Onboard equipment
The aspect that has contributed the most to the bad fame of the P-38 is, without a doubt, the ease to go into an "spiral of death" when an engine stops for any reason. It is an aircraft with a large distance between engines, so any problem in one of them results in an uncontrolled yaw and the almost certain loss of the device.
The real was easily controlled by the pilot, who had immediate information in case of emergency and could quickly compensate the control surfaces. In the case of the model airplane, depending how fare from us is she, it can be difficult to appreciate the engine affected on time, so that when we want to react, it will be too late.
We must mention that with a single engine running, at least 50% power is lost in flight provided that we maintain the maximum acceleration, but this traction is precisely what causes the lifting of the wing of that side and uncontrolled stall towards the other; lifting the nose in that situation, precipitate the disaster. Who has never seen a precious twin engine to "lose" an engine in flight and immediately, to everyone's surprise, perform the so-called "spiral of death"?
Therefore, if this happens, gas must be reduced to a long idle, immediately adopt a descent attitude in order not to slow down and land by right. If something of gas control must be done, so as not to fall short, it should be done slowly without passing 50% of gas, and, above all, perform open turns, mixing with rudder towards the side of the running engine. It must be in mind that, since it can not exceed 50% of gas, the plane will only offer a 25% of real maximum power, so there is no other option but to pose, without delay, the forced landing.
Faced with this uninspiring scenario, it seems crucial to adopt measures aimed at minimizing the mentioned risk, especially in a model with gas engine and, above all, so laborious. Therefore, I was inclined from the beginning to provide this device with special electronic flight assistance systems, although this implies greater complexity of the equipment, difficulty in its programming and the possibility of other electronic failures.