Well, if you're reading RAH, you're either pretty smart or pretty well lost.That's a good rule providing the reader isn't thick.
(And if I say I've been a fan since grade school, is that a brag?)Well, if you're reading RAH, you're either pretty smart or pretty well lost.
I remember being so caught up in reading "The Puppet Masters" after school that I was late on my paper route. But some of Heinlein's novels required an adults perspective to understand and appreciate the implications being espoused.
I have no doubt of it. I had overlooked most of the religious undertones of Stranger when I first read it, & I have no doubt I missed some of the implications of I Will Fear No Evil in Grade 9, too.
Then again, I was sensitized to environmental issues by Dune (also Grade 9) before I ever heard of Rachel Carson, so...Okay, thread highjack alert.
I was reading King by 4th grade, Herbert by 6th, and discovered Moorcock by 9th...and never looked back
Did you ever read any books by Antoine de Saint-Exupery ? It is some of the most poignant writing I've ever encountered. As a former pilot myself I can relate to some of his experiences though he was a pioneering airman in the old days. Mostly now remembered for the children's story "The Little Prince" there were many other books and stories from Saint-Exupery that were certainly aimed at a more mature and reflective readership. I was in my twenties when I first encountered Saint-Exupery's writings.
I was certainly not an early prodigy or gifted child. If I was I'd be Chief of the RCAF by now and I'd have no time for these fascinating story lines.
EverKing I hope you won't think I'm trying to derail your wonderful thread.
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I was reading King by 4th grade, Herbert by 6th, and discovered Moorcock by 9th...and never looked back
And I thought I was reading above my grade level. I don't think I got past Butterworth (or maybe only Tom Swift) in Grade 4. I was more in Red Planet, Forerunner Foray, Sloboda (Slovoda?), & L'Engle's Wrinkle trilogy (& Encyclopedia Brown) then, IIRC--but it's been awhile... I didn't hit Cyborg or Duelling Machine til the end of Grade 6, earliest: those were the first two adult-level books I got from our local branch library (& I was still too young to have an adult card, then, so they had to be on my mom's). I went to Beach & Blair & a lot of historical stuff soon after.As for Moorcock, well...you can have him.
Never found anything of his I've liked. And, y'know, it's funny to me, but I don't like Isaac's SF. I like his mysteries (the Black Widowers stories) & I love his essays; I could happily read his books on the history of science for entertainment.Have you read Masterman's Double-Cross System? If so, when (approximately)? I tried it on in Grade 8 & couldn't manage it, first time I hadn't been able to cope. (Actually, I just found it very, very heavy going--but I'm fairly sure, now, it was a touch beyond me, & I didn't realize it.)
I am familiar with Saint-Exupery, of course, but I have not read any of his work. Ever since becoming a father my reading time has been minimal and I have been reading more non-fiction, histories, and science books for the past decade or more. Shelby Foote's "The Civil War," George Sansom's "A History of Japan" (both in three volumes), Brian Green's "The Fabric of the Cosmos," and a book called "Civilization in the Middle Ages" whose author I can't recall atm...many others of that ilk.
The thing with Michael Moorcock is that the more you read the more you appreciate the scope of it all. For those that can't get into his Sword & Sorcery or Sci-Fi there are also his historical fictions/fantasies like "Gloriana" and the Pyat quartet or his experimental fiction like "Mother London" and the more recent "Modem Times."As for Moorcock, well...you can have him.
I can honestly say I have never even heard of it. I will have to check it out.
As far as me being an advanced reader as a child, I suppose that is true. I remember reading Old Yeller when I was 6. When I was 7 I read a supposed Biography of Billy the Kid. I read Walter Lord's A Night to Remember around that same age. Then I read Cujo and Pet Semetary after my older brothers struggled to read, and never finish, them. Then it was Louis LaMoure and other pulp authors for a while until I discovered a love for fantasy. Tad Williams at 12, then the D&D pulp fantasies of Weis & Hickman, and so on.
I think we better get back to the P-38, though before the rest of followers wander away in frustration!
It really is the book on Brit control of German spies, although reading it will spoil pretty much every spy novel or film set in that period.
I have to say, I think it's stuck.
Which is good for the rest of us, especially now.Archibald
Banned
Night flight and Flight to Arras are my favorites. Saint Exupéry certainly had a big grudge against rampant bureaucracy.
My favorite line of Flight to Arras
Also
I'm wondering if it's worth to sacrifice a crew for information that nobody needs and who, if one of us is still alive to report it, will never be passed on to anyone.
"Mediums," I said aloud. "They must have a crew of mediums on the General Staff."
