Would you consider 3 flaps to maybe have been an observation for more nose high maneuvers where you may need some flaps but not as much drag as with 4?
Curious to see what your insight behind your wondering question might be.
The key thing about the P-38 is that it can achieve a tight turn radius, but not such a good turn rate, relatively speaking. Fighter pilots have a saying "Rate Kills" which essentially means that even if you have a tighter turn radius, an aircraft that can out turn you, can still kill you. At first that isn't obvious, because you might think that one of two options are possible:
- That the tighter turning aircraft could simply stay inside the other aircraft's turn circle and the aircraft with the with the better rate would still not be able to get a shot.
- That the tighter turning aircraft could simply turn one circle and win a scissors type engagement
However in the first situation the pilot with the better turn rate can change the geometry of the fight to create turning room for the shot by off-setting the turn circles and that can be achieved by turning out of plane with a high yo-yo for example.
However if an opponent attempts to create turning room or off-set the turn circles by going out of plane with a high yo-yo, the best defense is to duplicate the maneuver with one of your own, taking away the turning room and resetting the geometry of the fight and thus staying inside his turn. The catch is, you can't do that if you have given your opponent exclusive use of the vertical by digging yourself into an energy hole. Giving away ownership of the vertical can be a decisive mistake.
For example, let's say two equally skillful pilots, both in P-38s have spiraled all the way down to the deck and are locked in a neutral lufbery. The only difference being that one pilot stays at three notches of flaps and the other drops full flaps. As the full flap pilot deploys his flaps he will see what looks like an advantage, it will appear as though he's gaining as the circle tightens. However he's just given up a huge chunk of energy and his opponent will be able to dominate the vertical. I've seen pilot's who don't understand what that means, try to match their opponent in the vertical and then realize as they come over the top that they don't have enough energy left to pull out and end the fight in a smoking hole.
In the second situation, it often takes two to tango, when faced with a tighter turning aircraft it is almost always possible to force the fight two circle for a rate war rather than a one circle radius war. There are situations where it isn't possible to avoid conceding at least one opportunity to a tighter turner aircraft hell bent on going one circle and those situations are the P-38 pilot's stock in trade, its what they work for and how they make their living. But when you know the dangers, accept for the occasional unpleasant surprise, you can avoid them.
Regarding the last two notches of flaps, P-38 v P-38 I will often go to four notches, but because of the very small rate advantage it often results in a very protracted engagement. I prefer the "slow but sure" approach but many players hate it because in the MA there is rarely time and that approach is more likely to get you picked. Even with no other aircraft around it can become more a test of endurance than anything else. For most players and against almost any other aircraft the difference between the third and fourth notch won't matter much, but there is another factor.
With most aircraft, working the flaps requires two things, firstly the knowledge of which settings are optimal in any particular situation and then some spare brain cells to monitor exactly where your flaps are at any given moment, complicated by the flaps auto retracting if your airspeed increases. Often in an intense engagement where you are focused on maneuvering and possibly trying to monitor other bandits, it is easy to lose track. The nice thing about being at three notches of flaps in a hard low speed maneuvering engagement in the P-38 is that they will just stay there. You can get to three notches and then pretty much forget about them for a while, freeing your entire concentration for the ACM.
So, a good strategy is to use three notches, reserving the fourth notch for momentary assistance over the top in loops or during a rolling scissors. If you finally end up on the deck against another P-38, the fourth notch can be used if needed as it will slightly improve both your rate and radius and can be particular decisive if you are stuck in lag with just a few more degrees to go for the kill. Lastly, the 5th and final notch will almost always hurt so should only be used in situations where the tighter radius will either result in a high probability of kill, or enable you to avoid conceding one, and then only as briefly as necessary.
Hope that helps.
Badboy
