I'll have to agree with both Slapshot and Morpheus. The P-38 after the roll rate fix was a stone killer. But I'm pretty sure there was a real change either when Pyro said he (changed stall characterstics of all planes) or when the beta patch that allowed settings to transfer from AH I to AH II came out.
I too find myself struggling desperately to keep some speed when maneuvering, hearing the stall buzzer the instant I move the stick, and having those incredibly nasty departures when stalling, even at relatively high speeds and when nose down. It really seems to bleed speed way too fast and accelerate poorly when manuevering. When you get to 200 or so, any stick movement gives you a blaring stall horn. And you never get the speed back anywhere near as fast as you did, even nose down in WEP.
One thing I notice is that it tries to depart sharply to either the left or the right, trying to snap roll into an inverted spin. As you attempt to correct, it instantly goes all the way in the other direction. If you correct for a left roll, it tries to snap hard right. You'll eventually fight this to the ground.
It should simply mush out of a turn, vertical or flat, so long as you don't hold it hard and deep into a stall. The instant it starts refusing to respond, if you release control pressure, it should immediately begin to fly again, and gain speed. That is according to Corky Meyer, Jimmy Mattern, Tony Levier, Ben Kelsey, and John Lowell, along with a host of other P-38 pilots. That is what it was like right after the roll rate was fixed, but it is not now.
That being said, I've been able to adjust to the current version and make it perform half way decent, but not as it should.
Here's a real good example of what I'm complaining about. The other night, I was pursuing a Spitfire 9. As we went over the top, I was diving too steeply, and I pulled up a few degrees to go for the snap shot to help a friendly. The INSTANT I pulled up a few degrees at over 200 knots, it began to try to depart viloently from right to left and back again. Even though I was still nose down, at 200 knots and gaining speed, it absolutely refused to recover. Although I made the snapshot and killed the Spitfire handily, I hit the water ten seconds later.
I do not use Combat Trim in the P-38, and almost never have in the P-38, except at the very start of my time here. The P-38 is a very neutral plane and needs little trim adjusting, according to the above mentioned pilots. And when I stopped using Combat Trim in the P-38, my performance greatly improved in AH I. I do use Combat Trim in some other planes with success.
I've heard one or two people complain about apparent torque effects, but I don't think that is what I'm experiencing at all. And I'm sure no one at HTC would be careless enough to induce torque effects on the P-38 model, they are certainly well aware that the P-38 is a zero net torque plane.
Regarding the nose up habit in a high speed dive, I see that even in AH I, with neutral trim and dive flaps retracted. It pitches up despite pushing the stick forward all the way, even before it buffets. It really should buffet first, and then pitch DOWN, as in Mach Tuck, and should require dive flaps and/or elevator trim up to recover. If I had the kills I set up for in those dives that the pitch up cost me I'd have a whole lot more kills and fewer deaths. I experienced this habit as recently as last night a couple of times.
I appreciate the reply I got from Pyro, and I sincerely hope they take another look at the situation. I'm not going to whine, scream, cry, or demand, I just hope they do revisit the changes made.
