Here's a player writeup for the P-38L for the web page you were asking for from the players a few weeks back Pyro.
enjoy
All speeds are Calibrated Air Speed
Stall speed power on:
Flaps up: +108mph
Flaps down: +95mph
Minimum single engine flight speed:
150mph
Maximum dive speed (structural failure):
545mph
Minimum loop entry speed (dependant on weight/loading and skill):
160-180mph
Best Rate of climb speed(default):
175mph
Best Roll rate speed(range):
250mph-400mph
Best speed @ altitude:
414mph @ 25,000 feet
Maneuvering flaps speed:
250mph
Full Flaps speed:
150mph
Gear extended structural failure speed:
200mph
TAKEOFF
Upward elevator trim makes takeoff easier but it's not necessary. Flaps are used at the pilot's discretion. They do shorten takeoff and obstacle clearance distance if deployed 1 or 2 notches after accelerating to 130mph. Start the engines either one at a time if you are in a historical mood with shift 1 and e then shift 2 and e followed by shift and e to link the throttles after startup or simply start both at the same time.
Takeoff is much easier in the Lightning due to its counter-rotating propellers. It is possible to firewall the throttles of the p-38 with no adverse control problems. After gaining a positive rate of climb after liftoff retract the gear and flaps.
CLIMBOUT
Full throttle with a default climb of 175mph will get you to altitude the quickest however a climbspeed of 200mph is a great speed for cruise climbing to the target area.
CRUISING
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flight manual:
TAKEOFF AND MILITARY: 3000 RPM 54" AUTO RICH 162 GALS/HOUR/ENGINE
WAR EMERGENCY: 3000 RPM 60" AUTO RICH 160 GALS/HOUR/ENGINE
NORMAL RATED: 2600 RPM 44" AUTO RICH 115 GALS/HOUR/ENGINE
MAXIMUM CRUISE: 2300 RPM 35" AUTO LEAN _60 GALS/HOUR/ENGINE
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Cruising will most likely be full throttle in AH though. The big Lockheed Lightning carries with drop tanks up to 710 gallons of gas in Aces High. That's 4615 pounds of fuel! So if you brought the fuel and drop tanks it is yours to burn. I've found a 50% fuel load with a drop tank or two is addequate for base defense since you can get rid of 150-300gal of fuel in a jam and still have fuel for the fight. However, when going hunting on a high altitude multiple kill sweep sortie I take full fuel and drop tanks. Fuel loading depends simply upon the flying style you use and how much time(fuel) bought at the expense of performance you feel you can take and succeed in your objectives.
FUEL MANAGEMENT
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"FUEL TANKS: The P-38Ls were issued with 6 fuel tanks, 2 x 93 Gal. MAIN WING TANKS on the rear part of the inner wing, 2 x 60 Gal. RESERVE TANKS on the front part of the inner wing, besides the pilot, and 2 x 55 Gal. OUTER WING TANKS on the outer wing leading edges, besides 1 or 2 165 or 300 Gal. DROP TANKS. The Flight Manual recomended the following order for compsumption for those tanks:
1) Reserve tanks for the first 15 minutes of flight
2) External drop tanks
3) Outer wing tanks
4) Main fuel tanks
5) Reserve tanks"
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Managing the fuel tanks can be tricky in the Aces High P-38. after consuming drop tanks, switch to the mains and use them up before using the aux tanks. In Aces High the main tanks each (RM&LM) and Aux tanks (LA&RA) are located between the cockpit and the engine nacels in the inner wing. The main tanks are in the rear behind the aux tanks so use up the main tanks first by manually selecting them and switching between LM & RM to balance fuel. The outer wing tanks on the real P-38L are combined with the main fuel tanks in AH. throttling back to save fuel can be done in two ways: cruising down at 35"@2300rpm or turning off one engine and leaving the other at full throttle. I've found flying single engine more efficient at stretching fumes back to base than throttling back, in fact this was a tactic often used by real Lightning pilots returning on low fuel.
