[QUOTE=III/JG53_Don;468556...Did I miss something?...[/QUOTE]
There used to be a lighting effect on the planes that made them look more real and connected to their environment. If you look at the front half of the wings and the lower sides of the fuselage of the plane in the picture below, you can see the reflections there that show the effect. Those parts of the plane are in shadow but are still lit up a little bit by ambient light in the planes surroundings. It's no longer in the game and as a result the planes look more flat and artificial. It's probably regarded as trivial and low priority (like navigation and landing lights) but those sort of details can really add up and make the game a lot more immersive and realistic, for some people anyway.
You can see the effect in action (and in original colour) in this video at 00:15 and 00:38. (It's easier to see when watching in expanded view on Youtube. Just noticed too there are lots of cloud reflections in the water as well in that video
)