Originally posted by MaddogJoe
the P38 is a great ride and a VERY capable dogfighter. I'm not one of the "pros" Pellik mentioned, but I'm no slouch. Pellik is a good teacher, and I wish I could spend some more time with him.
I think the biggest problem I have with the 38 is its such a great Jabo plane that I'm forever fighting with ord. on board !!! If it wasn't for that I'd have some decent numbers in it. A fast spit is about the only plane I fear in it 
There are a few approaches to dealing with high spits in a 38. You'll want to identify what type of spit it is pretty quick if you can, as the bs you can pull against a spit9 is a lot greater then a spit5.
To help inspire confidence in the 38 let me lay out a very common scenario for you: You're sitting on auto climb at about 5k and spot a spit9 lining up on your high 6 at about d2.5 out. You see the - sign so you know he is closing pretty quick.
First unload your drop tanks and ord. Turning while heavy isn't too hot an idea unless you're really sure of the situation. Then hit auto level and WEP to get some E and get trimmed up.
Two seconds later or so your trim is set and your spit is at 'd2.0' and closing. Here you want to start a low yo yo to try and get below him. Watch what he does here very carefully. I'm going to assume he dives straight at you pressing the HO pass.
This first pass you want to just fly right under him. You should be just slightly nose up by the time he passes. It's a very hard shot for him so you can be confident in your pass. Basically you turned that low yo-yo into a good amount of vertical seperation. After the pass just go about 30 degrees nose high and extend out. This 'fake pass' will tell you a lot about your opponent.
Keeping with the 'average spit9' he extends out in much the same mannor, and the distance between your planes will be at D2.5 again in no time. He will do an immel and start diving toward you here. He is going to try harder this shot.
Right after he does his immel and gets a little E repeat the low yo-yo, and keep nose down comming out of the turn. Make him dive even more to try for the shot. Before he passes start pulling nose up into an immel yourself. You want to zoom up right behind him as he blows by. Because he is an 'average spit' he intends to turn fight with you and will likely do a high yo-yo or immel himself.
Do a double immel, you're still below him and, despite being low E, you're capable of stalling much later then he is thanks to the neutral stall characteristics of the 38. He will break into a low yo-yo or flat turn after his one immel to try and get around on you. Pop full flaps to top off your second immel faster and do a low yo-yo toward him. Between rolling in the immel and the full flap nose low turn you're now winning an angles fight. If you can't get the shot right here scissor into him after your planes pass. You should be just shy of a shot while he is maybe 10 degrees away from getting the HO he just planned out. You roll to the other side and do a slightly high yo-yo. He will pass right in front of you. With practice this pass is a good kill shot You can now saddle up for a while and keep pressing for a shot. There is almost nothing he can do to get a good shot on you thanks to being 50mph faster and not having flaps. You just won the fight against a high spit entierly because you were slower then him when the turning started.
This is an example of using just one of the 38s advantages. There really is something in your favor in any situation. Not many pilots learn to appriciate this, most rely on flying a plane which is just terribly good at one thing. Spit pilots just want to turn. LA7 pilots just want to go fast. The 38 has the advantage over every plane if you get control over the terms of the fight. Don't try to play energy games with an LA7, and don't lock yourself into a flat turn with a spit, you'll do fine.
As far as carrying ord goes, this is what's nice about seperate fighter and attack modes. If your K/D in attack sucks it's because your heavy. Use your K/D in fighter to see how you stack up in fights.
-pellik