Generally when you get down to 1/4 tank in the LA&RA after emptying the mains its best to head home, the last quarter of fuel in the tanks seems to disapear much faster than the rest.
LANDING
Surviving against the odds on a succesful sortie to hear the wheels chirp is quite satisfying. The easiest landing for the p-38 is to use a shallow desent and full flaps and gear extended at 165mph. Slow to about 140mph on short final slipping the aircraft with rudder to loose altitude if necessary and tounch down rear wheels first. Holding the nose up high will air brake the P-38 but if you hold it up to high you will scrape the tail. When braking it is more effective to pump the brakes than just hold them down if you are running out of runway. landing with damage and a single engine you should touch down at 150mph, any slower and bad things might happen.
ARMAMENT
Full ammo is my preference because I use up the excess quickly. If you are an excellent shot you might only need the smaller 50cal load which runs out same time as cannon, but it goes quite fast. Ussually more ammo is better because you can get rid of it quickly. The P-38L has the best gun platform in the game, the guns fire straight all the way out till they drop off. However it is possible that vertical convergence could be an issue, so the superstitious like me use 300 yards.
Rockets are an excellent weapon on the p-38L best used at a 45 degree dive and 400mph. on a good day you can take out 5 acks at 2 rockets a piece.
I always take 1000lb bombs if I take any, they hurt climb and top speed but I ussually climb to only 10k for bomb and rocket attacks and the 1k bombs have a better punch for obvious reasons.
PERFORMANCE AND TACTICS
The p-38 is the best middle of the pack fighter in AH. It turn fights the faster planes and e fights the better turning slow ones. The P-38 is best used exclusively as an E fighter to capitalize on its excellent vertical perfromance and also since it's large planform size gives the enemy an easy shot in a knife fight.
One rule of the P-38 is flaps. The Lightning lives and dies by the use of flaps and they are vital to maneuvering with the other aircraft in Aces High. in turns 2 notches of maneuvering flaps are best for most fights but some use full flaps for a momentary gain in angles on really tough fights and when squeeking the p38 over the top of an extremely low speed loop. However when not turning it is imperitive to reel in the flaps since they slow you down a lot.
The big lockheed twin also has among the most potent superchargers in Aces high. High altitudes of 18 to 25k are where the p38 shines the brightest.
Initial dive performance of the 14,000 to 20,000 pound P-38 is excellent, it literally falls out of the sky like a screaming brick, however this becomes a problem at higher altitudes as the P-38 quickly exceeds 460mph where it begins to experience structural fatigue and finally failure at 545 to 550 mph. ussually both sections of the elevator or both ailerons are the first to go making recovery difficult.
Roll performance of the P-38L is enhanced by hydraulic assistance but this only helps the p38L at faster speeds. As speed drops below 250mph the roll rate of the AH lightning goes from excellent to horrible since full deflection of the ailerons has less effect at low speed due to the inertia of the twin booms and 52 foot wingspan which frankly makes the p38 quite stable and resistant to rolling. It is best to use rudder to speed an entry into the roll at these slow speeds. but even with rudder assisted roll entry the roll rate at slow speed is a major weakness of the p38 in a knife fight.
One maneuver the p-38L has due to neutral torque is it's ability to pull off low speed stalling loops where the lightning at +160mph has just enough to get the nose over the top while throwing in full flaps that it is able to fall over the other side of the loop. This maneuver can in some instances reverse the situation completely and put the formerely defensive p-38 on the offensive on the torqued out opponent who could not follow. This tactic is most effective on 109g10s, p51s and other aircraft with lots of torque and higher stall speeds. Spitfires and other t&b aircraft are not shaken by this move.
The P-38 has an excellent initial turn. so it can cash in this card for a snapshot on more maneuverable aircraft but if it misses it will be forced totally defensive.
The Lightning is truly one of the best fighters of world war 2, but it is an honest airplane with weaknesses that can be exploited if the lightning pilot is not careful. Although slower than the late war mosters it can still hold its own and emerge triumphant in the worst of situations.
[This message has been edited by Citabria (edited 05-17-2000).]
