The new gunnery, big fighters and choosing a replacement for my big fighter

[Karnak]

Most of you know of my preference for the Mossie.  Now the AH2 gunnery changes (really target changes, but they affect gunnery results) has made killing other aircraft noticably more of a challenge than it was in AH1.  I have had repeated instances where the quad of Hispanos in AH1 had conditioned me to be used to instant death and dismemberment on my target where in AH2 the targeted single engined fighter got through my crossing shot with a single hit to the wing and no negative effects.  I have had Spits, and N1K2 and an La-7 all do this.  I killed an F6F-5 with a high deflection tracking shot with which I hit four times, taking off his elevators and verticle stabilizer.  In AH1 I am sure I would have hit him hard enough to at the very least break his back.  Luckily for me there was no kill stealer to take the kill as it fell 8,000ft.

Well, last night I was flying my usual big fighter when I had a fight with another Mossie.  What I came away from that fight was the realization that I had no trouble hitting it.  It was like I was playing AH1 again.  I drilled the enemy Mossie and it broke apart into it's major componets, a tail, two wings split and the front fuselage.  It was an incredibly easy kill.

I was also killed twice by an La-7 and once by a P-38L.  One of the La-7 kills occured after I tried to rope-a-dope the La-7 and was undone by the Mossie's horrible, horrible stall characteristics.  In both that death and the P-38's kill I was hit relatively lightly but set ablaze as the Mossie demonstrated it's zippo light effect.

I do not know if P-38L and Bf110 pilots have likewise noted a change in their fortunes where most of their oponents have become markedly harder targets, but where they are no harder to hit than they were owing to the large size of their aircraft.  I would be interested in feedback in this regard though.


Now, what I am driving at is the need to switch to a agile (no P-47 s please) single enginged fighter.  If we had the Spitfire LF.Mk VIII, Spitfire LF.Mk IX or Ki-84-I-Ko I would probably select it.  In fact it is tempting to bank on the Ki-84 showing up in AH v2.01.  However, I'd like some reccomendations as to a fighter I should learn to use now.  I'm kind of leaning towards the Fw190A-5, except it is so slow.  The Fw190D-9 might be a workable choice though.


Thoughts on any of this?

[Kweassa]

Hmm.. tough one.

 How about the Yak-9U?

[BUG_EAF322]

i had one time the la7 who was hovering  had a better stdy shot on me and  kicked me at d600 i couldnt get a hit.on it (rope a dope situation)

also a la7 easily got a deflection shot on me at d800

does it seems the gunnery on the la7 works better now?? i don't know

i don't wanna test the La 7 coz theres been not ever  buried a good dog in it

[thrila]

don't give up on the mossie yet karnak, i feel it's a better ride than the mossie in AH 1.

Made a fantastic kill yesterday, i wish i had filmed it.  I spotted a spit diving on me from 1.5k, so i entered a dive...he got closer and closer...until d600 so i levelled and extended to 1.5k.  I went vertical and the spit got closer.....d1000....d800...d6 00.....then i noticed him starting to flounder...however so was I.  Damn i wish the mossie was more forgiving... i was really fighting not to enter a spin.....after maybe a few seconds i finally got the nose down, with the spit (by sheer luck may i add) directly in my crosshairs @ d200.   The poor spitty didn't stand a chance!:)


Karnak, have you flown the spit14 much? (i know you like it ) it's a very nice ride...shame it's a perk ride though.

[Ack-Ack]

Originally posted by Karnak


I do not know if P-38L and Bf110 pilots have likewise noted a change in their fortunes where most of their oponents have become markedly harder targets, but where they are no harder to hit than they were owing to the large size of their aircraft.  I would be interested in feedback in this regard though.




Thoughts on any of this?

