Lots and lots of Close air support. Most of my missions involved attacking Tanks in the open. Load up two 1000 pound bombs and use those to take out your target. After you do your job, look around for dug in Tanks or Infantry and have your wingmen bomb the crap out of them. While they're doing that, look around for Artillery and Ammo dumps to shoot up. If you can't find that, then a convoy will usually show up and you can shoot that up. I never return from a mission with ammo. Usually, I would score around 10-20 armored vehicles, another 20 Howitzers, and uncounted crates, sandbags, tents, etc....
I played on full realism (if you're going to play on anything less, then why'd you even buy the game?) with blackouts, redouts, etc. In the end I ended with the rank of Brigidier-General and something like 58,000 prestige, but most of that had been used. Really, once you get the second Jug, you don't need another plane. The Lightning is about useless in any form.
Here are my Stats...