According to my sources there were 3,923 P-38L's produced during the war.
This from the beta readme:
"2) The P-38L with 1,720 hp engines â€" about 2,000 aircraft of this type were produced and used on both European and Pacific theaters."
When I research the P-38L I find no mention of a 1,720hp engine variant. You would think that if over half the production total used this powerplant information about it would be more available. Does anyone have information on this aircraft and whether or not it actually saw any combat?
Thanks for any information provided.
This is off a snippet from a discussion board, taken from Rings Public Record Office site.
I'm not going to testify to its accuracy but it was all that I could remember seeing off the top of my head.
I have found several references to the P-38 maxing out at almost 440 mph. There is a really long P-38 article floating around the net somewhere, i'll do some more diggingIn 1943 the F-30 was qualified at 1725hp@64in/Hg@3200rpm by Allison based on demanding USAACs standards for determining WER established in December of 1942. Lockheed tests confirmed Allison's 1725bhp rating for the F-30s, up to a critical alt of around 26,000ft. However, the Air Force never bothered to authorize the new rating, instead rubberstamping a P-38L on the manual in place of a P-38J and staying with the 3000rpm rating.
A couple comparisons between the P-38Js F-17s and the P-38Ls F-30s:
F-17:*
Takeoff - bhp/MAP: 1425/54.0
Normal - bhp/Alt/MAP: 1100/30,000/44.0
Military - bhp/Alt/MAP: 1425/24,900/54.0
WER - bhp/Alt/MAP: 1600/10,000/60.0
F-30:*
Takeoff - bhp/MAP: 1500/54.0
Normal - bhp/Alt/MAP: 1100/34,000/44.0
Military - bhp/Alt/MAP: 1425/29,00/54.0
WER - bhp/Alt/MAP: 1600/28,700/60.0
Crankshaft Overspeed Rating:*
"C" series: Overspeed rating of 3600rpms
"F" series Allison with 6 counterweight crankshaft (F-17): 4100rpms
"F" series Allison with 12 counterweight crankshaft (F-30): 4400rpms
* Source: Vee's For Victory! The Story of the Allison V-1710 Aircraft Engine 1929-1948 by Daniel D. Whitney.
The F-30 was clearly a more capable engine than the F-17. This was primarily due to the 12-cwt crankshaft used in the F-30. At 1725bhp at 3200rpms, the F-30s bearing and crankcase load was less than that of the F-17 at 1600bhp and 3000rpms with its 6-cwt crankshaft. The F-30 could run longer at 1725bhp than the F-17 could at 1600bhp!
These quotes and the speed chart are taken from Carlo Kopp's excelent "Der Gabelschwanz Teufel" article on the WW2 aviation page which can be found HERE.
Its good reading and obviously written by someone who has a great love and deep knowledge of the P-38.
Snippet 2The P-38J was followed by the P-38L, deliveries of which commenced in June, 1944, almost 4,000 were built by the end of hostilities. The P-38L was fitted with F-30 engines, delivering equal or better power to higher altitudes, and slightly larger fuel tanks, with booster pumps in the wings. Detail changes included the first tail warning radar in a fighter.
The two Allison V-1710F-30 V-12s had a 5.5 in. bore and 6.0 in stroke, providing a compression ratio of 6.5. These drove Curtiss Electric constant speed props via a 2:1 reduction gear, delivering 1,475 HP military and takeoff ratings at 3,000 RPM, or 1,612 HP maximum rating at 3,000 RPM and 60 in. of manifold pressure. Some later engines are described as delivering up to 1,725 HP WEP rating. The engines required 100 octane or higher rated fuel, and had 13 USG oil capacity. The oil was cooled in two outboard chin core radiators, vented via automatically controlled flaps on either side of the nacelle. Fuel consumption was 0.65 lb/HP./hr at 1,100 HP normal rating, at 2,600 RPM.![]()
if I am not mistaken only 112 lightnings were built by the 2nd manufacturing plant. all others were built by lockheed.Originally posted by 3.JG51_Stecher:
Could these later P-38Ls be the ones build by Vultee?
all P-38Ls and not just the last 2,000 like others have said were built with the F-30 allision engines which were rated by allision at 1,725 hp. The army aircorps never officially adopted this rating during the war to my knowledge. the F-30 was allisions identification of the engine. the army called them 111/113 one being right hand drive the other being left hand drive. the F-17 was the engine used in the J model which the army called 89/91.
from things I have read I would suspect the 38L with a take off weight of 17,699lbs to climb 4,500-5,000 fpm initial and have a top speed of 440 mph while using the allision 1,725 hp rating.
again, all 3,900 odd 38Ls had the F-30 111/113 allision rated 1,725 hp engines.
I can find nothing on this, or any information showing a rating of 1,720hp. Nor do I see any speeds approaching 440mph ever mentioned, all top speeds seem to be 414-417mph. I just checked some reference books I had, and did a bunch of searches on the internet, and I have seen nothing about a P-38L utilizing 1,720hp during wartime.
Does anyone actually have information about this plane being used in combat, or does it belong on the YP-80, He-162, Me-163 etc. ban list?
They weren't used in the 8th AF in the west, so maybe they were used by the 15th or 9th AF?
According to bollillo's post above, perhaps the engine was capable of generating 1700+ hp at WEP but was not officially adopted operationally?
According to Roger Freeman, only the 479th was still using P-38s when the first L's became available(July 1944) and that all their replacement aircraft were actually P-38Js turned in by units that had converted to the P-51.
The 479th flew it's last P-38 mission on 27 Sept., 1944 and the P-38 was no longer used as a fighter in the 8th AF.
I have very little information on the PTO.
First a thread on the MarkIII and now the Lighting. Could it be that LW pilots fear something being faster? We been chasing 190s and K4s around for a long time. Its not going to kill you to the same for awhile![]()
You could always email Oleg and request this information Im sure he will share it with you. Just because you cant find it googling does not mean it dont exist.