Unlikely Matchups: Mosquito VS. P-38

[Doktorwzzerd]

Originally Posted by Soviet Ace

Yes, but like Robin Olds said in a book about his life in WW2, the P-38 was a good plane; under the hands of a good pilot. So it depends. The P-38 was performed better in the Pacific, than it actually did in Europe. And that's why most of the P-38s were shipped over there, rather than keep many of them in Europe. So once again, it depends.

Ha, well pilot performance being equal, the Mosquito just wasn't designed to be a fighter, she was designed as a light bomber, whereas the P-38 was intended from the beginning to be a fighter. I mean just look at them, its like proposing a dogfight between a F-111 and an F-15.

Was the P-38 really used in the Pacific more extensively than the the ETO due to performance, or was it due to the USAAF's need for an aircraft with extreme range in the Pacific? Not having aircraft carriers, the P-38 is the only American aircraft, prior to the P-51D, that could get the job done in the Pacific for the USAAF.