80th FS mission report

I have spent an hour today trying to find some of my old published stories that might be new you you. I found one that contained a mission report by the squadron.They sort of got nicked up a bit on this one. It follows here...'


80th Fighter Squadron
Combat Mission Report

A. Mission No. 225 24 Oct. 43. 16 P-38s
B. Escort B25s to Rapopo, New Britain
C. TO: 0645 - Land Dobodura 0800 - TO: Dobodura 0835
Over target 1130 to 1150 at O - 11,000 feet
D. 10 Hamps and 1 Zeke definite - 1 Hamp probable
Our losses 5 P-38s damaged, one of which crash-
landed at Kiriwina. 1 pilot, Maj. Edward Craig, slightly
wounded in right arm.
E. Approximately 40-50 Hamps and Zekes intercepted
when in vicinity of Kabanga Bay on approach at approx.
1130 hrs.
F. Enemy was first sighted when several Hamps were
seen attacking B25s in vicinity of Kabanga Bay. Others
were sighted above up to 10,000 feet. Combat ensued
and ranged from ground level to 10,000 feet. Enemy
stayed in pairs or more. All enemy airplanes were
painted black and seemed to have especially good
pilots.
G. Nil (anti-aircraft)
H. Gun camera shots
I. One B25 seen to crash in water just off Cape Wanata,
shot down by enemy fighters.
J. Scattered to broken clouds over target and
enroute.
K. 1 P-38 landed at 0935, mechanical trouble; 1 P-38
landed at 1000, mechanical trouble; 1 P-38 landed at
1045, mechanical trouble; 1 P-38 had mechanical
trouble at Dobodura and is still there. Did not take
part in the mission. 1 P-38 crash-landed at Kiriwina
after the mission, pilot uninjured, plane was damaged
in combat. 3 P-38s were damaged in combat and remained
at Kiriwina. 1 P-38 had mechanical trouble and remained
at Kiriwina.
L. 24 belly tanks dropped. Six planes expended 2320 cal.
50s and 527 20 mms.

This mission report was "Scanned" by hand scanner
from "Peter Three Eight" a book that records the roll of
the P-38 in WWII and cites specific records of certain
pilots.

"A great outfit that did their part to help win the War."

I'm not sure how long a post can be, so I'll be chipping away with some partial stories with continued follow up.
More next week, I hope.


Moderator Edit:
This length is okay, but longer will be okay too. If you want to, maybe 3 or 4 missions per post. Does this sound all right to you?

 

very interesting F.Pilot, keep it up

 

Here's a little background on the Aircraft mentioned and location:

Japanese Aircraft:


Mitsubishi A6M3 Model 32 ("Hamp / Hap")



American Aircraft:




B-25s

Target Area:

Rapopo, New Britain; Located on the coast at Lesson Point off Blanche Bay, to the south-east of Rabaul. Prewar it was a coconut plantation. Today, ther is a resort nearby.



The action described is in the upper right hand corner of the map. Kabanga Bay is south of Rapopo Field along the east coast of the Gazelle Penisular.

The route from Dobodura (south of Buna) to the Rapopo field is about 420 miles. Here's a direct route and the local area:



Kiriwina islands are east of Buna bout 200 miles where Major
Craig landed.

A salute to you, FighterPilot and your mates, for your courage, dedication, and devotion to duty!

"Audentes Fortuna Juvat"





The 80th Fighter Squadron - "The Headhunters"

Home



Hope this is helpful to all rogues...

 

Fighter pilot

what was the P-38 variant flown on this October 43 mission if you remember ?

Erich ~

 

Sir, I appreciate your effort in sharing your experiences with us, especially your mission report post. What piqued my interest was this: the report mentioned a number of P-38s having mechanical trouble. My questions then are:
What kind of mechanical trouble occurred most often with your squadron's P-38? How often did these mechanical troubles occur? What caused them and how did you guys deal with them in the air and when you got back on the ground?

 

Very interesting indeed, thanks for sharing this Sir. I have always had a weak spot for Lightnings.

 

Mine was a "J" model and these were likely much earlier. Sorry, I don't know for sure.

 

In those days frontline runways had few spare parts, often fuel that was in some way contaminated and lots of wear and tear. Jungle weather was lousy and wet that helped set corrosion records at times. Aircraft were flown to the limits of their mechanical ability and then flown some more. Our mechanics were great, but they were limited to parts and hours of sleep available.

I flew on two sweeps with more than a dozen rivets popped before they could be replaced. Sheet metal was sometimes bent and sprung seams and rivets showed up after a busy mission.

