What Does It Take......

[LtMagee]

For you to shoot down a spacific aircraft in this map and how you do it.

I posted this as a reply to a post but thought it might be good for a freash post.

This is what it takes and doesnt take for me to bring down a N1K2-J.

1. Snap shops from an F4U-1 so far have not disabled the N1K2-J enogh for me to slow down on it enough to feel secure I will get the kill.

2. Even two snap shots don't even seem to give them a pilot wound.

3. N1K2-J must be in level or (steady) flight as close as D250 with a two to three second burst to asure most if not all rounds have found thier target.

4. Same as above but with only a split second burst or a one second burst seems to just pi$$ off the pilot. (Watch the overshoot or the N1K2-J will take off your rudder{see my previous reply}) or other vauable parts as far as D700. If you are slow enough, ur dead.

5. After a snap shot or two, climb up and hope someone finishs him off and you get credit.

BTW, basicaly the same for the A6M5 but with a fuel leak credit on the snap shot and not so much a threat on the over shoot if the rate of separation is fairly quick! Pilot wounds my be a factor for him.

The Ki-61 seems to be paper, usualy a wing separation isnt a problem, however, I have only encountered three or four so far this week. Again be careful on the overshoot, or if they get too close or you will loose a rudder or your life.

Oh, you may wander why I speek so much on the rudder. Well on the F4U I need the bloody thing to land on the CV. Not a problem for land bases. I like to be attached to my rudder, your rudder is your friend

[scJazz]

I've had consistent and reasonable success using the Hellcat. Zeke's, Georges, and the rare Tony all seem destroyable. I don't fly the F4U in any variant often enough to consider its' attributes but I will explain my Hellcat tactics.

Start with around 3000' of altitude advantage with a flight profile consistent with Max E. Fly directly at the target (front quarter). The target at this point usually considers that they can get a gun solution since they see me at around D1.5 and closing fast. They pull up to get their nose on me and lose E fast. I go slightly past them, roll nose down and pull into high rear quarter, with my throttle chopped. At this point the dumb ones are looking for me and the smart ones are pointed back toward the ground trying to recover E. At D700 I start considering taking either the high rear quarter shot (basically the plane is perpendicular to my angle of attack) or the slightly high dead 6 shot. If the target begins barrel rolls or other such rolling breaks I open fire at D700. If they lost me I open fire at D500. Either way at D300 I break off the attack and go back high with a climb rate of about 2500 to 3500 fpm.

BOOM dead IJ AC. Wing has fallen off, it is on fire, the pilot is dead, the elevators are missing, what have you. At a minimum they are no longer interested in shooting at me so the overshoot isn't such a problem.

I suspect the key to my success is the fact that the Hellcat is a great turner for such a large aircraft. In other words while used in a BnZ roll the turning ability allows better gun solutions.

Anyway there is my two cents worth.

[Soulyss]

Never send a Corsair to do a Hellcat's job.


Hellcat vs. George I think is one of the best match ups in AH.   High speeds turns the kitty has the edge with the advantage shifting to the N1k as speeds drop,  the F6F is slighty faster than the N1k (at least on the deck) and is more durable.  The counter to this is the N1k has bigger guns and I believe a better climb rate (not 100% sure on this).  Any fight between these two aircraft will come down to whoever flew the better in that engagement regardless of who had the initial advantage.


Oh and to get back to the "how to kill" question if you hit any of the IJN planes at convergence you will shred them in a matter of moments with 6 .50's.

[Löwe]

The plane giving me the most trouble so far in the Tony. I've been shot down by a couple of N1K2s yes. This is usally due to my own foolishness , tooling around in a P-47 slow, and at medium to low altitude. B&Zing , I havent had much problem with the N1K2.

I've lost 2 F6's and I believe 3 P-47s to Ki-61s. Not saying the Tony is uber the guys flying them though are flying them well.

[Reschke]

You know what the difference is between Hellcat drivers and Corsair drivers is?
















Hellcat drivers tell everyone how good they are; Corsair driver let our guns speak for us.

Soulyss

[scJazz]

2 20mms in the nose with fairly solid ballistics... ya Tony's can be really annoying. Treat them as if there were a 109 early series, F4 or G2 while not exactly the same they share enough similarities to warrant the comparison.

[Soulyss]

I never said anything about how good I am.  I was just saying how good my plane is.  

[tzr]

What plane had best K/D ratio in PTO?????

[Slash27]

You know what the difference is between Hellcat drivers and Corsair drivers is?

We land our kills?

[LtMagee]

What plane had best K/D ratio in PTO?????

I dont know but the Corsair had an 11:1 ratio

Storch...funny last night had the most allieds I have seen yet this week. Try it again when the odds are the other way or even equal. Its easy to land kills when you can pick and choose your fights with allied reinforcements.  Also funny you chose tuesday squad night ti switch sides.

[Bolt45]

Ki-61 rocks with anything on this map except an FM2 which
will bleed you dry in sustained turns . I like how it handles in
hi speed fights , manages E well enough to maintain advantage
I'm learning it & liking it the more I fly it .


Bolt-san