tsk; tsk; tsk.. from reading some of the negative on-line comments regarding the AH P51D's "uber" performance and "UFO" characteristics; well, one might get the impression it's overmodeled more than, say; the Gustav... I say the complaints are for the most part bogus!@!
First.. the P51D does spin.. and if you wait too long to get the nose down and/or overcontrol at ANY speed; it'll snap right out. Yes; it's not as unforgiving in these attitudes as it could/should be; (it's all BETA flight modeling!) but I've seen the same characteristic in FW's and 109's used to exceptional advantage too.. so this is no Mustang Exclusive.
Second.. It's climb when light is very good; as it should be; and when loaded with fuel or ext tanks it ain't. If yah haul it up into a climb without FIRST getting a head of steam on; well; yer porked. Get the plane moving about 300ias and then angle up to 3500fps climb rate; she'll climb fairly well to about 180 IAS; then sag out. I've been routinely outclimbed by La5's; 109's and spits at same energy states. The 'climb advantage' of the P51 is pure smoke and mirrors. More Propaganda.
Next.. the Mustang does not out-turn a spit or a Niki, (or La5 or C205 of Bf109), and is easily whipped up on in a knife-fight by just about anything in the sim.. even a C47 can get inside a Mustang in a low E high G turn. The Mustang's main T&B weapon is energy.. if it gets slow it's beaten in the turns. What most people interpet as a superior turn is in fact just the Mustang going around a LARGER circle faster then the other guys slower plane making it around it's SMALLER circle. Sharp Mustang pilots using yo-yo's and good SA can stay with the more manuverable adversarys for a few turns; but the extended turnfight advantage rests with the more nimble knife-fighter. As for the Mustangs alleged 'over acceleration'.. pure crap. I've watched far too many La5's and 109's crawl right up my bellybutton from a standing runway start to buy into that one either. Only hope the stang has for an extension from most planes is a dive.. and try using a Mustang to dive away from a FU41d or and FW and yah get a real surprise.
Then of course.. the weaknes of the Stang.. 2 ping engine death. Bright reflective aluminum skin against a dark green groundcover. The miserable accel. The weak MG's. Poor turner in the clutch; lousy vertical fighter. The strength of the Gustav.. absorbs a tremndous volume of fire.. and flies away. Imagine.. fully 1/3 smaller in physical size is the Gustav compared to the stang.. a much smaller target.. and it can absorb TWICE the volume of hits and continue the fight. And the guys flying this FAST and EXCEPTIONALLY DANGEROUS uber Bf that can WALK AWAY from the stang in a climb, toting an exceptional weapons loadout gripe about the Two Ping underpowered stang??? LOL! And then there's the magic Levitating Gustav.. 100IAS and going up still at 3000fpm. Amazing.
IMHO it's the pilot that makes the Mustang dangerous. Having the very same fat head that all good fighter pilots are blessed with (I figure I can take on anything; and will sure as hell give it the college try); I enter every fight determined to kill the adversary; confident that I can; and I go about it with ferocity and determination. Timid pilots die quick.
Now; fact is some pilots are more determined than others.. skills vary. A/C relative energy states are critical. Knowledge of the plane and its capability... gunnery; SA; weight of numbers.. all these play a FAR LARGER part in the outcome of any fight than the A/C themselves.
On many occasions I have run up against a very competent and determind pilot in an FW; La5, Bf or another P51 and come away dead. Sometimes the fight went the other way. The old saw "some days yah get the bear.. somedays it gets you" applies. I've never considered that I got whipped up on by a superior A/C.. no matter what I'm flying. fact is; I got whipped by a superior pilot doing his thing just right.. He made fewer mistakes.. he engaged with e advantage.. he used superb wing tactics; he used terrain to his advantage... or he got lucky.
Some guys; good pilots too boot, (hi TOWD
) have this cretin impulse to immediatly upon their demise in their fav plane start a rant on the open freq about how my poor choice of flying the American 'uber plane' killed them. This is a very cheap dodge from the facts.. yah; that's right! Yah got whupped by someone who out thought yah; out fought yah and out shot yah.
My plane; without me; is just a pile of "poorly assembled made in USA junk" (quote from TOWD) sitting in a hanger. With a skilled pilot in the cockpit; it's a very dangerous machine indeed. And this is equally true for every gun totin plane in the sim. So; whiners.. take yer whuppins like men. If yah can't stand yer hardware choice; get another plane.. but fer crissakes stop bellyachin.. if yer dead; yer dead. Shaddup. The dead shouldn't be fillin the text box with complaints after the fact.. one of the key points of bein dead... yer DEAD. sahaddup already
Take yer gripe HERE to the BBS and leave us the hell alone while on-line!
So.. having finished MY rant; I'll just say it'd sure be nice to NOT see the text buffer cluttered up with whining and blatant attacks on a good fight simulation with Beta flight models simply because the pilot himself blew the play. I make it a point to tell the other guy that he flew one hell of a fight when I loose.. and try to do the same when I win.
In the meantime.. look to whipping the guy with yer plane and yer skills.. not whipping up a frenzy in the text buffer.
Hang
------------------
PALE HORSES
"I looked, and behold; a Pale Horse, and it's riders name was Death, and Hell followed with him" Rev 6.8
