Multi-purpose fighter P-38 "Lightning"

Comments

[miv110]

And yet, the P-38 is not as ideal as the article suggests, and in a maneuvering battle accompanied by bombers on the Western Front, it did not show itself very well (just for some time the allies did not have worthy long-range fighters), which required its replacement with others more advanced machines, in particular the R-59, having recovered from childhood diseases, quickly replaced the Lightning as attack aircraft. By the way, the author did not mention that there was a serial 2-engine Pe-3 fighter in the USSR (the "100" project was created in the late 30s and from it the famous "Pawn" was born - the workhorse of front-line aviation)

[svp67]

Quote: miv110

Still, the P-38 is not as perfect as the article suggests.

This can be said about all planes that have already flown off and that fly, and most importantly, that will fly, otherwise development will simply not be necessary. The R-38 was the best of twin-engine aircraft of this class.
By the way, Exupery flew and died on it ...

[Vladimirets]

Quote: svp67

By the way, Exupery flew and died on it ...

Exupery flew only for reconnaissance.

[svp67]

Quote: Vladimirets

Exupery flew only for reconnaissance.

Exupery on the Lockheed F-5A-1-LO taxis to the parking lot after a reconnaissance flight in the spring of 1944

[gladcu2]

Vladimirets

By the way, intelligence is considered one of the most dangerous types of combat missions.
In preparation for the operation, in order to conceal the movement of troops, reconnaissance aircraft were hunted. And they received rewards.

[inkass_98]

Quote: svp67

The R-38 was the best of the twin-engine aircraft of this class.

I do not argue, but in fights in Europe such fighters did not justify themselves, so the P-38 was used mainly in battles with the Japanese. Neither the Me-110, nor the Pe-3, nor the same P-38 could compete in maneuverability with the best examples of single-engine fighters, so they quickly re-qualified as night modifications of fighters.
Although the aircraft itself is beautiful, great development.

[Revolver]

Quote: inkass_98

Neither the Me-110, nor the Pe-3, nor the same R-38 could compete with the best models of single-engine fighters in maneuverability, so they quickly changed to night modifications of the fighters.

I'm not sure about the Pe-3, but both the Bf-110 and the P-38 Lightning had a range that single-engine machines couldn't reach, at least until the Mustang came along. So they were used as bomber escorts. The logic was simple - escorting slow fighters was better than nothing, and it was cheaper to lose a couple of fighters than one heavy bomber. And heavy fighters weren't easy prey - while inferior in horizontal maneuver, they were at least equal in vertical maneuver, and were superior to most of their opponents in armament. A cannon and four large-caliber machine guns, not spaced along the wing, but grouped in the nacelle, had a buzzsaw effect on the target. So they justified themselves.

[svp67]

Quote: Nagan

Yes, and heavy fighters were not easy prey - yielding in horizontal maneuver, they were at least equal in vertical, and in armament superior to most opponents.

You know, read this, especially the conclusions that ALWAYS surprised me:

[svp67]

07.11.1944/XNUMX/XNUMX Reflection of the Allied raid

On the morning of November 07.11.1944, XNUMX, the American Lightnings attacked a Soviet convoy that was passing near the town of Nis (Yugoslavia).
To repel the raid, four fighters of the 866th IAP (288th IAD) rose. Initially, the Lightnings were mistaken by Soviet pilots for the German two-keel "frames" Fw-189. They wondered how the Germans in the area had such an armada of 40 aircraft. After removing the landing gear, the fighters accelerated their maximum speed near the ground and climbed upward with a candle. They immediately entered the battle. With the first attack, each pair shot down an enemy plane. Another pair came to the aid of the four, and soon the whole regiment took off. One of the planes was piloted by A.I.Koldunov.
The air battle flared up more and more. Unknown planes, dropping bombs, at first tried to defend themselves, but, unable to withstand the onslaught of Soviet fighters, lined up in a "snake" to better cover each other with the fire of the front machine guns, and began to leave towards the city. One of the "Yaks" swiftly dived from a height onto a two-keel aircraft and opened fire. A 37-mm projectile from his cannon exploded in the center section of the "frame", and it, flaring up like a torch, fell to the ground. The Yak rushed forward, but immediately came under fire from another bomber. Machine-gun fire hit the cockpit of the fighter. "Pecking" his nose, he abruptly went down and crashed. The pilot was killed.
The air battle continued. But the Soviet pilots had already realized that they were dealing with allies. A pair of fighters swiftly approached the Americans. At the risk of being shot down, Koldunov came close to the leading Lightning and began gesturing to show that we were our allies. Led Koldunov Viktor Stepanov vigilantly guarded his commander. The American obviously understood the gestures and climbed southward. The rest of the Lightnings followed. Having escorted them to the top of the mountain, the Soviet fighters swung their wings and turned back.

