For anyone interested:
I did not modify the mission file. I modified the Mohne dam facility to replace the searchlights in it. Next, I'm going to dup the mission, change it to day, and see what it looks like. This is part of my effort to try and get searchlights into Quick Combat. My thought is that if searchlights don't show during the day, there'd be no harm in replacing a flak gun or two in each facility with searchlights. It's a thought if nothing else!
; Ambient+sun light amount when night sprites are enabled
NightLightThreshold=0.30
Could it be a wrongly or untextured LOD-version? Do the colours come back after zooming out any further or does the aircraft stay black?