How One Mechanic's "Stupid" Wire Trick Made P-38s Outmaneuver Every Zero
Автор: History Under Fire
Загружено: 2025-11-18
Просмотров: 178
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#ww2history #ww2 #wwiihistory
Why one aircraft mechanic's unauthorized modification saved 80-100 American pilots during World War 2.
August 17, 1943. Technical Sergeant James McKenna discovered a fatal flaw in the P-38 Lightning that was killing American pilots in the Pacific. The control cables had three-eighths of an inch of slack—creating a deadly delay between stick movement and aircraft response. Training manuals said it was within specifications. Engineering officers called it acceptable tolerance.
They were all wrong.
McKenna bent a six-inch piece of piano wire into a Z-shape and installed it as a cable tensioner without authorization. Lieutenant Hayes flew the modified aircraft that morning and destroyed three Japanese Zeros in seven minutes.
By September 1943, forty P-38s had the modification, spreading mechanic to mechanic across the Pacific Theater. The unauthorized fix improved kill ratios from two-to-one against Americans to nearly even—before Lockheed officially integrated it into the P-38J model.
The principles McKenna discovered at Dobodura airfield continued to influence aircraft control systems through the Vietnam War and beyond.
This is the story of how a six-inch piece of wire changed aerial combat forever.
#worldwar2 #ww2history #ww2 #wwii #ww2records
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