190 Series Vs. P38 Series

[moot]

It's hard to tell who said what in the above post.

[killnu]

Dora is more forgiving?  You have an extra engine when your rad/oil gets hit on a P38.

[SIG220]

Originally posted by Raptor
P38J has 6 rockets
P38L has 10 Rockets
P38L has Dive flaps

P38L carries more ord and is more survivable in those newbish suicidal dives if they know how to use dive flaps.

OK, let me re-phrase my question another way:

Why would anyone want to fly the P38 J over the L model?

Obviously, from looking at these stats, some people are selecting it instead.   Or are all of these folks simply flying in the Mid War Arena, and thus cannot use the L version???

There is also quite a difference between the success the two models have against the other planes noted in these stats.  It gives an appearance of the J model doing better.  

Are more experienced pilots flying the J?   Would that explain it?   But then, if that is so, why would they choose it over the L model??

SIG 220

[Raptor]

More people use the L for pure ground attack missions so it's stats suffer from that.

[Guppy35]

Originally posted by SIG220
OK, let me re-phrase my question another way:

Why would anyone want to fly the P38 J over the L model?

Obviously, from looking at these stats, some people are selecting it instead.   Or are all of these folks simply flying in the Mid War Arena, and thus cannot use the L version???

There is also quite a difference between the success the two models have against the other planes noted in these stats.  It gives an appearance of the J model doing better.  

Are more experienced pilots flying the J?   Would that explain it?   But then, if that is so, why would they choose it over the L model??

SIG 220

I do believe that a number of experienced 38 drivers fly Js.  Not all but many.

You have to understand that the die hard 38 dweebs like myself sometimes fly the one that has the most history, or the skin we like best.  Some of the J drivers like OD skins instead of natural metal so they fly it.  

That doesn't make it a bad choice to fly the L.  Raptor flies the L almost exclusively and he does amazing things in it.  Fringe flies the L most often I think and he's great in it.  Silat flies the L...if you can call that flying....

I think you'll also find that maybe the key word is experienced.  Some guys want the challenge of not flying the latest and greatest to see how they can stack up against all the end of the war birds.

Not all 190 drivers fly D9s.  Lots of em take A5s or A8s, possibly because of the JG they fly with and it has the right skin for their bunch but also for the challenge of doing more with less.

As mentioned the 38L is the one that carries the most ord.  But again I'd say that the most experienced 38 drivers are much more interested in fighting other planes and not being fighter bombers.

The alts that AH in the MA is fought at also don't make the dive flaps that big of an advantage.  When we flew the DGS scenario most everyone flew Ls because at 30K the dive flaps and power assist was helpful.

Of course I'm a 38G dweeb so this is just my observations on the 38 sticks I've flown with over the last few years...even KillnU before he got his leather lederhosen on

[Fianna]

Originally posted by SIG220
OK, let me re-phrase my question another way:

Why would anyone want to fly the P38 J over the L model?

Obviously, from looking at these stats, some people are selecting it instead.   Or are all of these folks simply flying in the Mid War Arena, and thus cannot use the L version???

There is also quite a difference between the success the two models have against the other planes noted in these stats.  It gives an appearance of the J model doing better.  

Are more experienced pilots flying the J?   Would that explain it?   But then, if that is so, why would they choose it over the L model??

SIG 220

I prefer the J because it has better skins, imo. The L is a better plane, but not by enough to overcome its lack of olive drab skins. I think this is the reason for most people choosing the J over the L, but I'm probably wrong.

The J model does better because the guys flying it have an idea of what they're doing. Most people in the L are using it simply because it can carry ord and have no intention of actually shooting something down with it (and I don't think they'd be able to shoot something down even if they wanted to).

[Benny Moore]

I can't bear to fly the J because it does nothing better than the L and has a worse roll rate.  The P-38's hard enough to fight in with powered ailerons.

[SlapShot]

Originally posted by Fianna
Most people in the L are using it simply because it can carry ord and have no intention of actually shooting something down with it (and I don't think they'd be able to shoot something down even if they wanted to).

Exactly the reason why it should be scored and categorized as a "bomber".

[Tac]

Originally posted by SIG220
OK, let me re-phrase my question another way:

Why would anyone want to fly the P38 J over the L model?

Obviously, from looking at these stats, some people are selecting it instead.   Or are all of these folks simply flying in the Mid War Arena, and thus cannot use the L version???

There is also quite a difference between the success the two models have against the other planes noted in these stats.  It gives an appearance of the J model doing better.  

Are more experienced pilots flying the J?   Would that explain it?   But then, if that is so, why would they choose it over the L model??

SIG 220

P-38L is the heaviest of the set and has the most ordenance options.

P-38J is lighter than the L and has practically the same engines. For weight to engine power, the 38J is better. It in fact, has better acceleration and a higher top speed than the 38L. It only suffers from lack of dive flaps but anyone familiar with the 38 should have little issue with this.

P-38G has lower top speed and lower acceleration than its late war counterparts.. but it has significantly better agility (turn rate).


All in all,

take the 38L when you need to do ground attack or high altitude work (25k+).

take the 38J for air-to-air combat under 25k if you are more of a Boom and Zoom pilot (dont like to turn that much or get slow).

Take the 38G for any air to air combat under 25k if you are more into manouvering than energy fighting.


Personally I take the 38G for most air to air since it gives me the best plane vs the majority of the planeset in the MA. It is fast (but not THE fastest), turns well (but not the best) and still has all the benefits of the 38's design (counter props, stability, huge ammo load, good guns).

[Ack-Ack]

Originally posted by Benny Moore
The P-38's hard enough to fight in with powered ailerons.

I guess maybe for some....



ack-ack

[Benny Moore]

Originally posted by Tac
P-38L is the heaviest of the set ...

P-38J is lighter than the L and has practically the same engines. For weight to engine power, the 38J is better. It in fact, has better acceleration and a higher top speed than the 38L.

Tac, that's not right, either in Aces High II or in reality.  In Aces High II, the J and L are the exact same weight.  In reality, the J was indeed lighter (by varying amounts depending on the production block), but the L had the much more powerful F-30 engines.  The P-38L has the exact same speed as the P-38J in the game, but in reality with P-38L was significantly faster.

So, both in Aces High II and in reality, the P-38L was superior to the P-38J.  In Aces High II, the superiority is absolute, as the P-38L has things that the P-38J doesn't and yet the P-38J doesn't do anything better than the P-38L.

[clerick]

Originally posted by Benny Moore
...and yet the P-38J doesn't do anything better than the P-38L.

Except turn radius and turn rate.

[Fianna]

Originally posted by clerick
Except turn radius and turn rate.

I'm pretty sure turn radius and turn rate are the same for both.

[Ack-Ack]

Originally posted by Benny Moore
Tac, that's not right, either in Aces High II or in reality.  In Aces High II, the J and L are the exact same weight.  In reality, the J was indeed lighter (by varying amounts depending on the production block), but the L had the much more powerful F-30 engines.  The P-38L has the exact same speed as the P-38J in the game, but in reality with P-38L was significantly faster.

I can't find my speed charts but IIRC, the P-38J had a slight speed advantage over the L because of the lighter weight.  The difference was minor, not significant like you state.  

IIRC, speed at 25,000ft for the L is 414mph while the speed for the J at 25,000ft was 420mph.

Widewing's site should have the speed charts that would show the minor difference in speeds.


ack-ack

[Raptor]

Originally posted by Fianna
I'm pretty sure turn radius and turn rate are the same for both.

P38J has a slightly tighter turning circle than a P38L, but not enough to be the deciding factor in a fight. Same goes for speed.