"What do you mean, Captain?"
"How do you think we'll report to them? They are going to communicate with us. Table tipping. Automatic writing."
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Regarding the earlier postings about using the Lightning for towing gliders or piggy-back carrying I think that the biggest problem is the airspeed mismatch. The most built models of assault gliders in Western Allied use had maximum speed limits of between 130 to 180 mph depending on which glider and its load. The P-38's cruise speed would be starting at 200 mph and likely more like 250 mph.
Of course you could try throttling back the engines and slow down. At 130 mph you're almost wallowing. The plane wants to fly faster. But more to the point you can't reduce the power while trying to tow several tons of glider. The engines will have to be run faster to produce the power to fly the plane and tow the glider so you would be using the high speed cruise setting.
This causes the situation where the engines will overheat. The engines are running at a setting that should have the plane flying at better then 200 mph but the towing load is slowing the P-38 to 130 mph or so. The design of the radiators and oil coolers is optimized for high speed flight. Even an extended full power climb will push the temperatures to the red line even though you're climbing into cooler air and only keeping that climb attitude for a brief period.
When towing a glider you're attempting to maintain these high power low airspeed engines settings for hours. You can't fly too much faster otherwise you may tear the wings off the glider and there's a limit to how much power you can get out of your engines as they will just overheat faster.
The solution? Build special and expensive high speed low drag gliders which will likely have a smaller cargo capacity than the existing gliders. Or redesign the radiator housing for modifying some P-38s to increase the cooling at lower airspeeds. Have to set up a modification centre for that as you can't interrupt production for a low priority reason. Or IMHO best of all use obsolescent bombers and transport aircraft to tow the assault gliders.
Of course you could try throttling back the engines and slow down. At 130 mph you're almost wallowing. The plane wants to fly faster. But more to the point you can't reduce the power while trying to tow several tons of glider. The engines will have to be run faster to produce the power to fly the plane and tow the glider so you would be using the high speed cruise setting.
This causes the situation where the engines will overheat. The engines are running at a setting that should have the plane flying at better then 200 mph but the towing load is slowing the P-38 to 130 mph or so. The design of the radiators and oil coolers is optimized for high speed flight. Even an extended full power climb will push the temperatures to the red line even though you're climbing into cooler air and only keeping that climb attitude for a brief period.
When towing a glider you're attempting to maintain these high power low airspeed engines settings for hours. You can't fly too much faster otherwise you may tear the wings off the glider and there's a limit to how much power you can get out of your engines as they will just overheat faster.
The solution? Build special and expensive high speed low drag gliders which will likely have a smaller cargo capacity than the existing gliders. Or redesign the radiator housing for modifying some P-38s to increase the cooling at lower airspeeds. Have to set up a modification centre for that as you can't interrupt production for a low priority reason. Or IMHO best of all use obsolescent bombers and transport aircraft to tow the assault gliders.
NO! The Point is that the piggy back combination does not have the Pr8's stall speed because the bulk of the lift is borne by the Hamilcar that has a much lower stall speed. You will find that the combo will actually take of at an airspeed lower than the technical stall speed of the P38. Basically think of it as a power cell.
I do not know if the combo was actually tried in OTL (I think it was only doe as a theoretical exercise) but it was made as a serious proposal
I do not know if the combo was actually tried in OTL (I think it was only doe as a theoretical exercise) but it was made as a serious proposal
The Glider is not carrying the weight of the P-38 in Flight. Now if you mean that the added weight of around 7 tons for a fully loaded P-38 would be more than the structure of the glider and its undercarriage could support, now that I could see as a problem. However the Hamilcar was stressed to survive what was basically a crash landing with a load of seven tons. Having unintentionally hi jacked this P-38 I will now bailout.
Ch.15 - Operation Flax Pt.2 / Der Gabelschwanz Teufel (Apr 1943)
Just a short one. I decided to cut back on a lot of the details for this as it is largely in line with OTL and the gist of what led up to it can be gleaned from the previous chapter.