The P-38 is only a large target from above or below.  It's profile is very slim compared to single engine fighters and that seems to have a positive effect with how the gunnery now in AH2.  The only thing really negative thing I've noticed on P-38 is how easily the tail will become damaged now.  Hit turbulance and you've lost an elevator or rudder/stabilizer.



ack-ack


ack-ack

[fluffy]

P51B and D are beautiful - the B handling best, but being lightly armed. But the new conditions in AHII mean that you need to shoot in closer than before, and at 250 yards, the 4x.50s are adequate, especially versus 109s in the CT.
The 109G10 is excellent, esp. with the 30mm gun. And don't dismiss the P47s before trying them out - they have fared well in the transition to AHII, and 8x.50s give a dense shot pattern. I had a great 1-on-1 in a P47d-25 vs. TA152 in which the 47 had a noticeable edge in manoeuverability.  Too bad I was winchester at the time.
FW190D9 is also impressive, though I have scant experience in it.
I took up a N1k once recently for base defence and was amazed at it's performance and deadly armament, collecting 5 quick kills before getting dismembered in a low alt furball.   Heck, there are a lot of great fighters to choose from. Try 'em all and give us your opinion!

[_Schadenfreude_]

Just started with the Spit14 this weekend - very, very nice.

[bozon]

don't give up on the mossie. it's WAY better than in AHI. Bleeds E badly in turns, but that could work both ways, and diving acceleration is awsome!

The stall is bad. high speed snap rolls the mossie and also creates some fast yaw spin and you end up in some unknown direction.

The slow stall is another tricky business. If you stall with nose high and power at idle, you get into a flat spin. BUT!
do the same thing with nose pointed high, hit full throttle and hard rudder RIGHT (left don't work), maybe add some flaps. You can flip it 180 with no turn radius and stall fight at 150mph. I had many on the deck knife fights with La5s in the beta and the mossie held it's own.

about guns lethality, I find that most guns do less structural damage now, but I get a lot of pilot kills (just a feeling, I could be mistaken).

As for different planes - aside from the mossie, I find the F4u-1 fun to fly in AHII (and now it comes in lovely RAF colours).

Bozon

[Wotan]

Originally posted by Karnak
Most of you know of my preference for the Mossie.  Now the AH2 gunnery changes (really target changes, but they affect gunnery results) has made killing other aircraft noticably more of a challenge than it was in AH1.  I have had repeated instances where the quad of Hispanos in AH1 had conditioned me to be used to instant death and dismemberment on my target where in AH2 the targeted single engined fighter got through my crossing shot with a single hit to the wing and no negative effects.  I have had Spits, and N1K2 and an La-7 all do this.  I killed an F6F-5 with a high deflection tracking shot with which I hit four times, taking off his elevators and verticle stabilizer.  In AH1 I am sure I would have hit him hard enough to at the very least break his back.  Luckily for me there was no kill stealer to take the kill as it fell 8,000ft.

Well, last night I was flying my usual big fighter when I had a fight with another Mossie.  What I came away from that fight was the realization that I had no trouble hitting it.  It was like I was playing AH1 again.  I drilled the enemy Mossie and it broke apart into it's major componets, a tail, two wings split and the front fuselage.  It was an incredibly easy kill.

I was also killed twice by an La-7 and once by a P-38L.  One of the La-7 kills occured after I tried to rope-a-dope the La-7 and was undone by the Mossie's horrible, horrible stall characteristics.  In both that death and the P-38's kill I was hit relatively lightly but set ablaze as the Mossie demonstrated it's zippo light effect.

I do not know if P-38L and Bf110 pilots have likewise noted a change in their fortunes where most of their oponents have become markedly harder targets, but where they are no harder to hit than they were owing to the large size of their aircraft.  I would be interested in feedback in this regard though.


Now, what I am driving at is the need to switch to a agile (no P-47 s please) single enginged fighter.  If we had the Spitfire LF.Mk VIII, Spitfire LF.Mk IX or Ki-84-I-Ko I would probably select it.  In fact it is tempting to bank on the Ki-84 showing up in AH v2.01.  However, I'd like some reccomendations as to a fighter I should learn to use now.  I'm kind of leaning towards the Fw190A-5, except it is so slow.  The Fw190D-9 might be a workable choice though.