[svp67]

The thunderstorm seemed to have died down. But a second group of Lightnings appeared, also numbering about forty aircraft. And again the wild picture repeated itself. The planes, one after another, went into a dive and dropped bombs on the convoy of Soviet troops. The Yaks in the air rushed towards them. They rushed swiftly between the Lightnings, showing them their identification marks. However, not all Americans have stopped bombing and shelling. The most "slow-witted" had to be persuaded by the fire of machine guns and cannons.
A whole armada of planes roared over the festively decorated city. Alexander Koldunov, as well as the first time, joined with his partner Viktor Stepanov to the leader of the group of American bombers and began to show him the way home. In the end, the Lightnings, not so much at will as by duress, stopped storming the highway and turned back.
Later, the representative of the US Air Force referred to the loss of orientation crews. But even if this happened to the first group, the second could not repeat its mistake, since radio communication was maintained between them. The leader of the first group could inform the second that there were Soviet troops in the valley. However, the second group entered the same part of the column that their predecessors had just bombed and poured lead.
In their defense, the Americans also claimed that their planes were storming the fascist troops, retreating from Greece to Trieste. This, too, was not true. German troops did not move near the city of Nis, but about four hundred kilometers from it.
The American command has apologized to the Soviet for this "incident." But words cannot bring back those who died during the treacherous raid of the "allies". As a result of the raid, the commander of the rifle corps, General Stepanov, the father of Viktor Stepanov, the leader of A.I.Koldunov, was killed among others.

[svp67]