CONFIDENTIAL
PILOT’S PERSONAL ENCOUNTER REPORT
C. 27th Fighter Squadron, 1st Fighter Group
D. 0910 - 0920
E. 30 Miles N of Tunisia
F. Hazy
G. 20 SM.82 and 6 C.200
H. 1 SM.82 Destroyed
I. I was flying my assigned position of Blue 1 in a sweep of the Sicilian Strait with the entire Group. At 0910 a call of Bandits was reported at our 10 o’clock low and I observed approximately 20 SM.82’s with about 6 C.200’s heading generally south at around 500 feet altitude and 6 miles away. The group broke to engage the E/A. I picked out a mottled green and brown SM.82 in the formation. I started firing on it from directly behind and below it at about 350 yards. I fired 3-4 two second burst and observed strikes along the belly and left wing root and left engine. The engine started on fire but I started to come under when passengers aboard another SM.82 began to fire small-arms at me from the open door of the A/C. I disengaged to circle around for another pass. During this time, I witnessed 2Lt. Sweet shooting another SM.82 with the number 604 on its side. This E/A exploded under the sustained fire and I confirm it destroyed by 2Lt. Sweet. By the time I had completed my full circle I was unable to find the E/A I had damaged. Lt. Rush said he saw it ditch, therefore I claim this E/A destroyed. After the first pass, there were too few E/A remaining and my fuel was running low so I rejoined the squadron and returned to base.
A/C Used: P-38G 17 LO #43-2308
Ammunition used: 399 rounds 50 CAL API & T, 77 rounds 20mm
John A. MacKay
2nd Lt., Air Corps
Confirmation
I was flying Red 3 when we engaged approximately 30 E/A 30 miles north of Cape Serrat. I saw 2Lt. MacKay fire on an SM.82 from line astern and set it on fire with strikes all over the E/A. I watched this A/C descend and ditch into the sea with the left wing coming off. I confirm one E/A destroyed by 2Lt. MacKay.
George A. Rush
1st Lt., Air Corps
===================================
12 April 1943
III./SKG 10
Bizerte, Tunisia
Leutnant Gerhard Limberg looked over his recently repaired Focke-Wulf 190 A-5 airplane. He had joined a flight of Ju.52’s on the 5th as ordered to ferry down from San Pietro, Italy, to the III Gruppe, Schnellkampfgeschwader 10 (III./SKG 10) forward operation airbase near Bizerte, Tunisia. The flight was going well until they were nearing the Tunisian coast when they were suddenly set upon by thirty of the American twin-tail heavy fighters. He had never seen them in person before but had heard of them and remembered being briefed that although they were fast the American heavy-fighters suffered from the same poor maneuverability as any other heavy fighter.
He had used that knowledge to his advantage and even though his A-5 “Jabo” was only armed with two MG.151 cannons he and another 190 from his flight had separated one of the American’s from his group and set upon him. They had damaged one of the engines of the big fighter and were chasing it down when it suddenly did something he had never seen an airplane do while under control. The twin-tailed fighter rolled and yawed into an impossibly tight left turn and dropped into a shallow spiral.
Just then, the shadow of another twin-tail blew past him from behind, scattering his squadron mate and leaving Limberg alone in his pursuit of their prey. As he rolled his Shrike to follow the spiraling American he glanced back to gauge the other fighter that had blown by and was relieved to see it in wide left circle. He focused all of his attention back on the damaged American and followed him down and around.
He was just lining up for another burst of fire when the white spark of American tracers streamed directly over his head. He followed them back and saw the other American had already reversed and was coming directly at him from about eighty degrees to his left. For some reason, all he could remember was seeing an angry pirate’s flag with a crown fire as it came at him. He did not even have time to react before the he heard the blasts of cannon fire directly in front of him. His airplane rattled and shook and the panel that in other Fw 190’s would cover the nose guns blew off his plane.
Limberg flinched at the shock of the hit causing his airplane to wobble as the American flew overhead. He had had enough and refused to be turned from predator to prey. A fast airplane that was less maneuverable than his could be dealt with, as could a maneuverable airplane that was not as fast as his; but, he had just witnessed both of the Americans reverse their directions faster than anything he was capable of. He rolled right and pressed everything fully forward, praying that the big BMW engine in front of him could pull away from the blood thirsty American devils.
He made it to Bizerte on the deck never getting more than 200 feet about the water or ground as he came in and was thankful to avoid pursuit. Two of his fellow Focke-Wulfs had also made it in, but the fourth of their troupe—the one with whom he had hunted the Lightning—never returned and Limberg could only assume he had fallen prey to the American counter-attack.
So, he was left without an airplane until his was repaired or they found a spare, something that became less likely with each day as English and Americans continually attacked the airfield and all the others around. He heard that Flying Fortress bombers had hit El Aounina and Sid Ahmed especially hard that same day, while the pilots bringing planes and supplies every day for the past week had shared horror stories of flying a gauntlet of American and British fighters and bombers to get to Tunisia. Those few who made it through were bringing stories of even more damage to their airfields in Italy and Sicily.