Thoughts on any of this?

If you want to fly a big planes then you want to consider the types of evasives and moves you chose to make.

You can do this by watching film of your sorties. You don't want offer any plane form or off angle shots where by you are the largest target.

In scissors practice rolling under your down side wing. Doing this will put your reverse under the attackers gunsite.

Practice neg g escapes etc.....

There are few things you can do but p38s and mossies 110s etc are large targets.

[Karnak]

thrila,

My last death last night to an La-7 was very, VERY much like your Spit kill, except that I ended up d400 in front of the La-7.  I saw him flop over D1000 below me and tried to pull my nose over to dive on him, but I entered a flat stall that I only escaped by using rudder and flaps.  I dove away from him, and had pulled the range out to d800 by the time I ran out of altitude.  After that it was all in the La-7 pilot's hands.  Unless I get the fight REALLY fast or am on fumes I cannot dfeat a competently flown La-7.  The same pilot, fw190r11, was the La-7 pilot that killed me both times last night.

As to the Spitfire Mk XIV.  No, I gave up on it once they reduced it's climbrate in AH2.  It can't run, it can't climb and it's performance once the five minute WEP is gone is crappy at best yet everytime I have ever flown it I have been gangbanged like I'd flown my Mossie into a sector with a large red bar and no green.  If I try to fight at altitude where it is strong, everthing just dives away down to the mob and I end up either following and dying, or going home when my fuel gets low.  In my hands the Spitfire Mk XIV is worse than useless, it is incredibly frusterating.  The only perk plane I will consider using anymore is the Me262.

kweassa,

I flew the Yak-9U in AH1 as my P-51D killer, but Russian and American aircraft just really aren't my thing.  I will not fly the La-7.  I have come to truely loath La-7s.

fluffy,

I have flown the P-51B, but it is American and American aircraft just don't capture my imagination.  Overexposure I guess.  The N1K2 is too slow.  I get frusterated feeding off of La-7 and P-51D hand me downs for kills.  Spit IX has the same problem, as does the Spit V.


I'm being very contrary I can tell.  It was just discouraging how much worse the Mossie performs in AH2 and how easy it was to kill.  The fact that it is still the zippo ligher of AH, even moreso than either A6M, doesn't help.  I just hate flying for ten minutes, getting a kill or two and then dying all in 30 seconds of action with the feeling that there is nothing I can do to stay alive.  I get above the enemy, dive into attack, pull up, see that a higher enemy has arrived, watch the higher enemy always go for the MOSS icon as though it were a perk plane and then die fifteen seconds later after all evasives prove worthless.

The odd thing is that I wasn't having this kind of trouble during the beta.

[Urchin]

I'm liking the 190a8 in AH2.  2 30mm and 2 20mm is enough to kill in a snapshot, and it is a much smaller target than the 110G2, although I'm pretty sure the 110g2 turns somewhat better.

[SFRT - Frenchy]

i think that giving up the plane you adore for something else is sad.

[Edbert]

The Dora is a very nice ride, but your gonna have a tought time making the gunnery transition from hispanos to Mg151s. Every time I get into a 190 I shoot too low, it seems the shells roll outta the barrels and imediately start dropping:(

[Urchin]

I'm not a big fan of the Dora in this version.  I wasn't an especially big fan of it in AH1, but you could fight in a pinch in it.  In Ah2.. I'm wobbling all over the sky at 175.  

The 190a's on the other hand seem much more stable and more manueverable than in AH1.  Plus the A8 kills stuff fast.

I'd rate the A8's fighting capability at about what the A5 was in AH1, but with a lot more firepower.

[simshell]

i use the MOSS for strike dont use it much for Air to Air

the plane is a strike craft not a fighter not saying it cant be used in that role it just you will allways have your hands full when going out for air to air work

infact the BF110G2 is alot better dogfighter it holds E alot better then the MOSS and it has the Firepower

climbs better to

if i was you i would try using the MOSS for strike and use the BF110G2 for fighter if you insist on using a big aircraft that is