Often aircraft were flown on missions while awaiting spare parts to be delivered in our spare time flying to the rear in our hack* and bringing back the parts.

*Our hack was a B-25 that Bob DeHaven dropped off for us in the early years - before my time.

When we flew a group mission, we almost always had one ship abort. On the Yamamoto mission, two ships aborted and two flew on without admitting they were questionable.

Not very helpful, but the mind is dimmer every day now.

 

But your spirit still shines through brightly!

Thank you very much for sharing this with us, and much more so for your valiant service to the world.

 

Flying aircraft in such a shape would, in seems to me, show that desperate times call for desperate measures. You guys took risks and willingly too.
Additional questions, sir. When plates were not fastened securely, how does that impact on your aircraft's performance? What did you have to watch out for when flying a plane in such a shape during a combat mission?

 

During your tour of duty, did you and your squadron host Col Lindbergh? I understand he was making the rounds on how best to mange the fuel/air ratio to increase range of the P-38. I think that his input made the intercept of Yamato's aircraft possible. Your comments would be greatly appreciated!

 

FP you've spoken of the Yamamoto mission, did you know Rex Barber ? A fellow Oregonian we spoke often enough ........ nice visit in Sisters, Oregon years ago.

E ~

 

Yes, I knew Rex, but only summarilly. All Yamamoto pilots were sent stateside immediately so they couldn't be forced to tell what they knew if captured.

Note:
I think Doug Canning still has a site under dougcanning.com with his view of that great flight.

 

FP yes I knew Rex had to be careful in what circles he told his story, even with the book:

by C.V. Glines "Attack on Yamamoto" of course still some speculation though the book favors Rex's claim of the Betty bomber. Will check on Doug's site soon

thanks for the response

E ~

 

The rivets missing were sporatic but on cockpit nacelle. Scarey, but necessary once.
Buffeting could have been a problem at high speed, but wasn't, that's why the second mission.

 

Since you mentioned scary, sir, what would you say would be your most harrowing experience in the air?

 

I suspect the most scarey moments were in my first power dive in a P-38 after learning about the problem of frozen ailerons in high speed dives. Compression problems occurred when too much air passed over the top of the wing and not enough under the lower part.

Aileron boost fixed that for the most part. Still spooky.

 

Fighter Pilot,

I understand that some earlier models had "air brakes" located on the underside of the wings next to the fuselage (not for slowing but of just changing the force on the horizontal stabilizers and wings so you could pull out of a high speed or compression dive).

So the boost you speak of is hydraulic?

 

Whoa, I guess that those airbrakes were hydraulic after all..a quick search and

1944 New York Air Brake Co Ad P-38 Plane at ClassicAdShop.com





Here's an explanation of the air brake or dive flaps

"Test flights revealed a problem that initially looked like tail flutter. During high-speed flight approaching Mach 0.68, especially during dives, the airplane's tail would begin to shake violently and the nose would drop. Once caught in this dive the plane would enter a compressibility stall and the controls would lock up, leaving the pilot no option but to bail out (if he could) or stick with the plane until it got down to denser air where he might have a chance to pull out. During one flight on 4 November 1940, the tail structure fell apart during a high-speed dive, killing YP-38 test pilot Ralph Virden. On another, USAAC Major Signa Gilkey managed to stay with a YP-38 in a compressibility lockup, riding it out until he reached denser air, where he recovered using elevator trim. In 1940, flutter was a familiar engineering problem related to a too-flexible tail, though the P-38's empennage was completely skinned in aluminum (not fabric) and was quite rigid. At no time did the P-38 suffer from true flutter. To prove a point, one elevator and its vertical stabilizers were skinned with metal 63% thicker than standard; the increase in rigidity made no difference in vibration. Army Lt. Colonel Kenneth B. Wolfe (head of Army Production Engineering) asked Lockheed to try external mass balances above and below the elevator, though the P-38 already had large mass balances elegantly placed within each vertical stablizer. Various configurations of external mass balances were equipped and test flights flown to document their performance and in Report No. 2414, Kelly Johnson wrote "...The violence of the vibration was unchanged and the diving tendency was naturally the same for all conditions." The tests were a bust. Nonetheless, at Wolfe's insistence, the additional external balances were a feature of every P-38 built from then on.

The compressibility problem was ultimately sidestepped by changing the geometry of the P-38's wing when diving. In 1943, quick-acting dive flaps were incorporated into the production line. The flaps were installed outboard of the engine nacelles and in action they extended downward 35° in 1½ seconds. The flaps did not act as a speed brake, they affected the center of pressure distribution so that the wing would not lose its lift."

And I bet it was still scary having to use them in a recovery from such a dive too!

 

great post fp