XP-38G

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Rank VI USA | Premium | Golden Eagles
A-10A Thunderbolt (Early)
This page is about the American premium twin-engine fighter XP-38G. For other versions, see P-38 (Family).
XP-38G
p-38g_metal.png
GarageImage XP-38G.jpg
360://https://wiki.warthunder.com/images/0/00/Cockpit_p-38g_metal.jpg
XP-38G
Show in game

Description

The XP-38G is a premium gift rank II American twin-engine fighter with a battle rating of 3.0 (AB) and 3.3 (RB/SB). It has been in the game since the start of the Open Beta Test prior to Update 1.27. It was available in the Gaijin Store until it was replaced by the YP-38 in Update "Raining Fire".

General info

Flight performance

Max speed
at 8 229 m660 km/h
Turn time22 s
Max altitude12 192 m
EngineAllison V-1710-75
TypeInline
Cooling systemWater
Take-off weight7 t

Despite being a heavy twin engine fighter, the XP-38G has a quite good overall performance. Its level speed is comparable to many single-engined fighters and even faster than some of them. It can reach 550 km/h at the sea level and, thanks to its superchargers, the plane's maximum speed is close to 660 km/h at 5,000 m altitude and it doesn't drop or increase up to 11,000 m, that makes it a good medium and high altitude fighter and, in most cases, outperforms the opposition.

Climb rate is comparable to other American fighters, the plane is able to reach 5,000 m in 4 minutes and 40 seconds which is quite mediocre, its climb rate at 1,000 m is close to 18 m/s, but again thanks to the supercharger it will not suffer so much at high altitude. When climbing from 5,000 m alt to 9,000 m alt, it will outperform most other fighters. Acceleration in level flight is decent and when it starts diving it gets very good. It is required to keep an eye on the speed because the maximum structural speed limit is low in this plane compared to how fast it can accelerate.

The XP-38G's turn rate is quite good but depends a lot on its Fowler flaps, they do increase the lift a lot but the drag too. Sustained turn rate is quite good, better than in almost every other heavy twin-engined fighter, but in most cases only comparable or worse to other fighters. On the other hand, the instantaneous turn rate, especially with deployed flaps, is very good and can help a lot with getting the guns on the target for high deflection shooting. Of course, due to the plane's configuration, it suffers a lot from high speed compression, which starts close to 0.70 Mach. The other issue is its roll rate, at best it reaches 70 degrees per second at 400 km/h. The way the Lighting's engines are set makes it so the pilot does not need to worry about the propeller torque effect, so the plane doesn't require any trimming except for some elevator adjustments to fly in a straight line.

Characteristics Max Speed
(km/h at 8,229 m)
Max altitude
(metres)
Turn time
(seconds)
Rate of climb
(metres/second)
Take-off run
(metres)
AB RB AB RB AB RB
Stock 634 616 12192 23.1 23.9 14.6 14.6 380
Upgraded 689 660 20.9 22.0 22.4 18.0

Details

Features
Combat flaps Take-off flaps Landing flaps Air brakes Arrestor gear
X X
Limits
Wings (km/h) Gear (km/h) Flaps (km/h) Max Static G
Combat Take-off Landing + -
790 289 565 495 250 ~9 ~5
Optimal velocities (km/h)
Ailerons Rudder Elevators Radiator
< 380 < 460 < 500 > 420
Compressor (RB/SB)
Setting 1
Optimal altitude 100% Engine power WEP Engine power
5,800 m 2,620 hp 3,010 hp

Engine performance

Engine
Engine Name Number present
Allison V-1710-51 12-cylinder 2
Engine characteristics
Weight (each) Type Cooling
610 kg Inline Water
Engine power (Stock)
Mode Max Take-off
Arcade 1,084 hp 1,350 hp
Realistic/Simulator 1,072 hp 1,200 hp
Engine power (Upgraded)
Mode Max Take-off
Arcade 1,264 hp 1,531 hp
Realistic/Simulator 1,252 hp 1,380 hp
WEP Duration
Arcade Realistic/Simulator
25 seconds Infinite

Survivability and armour

Crew1 person
Speed of destruction
Structural790 km/h
Gear289 km/h
  • 38 mm Bulletproof glass in cockpit top front.
  • 6.5 mm Steel plates in the nose.
  • 6.5 mm Steel plates in pilot's seat.
  • 9.5 mm Steel plate in pilot's headrest.

Modifications and economy

Repair cost
AB755 Sl icon.png
RB3 046 Sl icon.png
SB1 521 Sl icon.png
Crew training6 900 Sl icon.png
Experts46 000 Sl icon.png
Aces320 Ge icon.png
Research Aces500 000 Rp icon.png
Reward for battleAB / RB / SB
Talisman.png 2 × 50 / 160 / 230 % Sl icon.png
Talisman.png 2 × 130 / 130 / 130 % Rp icon.png
Modifications
Flight performance Survivability Weaponry
Mods aerodinamic fuse.png
Fuselage repair
Mods radiator.png
Radiator
Mods compressor.png
Compressor
Mods aerodinamic wing.png
Wings repair
Mods new engine.png
Engine
Mods metanol.png
Engine injection
Mods armor frame.png
Airframe
Mods armor cover.png
Cover
Mods ammo.png
bmg50_belt_pack
Mod arrow 0.png
Mods weapon.png
bmg50_new_gun
Mods ammo.png
anm2_belt_pack
Mod arrow 0.png
Mods pilon rocket.png
Rocket Launcher M10
Mods weapon.png
anm2_new_gun

Armaments

Offensive armament

Ammunition150 rounds
Fire rate600 shots/min
Ammunition2 000 rounds
Fire rate750 shots/min

The XP-38G is armed with:

  • 1 x 20 mm AN/M2 cannon, nose-mounted (150 rpg)
  • 4 x 12.7 mm M2 Browning machine guns, nose-mounted (500 rpg = 2,000 total)

The armament on the XP-38G is extremely powerful. A single 20 mm cannon combined with 4 x M2 Brownings in the nose make a devastating, accurate combination. The XP-38G can effectively slice wings in half due to its extremely accurate weapons.

