This expansion, which fit on a signle
3.5 floppy, added the Lockheed P-38 Lightning as a flyable craft for the 8th Air Force and as an opponent when flying for the Luftwaffe.
As an
American pilot, the P-38 is usable in Single Missions, Historical Combat, Tour of Duty, and Campaigns. On the Luftwaffe side, as with all expansions to
SWOTL, the new aircraft was not added to the opposing craft list for Tour of Duty missions. Therefore, the only way to fight against the P-38 was to fly Historical Combat missions.
The P-38 was very capable in SWOTL. Although not quite as agile as single-engined craft such as the
P-51 and FW 190, its twin engines gave it both speed and survivability. Although it could not out-turn FW 190's and ME 109's in game, it could easily outclimb and outdive them. This, combined with favorable firepower in the form of four .50 caliber Brownings and a 20mm cannon, made it well suited to "boom and zoom" attacks against enemy fighters. It also had long range, making it a good choice to escort B-17's. Its twin engines and high speed made it an interesting match against the jet-powered ME-262's.
The same traits that made it a good choice against enemy planes also made it well-suited to attacking ground targets, either on a dedicated strike mission or on the way back from an escort mission. P-38's could be loaded with a mix of range-extending drop tanks, bombs, and rockets. Combined with the stock firepower concentrated in the P-38's nose section, a flight of P-38's attacking a ground target was often more effective than a flight of B-17's at eliminating a chosen target in SWOTL, especially in Campagn missions.
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