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i've got the revell kit, that gives you options to build the regular j, the 'night fighter' and the 'pathfinder'. my brief research on the web for photos and info on the pathfinder leads me to believe that revell should have put 'droop snoot' on the box, cause that's what you can model. the pathfinders were radar equiped birds, with a funky bubbled nose, not the glazed job they put in the model. am i correct in this assumption?
also, how did the bombadier get to his station? i know the model is not really accurate on the inside, but it doesn't look like he could crawl under the pilots seat. was there an access panel through the wheel well?
anyway, back to sanding this beast!
how did the bombadier get to his station?
The bombadier got in & out via the hinged gunbay doors.. There's no access to the nose from the cockpit or wheel well.
the pathfinders were radar equiped birds, with a funky bubbled nose, not the glazed job they put in the model. am i correct in this assumption?
The Pathfinder was a P-38J (or L) with ground-mapping radar and served as the lead plane for P-38 formations who were level bombing cloud-covered targets. It could pick out targets and checkpoints which would otherwise be obscured. The operator was housed in the forward part of the fuselage with a large side window, but did not have any forward visibility, which a "Droop Snoot" bombardier would have. Only about a half-dozen or so P-38s were modified as Pathfinders.
The Monogram/Revell Lightning has the bomb-nose with the optically flat panel (which also fits the Monogram Mosquito, BTW) in order to use the Norden bombsight. The Norden has to have that flat panel in order to prevent distortion or refracton that would happen sighting through curved panels...
Side note: The CAF P-38 was modified with a Pathfinder nose and a P-38M canopy & rear seat to be what was the only three-seat P-38 I ever heard of. It was restored to it's original fighter-configuration later (it's no longer flying though.. It crashed a number of years ago and is still in pieces awaiting funding that will probably never come.
I've always wondered about what happened if the bombadier had to bail out. Using the ammo door puts him right into a spinning prop.
Mark
FSM Charter Subscriber
That WOULD pretty well ruin your whole day.
Darwin, O.F.
,,
The B-52 and me, we have grown old, gray and overweight together.
RedCorvette I've always wondered about what happened if the bombadier had to bail out. Using the ammo door puts him right into a spinning prop.
Pilot's handbook calls for the pilot to shut down & feather one or both engines,then for the bombardier to jettison the doors, and then go over the side, OR, if the pilot is incapacitated, jettison the doors and stand up...
stand up and have the option of dying by hitting the props, pylons or stabalizer... i don't know how many of those got shot down, but it would suck.
i also stumbled across some stories of regular p-38 crews painting a white stripe across the nose, and stripping the paint to the bare metal forward of the stripe, to fool german pilots into attacking a wolf in 'droop snoot' clothing.
thanks for the info hans, back to aformentioned sanding!
edit: here's a few wip of my revell attempt at the 'droop snoot' i'm using the cbi theatre as my source. i'm not touching this thing in nmf!
apologies, i don't remember where i saved the black and white photo from, it was on a google search.
stand up and have the option of dying by hitting the props, pylons or stabalizer...
Consider the alternative..
I think I'd chance it...
no other choice! sorry for the blurry pics, best i can scrape out of my camera atm... ;)
edit: actually if you can count the sam bottles in the background, then maybe the shot is in focus. ;)
Regarding the bottles and blurry pics, are they related? I used to tell folks, "You mus' be gettin' drunk.. Yer awf'lly bhurry..."
The pic shown of the droop snoot shows a hatch under the nose ahead of the nose wheel . this is where the bombardier gained access and i assume go out of the aircraft.
Did this one a dozen or so years ago.
bobthe air plane guy The pic shown of the droop snoot shows a hatch under the nose ahead of the nose wheel . this is where the bombardier gained access and i assume go out of the aircraft.
Yeah, that was a modificaton kit that the Lockheed guys made for the aircraft already fielded and installed on subsequent blocks at the factory...
Has any one contacted Lockheed , they list the P-38 as an aircraft they still support. surley they have drawings , pictures. of work in progress finished mods.
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