Headquarters 866 IAP
Nish, 7.11.1944 of the year, 16.00

7.11.44/12.50/12, 3 a group of 4 Lighting type aircraft attacked parts of the rifle corps of the 400rd Ukrainian Front, moving along the road from Niš to the west in the Chamurliya region. Four airplanes in the ranks of the extended bearing carried out attacks one at a time from N - 50 m with a lead to N - 1500 m. Two fours of Lightning in the ranks of the bearing went to H - 1 m. with fire ZA, 1 Lightning aircraft was shot down, which fell XNUMX km north of the airfield.
At 13.00:9, the on-duty pair Yak-866 13.05 IAP, the leading crew of Kryvonogih and the guided ml. l Shipul. At 6, 9 Yak-13.10 took off, the commander of the AE, Mr. Bondar, the commanders of the Art. l-Surnev, Art. L-Zheleznov, Art. lt Potsiba, pilots lt Zhestovsky and ml. L-Serdyuk. At 3 a pair of Yak-XNUMXs, leading to Mr. Koldunov and led by Krasyukov, took off.
The first pair, taking off, went with a right turn to approach with the attacking 4 lightning aircraft. 2 Lightning aircraft attacked a pair of Bentonids. Ml l Shipul made an attack on the lightning plane, which came on the second attack of the ground forces, lit it from the first attack, the latter crashed into the ground about 40 meters north of the Nis airfield, where it burned down. Lt. Krivonogih, fighting off the attack of 500 Lightning planes, lit one of them from a vertical maneuver, which the burning one fell 2-8 km north of the Nish airfield, on a mountain in a forest.
During the subsequent attack, Mr. Kryvonogih hit the tail of the next Lightning aircraft, for which ZA opened defensive fire. Having fallen into the explosions of the ZA shells, the plane of the Krivonogih lane smoked, made a coup and crashed into the ground 80 km northeast of the airfield with an angle of 85-3 degrees.
Take-off AE commander Mr. Bondar and artillery unit commanders l-Surnev and Art. Mr. Zheleznov, having determined that these were American planes of the Lightning type, tried not to engage in air combat with them. Attacked by single and pairs of lightning aircraft, maneuvered vertically and horizontally, trying to prevent them from firing. Art. lt Surnev shook the plane to let know that this was not the enemy, after which the lightning planes rolled off and the attacks stopped.
Pilot ml. lt Serdyuk, taking off alone, was immediately attacked by lightning aircraft. Coming out of the attack, he saw that one Lightning plane was attacking the Yak-9 plane, in turn attacked this plane, which immediately caught fire and fell 1 km northwest of the airfield.
In a subsequent attack ml. Lt Serdyuk attacked yet another Lightning, gave him two lines of a cannon and a machine gun, which was smoking and left with a decline in a north-westerly direction.
In the region of 2 km north of Nish, lt. Zhestovsky led a fight with a pair of Lightning, attacked one of them from above and behind, and knocked him out with cannon-machine gun fire, which was smoking and left with a decrease in a north-westerly direction.
The second Lightning aircraft from behind attacked L. Zhestovsky and set fire to his aircraft. L-Zhestovsky received a gunshot wound to his right leg, right side and toe of his right hand, jumped with a parachute and landed in the area of ​​the village of Kamenitsa, 8 km north of Nish, the plane burned down.
Art. after take-off, Potsiba climbed a height of 2000 m and joined the group of 12 Lightning, who approached the airfield with a course of 100 degrees. With a wiggle, he let know that it was his plane and began to point to his airfield. Lightning aircraft did not fire, turned around and left with a course of 240 degrees. At that time, as many as 60 Lightning planes approached from the west, which met with the 1st group, turned around and headed west.
Lt Krasyukov, having flown out and identified American planes, did not enter the battle. I watched as in the region of 1 km north of the aerodrome, the Yak-9 plane fell to the ground burning.

[svp67]

In an aerial battle, Lightning aircraft shot down 2 Yak-9 aircraft. Pilot ml. lt Shipulya died, lt Zhestovsky escaped by parachute. L-Kryvonogih, shot down by our FOR, died.
In this battle, according to observations from the ground, behind the fire of ZA and our fighter planes 5 lightning planes were shot down.

CONCLUSION: A flying group of Lightning planes, obviously, mistakenly attacked a convoy of our troops in connection with the loss of detailed orientation, accepting this area as enemy territory.
In an aerial battle of Yak-9 aircraft with Light aircraft, the latter showed good horizontal maneuverability and when conducting an air battle on turns, the advantage remained for the Light aircraft, which easily came into the tail of the Yak-9 aircraft, which had a much larger turn radius than the Light aircraft.
On a vertical maneuver, the Yak-9 had an advantage over the Lightning aircraft.

[enot73]

Quote: inkass_98

Neither the Me-110, nor the Pe-3, nor the same R-38 could compete in maneuverability with the best examples of single-engine fighters,

However, the German "frame" FV - 189, built according to the scheme. a similar "lightning" scheme was a highly maneuverable vehicle and was a difficult target for fighters. In the SSSZ, after the war, an analogue of the FV - 189 - Su - 12 was even developed.

[Vladimirets]

Quote: enot73

German "frame" FV - 189, built according to the scheme. a similar "lightning" scheme was a very maneuverable machine

With one caveat: at high altitudes.

Quote: enot73

was a difficult target for fighters

Mostly thanks to a good defensive concept.

[yehat]

the maneuverability of the frame was, but was not something special. Just in addition to maneuverability there was excellent visibility, which allowed us to start the evasion maneuver and dangerous defensive weapons in time. At the same time, the frame often fell into battle with an excess in height, which complicated the attack of fighters.

