Boom and Zoom fighting

[Soviet]

I am interested in learning how to fight with the Bf-109 and FW-190, i asked in the MA and people said use it as a BnZ fighter.  I'm not really sure what that means but i think it means that you have to dive from above on them.  I tried this with mixed results sometimes if the target doesn't know i'm there i get them but if they see me (which they usally do) they manuever and get me.  I usally fly to like 20k and dive on a target at like 10-15k and i usally fail at the attack any tips?

[Urchin]

Soviet, Boom N Zoom fighting is another way of saying bouncing.  

The 190 and 109 are not the best BnZ fighters (the 109G10 and the 190D9 are passable though)).  What they excel at, especially the 109G10 and the 190D9 is "energy-fighting".  This is a smart sounding word for dogfighting in the vertical.  Yes, you are correct when you say you must dive on the target.  However- just because the target manuevers doesn't mean you no longer have any chance at a kill.

Picture this- you are in a 109G10, at 10K.  You see a Spitfire below you, around 7K.  You roll over and dive on the Spitfire, but he sees you coming and breaks into a hard turn.  Since you know you can't follow him in a flat turn, you pull back up into the vertical, then roll so the top ofyour head is pointed where the bandit is, or will be.  You then pull back down on the stick.  In effect you have climbed, and now you are diving back to where the Spit got to by turning.  You can continue doing this almost indefinately on most planes, provided you use easy, Low G manuevers.  I'd be happy to go into the Training Arena with you, and since I know you are on the Knights to you can grab me in game and I'll fly a few sorties with you.  I'm a lot better at "showing" than explaining.  Perhaps Andy can give you a good verbal description of what E-fighting is, I just fly that way without breaking it down into a cohesive, explainable strategy.  But if anyone can make you understand it, it would be him ;-).

Also- you can check out this link, it has a whole lot of ACM on it, and just about all of it is applicable to E-fighting in Aces High.


http://www.regia-aeronautica.com/acm.htm

I can't connect to the site right now, so something may be wrong with it.

You can try these instead.

http://www.vulch.clara.net/acm.html

http://users.eastlink.ca/~sconrad/" TARGET=_blank> http://users.eastlink.ca/~sconrad/[/url]

Lephturn, hope you don't mind that I posted the link to your site here.  I went there and some of the stuff helped me a lot, so thats why I posted it.

[Soviet]

i'd like to fly in the training arena with you if you are able to, just tell me a time and i'll come to the training area.

[Soviet]

BTW, i am in Eastern Time zone in the United States (GMT -5)

[raven 8]

indefinately.........or until one of his squadies get u when ur not looking:-).....damn i hate that:-)

if it was a apit it can also climb pretty fast and if u dont anticipate it ull over shoot and the spit will be above you.

messiah1

[Andy Bush]

Soviet

Look here for the four part series on how to BnZ!
 http://www.simhq.com/simhq3/sims/air_combat/air_combat.shtml

Andy

[Drano]

Originally posted by Soviet:
I am interested in learning how to fight with the Bf-109 and FW-190, i asked in the MA and people said use it as a BnZ fighter.  I'm not really sure what that means but i think it means that you have to dive from above on them.  I tried this with mixed results sometimes if the target doesn't know i'm there i get them but if they see me (which they usally do) they manuever and get me.  I usally fly to like 20k and dive on a target at like 10-15k and i usally fail at the attack any tips?

Ideally the setup for this would have you above some otherwise occupied NME where you can dive down and shoot quickly--BOOM. And then convert your speed to alt in a quick climb back up to safety--ZOOM. Repeat as nescessary. Its a low risk kind've attack. That's the short version.

Generally this doesn't work out too well in a 1v1 fight unless your target is unaware of your presence or is just flat out clueless. Well timed break turns can defeat a straight BnZ attack seemingly forever IMO. (There was a film posted here a week or so ago that illustrated this beautifully btw. I might add the BnZ attacker was flying a 109G-10)

Look for a plane that has good speed, good high speed handling--especially roll rate-- and good guns. Reason being you're gonna build up a fair ammount of speed in your dive and some planes will enter compression depending on how fast you're going taking away your ability to get a quick guns solution on a manuevering NME. Controls will start to get mushy on ya. Usually just when ya don't want em to!

The 109's are notorious for this being terrible high speed handlers and they compress easily. They're especially bad rolling at speed. I'd take that one off the BnZ list just for that reason alone. It makes a difficult gunnery shot that much harder. Things happen quickly at the point of attack and if you're mushing you can't make little adjustments quickly. I've been flying the 109's almost exclusively and that's what I can tell ya.

You really need something that rolls well at speed. That way you can get your nose cranked around fast and get proper lead on the target as you come past. The FW's come to mind--they have the guns too. The F4's roll well too--also have the guns for it.

I don't profess to be much of a BnZ experten mostly because I'm flying a 109. But there are times when this is just about the only attack style available to you if survivability is your goal. If anything it certainly is the safest thing to do! Good luck.

                  Drano