[ARC5] WWII ECM Version of P-38

[Robert Eleazer]

"I thought it also had a 20 mm (Oldsmobile?) in the center."  

Yes, most of the P-38's had four .50 cal and one 20MM.  A few of the very early Lightnings had a 37MM, like the P-39. 

I read that on the major production models they had separate buttons on the control wheel for firing the .50 cal machine guns and the 20MM cannon.  There was a "horn button" in the center of the control wheel for a push to talk switch, requiring you to take your hands off the controls to talk .  The drop tank jettison switch was down along the lower side of the cockpit and thus not very handy,. and often when you wanted to dump the tanks it was under duress and needed to be done Right Now.

One P-38 squadron decided that they never wanted to fire just the machine guns or just the cannon anyway; both needed to be fired together.  So they rewired one gun button to fire both machine guns and cannon.  They rewired the other gun button for a PTT switch.  They rewired the "horn button" PTT into a drop tank jettison control, so it was much easier to find.

Admittedly they did have a problem for a while with guys trying to call the tower on the ground and dumping their drop tanks on the ramp.

The P-51 had a great arrangement for the PTT switch, built into the end of the throttle.  The pilot did not have to take his hands off the controls and did not get the PTT mike button confused easily with the gun buttons on the joystick.  Somebody did some good thinking about that design.  I guess this arrangement was used with either the T-30 throat mike or the one built into the oxygen mask, which was more common later in the war.   

Wayne