[murriou]

About Exupery, the article was just said. If you read it, of course

[Bongo]

Quote: miv110

Nevertheless, the P-38 is not so perfect as follows from the article, and in a maneuvering battle accompanied by bombers on the Western Front, he did not show himself very well (just for some time the Allies did not have worthy fighter escorts for long-range escort), which required its replacement by others more advanced machines, in particular P-59 having recovered from childhood illnesses, he quickly ousted the Lightning for the role of attack aircraft.

Sorry, but the P-59 Aircomet was the first American jet fighter (pictured) and was used for training purposes only.

[Bayonet]

Quote: miv110

By the way, the author did not mention that in the USSR there was a serial 2-engine fighter Pe-3

Maybe because the article was about R-38, and not about Pe-3.

[fa2998]

Quote: miv110

And yet the R-38 is not as perfect as it follows from the article and in maneuverable combat

The Americans have succeeded in creating a plane! Many countries tried to create a twin-engine fighter, but due to their sluggishness they were made into night fighters or bombers (Me-110, Pe-2,3). Of course, a twin-engine is inferior to a single-engine fighter, but the Lightning was on par. Plus a powerful battery and range.

[parusnik]

in the Soviet Union, Tupolev proposed the option of a twin-engine fighter Mi-3 (ANT-21) And there was also ANT-23 (I-12) "Baumansky Komsomolets", the design of the aircraft B began in the spring of 1929. VN Chernyshev was appointed as the leading engineer for the aircraft. On November 30, 1930, the fighter project was approved. The aircraft was an all-metal monoplane of the original layout: there was no fuselage, as such, the pilot was in a gondola placed in the middle of the center section, in the front and rear parts of which there were two Gnome-Ron "Jupiter VI" engines with a capacity of 480 hp, which rotated the pulling and pushing screws. The plumage was mounted on two metal beams-pipes, going from the center section and passing in the front part into the fairings of the APK-4 guns of 76 mm caliber. Developed for recoilless guns, developed by the team headed by L.V. Kurchevsky. In June 1934, all work on the ANT-23 was stopped.

[svp67]

Quote: parusnik

in the Soviet Union, Tupolev proposed the option of a twin-engine fighter Mi-3 (ANT-21)

In addition, they were tested in the USSR, but for various reasons they did not go into the series:
TIS (A) - with engines AM-37 for 1400 hp at an altitude of 6300 m, released in 1941. Unlike other planes of a similar layout (VIT, SPB, Pe-2, Tu-2), its size and wing area are much smaller (34,85 m), and the engines are larger and heavier: the wing's specific load is one and a half times greater. The entire all-metal construction was well thought out technologically.
The armament was extremely powerful: a bow rifle battery of four ShKAS (3000 rounds), in the center section - two ShVAK-20 (1600 rounds), one ShKAS back-up and one ShKAS back-up (750 rounds). The mass of a second volley is 5,12 kg. Bombs - two of 500 kg on the outside.
The aircraft was launched in the spring of 1941 before the war, at that time it was a new type based on the experience of the WIT and St. Petersburg. The first flight was only in September, then evacuation followed., Where tests were carried out, which lasted until 1943. Flight performance was good: speed at the ground 490 km / h, at an altitude of 1500 m 515 km / h, climb time 7000 m 11,5 minutes. But it was too late, the question of the series did not arise.
TIS (MA) - a heavy escort fighter, designed to deal with high-speed bombers, but not a dive bomber. It was supposed to install engines AM-39, but, due to their absence, AM-38s were installed. The dimensions and shapes of the aircraft were the same as the TIS (A), but the radiators were placed in the wing console with input and output tunnels.
The armament was still strengthened: in the nose of the fuselage - two BS machine guns, in the center section - two 37 mm caliber guns at the sides of the fuselage (even tried 45 mm caliber) and one ShKAS machine gun up and down. Bombs - two of 500 kg on the outside.
The first flight was June 13, 1944. Flight performance was just as good.

AND MIG-5 DIS

For this kind of fighter developed a special weapon system. With ammunition from the 200 300 shells easy to type on lёgkosёmnom carriage placed a 23-millimeter gun MP-6. It is placed in the nose of the fuselage. Two copies of a large-caliber machine gun BS 12,7 mm ammunition from the 300 600 rounds to four light machine guns caliber ShKAS 7,62 mm ammunition rounds to 1500.

