Im pretty sure i got this link off her (maybe the diving thread?)
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6852361727160206788&q=p38
im pretty sure its probably already been discussed but can someone please tell me more info about this aircraft?
what happened to it? what happened to the pilot?
By: Kernowglyn - 12th January 2007 at 15:21
485 mph. I don’t think so! Muahahaha…………………………………………..
The fastest model under specific ideal conditions could touch 414 mph.
By: Moggy C - 12th January 2007 at 10:20
On 27 January, 1944, a USAF Lockheed Lightning P38 fighter took off for its last flight over the Mediterranean. Its pilot, Second Lieutenant Harry R Greenup, was to join another P38 and escort a formation of Flying Fortress bombers. The serial number was 43-2545
At that time the Lightning was the fastest fighter in existence (485mph), and had the widest operational range. It could fly higher than the German Messerschmitt or Japanese Zero (to 13,000m), and was the only aircraft with five guns mounted together in the nose, which lent it great accuracy.
The Germans called it the “Fork-Tailed Devil”, the Japanese “Two Aircraft with one Pilot”. The design originated from a sketch made by Lockheed’s chief engineer on a train journey, and the prototype flew in 1938. More than 10,000 were built.
Twelve metres long, with a wingspan of 17m, the Lightning was powered by two Allison V17 twelve-cylinder water-cooled engines, each developing 1475hp. It was armed with four 12mm Browning M2 machine-guns, and a 20mm AN-M2 cannon.
Above La Ciotat Bay, east of Marseilles, Greenup’s formation came under fire, either from anti-aircraft cannon from the German defences on Isle Verte, or from enemy aircraft. Greenup and his aircraft went missing.
When the aircraft was discovered and righted, the cockpit was empty.
Moggy
Googled from
http://www.divernet.com/cgi-bin/articles.pl?id=4112§ion=1054&action=display
Google is your friend.
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January 12, 2007 at 8:23 am