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sink-me
Flying Battlewagons
The P-38 fighter pilots were getting their instructions at an African field.
"Remember, fellows," their leader cautioned, "German plots always turn to the
right in coming out of a dive. They have to, because of engine torque. o head them
off instead of chasing them, and don't waste shells. Wait till you get the cockpit
or engine in your sights."
The pilots hardly needed this reminder. They knew a few stray bullets rarely
knock out a modern plane. Some had already returned from flights with patches of
wing ripped off and splatter marks of bullets on their cockpit armor.
The bombardier of a Flying Fortress, left, sights his second. threat,
an auxiliary machine gun. Below, the heavily gunned Lockheed "Lightning" interceptor
In some respects, American fighting planes were behind the times when war began.
Our fighters had only a few guns of small caliber, and no armor. Now American designers
have taken the lead, and the airplanes we are building today are literally flying
battleships, bristling with long-range guns and heavily protected by armor plate
in vital spots.
More and more, military airplanes are being designed primarily as battle planes
and secondarily for special duties in battle. Thus some of our fighter planes are
now equipped to carry bombs, and some of our bombers have been called "four-engined
fighters" by the Japs. Unable to get close with-out being shot out of the sky, the
Japs have even tried to bomb big "Flying Fortresses" from above.
For a look at one new type of battle plane, let's consider the P-38, the Lockheed
Lightning that was kept under wraps until enough of them could be flown abroad to
take the enemy by surprise. About its only resemblance to pursuit planes of the
past is that it is a single seater.
America leads the world in design and production of interceptor and pursuit
fighters like the P-38 "Lightnings," flying in formation above. Below, the bombardier
poised over canvas-shrouded bombsight in the greenhouse of a Flying Fortress
Side gunners of Boeing bombers dispense death with these .50-caliber
machine guns projecting from windows
The P-38 is a big (52-foot wingspread) and heavy (several tons) twin-boomed,
twin-engined (2,300 horsepower) fighter that can climb half again as fast as a Jap
Zero. Its top level speed (400 miles plus) is so fast the pilot has to lower his
flaps to slow down for a dogfight. Otherwise he would become unconscious from the
centrifugal pull in tight turns. The plane can dive so fast a special way had to
be devised to measure its speed. The ordinary air speed indicator falters when it
encounters the "shock wave" that is below the P-38's full diving speed. The plane
can hedgehop so close to the ground that its slipstream tears at the treetops like
a hurricane, and it can fight well in air so thin the pilot as well as the engines
must be supercharged.
This description sounds like an engineer's dream of what a fighter plane should
be, and in effect that is just about what the Lightning is. Part of the secret of
its performance is in its complete streamlining. In the air the big plane has less
drag than would be set up by an ordinary 27-inch square card table.
Few Jap pilots live to remember this view of the "stinger" in the tail
of a Fortress
In the past, fighter planes had short range because not much weight could be
spared for extra fuel. The P-38 overcomes this handicap by carrying reserve fuel.
With this, the plane can be ferried under its own power to any part of the world.
As a bomber, the plane is able to lift thousands of pounds. P-38's have returned
to their bases on one engine, with holes in the wings, booms and tail group. The
pilot's cockpit and vital parts of the engine nacelles are protected by heavy armor
plating. It was built to take punishment, but principally to give punishment. Four
big machine guns and, cannon project from the nose. The fire power is so effective
that during a "preview" engagement in the Aleutians, a flight of P-38s shot down
five Jap Zeros and one Jap flying boat during a single dive. In Europe, German pilots
stayed away from-the P-38s until they could install heavier guns or figure out maneuvers
that would give them a more nearly equal chance in combat.
Our big bombers are now in the real battle-wagon class, Flying Fortresses and
Liberators have been bombing Europe night and day, their gunners knocking down 20
German fighters for every bomber lost. Nazi pilots used to like to come in close
for the kill but now they hang on half a mile away and try to duck in for hurried
attacks.
This is the upper gun turret of a 4-motored British "Lancaster" Douglas
Aircraft Co. photo
Beautiful and peaceful as it looks, the Boeing B-17 bristles with over
a dozen machine guns. Notice transparent nose
The invulnerability of the bombers to fighter attack lies in their fire power.
As many as a dozen machine guns are mounted on a Flying Fortress. All the guns are
maneuverable, some by hand and some by hydraulic controls. The machine gun nests
of bombers are marvels of complex machinery fitted into small spaces. The tail gunner
of a British Lancaster bomber, for instance, slides into his position feet first,
then sits up and closes the sliding doors behind him. His seat turns in unison with
the machine guns that he points by turning handles that also carry the gun triggers.
The "belly" gunner on this same plane sits inside the ship and fires his guns by
remote control, aiming through an upside-down periscope. To avoid delays in reloading,
many yards of belted ammunition feed into each gun, and this ammunition lies on
long slides like miniature railway trackage inside the fuselage.
A Douglas engineer tests the controls of a "Lancaster's" belly guns,
his left hand on trigger. He is leaning past periscope used for sighting guns
Battle planes of all types are still in a state of flux. Boeing has announced
that even after seven years of manufacture, more people are working on the design
of its Flying Fortresses than ever before. No more than five Flying Fortresses in
a row have been built to identical plans. One slight change may be merely to alter
a control so that the man using it won't skin his knuckles. Another may radically
increase the bomber's fire power. Recent improvements include a longer Plexiglas
nose for the bombardier compartment, wide-blade propellers for a better bite at
high altitudes, a hydraulic system independent of the four power plants, dust filters
for desert operations, and special cold-weather fixtures for the Aleutians. Super-charger
improvements gave the B-17 its present high ceiling, which in turn led to redesigning
the rudder and fin to their present large sizes to provide bombing and gunnery stability
at altitudes even above 35,000 feet. Heavier guns are anticipated.
A .30-caliber cartridge is shown against rear of 3/4-inch armor plate
pierced by high-velocity bullets
Recoil of heavy guns is a present problem, as is the weight of the large shells.
One proposed solution to recoil is a low-velocity bullet that uses the rocket principle,
a shell that increases its speed and flies straight after it leaves the gun. More
probable is better use of the high velocity principle.
Ralph Waldo Miller, nationally known gunsmith, has designed special loads that
have muzzle velocities of around 5,000 feet per second. Miller's new MVF .30-caliber
bullet, an armor-piercing and explosive projectile, can burst through the heaviest
tank or destroyer hull. Bullets of this type might be superior to anything now used
in the air.
"Flying tanks" are being talked about for the future, heavily armored craft that
would act as protective escorts for convoys of transports or bombers of many times
the weight-carrying capacity that we know today. Reports have been published of
10-ton bomb loads or better for 1943, so the day of the aerial dreadnaughts that
would accompany bombers may not be so far in the future as one might suppose.
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