Just the night before he had overhead one of the Ju.52 pilots who had run the gauntlet three times in the past week share his story of almost being rammed by one of the fighters on the 5th and of narrowly avoiding another one on the 8th. His most recent close call was on the 11th when a group of American fighters and Mitchell Bombers had flown into their formation. The side and turret gunners on the bombers were trying to shoot down the Luftwaffe transports even as the Lightning fighters would zoom through the formations and tear them to shreds. He poor man was still shaking even days later and Lt. Limberg was certain the pilot had lost his nerve would be useless to Fatherland with all of his muttering about “der Gabelschwanz Teufel.”
The Fork-tailed Devil.
CONFIDENTIAL
PILOT’S PERSONAL ENCOUNTER REPORT
A. Combat
B. 10 April 1943C. 27th Fighter Squadron, 1st Fighter Group
D. 0910 - 0920
E. 30 Miles N of Tunisia
F. Hazy
G. 20 SM.82 and 6 C.200
H. 1 SM.82 Destroyed
I. I was flying my assigned position of Blue 1 in a sweep of the Sicilian Strait with the entire Group. At 0910 a call of Bandits was reported at our 10 o’clock low and I observed approximately 20 SM.82’s with about 6 C.200’s heading generally south at around 500 feet altitude and 6 miles away. The group broke to engage the E/A. I picked out a mottled green and brown SM.82 in the formation. I started firing on it from directly behind and below it at about 350 yards. I fired 3-4 two second burst and observed strikes along the belly and left wing root and left engine. The engine started on fire but I started to come under when passengers aboard another SM.82 began to fire small-arms at me from the open door of the A/C. I disengaged to circle around for another pass. During this time, I witnessed 2Lt. Sweet shooting another SM.82 with the number 604 on its side. This E/A exploded under the sustained fire and I confirm it destroyed by 2Lt. Sweet. By the time I had completed my full circle I was unable to find the E/A I had damaged. Lt. Rush said he saw it ditch, therefore I claim this E/A destroyed. After the first pass, there were too few E/A remaining and my fuel was running low so I rejoined the squadron and returned to base.
A/C Used: P-38G 17 LO #43-2308
Ammunition used: 399 rounds 50 CAL API & T, 77 rounds 20mm
John A. MacKay
2nd Lt., Air Corps
Confirmation
I was flying Red 3 when we engaged approximately 30 E/A 30 miles north of Cape Serrat. I saw 2Lt. MacKay fire on an SM.82 from line astern and set it on fire with strikes all over the E/A. I watched this A/C descend and ditch into the sea with the left wing coming off. I confirm one E/A destroyed by 2Lt. MacKay.
George A. Rush
1st Lt., Air Corps
===================================
12 April 1943
III./SKG 10
Bizerte, Tunisia
Leutnant Gerhard Limberg looked over his recently repaired Focke-Wulf 190 A-5 airplane. He had joined a flight of Ju.52’s on the 5th as ordered to ferry down from San Pietro, Italy, to the III Gruppe, Schnellkampfgeschwader 10 (III./SKG 10) forward operation airbase near Bizerte, Tunisia. The flight was going well until they were nearing the Tunisian coast when they were suddenly set upon by thirty of the American twin-tail heavy fighters. He had never seen them in person before but had heard of them and remembered being briefed that although they were fast the American heavy-fighters suffered from the same poor maneuverability as any other heavy fighter.
He had used that knowledge to his advantage and even though his A-5 “Jabo” was only armed with two MG.151 cannons he and another 190 from his flight had separated one of the American’s from his group and set upon him. They had damaged one of the engines of the big fighter and were chasing it down when it suddenly did something he had never seen an airplane do while under control. The twin-tailed fighter rolled and yawed into an impossibly tight left turn and dropped into a shallow spiral.
Just then, the shadow of another twin-tail blew past him from behind, scattering his squadron mate and leaving Limberg alone in his pursuit of their prey. As he rolled his Shrike to follow the spiraling American he glanced back to gauge the other fighter that had blown by and was relieved to see it in wide left circle. He focused all of his attention back on the damaged American and followed him down and around.
He was just lining up for another burst of fire when the white spark of American tracers streamed directly over his head. He followed them back and saw the other American had already reversed and was coming directly at him from about eighty degrees to his left. For some reason, all he could remember was seeing an angry pirate’s flag with a crown fire as it came at him. He did not even have time to react before the he heard the blasts of cannon fire directly in front of him. His airplane rattled and shook and the panel that in other Fw 190’s would cover the nose guns blew off his plane.
