Ahh, yes the "air brakes." Lovely little thing for the lightning. Ironically it wasn't fully intended to help slow the plane, but rather prevent mach tuck in dives. The lightnings design as a heavy interceptor to reach high altitude as quickly as possible to hit bombers meant they went for exceptional power and great lift on the wings. It performed its designated task superbly but with some unintended side effects. If the plane goes into a dive and hits a certain speed, which is ridiculously easy to do. -The airflow going over the wings goes supersonic, causing the lift factor on the wings to reverse.- The center of pressure that gives lift moves to the rear of the plane, effectively applying lift to the tail. What this entailed was that in a dive, your planes nose would have a very strong pull down and you wouldn't be able to pull out of the dive until you slowed down enough (hence mach tuck today). *Essentially, the plane went faster then its lift vectoring.* The only way to slow down enough was to basically idle your engine while pulling as hard as you can on the stick to try to maintain only that angle and wait till you got to a low enough altitude that air pressure put enough drag on your 38 to slow you down sufficiently. Much testing was done to figure this problem out, and more to find a solution to fix/prevent it. The solution ended up being the dive flaps aka air brakes, they were simply some folding slats on the wings in key locations that disrupted the airflow in such a way at to return the center of pressure back to the wings. Doing so allowed a smoother airflow and control at high speeds. This little change allowed for 38 pilots to do dives without fear of pancaking into the ground from a lock up. Beyond that, they didn't do much to actually slow the plane. But the increased control in dives meant it's CAS support went up greatly as it didn't have to do level bombings as much for newer pilots. Little history note, the 38 gained speed so well that many test pilots and designers were trying to slow down the aircraft without overly impacting combat capability. Things like desmoothing certain areas of the plane, bigger intakes for the superchargers and more. Most were deemed impractical or ineffective. It's one of those weird little quirks of the lightning, it loved to go fast, but their wasn't much you could do to slow her down. *Edit note* Thanks to Oliver Tindall for correcting one of my misconceptions in the mechanics behind the airflow issue. I have since corrected to the best of my knowledge. For those seeing this, Have a great rest of your day/night!

I had the privilege when I was in the USAF back in the early '90s to help restore the static P-38 we had sitting at the main entrance to the base. We figured with a little work she could be ready to fly in about 3 months worth of work. I was also able to get into the cockpit and man the guys that flew this girl back in the war are short little guys and I'm 5'11". But like you Magz she rates up there as one of my favorite warbirds. I do wonder though does IL-2 simulate mach lock? Some the 38 pilots said would happen in a steep dive, loving all airflow over the controls

Yeah, the Lightning has been my favorite airplane for as long as I can remember too. Most other people love Mustangs or Corsairs over everything else - but for me, it's always been the P-38.

I'm so used to war thunder's damage models i was surprised when the he-111s survived that long lol

War Thunder ruined my impression of the P-38. IL-2 Sturmovik brought back my love for it.

P38, is as if someone saw the total horsepower of a bomber, and thought: like make a fighter out of one of these! And that tail, such a simple solution - big lever - big turning! Wonderful "little" beast!

Magz, you talking about the P-38 as a ground attack bird reminds me of the old Aces High 2 guys that used to fly 38s and pretty much only 38s. They would use them for fighters, for leveling cities. Everything. It's an absolutely brutal aircraft.

"It's like being a god!" LOL, love it. One of my favorite birds, as well. :)

Glorious in just about every conceivable way, ITS A FIGHER WITH A YOKE

Such a lovely plane, If Il-2 goes back to the Pacific I hope it gets in there as well.

Thanks for the work you put in on your channel.

Awesome flying and review! You got me to buy the plane! :) I have been a long time IL-2 Sturmovik 1946 flyer (since the release in 2001) with some breaks here and there over the years and just got into IL-2 Sturmovik Stalingrad. I must say the graphics and the avionics are pretty impressive now! :)

Next to the A6M2-21 Zero (which might some glorious day be in IL-2), the P-38 is my favorite! I'm with you all the way with the enthusiasm for this plane, thank you for a wonderful video. :-)

The joy in your voice at getting to fly the P-38 is fucking spectacular. Go MAGZ!

The first plane I took up after the new patch. P-38 and 109 are my favorite aircraft to fly. (They have something in common beleive it or not!) It felt good and looks Outstanding!

It is sad that it wasn't used longer. It has to be one of my two favourite US prop fighters.

I am glad Magz shares a love for the fork tailed devil as well. Favorite looking plane of WWII and probably favorite history behind it as well.

Great vid Mags, many thanks

Congratuilations!

I literally thought this was a video of a real aircraft until about a minute in.

I have the privilege to work on a f model and they are outstanding aircraft way way WAY over engineered and hard to get to certain parts but an absolute beaut to see fly.

