P-38 or Mosquito? (1 Viewer)

Which was better?


  • Total voters
    116

Ad: This forum contains affiliate links to products on Amazon and eBay. More information in Terms and rules

You see thats what I think too, but at the moment Lightning Guy is trying to convince me that the P-38 was better, I hope he manages to because I dont like the Mosquito. 8)
 
Ok. A review of my arguments from else where. The only true mulit-role Mossie was the FB marks like the FB.VI. The Lightning had this version beaten in virtually every aspect of performance and maneuverability. The Lightning was extremely versatile with any one version being capable of serving as a escort-fighter, interceptor, skip-bomber, dive-bomber, tank-buster, etc. Other P-38s were modified to carry a Norden sight or BTO radar and actually led P-38s on bombing missions. The P-38M would have been one of the outstanding nightfighters of the war had it lasted. One P-38 was even successfully tested carrying 2 torps. And don't forget the something like 1400 F-4 and F-5 photo-recon models.
 
Yes, the Lightning could do the bomber role but the Mosquito was better in it. The Lightning was better as a fighter, but the Mosquito was better as a bomber and it had a proper anti-shipping title to its name.
I was waiting for this thread to appear.
 
The Lightning sank a lot of shipping in the MTO, PTO, and CBI. Had the AAF been interested in torpedo-bombing the Lightning would have been one of the best torpedo bombers of the war. So the Lightning was very capable in the anti-shipping role.
 
No. Any planes armed with bombs can dive bomb a ship, this is called dive bombing. It is not an anti-shipping role, and 'could of' isn't a did, so the Lightning does not have anti-shipping to its role.
 
Several planes were capable of dive-bombing but the P-38 was better than most of them. It's counter-rotating props (which the Mossie lacked btw) meant that once it entered it's dive there was no torgue pulling it one way or the other allowing a very accurate run. I'm not sure where you are going with the "anti-shipping" thing unless you are refering to the FB.XVIII but they weren't produced that much because a standard Mosquito could sink ships just as well. And the Lighting was just as effective at skip-bombing or rocket attacks (carrying more rockets with a heavier warhead). Besides all that, the FB.XVIII wasn't designed as an anti-ship plane so much as an anti-U-boat plane.
 
plan_D said:
No. Any planes armed with bombs can dive bomb a ship, this is called dive bombing. It is not an anti-shipping role, and 'could of' isn't a did, so the Lightning does not have anti-shipping to its role.

I don't know a lot about bombers, but I vote for the Mosquito. I think it could take much dammage than the P-38.

And concerning the dive bombing, I agree with Plan_D. Any plane armed with bombs could sink a ship. After all, wich plane sank the Tirpitz ? I think it was a Spit, wasn't it ?
 
A U-Boat is a ship(sub-ship, submarine), Lightning. Shall I say 'anti-vessel' to make it easier. The Mosquito was a superior bomber, there shouldn't be any argument about it, because it's true. Yes, the P-38 was a better dive bomber than most, not the Mosquito.
 
I've never heard of a Mossie dive-bombing. But without the counter-rotating props it wouldn't have been as stable as the Lightning. P-38 better dive-bomber.

Maestro . . . the Tirpitz was sunk by a Lanc. And I doubt the Mosquito could take more damage that a Lightning. There are several instances of Lightings suffering mid-air collisions and returning to base on one engine.
 
Here is a pic of a P-38 that hit a telephone pole on a strafing run. The pilot managed to bring it 360 miles back to base.
 

Attachments

  • damage1.jpg
    5.6 KB · Views: 9,384
Not healthy at all. But it does demonstrate the toughness of the P-38.

The Lightning was also a "hands off" airplane meaning that once trimmed it would continue to fly straight and level without input from the pilot (and without an auto pilot either). In the Pacific, were some missions lasted ten hours, pilots packed lunches in their cockpits, read books, wrote letters, and even smoked (and probably caught the occassional catnap).
 
Sleeping would just be silly. :lol:
I'm sure Mosquitos have got some good stories of surviving from bad damage.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back