Dropping landing gear in close combat?

[Worship]

I've defently used the gear in the F4u1d to cause an overshoot. P-51 High 6 OC, i dive in to get a bit of speed, he dives, i pull gear pop rudder and barrel roll. come out P51 is 200 infront death.
Worship

[Karnak]

Kweassa,

The RAF's concern with the Mosquito was that it would not be able to reduce speed as it pulled in behind another aircraft due to its very streamlined design.  The frill airbrake was intended to allow it to dump speed so as to not overshoot its intended target.

I think this is likely a Night Fighter concern as you would want to get in position and stay there long enough to identify the aircraft in front of you before shooting it and in poor light conditions that could be time consuming.

[FiLtH]

I think its safe to say if a real ww2 vet came in here and flew against some in here he could easily lose if he didnt push the limits, beyond what he would do in a real F4U. Just like if we were to jump in a real F4u and fly against him we would lose. Its a game..we have fun. Thats enough for me.

[thrila]

IIRC the RAF experimented with an airbrake for the spitfire to deal with complaints of overshoots from pilots.

[Wilbus]

Interesting Vudak and Waffle, thanks



As for Filth... how DARE you have fun?!

[straffo]

And don't get it all of you have me on ignore or what ???

[Wilbus]

Have read it before Straffo and read it now again

Now I will put you back on my ignore list

[Kongkyuk]

HEHEH, The F4 is the trickiest plane in the game

She can do things, no real plane or pilot would ever do. The gear trick is awsome at high speed to slow down and I've out turned a few in a last ditch effort in the slow stall fight. Remember this is a GAME not real life with external factors effecting your plane.
In a slow tight turn, drop the gear for a sec, reverse the fht and then raise them once you've cut the corner for a snap shot. Takes alot of practice, but once you've mastered it, have no fear vs any plane. You can't get a long 1v1 in ma too often to really perfect this, but when AvA has the Pac map up come over and fly the f4.
I'll be glad to 1v1 you

[straffo]

Originally posted by Wilbus
Have read it before Straffo and read it now again

Now I will put you back on my ignore list

[Wilbus]

LOL Straffo


Nohooo, you'd never be on my ignore list my French little friend

[Widewing]

Originally posted by Wilbus
Well, in reality the F4u didn't dump the landing gears as an airbrake. They dumped the landing gear doors. The gears stayed in. In AH the dive brake and gears are situated in on the same key and does the same thing in order to make it easier.

Having them dumped in a close combat wouldn't really give you anything IMO, just take away more E and reduce the turning ability.

It does come in handy when slowing down though.

Sorry Wilbus 'ol buddy, but the above is incorrect. F4Us deployed the main gear (not just the doors) as a dive brake, while the tail wheel remained up. There is a "Dive Brake" lever in the cockpit that lowers the main mounts only. F4Us used this to enable them to dive almost vertically on a bomb run. Using the gear as a dive brake, you were limited to 300 mph for lowering and must retract them before 400 mph. There was substantial leeway in these figures as pilots often deployed the Dive Brake (gear) at speeds close to 400 mph. You do, however, risk doing damage to the extension cylinder when deploying at high speeds.

My regards,

Widewing

[AutoPilot]

but what in heck does dropping your gear in close ACM do for the better??

Maybe he was showin off his new goodyear radial's.........

[Wilbus]

Thanks Widewing, I was proven wrong before actually and you clearified it even better now

[detch01]

Originally posted by rv6
But, also saw HIS LANDING GEAR DOWN??
I know that this is a technique (must be for this particular old vet to be using it),,  but what in heck does dropping your gear in close ACM do for the better??
I mean, when I try it, it just puts additional drag on the plane, kills e bigtime, and makes manuevering harder..  (I fly real planes too, and gear retracted is the way to go in my humble opinion)..
Thanks for any enlightenment ~
RV6

I've used this trick on very rare occasions to try to force an overshoot but it's a last ditch effort to salvage the fight when I've already done everything else wrong . Put the gear out, slow down enough to see your oppo gaining and then get the wheels back in the wells and go vertical (as much as you can). I use it only when you're going to die anyway. FWIW

Cheers,
asw

[Bodhi]

Originally posted by Kweassa
I sincerely doubt there's any 'historic validity' in dumping gears for combat purposes.

 Ofcourse, I could be wrong - Who knows?  

It is a perfect way to slow up one's aircraft during dive bombing.  Several vets I know who flew the Hog discussed doing this to avoid compression in a dive.