Initially, engineers planned to install a gun-23 load cells, but experts from the Air Force and prototyping Commission decided that the MP-6 will be more effective.

Read more at: http://avia.pro/blog/mig-5

[Alexey RA]

Quote: svp67

In addition, they were tested in the USSR, but for various reasons they did not go into the series:

The reason, in fact, is one: where the engine?!
All of these heavy fighters were designed for promising engines with which they showed acceptable performance characteristics. But these motors did not go into the series. And with serial engines (M-105P, AM-35, AM-38) they turned into sedentary ducks.
Plus, Taubin podkuzmil, disrupting all the terms of the MP-6 and generally calling into question the possibility of getting a new gun of 23 mm caliber.

[Dragon-y]

Exupery flew in an airplane with removed weapons - it was not put on scouts and "post" ones.

[Free wind]

It's interesting that the Americans ended up in trouble with the guns for the planes. The 20 mm guns turned out to be a disaster for them, they messed up the French Hispano-Suizas and at the beginning of the war almost all American planes were armed with machine guns. The British later helped them with the 20 mm guns. And before takeoff, many planes had their gun ports (ports?) closed with paper.

[Alexey RA]

Quote: Free Wind

It is interesting that with guns for aircraft, the Americans were in the pope. 20 millimeter cannons turned out to be a disaster for them, they nailed them with French-Spanish spanish swords and at the beginning of the war almost all American planes were armed with machine guns.

The biggest joke is that while the Air Force was trying in vain to get a working copy of the 20-mm Hispano-Suiza HS.404 from the industry, the fleet received huge quantities of 20-mm Oerlikons from the same industry.

[lexa-xa]

Nevertheless, our Yaks also "landed" them, and the score is in our favor.
http://topwar.ru/39277-sovetsko-amerikanskaya-voyna-1944-go-goda.html

[da Vinci]

American films about the USSR often show red flags with sickles and hammers hanging all over the wall. From a photo of an assembly shop, where two American flags are hanging from the ceiling, I understood where this American cliche came from, which many young people take seriously, using the contemptuous "sovok". The best teacher of history, at least recent history, is photography, especially taken by ordinary people. The more simple, unbiased information, the more objective truth. IMHO. The article itself - 2 points.

[Efimov]

Beautiful and unusual plane

[motorized rifle]

One interesting point, the engines of the P-38 rotated in different directions (the reason is written in the article), respectively, the reactive and gyroscopic moments of the propellers were compensated. American pilots used this in the following way: in case of the enemy appearing at six (behind), they switched to a right, steep, ascending spiral. The spiral was performed with a maximum pitch angle, respectively, at full engine power and a speed of less than 200 km / h. The enemy trying to follow, also gave full throttle and, accordingly, moved at the same maximum pitch angles and low speed. But since in a single-engine aircraft, the compensation of the reactive moment is performed by the rudder (RN) (preliminary setting of the RN at an angle and direct deviation to the required value), and the effectiveness of the RN depends on the speed, therefore, when the speed dropped, German fighters simply "turned" to the left with the threat of stalling in a spin. After which the American gave the right pedal and reduced the right engine speed, his plane made a turn towards the enemy with a very small radius and it was possible to go on the attack. In a dive, the P-38 caught up with any enemy aircraft, but catching up is not all, in order to hit the enemy, you need to turn towards him, take him in sight and hold him while firing. And at high speeds, the rudder begins to "clamp" the high-speed flow, which the pilots at that time had to fight manually, by the way, it was in these modes that the Spitfire lost to the Focke-Wulf, the Spitfire controlled the ailerons not by deflecting the entire handle, but only its upper part and his pilot simply did not have enough physical strength to deflect the ailerons due to the small lever, which the Focke pilots, who had excellent roll control at all speeds, used to get out from under attack. So the P-38 pilot, who controlled the roll using a low-leverage control column, was assisted by a booster (hydraulic amplifier), so the efficiency of the ailerons, especially at high speeds, in the P-38 was better than in single-engine fighters.
Explanations: The propeller's reaction torque, the torque that occurs when the propeller rotates, is directed in the opposite direction to the rotation; on single-engine aircraft, it is compensated by the Rudder. On helicopters, it is compensated by a special tail rotor, and in a coaxial configuration, by a second rotor.
The main part of the engines used in the Luftwaffe is the right rotation engines (when viewed from the cab).
Moments arising on the steering surfaces are proportional to the square of the speed, i.e. if at a speed of 300 km \ h you need to apply a force of 30 kgf to deflect the steering wheel, then at a speed of 600 km \ h the required force will be 120 kgf, and at a speed of 1200 km / h - 480 kgf (conventional numbers).