Suspended armament

List of setups (1)
Setup 16 x M8 rocket
Main article: M8

The XP-38G can be outfitted with the following ordnance:

  • Without load
  • 6 x M8 rockets

Usage in battles

Utilize the P-38 as a strike fighter. The P-38 has very good energy retention and climb speed, so mainly use it as a BnZ fighter. However, it can be an effective turn fighter against less manoeuvrable opponents. Be warned, however, that once at a low speed and altitude the P-38 is a sitting duck. It is a very large fighter and easy to destroy.

The best cure is being prepared. Always maintain a high, safe altitude. If you have to, the P-38 is best in a flat dive. Its roll rate can be used to its advantage as well. Use diving and climbing manoeuvres to get out of trouble. Avoid turning to counter opponents, unless they are less manoeuvrable.

Manual Engine Control

MEC elements
Mixer Pitch Radiator Supercharger Turbocharger
Oil Water Type
Controllable Controllable
Auto control available
Controllable
Not auto controlled
Controllable
Not auto controlled
Separate Not controllable
1 gear
Not controllable

Pros and cons

Pros:

  • Gathers speed quickly in a dive
  • Good armament, can rip apart other planes quickly
  • Good for Boom & Zoom
  • Good climb rate

Cons:

  • Extremely prone to fire
  • Poor turning/manoeuvrability

History

The XP-38G in game is actually fictional, created during the very early days of development as an improved performance Premium P-38G. The closest equivalent to the game's fictional XP-38G is a P-38H (600 built) or a P-38K-1 (1 built), which had a few minor performance improvements to the P-38G.


Archive of the in-game description

The P-38 was an all-metal, three-wheeled, single-seater, twin-engined monoplane fighter with an aerodynamic design rarely seen in World War II.

An experimental XP-38 (Model 22) was first flown on January 27, 1938. Production began in June of 1941.

The G variant was created at the end of 1942 and was based on the E and F variants. The G had a more powerful turbocharged Allison V-1710-51/55 engine. Engine management was significantly more automated than before.

The plane carried a formidable armament consisting of 20mm Hispano AN/M2 cannons with 150 rounds and four 12.7 mm Colt-Browning M2 .50 cal machine guns with 300 rounds apiece. The P-38G had a reinforced fuselage and could carry two extra 300-gallon (1136 l) fuel tanks. The G was not equipped to carry rockets and bombs, but was often modified on the field to carry 250 lb or even 500 lb bombs as well as unguided rockets.

The P-38G was widely used by the Army Air Force (USAAF) in all theaters of the war. They were often used for shuttle missions over Germany from the airfields of Ukraine. The best known operation in which the P-38G participated was Operation Lightning, which changed the war in the Pacific. The mission, which was flown on April 18, 1943, intercepted and shot down a Japanese G4M1 bomber with Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto on board. In addition, the P-38 was the plane of choice of the two most successful American aces: Richard Ira Bong (40 kills) and Thomas McGuire (38 kills).

From 1942 to 1943, Lockheed built 1,462 P-38Gs. They were decommissioned in 1949.


Media

Skins

See also

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era
  • Northrop P-61 Black Widow
  • Savoia-Marchetti SM.92

External links


Lockheed Corporation
Fighters  XP-38G · P-38E · P-38G-1 · P-38J-15 · Bong's P-38J-15 · P-38K · P-38L-5-LO · YP-38
Bombers  B-34 · PV-2D
Jet Fighters  F-80A-5 · F-80C-10
  F-104A · F-104C
Export / License  A-29 · ▄Hudson Mk V
  ␗P-38L-1
  ␗F-104A · ▀F-104G · ␗F-104G · ▅F-104J · ▄F-104S
See Also  Mitsubishi Heavy Industries · Fiat Aviation

USA twin-engine fighters
P-38  XP-38G · P-38E · P-38G-1 · P-38J-15 · Bong's P-38J-15 · P-38L-5-LO · P-38K · YP-38
P-61  P-61A-11 · P-61C-1
F7F  F7F-1 · F7F-3
Other  XF5F · XP-50 · F-82E

USA premium aircraft
Fighters  Thach's F2A-1 · Galer's F3F-2 · F2G-1 · F4U-4B VMF-214 · P-26A-34 · P-40C · P-43A-1
  P-47M-1-RE · ⋠P-47M-1-RE · P-51A · P-51D-10 · P-51D-20-NA · ␠Kingcobra · XP-55
  ▃A6M2 · ▃Ki-43-II · ▃Ki-61-Ib · ▃Bf 109 F-4 · ▃Fw 190 A-8 · ▃Spitfire LF Mk IXc
Twin-engine fighters  XP-38G · Bong's P-38J-15 · P-38K · YP-38 · P-61A-11 · XF5F · XP-50 · F7F-3
Jet fighters  P-59A · F-86F-35 · F-89B · F-89D · F-4S Phantom II · F-5C · F-20A
Strike aircraft  A-1H · A2D-1 · AU-1 · XA-38 · AV-8A · A-6E TRAM · A-10A
Bombers  A-26C-45DT · B-10B · BTD-1 · PBM-3 "Mariner" · PV-2D