They engineer that told me the "Messerschmoog" story worked for Lockheed in the 1930's. He worked on the P-38 program. I asked him about the little "compressability" issue. He said, "Yeah, we lost a few guys before we figured that one out".

ahem

Awesome Aircraft . . .

What "compressability" issue ??

two 1475hp Allison V-12 engines.

Any idea @what RPM that power was achieved?

From wikipedia:

Compressibility is an important factor in aerodynamics. At low speeds, the compressibility of air is not significant in relation to aircraft design, but as the airflow nears and exceeds the speed of sound, a host of new aerodynamic effects become important in the design of aircraft. These effects, often several of them at a time, made it very difficult for World War II era aircraft to reach speeds much beyond 800 km/h (500 mph).

Thanks . . .

I knew the P-38 was one of the fastest prop planes of the era . . .

I'll google "Messerschmoog story" to find out what that means . . .

No hits on Messerschmoog . . .

jet, the compressibility issue was the tail losing effectiveness in a high speed dive.

Thanks ...

I'm aware of the aerodynamic effects of approaching the speed of sound, but didn't know what it was called . . .

Still not sure about the "Messerschmoog" story, though . . .

for messerschmoog, see this thread:

http://www.cigarbid.com/auction/forum/forum.cfm?action=list&forumID=7&messageDisplay=0000000312153 

Thanks

A great plane designed by the legendary Kelly Johnson. X

I totally forgot about that ... I once read a book about Kelly Johnson & the Skunk Works ... It was an amazing read ...

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d.html/ref=redir_mdp_mobile/178-6379606-9802651?a=1857800370 

Is that the Mrs all the way back there???

I see tee-pee's

#9 Please see my P-51 post.

Schmoog was a german immigrant instrumental in the design of the P-51. The Lockheed guys called the P-51 the "Messerschmoog" because of the wing tip shape similarity to the Bf-109.

#14...yes, she likes these old planes too.

Believe it or not, the Honduran airforce was still using P-51s and F4Us as late as 1969.

and is she wearing a ducati shirt??

Of course!

HeHe!!