[Orang]

Thank you, very interesting information.

[Alexey RA]

Quote: motorized infantryman

One interesting point, the engines of the R-38 rotated in different directions (why is it written in the article), respectively, the reactive and gyroscopic moments of the propellers were compensated. American pilots used it in the following way: in the event of an enemy appearing at six (behind), they switched to a right, steep, upward spiral. The spiral was performed with a limiting pitch angle, respectively, at full power of the motors and a speed of less than 200 km / h. The enemy, who was trying to follow, also gave full throttle and accordingly moved at the same limiting pitch angles and low speed. But since in a single-engine aircraft, the reactive moment is compensated for by the rudder (RN) (presetting the RN at an angle and direct deflection by the required value), and the effectiveness of the RN operation depends on the speed, therefore, when the speed dropped, German fighters simply "turned" to the left with the threat of falling into a tailspin.

The "asymmetry" of the turns of single-engine fighters is a tricky thing. Pomnitz, the Yankees, according to the test results of the "Aleutian" Zero ", in the chapter" Flight characteristics "highlighted in a separate paragraph that:

The Zero's turn rate from right to left is much higher than from left to right.

Result - the pilots began to use it:

I recalled that we were told at a briefing on the results of the tests of “Zero” Kogi about how to get away from the pursuing “Zero”. With the “Zero” on the tail, I began to do the reverse immelman [split S], with my nose down and at full throttle, my “Corsair” began to quickly gain speed. I needed a minimum of 240, and preferably 260 knots [445 km / h and 480 km / h]. Then, as we were taught, I made a steep right turn. As soon as I did this and continued to dive, the tracers of the pursuing Zero whistled under my fuselage. From the information received thanks to the “Zero” Kogi, I knew that in the right turn “Zero” is slower than in the left one. If I did not know this, I could turn to the left. In this case, “Zero” would most likely stay on my tail, take it in the sight and make me. I used this technique several times to break away from Zero

(c) Kenneth A. Walsh
Source: "Myths of Midway: Aleutian Zero. Part IV."
http://midnike.livejournal.com/3976.html

[Falcon5555]

Quote: motorized infantryman

therefore, with a drop in speed, the German fighters simply "turned" to the left with the threat of stalling.

I think that even the gyroscopic force arising from the rotation of the axis of rotation and acting on it in the perpendicular direction should have pulled Messerschmit down with the right turn, which should have been compensated by the controls, but they probably weren’t enough.

[Argon]

How did these "simulator nerds" get such nonsense with a competent look. The motor shooter is only a book, a source of knowledge, a computer is only a means of obtaining information, but it still needs to be "isolated-weeded out" from the stream of "spam" that flows through the Internet in "Tundra" something has been achieved there is not worth thinking that you can draw any conclusions about the controllability of real aircraft. Because from the "tundra" the simulator is like from a g ... na-bullet. For general development, see the landing speeds of twin-engine machines such the same mass as "lighting". Normal, maximum. Consider that the landing speed is the one at which the plane no longer flies but is still controlled. I understand this is troublesome, but strain so as not to disgrace in the future.

