Badboy please explain it to me . I think I am making 2 mistakes . 1 I think I over flap . 2 I think I may be dropping em when I should lift them , and lifting when they should go down . Any films you have would help . Please explain in the vert and horiz .
Hi hilbly
My suggestion for turning in the horizontal, is to minimise your turn radius in a one circle fight (nose to nose turns) and to maximise your turn rate in a two circle fight (nose to tail). The question is, how does that influence the use of flaps? Generally, to minimise your turn radius you should use full flaps. That part is easy.
However, to maximise your turn rate, we need to be clear on the distinction between instantaneous and sustained turns, because the highest turn rate the P-38 can achieve is 31.5 dps with a turn radius of about 630ft at 236mph with 3 notches of flaps. Compare that with the Spitfire XVI that can also achieve exactly the same radius and rate at that speed, and you see that the P-38L can match the spitfire under certain conditions. Now, in order to hold a high turn rate, the P-38L driver would need to turn nose low, and because the P-38 has 3 notches of flaps out, any spitfire pilot that follows nose low is going to find himself gaining embarrassing amounts of speed and losing turn rate with an increasing turn radius. Many inexperienced Spitfire pilots will learn this about the P-38 the hard way. This helps to explain something about experienced P-38 drivers that you may have noticed… They have no fear of Spitfires, or other aircraft known for their turning ability. They like to turn nose low, and they prefer to fight at altitude so that they have room to turn nose low. For the figures I quoted above check out this EM diagram:
Sustained turns are different, and the P-38 is unremarkable in that regard. Ideally, you want the fight to be over before you need to depend on sustained turning ability, but if you do, my preference is to use 4 notches for the best compromise between sustained turning ability and turn radius.
For the vertical fight in any aircraft, my suggestion is to lead the top and lag the bottom. That means drop flaps to help pull over the top and then retract them again on the downside to regain energy. In the P-38 this may mean going to 3 or 4 notches over the top, then retracting to 2 or 3 on the down side, depending on what aircraft you are fighting. The exception being that if you go pure vertical, retract flaps fully for optimum zoom.
Lastly, for a similar aircraft engagement, (this applies to all aircraft and not just the P-38) getting the most out of your aircraft isn't just about how much flap you use, a lot depends on energy. Any small energy advantage can be converted to extra turn rate and fights that start Co-E are just as likely to be determined by timing the use of your flaps appropriately as they are by how much flap was being employed.
I am often asked how much flap I was using in a fight after out turning an opponent, but I have never been asked about the timing. When ever you think about energy in an engagement, you should never be concerned with the absolute amount, you should always be thinking relatively, that is in terms of if you have more or less than your opponent. Same deal with flaps, but with flaps you should be thinking in terms of should you employ them sooner or later. With most aircraft my advice is to only use flaps if you are sure you need them, or if you can tell that your opponent is using them, and then always try to use them slightly later. My own preference in the P-38 is to be slow to use the 1st and 2nd notch, but once I get to 2 I will go straight to 3, then I will go to 4 any time my speed is slow enough to allow it. Those timings are what I feel give me the best compromise between radius/rate and energy, while allowing me to manage the workload between flaps and trim, because I always manual trim in the p-38.
Although the P-38 is a dream to fly when you can fly it well, it is one of the most labor intensive aircraft in the game, and being able to do all of the above as second nature is the key to excelling in it. The catch is that you can only do that if you spend some serious time in the P-38, and unfortunately the P-38 is also one of the most jealous aircraft in the game, if you spend any time in other aircraft she will punish you for it when you return
Hope that helps.
Badboy
