Quite a ride!! Quite a view!! ...

[Mark Allen M]

... Quite a time!! (most of these photos look to be around the time of D-Day) ... another LIFE series.




P-38 Lightning of the 474th Fighter Group

[wendovertom]

WOW - that last shot tells you what an incredible ride this must have been! Holy cow

Tom P.

[4RG.I.'S]

It is interesting to note that the observer/photographer is wearing canvas leggings as would be issued to ground troops.

[tom d. friedman]

balls of steel to fly like that!!

[raconnel]

Fantastic series! Many thanks!

[shrike]

It is interesting to note that the observer/photographer is wearing canvas leggings as would be issued to ground troops.

Probably a passing combat photographer given the opportunity for a hop.
You may also note the large empty space where the bombsight would be, although you can see the table where it mounts

[WacoOne]

Why would there be a bombsight on a P-38?

[shrike]

Why would there be a bombsight on a P-38?

As the sole reason for there being a glass nose in the first place. The P-38 had range and could carry a decent load, so P-38's with a bombardiers position (and sight) were used as formation leaders for bombing missions at altitude. The lead aircraft with the bombardier would line up on target, and the rest of the formation would toggle their bombs when the leader dropped his.

[Pogo]

Thanks for asking that, WacoOne. I was wondering too...

Fantastic pix Mark, thanks again (and again and again)!

[BAJ]

As usual fascinating stuff Mark.....thanks for sharing

[Zac Yates]

What a stunning series of photos, WOW!

[cooper9411]

Hey Mark, how about another thank you? OK, Thank You for the post.

[wendovertom]

I was surprised about the Norden bomb sight mount as well. Apparently they were called "pathfinders". The first few were modified in the field then Lockheed purpose built a few. The info I found said it was not a raging improvement over the conventional method of having the lead bomber doing the same job. Since they were so rare the photographer was pretty lucky!

Tom P.

[Duggy009]

The P-38 Droop Snoot was the brainchild of Col. Cass Hough and Col. Don Ostrander of the 8th Air Force Headquarters. The load-carrying capacity of the P-38 made it a natural for use as a fighter-bomber. The later P-38 variants (P-38H/J/L) had the capacity of carrying up to 4000 pounds of ordinance – the same as a B-17 bomber! Col.s Hough and Ostrander came up with the idea of using some type of a “leader” P-38 for level bombing missions. The advantages of using a fighter in the strategic bomber role were obvious: a much higher speed to and from the target, one tenth as many crew members involved in the mission, and fighter escort during the withdrawal phase was not required. What they proposed was the installation of a Norden bombsight in the modified P-38, one housing a qualified bombardier/navigator in the aircraft’s empty nose gun-bay.

The project, given the code name DROut of Production SNOOT, was formulated at Lockheed’s Langford Lodge modification center in Northern Ireland. A P-38H was modified by removal of the armament section in the nose, including the gun port nose cap. In it’s place, was a solid wood nose cap, cut and shaped like the proposed bombardier nose. With some ballast added, the modified P-38H was flight tested to determine if there were any flaws in it’s flight characteristics. After successfully completing the flight tests, Lockheed modified a new production P-38J to full Droop Snoot prototype specifications.

The wooden nose of the P-38H test aircraft was used to construct a Plexiglas bubble bombardier nose. Armor plate was added to the sidewalls and floor of the bombardier compartment, along with the Norden bombsight, related bombing equipment, oxygen and navigational equipment. During late February of 1944, the P-38J Droop Snoot was rolled out at Langford Lodge.

The concept was so successful that the 8th AF immediately ordered first three, then fifteen Droop Snoot conversions. The total number built lies somewhere between 23 (those P-38J’s converted at Langford Lodge) and 100 (the number of Droop Snoot conversion kits ordered by the AAF). The first combat mission was flown by the 20th Fighter Group on 10 April 1944, when a Droop Snoot led 42 other 20th Fighter Group P-38J’s on an attack against the Luftwaffe base at Gutersloh, Germany. Droop Snoot missions were not confined to just P-38 units. Col. Hub Zemke used a Droop Snoot P-38J to lead his 56th Fighter Group Thunderbolts on at least one bombing mission.

From what I can gather factory birds perspex noses differed from the field kits.
The majority of Marks are from a field kit conversion.("Fubar" being built at Langford) see above

[4RG.I.'S]

Of the few P-38's airworthy now, I don't believe any are in this configuration are there? Now that would make quite the warbird experience flight!...