"Forked Tail Devil" Gun Camera Footage

[megashegem]

BANG...BANG...BANG....Get Some!!!

[nolifemerc]

THIS DUDE KNOWS HOW TO AIM FOR SURE.

[keegan773]

It is a shame that while they were at Klagenfurt they failed to get my ex mother in law

[chuanist]

The pilot of this plane seems very accurate and economical in the way he expends his ammo.

[Waltham1892]

One advantage the P-38 had in the ground attack role was that its four 50's and 20mm cannon struck with inches of each other. Must have ruined a lot of sunny afternoons...

[bulgogi1212]

Everyone has their favorite WW2 fighters, and in my opinion they are all worthy, but you gotta admit the P38 is just a sexy freakn beast. Four 50s plus that 20mm cannon in the nose is going to ruin anyone's day.

[the82spartans]

This is epic.

Thanks!

5*'s

[crispycritterz]

The P-38 was one of the most stable gun platforms ever made.

[nocrap62]

That P-38 pilot was good, very good...

[12lacroixsouslange]

yes, the typhoon and tempest were better at destroying ground targets like trains, with their 4x200mm cannon and 8xhe or ap rockets. but the raf didn't havemuch time for fancy films!

[92naz32]

The "fancy films", as you called them, were helpful in confirming targets engaged & destroyed. Also it was a learning tool used to determine what works best against various targets.BTW, those "4x200mm" cannons must have packed one hell of a punch huh?!? ;-)

[12lacroixsouslange]

ooops spelling era - as you know.

typhoon and tempest most effective against armour as at falaise and mortain.

unfortunately raf didn't bother too much about propoganda films, so we dont get to see it much today.

i suppose if they'd recorded all combats 1939-45 you-tube wouldn't have the space anyway?

p-38 was a fine aircraft, especially in the pacific - just not quite so hot in nw europe. .50's great against all targets except tanks, assault guns etc.

[make1up726]

P-38 may have only had one 20mm but the tempest, typhoons, P-38, and P-47 relied heavily on rockets and bombs to destroy tanks, and used their MGs or Cannon to take out trains, trucks, and pretty much anything else that moved.

[SPAD58]

@12lacroixsouslange 200mm is one big gun.

[vnck25]

What did Romanians use?

[jum1801]

Incredible shooting! Guns in the fuselage made for a dead-on aim.

But the opposite-rotating props made the 38 steady as rock as well. A pilot didn't have to fight the torque and try to heave the plane on target for a second like the P-47.

The 47 is an armored strafer. But the laser-like aim and steadiness of the 38, PLUS the 20mm cannons, make it far deadlier. 38 could destroy targets by a single short burst, instead of tossing hundreds of rounds away to hit with a few like the 47.

P-38!

[KrautGoesWild]

Ah yes, "Forked Tail Devil" / "Gabelschwanzteufel".

That´s how my German grandpa used to call the Lightning, too.

Was she really that sturdy?

[92naz32]

Thank you for the German language version of the name, afterall Luftwaffe fighter pilots gave the aircraft that name. Not as sturdy as the P47 Thunderbolts since the engines were liquid cooled but she was a fast, heavily armed and agile airplane that offered good visibility to the pilot.

[KrautGoesWild]

You are wellcome! It is good to have one grandpa flying with the Luftwaffe and another with the Royal Air Force. My German grandpa (flying Me109s on the Western Front until mid-44) said about the P-38 "she could climb like taking an elevator to the roof and us had to climb the stairs!".

Both of those old birds had plenty of stories.

5 stars.

[proffromgview]

@KrautGoesWild Extremely sturdy and well-armored. One other advantage--favored esp. in the Pacific--was its two engines. Not only in case one went out or was shot out, but pilots could swing the boom to keep it between them and the other plane, as a last resort.

[malladyne]

Good accurate shooting, but even with the P-38's cannon and numerous .50 cal mgs, I didn't see any serious damage done. Most German trains strafed at that time would have exploded bigtime. Should've carried rockets instead !

[BordiniBlues85]

pretty crazy.. I love trains too.. man..imagine.. be a loco engineer that time.. some planes crackin the steam boiler of this black coal crows.. a boiler explosion..no scape from death.. I believe.. that firemens lookin to the skies all the time..air attack..

[44BlackAce44]

That pilot is a crack shot !!!

[hemi57]

I bet there are no gun pods under the wings of this P38 - LOL!

[roadrodent1952]

There weren't. Four 50's and one 20 mm all in the nose in front of the pilot. Hell of a LOT of firepower you could just "hose" at something.

[hemi57]

Long story to explain my earlier post. However, I was surprised to learn they did use wing mounted gun pods on some P-38 variants, as if the 4 X 50's and 1 X 20mm weren't enough. Of course, they also mounted unguided rockets and iron bombs on them too but more guns seems a bit senseless, unless you are the guy flying the plane (total carnage)!

[spritz0]

20mm guns are perfect for trains, but I wouldn't mind a spare 37mm gun with a larger ammunition storage- imagine the panic on a troop train when a 37mm comes knocking at the side (or through the roof!).

