Originally posted by WMLute
Not fought drex that I recall, so can't comment on 'em.
Drex.... I used to watch him take a P-47 or an F6F and fly around low and slow, a magnet for dweebs... Few of which survived for more than 15 seconds after they attacked him, even in pairs or small groups.
Over the years, I've had some long, good fights with Shane. A few years ago I was flying in the Combat Theater. Shane was on the opposing side doing his motor-yap routine. Drex and Leviathn were with us in a group that headed over to the nearest enemy base. We engaged about an equal number and killed all but one. That one was Shane. Drex dropped down low and Shane took the bait. As Shane bored in, Drex went this way, Shane went that way...Drex went this way and Shane went boom.... Maybe 10 seconds elapsed.
Early this month, I flew a series of duels with a fellow of superior skills. I had never seen his handle before or since and he was as good or better than anyone I have fought 1v1. I could at least match him and usually beat him on the initial reverse. However, after several head to head passes, he always managed to retain a bit more E than I was keeping. It was barely noticable. But, after several minutes, he began to show enough of an edge in E that I was forced to break out and extend or go for a high-risk shot, often getting pinged up some in the process.
Our initial duel was predicated on him playing the n00b.. I had a P-38G, he had a L model. Almost immediately, he sent a check 6 and nosed over to gain speed. At that point I realized that I had a ringer in shades.
I had no trouble reversing faster, but he immediately took the fighter vertical when he saw that the G was a better turner. From that point, all I could do was keep my lift vector on him, and even though I could gain angles, I could not get the nose high enough for a shot. All the while, my E state is degrading faster than his as the G model simply lacks the suds to compete for very long in a climbing fight against the L.
Eventually, I had to hammerhead reverse out and try to recover some speed... But he was on me quickly and all I could do was evade and give him the worst angles I could manage. I grabbed a P-38L and we went at it again.
We later switched to the P-51D. The resulting fights were very close over the first several minutes, no one getting a significant advantage via maneuvering. But, as I mentioned earlier, the other Mustang seemed to be holding E ever-so slightly better than mine. I could see that the fight was edging his way, so I took chances to get a shot in while I could still get an angle. Invariably, doing this burned off a lot of speed, so that if I missed, I would be in trouble real quick. Once I was dead slow, the fight was essentially over.
Afterwards, we discussed the fights and the fellow pointed out something I never noticed before. He saw an instability in my plane while we maneuvered. He thought that was killing my E. He asked what Stick I was using. I told him that I had just switched to all CH Products gear, FighterStick, Pro throttle and Pro pedals. He asked about my slider settings. I told him that I hadn't changed them from my previous X-45 set-up. There, he concluded, was at least part of the problem.
First, he told me that it usually takes two to three months to master the CH gear and find the optimal settings.
Second, he advised me try differnt slider settings and pay particular attention to adding some damping.
We had a nice conversation and I discovered that this fellow has been flying this type of sim for many years, probably dating back to AW DOS. He also knew Dale (Hitech) for a long time. I didn't press him for his identity, if he wanted that known, he would have told me. As far as I can tell, the handle he used is already changed... or cancelled.
Anyway, I filmed one of the fights and watching it carefully, I was able to recognize the instability he referred to. I took his advice and reconfigured my sliders and set my damping higher in both roll and pitch axes. Finding a dueling buddy of mine, we flew several fights while I ran film. The difference was subtle, but I found that I was, in fact, retaining more speed. The film confirmed this... the previously seen instability was gone.
Like any other thing, getting better at something falls under the rule of diminishing returns. As you reach the limits of your ability and that of your hardware, very minor improvements usually require a great deal of work, thought and practice.
I don't who this guy was/is, but I owe him a debt of gratitude for his assitance and keen eye. His advice circumvented the rule of diminishing returns for me.
There's little doubt he one of the best I've encountered in Aces High, and I've tangled with the best of them.
He was a gentleman throughout the fights, but got a bit upset when I beat him on the reverse with the P-38L and hosed him before he could get his nose around. He complained of being HO'd, but on my FE I was a good 20-30 degrees off his nose when I fired. Well, rather than argue, I eased off a bit on the initial reverse and tried to beat him in a sustained fight, and that proved to a lot more difficult as this guy was very, very good.
Well, who ever he is, a big
to him for the duels and his valuable advice.
My regards,
Widewing