[rubin6286]

The planes of the Second World War had mostly cable (i.e. tough) control. If we neglect the actions of the pilot’s left hand controlling the gas sector, then the aircraft was controlled:

1. By pitch (roll): by moving the control stick (stick) "towards you" - "up" or "away from you" - "down". The aircraft either pitches up or dives. The force from the control stick is transmitted to the elevator, which either moves down, increasing the lift of the tail unit (during pitching up) or decreasing it (during diving).
2. On the course (yaw): using the foot pedals. By pressing or moving the left (right) pedal, you can rotate the plane in horizontal flight to the left (right). Efforts from the pedals are transmitted to the steering wheel (direction).
3. By rotation: using ailerons. By turning the control stick (deflecting the controls) to the right (left), the pilot turns the plane to the right (left). The force from the control stick is transmitted to the ailerons, one of which rises and the other falls, thereby changing the lifting force.

Right (left) steep ascending spiral with maximum pitch angle is Immelmann. When transferring the machine from the inverted position to the "horizon", it kind of "hangs", because the speed of 200 km / h is relatively low. The enemy trying to follow in order to guarantee the destruction of the target should not repeat the actions of the R-38, as you write, but perform a maneuver in such a way as to be slightly higher (or) lower than the enemy, without losing speed - perform an oblique loop (better ascending than descending). In this case, the exit from the attack must be done by performing an energetic combat turn (left or right), in order to be not lower, but higher than the enemy (that is why "the master of the height is the master of the battle"). The golden rule of mechanics has not been canceled and here you are right - the more times we win in force, the less times we lose in distance. The longer the lever, the less effort is needed. The use of boosters on the Lightning reduced the load on the control element, which allowed for a smaller turn radius and easier exit from a dive. This made it easier to attack ground targets and could have given an advantage in a battle on turns, but here's the problem: single-engine enemy fighters (ours, Germans, Japanese), having a higher thrust-to-weight ratio and rate of climb, preferred to go vertical to a battle on turns.
I don’t remember that while piloting a Yak-18, when attempting to perform a “combat turn” at a speed of approximately 250 km/h, I experienced difficulties in exerting force on the control stick (there was no way 25 kg there).

For requirements common to all parts of an airplane, there are also specific requirements for controlling an aircraft with a piston engine, one of which is the condition that a certain relationship be observed between the forces applied simultaneously to the handle in the longitudinal and transverse directions. as well as to the pedals:

Рр.в./Рэ = 2, where Рр.в. is the longitudinal force from the elevator;
Re - lateral force from ailerons.

R.p./Re = 5-8, where R.p. - longitudinal force from the pedals;
Re - lateral force from ailerons.

Why was it the way you describe it in the battle with the Lightning? It seems to me that in the battles in the Pacific theater of military operations, due to the large losses of personnel, the level of combat training of Japanese pilots was significantly reduced. Young, inexperienced pilots had no experience in air combat and often died if not in the first, then in the second combat sortie. In Europe, everything was different, although there were fewer and fewer experienced German pilots there.

[yehat]

In a dive, the R-38 caught up with any enemy aircraft

lies
For example, Italians had a MC 205 with an engine from Messer, which even surpassed p38 in dive speed.

[motorized rifle]

In vain you say so: "simulator", the info is just from the memoirs of an American pilot, read God knows when, otherwise I would have given a link. "Books source" - here I agree 100%. The book by V.S. Pyshnov "From the history of aircraft" was one of my favorites in childhood. And the book by V.N. Mednikov "Maneuvering on a fighter aircraft" was bought and read to holes in the 90s, when no one dreamed of simulators. By the way, about simulators, I don't know about the "Tundra", I haven't tried it, but in the "IL-2", such a maneuver does not work, because the flight models of the Messerschmitts and Foresights are written with a minimum propeller reactive torque, so they easily get the Lightning on the above-described spiral. About speeds, I didn't understand what you wanted to say, for the R-38 the stall speed is 170 km/h with a weight of over 9 tons. So what? Don't worry about me, I know the theory, "even though it's troublesome". With respect, dear S.V.

[moskowit]

Thanks everyone. I learned much more from the commentary of respected commentators than from the article. "Nice, damn it."

[Zaurbek]

Americans always made good planes. And as engineers came up with the concept. High level engineering culture and all supplies were available.

[Kir1984]

this is my favorite allied apparatus in il-2