[killingamps]

The U.S. did play around with larger guns on its planes, notably the P-39, with its 37mm cannon, and the B-25H, which sported a 75mm cannon. The P-39's 37mm was said to have a trajectory like a rainbow, and nobody remembers getting a hit with it. The B-25H was mainly used in the Pacific, where one sank a destroyer using its cannon. If the U.S. strapped on extra guns, they were usually machine gun pods. The .50 was a devastating weapon in its own right.

[Eye4Lites]

I have read that the Russians made very good use of the P-39/400 with the 37mm. The M-4 37mm was a low velocity cannon and only good out to about 400 yards. The Russians didn't mind getting in that close to kill tanks. The IL-2 kind of made it obsolete due to lack of armor.

[fluffy1931]

P-39 export to USSR during WW2 did not operate as ground attack or tank busters.

The most successful use of the P-39 was in the hands of the Soviet Air Force (VVS). The tactical environment of the Eastern below 15,000 ft.

The second-highest scoring Allied ace, Aleksandr Pokryshkin, flew the P-39 from late 1942 until the end of the war his unofficial score in the Airacobra stands at nearly 60 Luftwaffe aircraft. His wingman, Grigori Rechkalov, scored 57 victories with the P-39.

[BMunich16]

The 37mm couldn't take out tanks

[protesialbanese]

What is the damage that a single round can deal?

[493175001]

corsairs have 4 20mm guns

[LoneWolf9p]

Earlier versions had 6 .50cal machine guns.

[warrs9990]

Not bad for being 60 years old.

[Joshua0605]

Speaking of which I'd even take 8 50 Cal's over one 37mm...

[Redmanfms]

I'd have taken the 4 x .50s and 1 x 20mm over the 8 x .50s if for no other reason than issues with convergence related to the wingmounting in the P-47 (and others).

[Joshua0605]

True nose mounted is better than wing mounted. But this isn't such a major issue when strafing ground targets. Now in a dogfight having nose mounted guns could confer a big advantage...

[wraith444]

You'd be surprised. hitting a tank/truck sized target is pretty difficult outside convergence. Besides, even nose mounted guns are affected by convergence, they'll arc up to the convergence range. Same as a rifle's zero on its sights. Fire off of convergence and your nose mounted guns will hit low (not like that much matters within 300 meters, I'll admit)

[jboyd2107]

Well the p-38 generally had two .50 two .30 and 1 15mm cannon, not to mention the fact that they were nose guns instead of wing mounted, so i'm gonna say the p-38 was more bad ass than the p-47. But in a head to head fight i'd say the p-47 would win just because of sheer toughness.

[DaJester]

Better check your sources - the P-38 carried 4x .50 Cal MG & 1x 20mm cannon in the nose

[jboyd2107]

Well then that was an adjustment during the war; since, the Lockheed team designed the plane to carry two Browning .50" (12.7 mm) machine guns with 200 rounds per gun, two .30" (7.62 mm) Brownings with 500 rounds per gun, and an Oldsmobile 37 mm cannon with 15 rounds.

Check your sources.

[jboyd2107]

Well then that was an adjustment during the war; since, the Lockheed team designed the plane to carry two Browning .50" (12.7 mm) machine guns with 200 rounds per gun, two .30" (7.62 mm) Brownings with 500 rounds per gun, and an Oldsmobile 37 mm cannon with 15 rounds.

Check your sources.

[LottoWinner999]

@DaJester Later models of the P-38 had 2 20mm cannons in the nose. Plus it carried rockets,bombs and extra fule tanks and had a long range an did 400 MPH plus. It out climbed and dived any German plane.

[Joshua0605]

Yeah but the P-47 carried EIGHT .50 Cal MG so how can you say the P-38 is more bad ass?

[halomolim]

cmon, .50 cal is a third of the size of a

37mm,and there is nothing better for airplanes than big ass, hard hitting, devastating calibers at 30mm and up.

[Joshua0605]

uhhh EIGHT 50 cals beats ONE 20mm anyday and yes the P-38 had a 20mm cannon not a 37mm dumb ass. If you dispute that then we don't really even need to talk anymore because i'll know you're full of shit.

[wraith444]

The P-39 had the 37mm, not the 38. 30 round capacity, kinda pathetic if you ask me. Personally I'll take 4 .303's and 2 20mm cannons, but that's just me :)

[Joshua0605]

Yeah 30 rounds isn't enough to do much of anything. If you stayed on the trigger for about 5 seconds I'm willing to bet those 30 rounds would be gone.

[wraith444]

Well the rate of fire was only around 150 rounds per second, so it'd last you about 12 seconds...

[Joshua0605]

I'd say you just contradicted yourself. Didn't you just say in an earlier post that it only had 30 rounds? How do you get 150 rounds per second for 12 seconds then?

[wraith444]

Oops! I meant 150 rounds per minute... My bad!

[Joshua0605]

Oh alright.

[wraith444]

Lol! Yeah, 150 per second would make it faster than the Vulcan cannon, wouldn't it?

[Joshua0605]

LOL