P-38E

P-38E

P-400

P-38G-1

P-38E

P-400

P-38G-1

USA

II Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
2.7	3.0	3.3

Class:

Fighter

Interceptor

Research:9 200

Purchase:16 000

Show in game

This page is about the American twin-engine fighter P-38E. For other variants, see P-38 (Family).

Description

The P-38E Lightning is a rank II American twin-engine fighter with a battle rating of 2.7 (AB), 3.0 (RB), and 3.3 (SB). It was introduced in Update 1.53 "Firestorm".

The P-38E is the first of the P-38 vehicles available in game, and is all round a very good plane. It gets an interceptor airspawn on most maps, which allows the P-38 to very often find itself above or at an equal altitude to its opponents. The main strength of the P-38E is its speed and energy retention, so it should be used accordingly - play it as an energy fighter or Boom 'n' Zoomer. The P-38E is also surprisingly manoeuvrable for such a large plane - while it can't outmanoeuvre single-engine fighters, it can put up a good fight.

General info

Flight Performance

Describe how the aircraft behaves in the air. Speed, manoeuvrability, acceleration and allowable loads - these are the most important characteristics of the vehicle.

Characteristics
Stock
Max Speed (km/h at 7,012 m)		Max altitude (meters)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (meters/second)		Take-off run (meters)
AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
612	594	12192	24.1	25.0	10.5	10.5	380
Upgraded
Max Speed (km/h at 7,012 m)		Max altitude (meters)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (meters/second)		Take-off run (meters)
AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
661	635	12192	21.9	23.0	17.2	13.5	380

Details

Features
Combat flaps	Take-off flaps	Landing flaps	Air brakes	Arrestor gear
✓	✓	✓	X	X

Limits
Wing-break speed (km/h)	Gear limit (km/h)	Combat flaps (km/h)	Max Static G
			+	-
		620	~9	~5

Optimal velocities
Ailerons (km/h)	Rudder (km/h)	Elevators (km/h)	Radiator (km/h)
< 380	< 460	< 500	> 420

Compressor (RB/SB)
Setting 1
Optimal altitude	100% Engine power	WEP Engine power
6,800 m	1,050 hp	1,176 hp

Survivability and armour

• 7 mm steel - in front of cockpit
• 7 mm steel - pilot seat
• 10 mm steel behind pilot head
• 38 mm bulletproof glass - behind windscreen

Armaments

Offensive armament

The P-38E is armed with:

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

Usage in battles

Air Realistic Battles.

While fast at its BR of 3.0, the P-38 is slower than many planes it will face at 3.7 and 4.0, most specifically the Fw 190 A-1 and the Bf 109 F-4 and F-4/trop, although it does have an air spawn, which can be used temporarily to have the advantage on these enemies. Attempt to pick out planes at its BR or planes that are slower than it, then target them.

When forced to deal with faster opponents, evade and use teammates. If the direction it is caught going in is opposite to the team's side of the map, a handy trick is rolling over and pulling 180 degrees until the plane comes out the other direction, a maneuver known as a split S. It gains speed (instead of a horizontal turn, which loses it) and exposes the plane to the minimum amount of enemy fire while doing so, which is important, as the P-38 is very broad in the wings and prone to catching fire due to the fuel tanks.

In terms of ammunition, Air Targets is preferential for the cannon and Universal for the MGs, if stealth is not used. There are other options, most notably Ground Targets for the cannon and Tracers or Ground Targets for the .50 cals, but the tracers on the .50 cals are weak, unlike the M20 API-T on the P-51s and P-47s, and groundpounding should be reserved for later parts of the game in case a bomber is climbing to space, as the plane is an interceptor and cannot carry suspended armaments.

Ammo conservation on the cannon is not very important; it has a low fire rate and does not jam easily once the 'New 20mm Cannon' modification is unlocked; moreover, each shell has a high damage output, especially on stealth. The .50 cals can be sprayed indiscriminately.

As a bomber-hunter, the P-38E is superb. Its nose-mounted armaments allow it to sit a kilometer behind enemy bombers such as He 111s, outside of effective range of their guns but still able to hit hard with its 20mm cannon.

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

Modules

Tier	Flight performance		Survivability	Weaponry
I	Fuselage repair	Radiator		Offensive 12 mm
II		Compressor	Airframe	New 12 mm MGs
III	Wings repair	Engine		Offensive 20 mm
IV		Engine injection	Cover	New 20 mm cannons

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Nose-mounted armaments give great long-range accuracy: no need to worry about convergence
• Good speed on the deck
• Decent at head-ons in a tight spot, due to the 20 mm cannon and nose-mounted .50 cals
• Can always get home with one engine left

Cons:

• Very large airframe is easy to hit and burns quite easily
• Easy target when flying slow
• Bad at recovering energy after a dive or when turning
• Can't fight with one engine
• The tail is prone to snapping off when hit by cannon shells, even at long ranges

History

Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the aircraft in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too long, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the vehicle and adding a block "/ History" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Vehicle-name)/History) and add a link to it here using the main template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <ref></ref>, as well as adding them at the end of the article with <references />. This section may also include the vehicle's dev blog entry (if applicable) and the in-game encyclopedia description (under === In-game description ===, also if applicable).

Media

Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.

The Shooting Range #155 - Pages of History section at 04:53 discusses the P-38 Lightning.

Notable pilots

• 

  Major Richard Bong began military flight training in the P-38E after graduating from basic flight school in the single engine AT-6 Texan.

See also

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era

• Bristol Beaufighter
• De Havilland Mosquito
• Kawasaki Ki-96
• Mitsubishi Ki-83
• Nakajima J5N
• Northrop P-61 Black Widow
• Westland Whirlwind
• Petlyakov Pe-3
• Savoia-Marchetti SM.92

External links

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

• topic on the official game forum;
• encyclopedia page on the aircraft;
• other literature.

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
Strike Aircraft	F-117
Export / License	A-29 · ▄Hudson Mk V
	␗P-38L-1
	␗F-104A · ▀F-104G · ␗F-104G · ▄F-104G · ▅F-104J · ▄F-104S
	The Lockheed Corporation merged with Martin Marietta Corporation in 1995 to form Lockheed Martin Corporation.
See Also	SABCA · Mitsubishi Heavy Industries · Fiat Aviation