Okay now I'm even more confused; looking at pics of the P38 the unfortunate pilot seems to be faced with TWO critical engines as each are outward turning. Maybe something to do with the twin fin configuration? As I grow older and dimmer the world makes less and less sense
You are quite correct that the P-38 had two critical engines, but all for a very good reason. The prototype had its engines rotating in the reverse direction to the production version ie no critical engine. Following the loss of the prototype wind tunnel work found the rotation that applied to the production version made for a more stable gun platform due to the properties of the pitching moment. So don't fear, the world makes complete sense.