Never knew P-38 could carry that much. Its one of my all time favorite aircraft's to. Wish Gaijin would add more bomb/ordinance to many of the Aircraft's in WT. There are so many historically bomb loads missing.

Your love for the P-38 is mine of the P-51, so we are both happy...lol Good job

i remember this from IL2- Pacific Fighters . a greate plane.

My dad designed the tooling for the hydraulics in the tail of the P-38. My mom was a QC engineer. They met on the assembly line.

When I was a kid, I had a neighbor who had flown both P-38's and P-51's in the war over Europe. Unfortunately, I was too stupid to ask and then listen when I had the chance. I do remember him saying he wished he had a crack at the 109's while he was in the Mustang. Ah, foolish youth...

I love flying this airplane. Yes it's a great close air support aircraft. Thank you to the skunk works. Their first project set a standard. I have been waiting for this since Nov 2017 so I'm not going to watch the rest of the vid. Andiamo Volare!

I too have always loved the look of the "Fork Tailed Devil"

Think about it this way: how big is the P-47 when a twin-engined heavy fighter is only that much heavier?

Fun fact: The P-38 established air superiority in the entire world thanks to its versatility in both ground Attack as well as air to air. P.S. It was used in operation "Vengeance" in which a flight of P-38 aircraft destroyed 2 Japanese "Betty" bombers, one of which held admiral Yamamoto, the man who masterminded the pearl harbor attack.

Imagine how fast that thing would be with a couple merlins in those nacelles.

9:35 Ouch! "The ground is rising." :))

Damn. Coming from DCS, it's awesome how good the explosions look in this. The 2000lb explosion looks huge

This aircraft needs to be in DCS, she is a beautiful thing ...wow love it.

Loved the P-38 ever since I played 1943.

if this channel became P-38 TV for a while, ...I would be more than okay with that

Funny, just a couple of hours ago I was on the site of the old Lockheed factory, where the real version of this plane would likely have been built. Sadly it's just a shopping center now.

i love this thing cant wait to fly it against zeros! also did you guys notice how sneaky the ground ai has gotten? they hide truck seemling in the shadows and disperse . when you aim at them some try to run for a forrest. they dont just disperse and sit there no more

The P-38 must be one of the most unique designs to be widely produced and successful in aviation history.

P38 the genius of Kelly Johnson!

If ever there was a plane that was vastly underappreciated, it would be the P-38. An absolute monster of a fighter. Tremendous range, towering ceiling, great speed, deadly firepower. All with user-friendly landing gear, nearly no torque effect, a high-visibility cockpit, and a hardy frame. The top American aces used the P-38 to make a name for themselves. It was a true fighting machine.

Cool plane Magz. I cannot wait until the Mosquito arrives in DCS. I may just abandon all other planes to just fly that. Twin engine fighters rock! :-)

Always loved this plane. Just hate that the yoke blocks the airspeed indicator.

such a beautiful bird

I had Microsoft Combat Flight Simulator 2 flashbacks watching this one 👍

Your feeling on this plane are the same on the tempest for me. Soon as I got the plane I wanted to cry IL2 have not done the plane justice. :( no rockets only 400 rounds for 4 cannons. ;( ;( Love ya vids keep them coming.

i cant say its my favorite aircraft because its not a hulking big bomber, but it is a sexy thing.

I'm Sold, I truly appreciate your excitement and demonstration. I was pleasantly surprised as you turned inside the 109. I have a thrustmaster joystick set up, will I have problems with configuring startups procedures? I'm happy, and I'm looking forward to your campaign video and tutorials, Great Job!!!!

Man I hope they add the N model to DCS, this was also Chuck Yeager's favorite aircraft of WW2.

I have only flown it a little bit, but its a very nice bird to fly.

Looking forward to the tempest hope it’s good

One of the funniest things about the Lightning Real-World was for such a LARGE High-Speed fighter it could TURN with basically Everything on either side for AT LEAST half to three-quarters of a rotation, & the J/L's were even better. From what I've read, if the Britain didn't have such crappy AvGas & Lockheed had sorted out the heater quicker(& 8th AF hadn't screwed around with the whole "No Drop Tanks On Combat Pursuit Planes fiasco" the 8th/9th AF would have had the Escort Fighter that they needed from the start. The J/L's would have been BETTER, what with the extra internal fuel with the relocated radiators, but the P-38 was an Exceptional Long Range Fighter Escort & Air Superiority Plane.

