Duedel, I guess you just read the Q&A...lol.
Bump mapping is a way of adding surface detail to the texture map of a 3-d model. Look at any of AH's planes now... see those wing panels? Those are painted on, just lines.
If you added a bump map channel to the color map, you can give the illusion of intricate surface detail without having to actually model it (which adds countless polygons = not good for rendering engines). The bump map actually works with the active light source, and will alter the effect of the "bumps" as the light source moves around it... or rather as the plane maneuvers under the sun. Much more effective than just painting on a panel line, plus you didn't add any polygons to the model.
Imagine someday in AH, as youfly in your cockpit and rock your wings back and forth, the shading on all the dials and nuts and bolts changes with the orientation of the cockpit.
