Comet P38 Lightning - BUILD

[charlieman]

Great progress Rich! And love your attention and methods to jigging. Lot of ideas worth noting.

To change gears a bit, Does anyone know the date of when Comet issued the kit?

[strat-o]

I know that they had an XP-38 prototype model in ~1940 called Lockheed Pursuit with a 37" Wingspan.

https://www.stickandtissue.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1557079827/11#11

Marlin

[MKelly]

Great build Rich!

Here's the 1940-vintage L8 "Lockheed Pursuit" plan.  It's very similar to the later P-38F kit, but clearly reflects the XP-38 configuration in the boom forward end and assorted intake/exhaust scoops and fairings.  Issue 13 of the KAPA Collector newsletter (http://www.flyingacesclub.com/KAPA/ISSUE13.pdf) attributes the L8 design to Fred Schlienz, and states the model was redesigned by another Comet designer later in the war when better information on the full-scale aircraft was available.

The ribs, aft booms and fuselage are pretty much identical, but the wing has an extra rib bay at the tip (extending span from 34 to 37-1/2"), the forward boom formers and spinners are different (reflecting the XP-38 configuration) and the stab has a wider chord, extending forward of the fin LE into the booms.  Unfortunately I didn't get any printwood in the incomplete kit I picked up, so building from this plan would involve extrapolating the later kit parts to match the plan.  If anyone's got the printwood I'd be up for scanning the plan and putting together a complete package for the Plan Gallery.

Anyway, back to your build Rich.

Mike

[fred]

Just realised  from looking at that Comet plan that the P38 looks strikingly similar to a DeHavilland Comet  (Mebe even it's offspring: Mosquito)  except with twin booms... rather than the single fuse.
Artistic License ?

[Rich Moore]

Interesting discussion regarding date of plans. I haven't a clue and very interested in the earlier 'Pursuit' kit.

When you said that the 'P38 looks strikingly similar to a DeHavilland Comet', my first reaction was 'eh??' - I thought for a moment that you meant the DH106! I suspect you mean the DH88, which would make more sense...

Current state of this build - 'on hold for a few weeks'. I am hoping to get back to it in time for summer trimming.

[Rich Moore]

Missed the summer. Next target, get it flying before 2020 nats...

[Russ Lister]

Look forward to it 

[Bingo Fuel]

There weren't too many P-38Fs in natural metal finish.  I guess you want to match the box art but notice the box art is a later 38, more like a J or L model.  Still this looks great. I cut out all the wood for one about ten years ago using a razor saw to cut out the parts from the sheet and a disk sander to grind away the unwanted wood. Just want to use the kit wood even though its like sheet concrete. Plan to sand the parts down to make them thinner. So no it was never built and the parts are all still in a box.  When I saw White Lightning fly at Reno in 1994 and do a fantastic aerobatic routine, I just had to build it someday.  I have a better vintage kit by Cleveland model and its their IT kit so it has potential.  The super scale 3/4"=1' version is way too much model.  Would love to do the F-5G version someday too as a Cleveland racer just cause no one else would do it.