Looks like it's time to complete the tutorials so that I can try this mission on Realistic.

I shoot down 28-34 planes and still fail (on Arcade)...

Wow, I completed the whole game on arcade in 2 days without any trouble at all. I crashed into the ground with the P51D 2 times on the Battle of the bulge missions, due to its ridiculously higher turning radius than the other planes (?), but that was it.

I completed Hornet's Nest on the first try, and can't see why anyone would have trouble with it. Maybe I was just lucky, and this mission is glitchy...

The game was too easy on arcade, but I just wanted to play it through once, to unlock planes and see if any mission is worth replaying on a higher difficulty later.

Passed the hornet's nest on Realistic today :grin:

It took 4 attempts and ended up shooting down only six transports and bombed maybe five-six gun's on the ground... way easier on Realistic than Arcade where on one attempt I shot down 38 transports and still failed... go figure.

Tactics for Hornets Nest
 

The trick here is to make use of the other pilots in your flight. If you all attack just one formation and then all move on to the next you will run out of time. You need to tell your pilots to attack one group and you go off and attack another group. As you and your squadron begin to kill off the JUs you will notice 2 of them head for the edge of the map – you need to catch these guys – you chase one and instruct your other squad members to chase the other (you taking the nearest one). You must get to yours before it disappears off the map otherwise your done for; however your other pilot can chase their JU off the map. Just wait until he shoots it down (which may be off the map) then you can move on.