Limberg flinched at the shock of the hit causing his airplane to wobble as the American flew overhead. He had had enough and refused to be turned from predator to prey. A fast airplane that was less maneuverable than his could be dealt with, as could a maneuverable airplane that was not as fast as his; but, he had just witnessed both of the Americans reverse their directions faster than anything he was capable of. He rolled right and pressed everything fully forward, praying that the big BMW engine in front of him could pull away from the blood thirsty American devils.
He made it to Bizerte on the deck never getting more than 200 feet about the water or ground as he came in and was thankful to avoid pursuit. Two of his fellow Focke-Wulfs had also made it in, but the fourth of their troupe—the one with whom he had hunted the Lightning—never returned and Limberg could only assume he had fallen prey to the American counter-attack.
So, he was left without an airplane until his was repaired or they found a spare, something that became less likely with each day as English and Americans continually attacked the airfield and all the others around. He heard that Flying Fortress bombers had hit El Aounina and Sid Ahmed especially hard that same day, while the pilots bringing planes and supplies every day for the past week had shared horror stories of flying a gauntlet of American and British fighters and bombers to get to Tunisia. Those few who made it through were bringing stories of even more damage to their airfields in Italy and Sicily.
Just the night before he had overhead one of the Ju.52 pilots who had run the gauntlet three times in the past week share his story of almost being rammed by one of the fighters on the 5th and of narrowly avoiding another one on the 8th. His most recent close call was on the 11th when a group of American fighters and Mitchell Bombers had flown into their formation. The side and turret gunners on the bombers were trying to shoot down the Luftwaffe transports even as the Lightning fighters would zoom through the formations and tear them to shreds. He poor man was still shaking even days later and Lt. Limberg was certain the pilot had lost his nerve would be useless to Fatherland with all of his muttering about “der Gabelschwanz Teufel.”
The Fork-tailed Devil.
Just a note on what's to come.
I am sorry to say that I have decided to skip Operation Vengeance (the killing of Yamamoto Isoroku). I know this is an important part of the P-38 story but I also feel it is a part that is well known and that the modifications to the airplane will not have any great effect on its outcome. Really, the most likely change would be that they might be able to make the trip with two 165 gallon tanks instead of one 155/165 + one 300/310. The outcome will be largely unchanged and the story will not do much to advance the airplane.
Instead, the next two chapters will focus back on development and production in the states. These will take us into the new P-38H production and tackle the production volume issues. After those, we are going to jump ahead a little to August 1943 when we will begin to see the Germans taking advantage of TTL's P-38 greatest Achilles Heel while VIII Bomber Command in England finally cashes out and accepts that their bombers need round-trip escorts.
I am sorry to say that I have decided to skip Operation Vengeance (the killing of Yamamoto Isoroku). I know this is an important part of the P-38 story but I also feel it is a part that is well known and that the modifications to the airplane will not have any great effect on its outcome. Really, the most likely change would be that they might be able to make the trip with two 165 gallon tanks instead of one 155/165 + one 300/310. The outcome will be largely unchanged and the story will not do much to advance the airplane.
Instead, the next two chapters will focus back on development and production in the states. These will take us into the new P-38H production and tackle the production volume issues. After those, we are going to jump ahead a little to August 1943 when we will begin to see the Germans taking advantage of TTL's P-38 greatest Achilles Heel while VIII Bomber Command in England finally cashes out and accepts that their bombers need round-trip escorts.
It is the prototype of the famed "Lockheed Stomp" which involved using extreme differential throttle in conjunction with a hard "stomp" on the rudder in the same direction and what amount of roll you can coax out of it (this became a lot of roll after the boosted ailerons were introduced).
I can see why the Germans called the P-38 "der Gabelschwanz Teufel". When they saw Lightnings approaching they were sure they were forked. Great update and dramatic source of the name.
I think that's a good call on the Yamamoto operation for the reasons you mentioned.
It will be great to see the next two chapters detailing further improvements in the ATL P-38 story. You mentioned in earlier postings that you had a solution for the poor quality British av-gas. And also you had a fix for increasing the P-38 production. I'm guessing we will see that in the updates?
The ATL P-38H will have hydraulically boosted ailerons? Better cockpit heat? Improved cockpit ergonomics? Inquiring minds want to know.
The issues with bad gas did not become apparent until the 8AF started operating P-38's at high alt bomber escort at the end of '43 so the fix won't happen until after that.
The next post will deal directly with preparation for full P-38H production and its associated modifications, some of which were already discussed in the January 43 post and others that were suggested by Kelsey as a result of the early March report...and, yes, this includes cockpit heat and ventilation. You will just have to wait to get the full picture
After that will be a post which deals almost entirely with production expasion.