The twin tailed devil. Also noticed the IJ flag in the Axis tab in the plane menu...

imagine that plane w/ swept, laminar flow wings

The #1 WWII air combat myth is as follows: Dogfighting died in WWII... It was actually the reverse...: It was assumed dead since the monoplane era, in the 1930s, with lots of early WWII twin engine designs jumping into the opening, only to have the jaws of dogfighting close on them, for the rest of the war... Only the P-38 succeeded in the day fighter role, and even then, only barely... Second myth was that heavy radial engine type meant high speed boom and zoom... In reality, radials simply turned better (FW-190As and P-47s out-turned routinely Spitfires and Me-109Gs at the lowest speeds) turning and downthrottling easily creating bisection to a dive attacks, which, with a 1% hit rate, forced all but the best gunnery pilots to follow and turn... See more amazing front-line WWII pilot reality quoted here (as opposed to the period test pilot nonsense): kzfaq.info/get/bejne/oqlygtuTxt68cnk.html

If i remember correctly P38 had more air to air victories then any other American fighter and the top two american aces flew P38

My Favorite WWII USAF Fighter, It's was a Straight Shooter.

I’d love to see what you think of the new IL-2 Normandy map.

In all my time flying I never would have thought the P-38 could out turn the 109, that explains a lot of my deaths to it, i underestimated the bastard..... so basically us German's are fucked now, that thing out turns, out rolls, out guns, out climbs and out speeds the 109. Looks like I'm flying for the allies now.

"Hey stuff" am i stuff?

A P38 with bombs? Gaijin please!

@Magz - Help me understand about the nose wheel compressing you were talking about. Why exactly was it designed used a spring instead of hydraulic?

Yussssss

New aircraft in IL2*exists* Magz "this is the easiest aircraft in the game to taxi"

"Fork TAil Devil"

Geeeeeeeeeeeeday ladies and gents

I fell in love with this thing while playing the original IL-2, and why not? - tricycle landing gear = no more godforsaken "S turns" during taxi - two VERY powerful engines instead of one - counter rotating props means no little to no propeller torque - boosted controls - dive brakes - good visibility from the driver's seat - a 20mm cannon in the nose to augment the 4 .50s - JESUS, it was fast - rate of climb was jaw dropping - carried bombs OR rockets for ground targets - two ferry tanks instead of one The Lightning always has been, and ever shall be, my first love when you're talking WWII fighter aircraft. It did absolutely everything I asked it to do and did it well. Are you paying attention, ED?

I am going to be fellow P-38 enthusiast in a bit.

I think someone should model a P 38 with the engines in front of and behind the cockpit, it should be even faster, like the German Arrow, and you could put guns in both nacelles.

maybe one day they will add the Fokker G.1

Magz, did you select the extra gun ammo in setup? Just curious as I thought the P-38 could pack quite a load.

Would tweeking the Joy-stick curves, So it is less sensitive close to Joy-stick neutral, Be worth a look?

TWO CRITICAL FUCKING ENGINE'S.

How did you generate the mission? Did you did it yourself?

Nice. My grandfather shot one of those down.

I'm curious if you're flying this with a joystick or a yoke for authenticity. Just seems so strange to have a fighter with a yoke.

Would love a Lightning in DCS World

She's a dream to fly... tried it out yesterday and went to fly over my home place just to figure out a 130-140k people city that had a remarkable weapons industry back then isn't modelled (yet).

Now THATS some pure American power >=D

Air brakes...so it's a P-38J-25.

Wonder how it compares with the Mossie//

If there's anything we Americans can get right its building badass planes

Didn't the P38 have turbo chargers? Isn't that's why it failed in Europe? My boss had a wrecked one in his yard and I wanted the turbo but never got up the gumbtion to remove one.

Any wisdom on how to run the throttle+RPM on this thing? People have told me not to bind the two controls to the same axis but fail to explain why. What would the point be in ever reducing the RPM to less than 100%? Whenever I fly this thing it feels gutless as hell and cant even outrun a single engine 109 in a straight line.

I have a thrustmaster 16000 fcs can I operate both engines? I seen whereas you started engines independently. Thanks

*I ♥ P-38s!* 👍👍

For metric users: that's around 450-460 kmh while carrying 4000 pounds of bombs... Uhm... pounds is not a metric unit of measurement, should be around 1.800 kg :)

I think i remember the P38 also has a turbo

are you using track ir?

My original Favorite plane ..then the P51...Mags is IL2 best than WT I just want to fly and have fun..WT is well you all ready know...cheers.

Is this plane included in the patch, or do you need to spend $70(!) on the expansion?

Magz, I’m an enormous P-38 aficionado and I’ve never heard of nor read about the P-38 lacking rudder authority (yaw). It is not mentioned in Warren Bodie’s book, nor the flight manual, the pilot handbook, nor Hal Hibbard’s technical writeup. Perhaps this lack of yaw should be reported as a bug?

You need to use the trim a lot more I can tell your buffeting in the tight turns. Crank that to -55 and watch her whip right around

I swear to god I thought gaijjn bought il2 studios to make the war thunder game they look so similar to me

Can you adjust each engines rpm seperatly mags?

We just need G4M Betty in the game now.

5 views in 60 seconds, that is amazing

Nose power

Clash of the titans

I don't care if it's AI only we just need a B-17G