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This will probably appear in the wrong place thanks to a buggy news server.
Cub Driver wrote in message ... On Wed, 26 May 2004 16:34:02 +1000, "Geoffrey Sinclair" wrote: the P-40Gs are counted as production not conversion and some of the lend lease allocations are double counted, so subtract 44 P-40G and 250 Kittihawk IIs and you end up at 13,753. Most of the rest of the difference is Dean stating there were 4 less P-40N-40s, the last version, than the serial number lists. I'm delighted someone is working this out. Will it be published somewhere, as website or article or book? well there are websites already with the serial numbers, for example http://www.uswarplanes.net/p38.htm I must admit to assuming others had done the work or something similar, I expect keeping the results as a spreadsheet is a good contribution. The spreadsheet means you can do things like sort the serial number blocks and look for holes for example. In the US case with numeric serials you can subtract the first and last in the block and see if it matches the number said to be produced. The sorting is very useful where production of different subtypes in interleaved or things like the way the P-38 line was producing a mixture of P-38 and F-4 or F-5. (I think Northrop made a vow that there would never be production of two in a row for the different P-61B sub types (-1, -2, -10, -11, -15, -16, -20, -25). They really tried for a while.) Whether there is enough interest to make it worthwhile to have the spreadsheet available on a web site is something I am unsure of. In any case it is currently a work in progress, just the big 7 USAAF fighters done, P-38, 39, 40, 47, 51, 61 and 63. (Of course, most historians would be content to round it up to 14,000 aircraft. I follow a rule that once you get past 100, it's very difficult to be precise about anything.) Obviously you try for as much accuracy as possible. I have a basic rule of thumb that 5% error is not too bad when it comes to using the figures, given all the other imponderables in WWII. It is not like the people involved had the view, paperwork first, war second. As an example, P-38 production, 1) was 40-762 built as a P-38 and then converted to the XP-38A or delivered as an XP-38A, 2) was 42-13558 delivered as the XP-38K or was it converted from an earlier P-38 and given a new serial 3) Were all the RAF's order for Lightning IIs given USAAF serials or was the only one to be given an RAF serial (AF221) not given a USAAF serial, 4) was 42-1257 an F-4 or an F-5? Looking at the serial numbers gives answers of 1) unknown, 2) probably new (it would be unique for an aircraft to be given a new serial) also 42-13557 last model G in the batch with 42-13559 the first H, 3) probably no, as then the RAF order is an exact match for the relevant P-38F sub types, 4) unknown, but the serial is in the middle of an F-4 batch, it still might be an F-5 prototype. Francis Dean thinks 10,038 P-38 and F-4/5s were produced, but the USAAF statistical digest and Lockheed say 10,037. It comes down to that Lightning II and the XP-38K. I think the Mark II did have a USAAF serial and the K model was either delivered as a G and converted with the K serial or delivered as a K and this means it was not double counted as a G under one serial and the K under its new serial. Geoffrey Sinclair Remove the nb for email. |
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On Fri, 28 May 2004 01:27:55 +1000, "Geoffrey Sinclair"
wrote: 1) was 40-762 built as a P-38 and then converted to the XP-38A or delivered as an XP-38A, Well, all I can say is, better Geoff than me! I am full of admiration for anyone willing to bend his mind around these things. (Isn't it an odd usage to have an XP-38A? The only time I've seen something similar is the YP-59A, which of course was a "black" project, the turbojet P-59A having no similarity to the piston-engined P-59.) all the best -- Dan Ford email: (put Cubdriver in subject line) The Warbird's Forum www.warbirdforum.com The Piper Cub Forum www.pipercubforum.com |
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