Lockheed P-38, and the Republic Corporation’s P-47

These books feature American weaponry in World War II from small arms like the BAR (Browning Automatic Rifle), to our tanks, planes and ships.
Two of most interesting of these were two fighter planes, the Lockheed P-38, and the Republic Corporation’s P-47. The P-38 is described in detail in the first book, Reluctant Warriors, in the stories of Jimmy DeValery, and the P-47 in the third of the series, Chances, in both the Chances story and in 312.
Both were weird or ungainly looking, or both. The p-38 had two parallel fuselages (each with a 1,710-horse motor) connected by a nacelle wing holding the cockpit. This gave the plane a tremendous 52’ wingspan which was half that of the B-17 heavy bomber. It also afforded rather great capacity for internal fuel tanks, and produced terrific ranges of 2,000 miles or more; a nice feature in the vast distances of the Pacific where it became the principle Army Air Corp fighter, a monster compared to the tiny Japanese Zero.
The Republic plane also attained great size due to the installation of a large super-charging system for high attitude work. It’s loaded weight topped out at some 20,500lbs (a Zero’s was a little over 5,000lbs.) which in turn demanded a giant engine with an emergency war-rating of almost 2,800hp. It was fitted with a four-bladed 16’ Hamilton-Standard solid steel propeller. While not as speedy or maneuverable as a P-51, it could absorb much more punishment and dive almost at the speed of sound. Some 15,329 were produced.

Jon Stafford