ft):
  • 1,000 hp @ 2,600 rpm @ 38.0” hg

Performance

• Power-to-Weight Ratio: 0.17 hp/lb (0.37 ps/kg)
• Wing Loading: 48.5 lb/sq ft (236.8 kg/sq m)
• Airspeeds:
  • Low Altitude: 345 mph @ 5,000 ft (555 km/h @ 1,524 m)
  • Critical Altitude: 395 mph @ 25,000 ft (635 km/h @ 7,620 m)
• Climb Performance:
  • Rate of Climb: 3,500 fpm (17.8 m/s)
  • Time to Altitude: 8.5 minutes to 20,000 ft (6,096 m)
• Service Ceiling: 39,000 ft (11,887 m)
• Max. Range: 1,925 miles (3,098 km)

Armament

• Guns:
  • 1 x 20-mm M1 cannon (150 Rounds)
  • 4 x .50-cal.M2 Browning machine guns (2,000 Rounds)
• Bombs:
  • 2 x 1000-lb bombs
  • 2 x 500-lb bombs
• Drop Tanks:
  • 2 x 150-gal drop tanks

Supplemental Data

Information for the Chart

Model P-38F-13-LO, P-38F-15-LO, P-38G-15-LO, Lightning II, Lockheed 322-60-19, 322-68-19

Summary

The following are the performance characteristics at a Gross Weight of 14,673 pounds:

GUARANTEED
 
  *	High Speed at 27,000 Ft. with 1150 BHP per engine: 404 MPH
  *	High Speed at   5,000 Ft. with 1150 BHP per engine: 340 MPH
	Endurance at Normal Power (1000 BHP per engine) at 20,000 Ft.: 1.1 Hr.
**	Time to climb to 20,000 Ft. | 7.6 Min.
	Distance required to take off or land over a 50 ft. obstacle, within 2100 FT.
 
	The performances stated in this paragraph are guaranteed to +/- 1.5%.
	Engine power ratings for both the V-1710-F5 and the V-1710-F10 engine installations shall be the same.
 
*   Based upon sea level compressibility correction.
**  5 minutes at 1150 BHP per engine, 2.9 minutes at 1000 BHP per engine.

Diagrams

Images

Conclusion | Why it should be in the game

   I made this suggestion to request more World War II-era vehicles for War Thunder. This P-38F would make a welcoming addition to the P-38 Lightning family in War Thunder. The P-38F could be a great opportunity to use as the first Lightning variant capable of ground attack with bombs.

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Sources

• Pilot’s Flight Operating Instructions for Army Models P-38D Through P-38G Series F-4, F-4A, and F-5A Series Airplanes (1 October 1942)
• P-38 Lightning in Action Aircraft In Action 1109 (1990)
• P-38 Lightning in detail & scale: XP-38 through P-38H Part 1 (1998)
• P-38 Lightning - History, Photos, and Specs of Lockheed's Great Fighter
• Lockheed P-38F Lightning
• Lockheed P-38F Lightning
• P-38 Performance Tests
• Lockheed P-38 Lightning - Wikipedia

Thank you for taking the time to read my suggestion! 😃

[BillyBobDa3rd]

Cool! Love lightings!

[Catnip007]

Never say no to another Lightning!

[PREX2000]

Honestly I’d rather them buff the current later P-38s than add a new one, the payloads they can carry in game are a fraction of what they were capable of carrying IRL.

[Nostalgistic]

Why not both? Yeah, I understand the current P-38s are missing some loadouts that they could carry, and it’s ridiculous. Also, this P-38F is only the variant that is capable of carrying two torpedoes, but these were from trial runs AFAIK. Will check later.

[PREX2000]

Sadly 95% of War Thunder players never touch Naval, and another 4% of players will never touch Naval more than a couple times for the memes, so torpedoes won’t really have a place in game.

[jon_man1199]

A +1 from me, more Lightnings are always welcome

[Nostalgistic]

Here is what I found:

This was an ex-RAF Lightning Mk. II returned to USAAF as P-38F-13-LO (S/N 43-2035) with weapons removed for testing purposes in California. It carried dummy Mk XIII torpedoes, and the testing showed it had a significant performance penalty of 16.7% with a top speed of 300 mph and a range of 1,000 miles. In the second test, the P-38F was carrying a single torpedo and a 310-gallon drop tank (to balance the center of gravity); it only resulted in a performance penalty of 12.6% and a range of 2,160 miles.

During the testing, the P-38F also dropped the torpedo. Here is a photo of a dropping torpedo in the air.

 

Dropping Torpedo

 

The P-38F torpedo-bomber project was just an experiment to get flight data only and was abandoned in favor of utilizing bombs in anti-shipping operations as the bombs were far more reliable and effective when hitting the ships.

It appears a P-38G (S/N 43-2381) was also used in torpedo tests to collect flight performance metrics, but I found no more information beyond that. I think this info is unverifiable.

Nevertheless, I think this is neat information to know and probably can be justified in giving the P-38F the ability to carry the torpedoes.

[WalletWorrier]

+1, Lightnings are my favourite WWII aircraft! Though with the E and G already tech tree at .3 different BRs, maybe this would be best as a premium- especially with its funky trialled torpedoes

[Nostalgistic]

Updated P-38F-15 Specifications with Engine Ratings; added Supplemental Data and Diagrams sections.

[AstralTitan]

+1 here