Since I joined the Aces High Trainer’s Corps, naturally, I have spent considerable time in the Training Arena. This has allowed me to fly the various perk fighters quite a bit.
Early this afternoon, I took up an F4U-4 for some furballing with Bighorn, who was up in a Tempest. What we discovered doing this was a bit surprising for us both.
I suppose that most people know that the American fighters have improved a bit in AH2. I suspect this is because of refining the flight models, but also because HTC had additional test data on hand that they did not have when doing the AH1 modeling.
Whatever the reason, some aircraft show a substantial improvement in performance. The F4U-4 is certainly one of them.
To begin our furball, I pulled alongside the Tempest at about 5,000 ft and throttled back until we were in formation. Bighorn then broke left and I went after him. The first thing I noticed was that the F4U-4 had no trouble pulling lead on his initial turn. He tried to fight in the vertical, but the Corsair followed him up and actually closed the distance. Bighorn tried to scissor, but that’s usually a bad idea with an F4U, and it certainly was in this case. A turning fight then ensued, but the F4U-4 could follow the Tempest in a lazy lag pursuit with no significant effort. Vought’s monster had a maneuver setting for the flaps, so I let down one notch and the big blue bird easily turned inside the Tempest. In level speed runs, the Tempest was unable to gain any ground whatsoever (at about 2k). Now, Bighorn is a very good pilot. Anyone who has played tag with him in the TA or DA will attest to that. One on one, he is well above average. So, this was far from a noob flying the Tempest.
After a few minutes of this fun, I broke off and headed south. Bighorn came up from behind, to within 1.2k. I firewalled the throttle and pulled into a climb. Within several minutes the Tempest was about 4k behind and about 2,000 feet below, and losing ground faster with each passing moment. That Corsair simply “checked out”. At 20k, I engaged WEP and the F4U-4 was pulling something above 4k/min. Bighorn reported the Tempest to be climbing at just over 3k and he was about to run out of WEP.
Holy moly, not only did the F4U-4 out-climb and out-run the Tempest, it did so by a notable margin.
To explore this more, I did some acceleration runs using a stopwatch. Acceleration from 200 mph to 300 mph at 100 feet showed a virtual dead heat.
Next I performed some climb tests. Again from 200 mph at 100 feet, full power was added with WEP and I measured how long it took to get to 10,000 feet. Both aircraft were loaded with 25% fuel and the burn rate set at zero. I did several runs in both types. My net result was that the F4U-4 won every match, so to speak. I also tested several of the other good climbing fighters.
The results are a follows.
First place went to the Bf 109G-10, which took just 2 minutes flat to reach 10k. Just 4 seconds behind was the Spitfire Mk.XIV. Another 12 seconds back to the F4U-4. The unperked La-7 was next, 4 seconds behind the Corsair. Next, we find the Tempest and P-38L in a dead heat, their times differing by just ¼ of a second, but still two seconds behind the Lavochkin. 6 seconds behind these two was the Spitfire Mk.IX, but in another shocker, the P-47D-40 was just ½ second behind the Spitfire!
Compared to the La-7, this greatly improved F4U-4 is at least a match on the deck, and markedly superior above 15k. My testing shows that the La-7 no longer accelerates better than the F4U-4, it is just about dead even now. Below 5k, the La-7 climbs as well or better than the F4U-4, but any difference is insignificant. Above 5k the Corsair begins to pull way and by 10k, the difference is big, but impossible to measure as the Corsair is still climbing at well over 4k/min, while the La-7 has fallen to below 3,900 fpm. In any co-E fight at 10k or above the La-7 will be sucking hind tit against the F4U-4. Again, I will mention that most American fighters have vastly better flaps systems than other fighters. P-51s and P-47s can deploy flaps at 400 mph, while the P-38 and F4Us can get them out at 250 mph. If you’re flying a Tempest, La-7 or 109, you can’t gain any benefit from flaps until you are already wallowing near a stall. By then, you are dead.
Hey, what about those other two American fighters? Both show themselves to be excellent climbers, capable of fighting both the Tempest and the La-7 in a vertical brawl. Moreover, should the fight degrade down to 200 mph or less, both the P-38 and the D-40 Jug will slice and dice the Lavochkin or Tempest once they get some flaps out. Especially the P-38, which is probably without equal in a climbing fight. Another fighter that seems improved is the Ta 152, although the improvement is not as dramatic as that seems in the F4U-4 and P-38L.
After this experience, my opinion of both the F4U-4 and Tempest has changed. In terms of raw performance, the revised F4U-4 is the equal of the Tempest, and right where the Tempest excels, down low. Up high (Above 20k), the F4U-4 is now markedly superior in every category.
As I said, in light of what I learned today, my opinion that that Tempest was the best low-level fighter, followed closely by the La-7 has changed. Those two must now fight over second place, because the new flight model has elevated the F4U-4 into first place. The really impressive thing is that the higher it goes, the better the F4U-4 gets. At 20K only a handful of aircraft can really compete (P-51B and D, SpitXIV and 109G-10 being 3 examples).
I suggest that players try the F4U-4 if they haven’t flown it since AH2 went online and fly it against the other late-war monsters in the DA or TA. I’m convinced that you’ll come way as surprised as I was.
Climb times from 200 mph @ 100 feet up to 10,000 feet. 25% fuel for all, zero burn rate. WEP engaged.
Bf 109G-10: 2:00 flat
Spit Mk.XIV: 2:04
F4U-4: 2:16
La-7: 2:21
P-38L: 2:23
Tempest: 2:23
Spit Mk.IX: 2:29
P-47D-40: 2:29 (Jug configured with 6 guns only)
My regards,
Widewing
