TexMurphy said:Zoom == Energy Retention...
I disagree. There are 3 different types of energy retention, and most planes are usually good at 1 or 2 of them, but suck at the others. I define them as follows:
1. Zoom: From flying level, pull up into a near-vertical climb to quickly convert speed into alt, instead of using normal sustained ROC. The important thing is how long it takes the plane's speed to fall away to near stall (or the sustained ROC speed) doing this, which defines how high a zoom it can make. This is a vital stat for E-fighters but is of course very helpful to all planes. E-fighters with poor zoom must compensate with either excellent dive acceleration, good momentum (see below) or both. Otherwise, they suck as E-fighters.
2. Momentum: From a dive, pull out into level flight at a speed higher than the plane's level max. The important thing is how long it takes the speed to fall down to the normal max level speed for that alt. The longer the extra speed lasts, the more survivable the plane is, and the more it can do down at fight level before having to use its remaining speed either to zoom back up or to extend. Several E-fighters have much better momentum than zoom, and vice versa.
3. Turning: This is just sustained turn performance, which is already covered in other fields of the OPD. But it's all about energy retention, in terms of both speed and alt, while in the process of making hard turns for an extended period of time. Do you have to turn significantly nose-low to maintain speed, or not? This is the prime attribute of stallfighters, of course.
