Been searching for a new ride...

[kj714]

Here's what I've tried out over the last tour and a half:

Spit V - Not bad, versatile plane, the right pilot could KA in it. Who is it that flies it all the time, I forget? He is formidible in it though.
202 - Fun, takes alotta pings to get kill, but handles great, perks rock!
Yak - ehhh, not impressed either version, not sure why
P51B - just couldn't get the hang of it, snap stalled a lot, many deaths, gave up
109 - I'm a tard when it comes to 109's, always will be
110 - wing rip, nuff said
P47 - fun ride, just can't do it all the time, sorta too cumbersome, not patient enough to keep the E up sufficiently
P38 - Ack- Ack's too good, damn depressing reminder that I'll never get to that level
Typh - another funster
F6f - good plane, came in 2nd place
190 A8 - Yippee:aok

190 A8 is the winner, I pancaked it a few times before I found my limits in it. If anybody is looking for something new to try out I'd recommend it. There's a lotta A5 fans out there, but I like those cannons.

Excuse my ignorance, but one of my squaddies was saying the rockets on the A8 are air to air. How does that work? Anybody use them like that?

[_Schadenfreude_]

which gun pack do you use?

[gofaster]

190 A8 is the winner, I pancaked it a few times before I found my limits in it. If anybody is looking for something new to try out I'd recommend it. There's a lotta A5 fans out there, but I like those cannons.

190a8 was the first plane I could fly and actually get a positive K/D ratio in.  Load up with four 20mms and the heavy machine guns.  I grab 75% gas and/or a drop tank and take it up to around 20k.  In the HO's, it rocks.  In snapshots, it rocks.  In bomber intercepts, it rocks. In ground strafing/town building destroying, it rocks.  I got to the point where I could dogfight P-51Ds in it and have a fair shot at surviving.  But, it isn't much of a turnfighter and Spits and LA-7s would smack it around with ease.

P51B - just couldn't get the hang of it, snap stalled a lot, many deaths, gave up

Set convergence at 350.  25% flaps when you see the target.  Cut throttle if you have to go nose down to engage.  Cut throttle if the cabin starts to vibrate in level flight.  The B-stang is a much better dogfighter than the D-stang, in my opinion.  It certainly handles better.

Yak - ehhh, not impressed either version, not sure why

Yak9U - Only fire when within d300.  Don't bother climbing above 10k.  Don't get more than a sector away from base.  The U is a hotrod and requires a sniper's patience.

Yak9T -  Turn the tracers on. Only fire the cannon when you're ready for the kill shot.  Only use the .50 to get the victim to turn, turn, turn until he runs out of energy and is slow.  Never fire both guns at once.  Never try to turn fight for long periods of time - that cannon is a big piece of metal on the end of your nose and it takes a lot of effort to swing it around.  The T requires a sniper's one-shot, one-kill aim.  It is a lot of fun to see airplanes cut in half with one hit.

If the fight is close, try the FM-2.  Its a lot of fun.  Think of it as a stuntplane with guns.  I swear its impossible to stall that plane and you can pull off some amazing nose-down reversals in it.  Even in a high-speed dive I've never compressed one, and it seems to keep its energy pretty well so long as you don't horse the controls around.  Even if you do horse the controls around, its pretty much un-stallable.  And the four .50s are more than enough to get a kill.  The FM-2 is a great N1K2 beater so long as you avoid the HO's and giving up a snapshot.

You should try the Ki-61.  Same motor as 109E but turns better.  Climb up to around 20k and make all of your attacks downhill runs.  Try not to get below 10k until you're ready to land.  Nobody sees the Ki-61 in the MA, so nobody knows how to defend against it.  The cannons are in the nose and pack a real punch in a snapshot (fire all 4 guns at same time for the kill shot).  The Ki-61 will eat most of the Navy planes alive so long as it has a bit of altitude to work with.  Turns better than a Mustang (depending on relative speed).

[kj714]

Ki-61? Did not try that, will check it out.

Turnfighting is verboten for me in the 190 A8 sure enough, but you can still get a reasonable amount of slow in it and still make it out alive.

I'll try the 51B again, I just got frustrated in it.

I've always been a FM2 fan, I think it's got a lot of uber - ness, but like the P47, I'm not patient enough for it.

I use the big guns (30's) load out on the A-8 and I like the versatility of it, it's good for almost everything. It's fun to be able to switch from fighter to fighter mode to bomber hunter and hit an incoming bomber formation effectively. Those cannons never run dry, short bursts shred the nme quite nicely. Buildings expode like nothing, and yeah, snapshots crack me up in it.

[kj714]

I left out 2 things:

1. the A8 is excellent against the GV's, PT's, LVT's with the 30's as well.

2. IMHO, the 202 is really under-appreciated.

[68DevilM]

started playing this game in the spit 5 and have used everything else and when it comes down too it i love the spit the best and use it all the time now:)

[Nifty]

Leviathn is your Spit V guy.  Of course, ol' SirLoin used to fly the hell outta the Spit V too.

Remember once a couple of years ago TeeeRex and myself ran into Leviathn in his Spit V.  We had La-7's (cough, I'm a loser dweeb) and it took us forever to get him.  If it wasn't for the good teamwork of Teee and mysef, Lev woulda waxed us both easy.  As it is, I think Teee lost a few pieces of his plane, and I took a couple of pings, but minimal damage.

[Slash]

might I recommend the F4U-1. Fine ride. Flies alot like the FW, though it feels more like a Dora than an A-8. Fast, lotsa ammo, hits hard, and retains E well. Rolls as well as the FW's--almost and turns better than you would expect. Oh, compression is a non-issue with the hogs.

[Adogg]

...there's a thread in the BB somewhere about this. The A/A rockets are used on bombers. Very satisfying in a F U up kind of way. Big boom (so I've heard) but I've never experienced them.

From what i understand their application to an enemy aircraft is a bit of an art form but can be as satisfying as the Yak's One-shot-One-kill cannon.

[Morpheus]

P38;)

Enuff said

[Octavius]

What?  No P40?  This trial period is crap!

[vorticon]

the 61 is very effective against yaks...

[Karnak]

I see you tried the Bf110G-2 and P-38L.

Give the Mosquito Mk VI a go as well.  You'll find that it is far superior to the Bf110 as a fighter, though the P-38 is better except for firepower.

Many players somehow got the idea that the Mosquito is a bomber.

Trust me, it is a fighter.

[BlkKnit]

YAK!

actually, its very good to improve your aim.  You gotta get better, cause you dont have any ammo to spare, lol.

have recently enjoyed the FM2 and flew P47's this morning quite a bit, with an enjoyable outcome.

I would fly the A8, but I just cannot get the hang of it (like I get the "hang" of anything ) but it is surely one of the "cool" birds in AH.

[kj714]

Originally posted by Octavius
What?  No P40?  This trial period is crap!

Yeah, I didn't try everything, gotta leave something untested for the next time I get bored!

Of course, I guess with AH2 I'll have to start it all over again from what I understand.