All you Hog drivers...

[Reynolds]

Okay, please be serious. How do i effectively fly the F4U? Ive never tried it before.

[bagrat]

i believe f4u is a heavy plane so u want to enter a fight wit some alt an try an keep it fast, on the other hand it is kinda like a 51 an can turn with spits if u know how to work ur throttle an flaps.

P.S u didnt like my highlander/metallica thread?

[Noir]

Keep it fast but don't count on its level speed because its not so fast, if you attack a field try to start 7k over the base so you can do vertical maneuvers. the F4U got great verticals, its his big advantage for me.

Be very carefull on your E conservation, and use flap turn as your last ressort, cause if you slow down too much you'll be just a big slow target for spits. The hog can put the gear out at 250mph if I remember well, very usefull if you want to slow down and sneak behind a fast con thats attacking you.

[Bruv119]

I like to fly all planes and recently there was a thread about the F4U's gear coming down  <400mph   I been trying this out to dump E and pump flaps.

The F4u's are fantastic planes if you work the flaps, throttle and gears.

You can turn it really well at those slower speeds and force many a uber plane to overshoot.  

totally agree with nuke on the speed thing the F4U4 is fantastic and will outspeed most planes but the others once slow can be easily caught.

I would suggest going into the training arena and having a good session 1vs1 in the f4u1d trying to turn it as tight as you can.....

All the best

Bruv
~S~

[Saxman]

First and foremost: know the situation you're going into. If you're in a one-on-one fight the F4U can get slow and generally hang with almost anything in the game when handled properly. She has GREAT flaps and proper management of throttle, gear and flaps can let you cut inside anything (that being said, I can pull this off only some of the time). Try to avoid flat turns if you can and use more of a yo-yo, especially in the later Hogs (1D and 4).

While some of the hotter sticks can hang indefinately against pretty much anything, I generally have to rely on being able to get a shot and end the fight quickly, especially against the better turners (Zekes and Spits. I've noticed that the Spit I, VIII and Seafire seem to be more easily handled). The Hog has a GREAT instantaneous turn, so flown right gives you the tools to do just that, but that takes practice.

If it's a large, multi-con engagement you want to try and stay fast and high. The acceleration of the 1-series Hogs is only average at best (ranging from poor in the -1 to average in the 1D) so letting yourself get low and slow makes the Hog more vulnerable than most in a furball. Things are better for the -4, which is near the top end of the MA dragsters.

What I've been doing lately, and finding success at, is come into a fight between 10-15k. That will generally put you above the rest of the furball. After that it's knowing where everybody is and target selection. I try to find someone with his back turned, and I've been clearing a LOT of 6's lately (double bonus: it gives you a target with tunnel-vision, and helps keep another ally fighting). Generally I'll cut back throttle but won't drop gear unless I'm coming in from significant alt (Corsair always seems to accelerate faster when you DON'T want her too ). If you hear your plane start to creak, you know you're going fast enough, and those gear CAN be dropped at speeds nearing 450mph if you want to limit your dive speed slightly. My FAVORITE approach angle is in the low-6 blind spot, but that's hard to get in to sometimes.

After your initial pass, if you want to slow down and maneuver try and stay between 250-300mph. That's the Hog's "butter zone" and will generally have you faster than most of the planes in a large turnfight. Keep the fight more open and use the vertical for reversals rather than trying to follow a break turn (this takes practice because following the break is so instinctive, and I still struggle with it).

Set your guns in relatively close for all Hogs. I have mine at 300 yards. While concentrated hitting power is less of an issue in the 1C because of the Hizookas, it's a lot easier to land hits with a closer point of convergence due to the wide spread of the guns. Take whatever shot you can, and don't be afraid to miss because the Hog's got plenty in the clip to spare and you're more likely to run out of gas than ammo. Some people will argue tracers off, some will argue on. I keep mine on and do well enough. Plus, if you fire and miss tracers will sometimes get an enemy to do something stupid that ensures your second shot DOESN'T (fired a shot over an La-7 opening on me from 800+ yards out once, and forced him to break turn to where I was able to close the distance and bag him, where if he had just kept running level he'd have escaped).

Also, know your enemy. The most dangerous opponents I find are the Spit XVI, Ki-84, (pretty much everything the Hog does well the 84 does too, while also being faster and a better turner. Only the -4 has a clear advantage over the Frank, as she can outrun and outclimb the 84 pretty much at will) and Hurri IIc (which is just plain overpowered to begin with). N1K2s and La-7s are pretty even matches (although I have more trouble being picked by ElGays while I'm dealing with other cons than losing to one in a straight 1v1 fight).

Above all practice. Handled right the early-model Hogs are easily among the best all-around fighters in the game, and the -4 is probably the best prop bird PERIOD.

[Reynolds]

Thanks all of you!

[Furball]

lol...

mr. "i hate america planes"....

[AquaShrimp]

I flew the F4U-1 for a tour.

Make jousting attacks from a higher altitude against better planes.  Keep your speed high enough so that after your shot, you can get out of gun range quickly.  Don't turn more than 45 degrees once you have the bandit in your gun sights.  You will bleed too much speed.

The F4U has poor climb and poor acceleration.  In the realm of AH, it should be used as an energy-fighter.  It can turn well until your airspeed drops below 150.  Then you are a sitting duck, it takes a very long time to regain speed or altitude.

There are two things you can do if a bandit is on your tail at close range.  (1) Decelerate very quickly and hope he overshoots.  This works alot, but your plane will be pitching and stalling so you need to practice your gunnery and stall recovery techniques.  A hard barrel roll with full flaps, gear down, and throttle at 25% works the best.

(2) Confuse the other pilot by rolling very quickly and making out-of-plane maneuvers.  If you are turning, and a bandit is on your six, roll 90 degrees and pull back on the stick.  When he begins to follow you, roll another 90 (or even 180) and pull again.  These maneuvers take you from the horizontal to vertical plane.

[Bodhi]

The F4u-1d is lethal... keep in mind you have two huge speed brakes called landing gear!  You can lower them at almost any speed.  That and some quick flaps can allow you to turn inside almost anyone, but the catch is, you'd best kill them, because if they get away, you're in a world of hurt because the acceleration blows arse...

I like it, but have been flying the hell kitty since last update, which is far better than the Hog.

[bkbandit]

i spent 90% of my time in f4u in june, like everyone has been sayin, stay fast, hi yoyos are ur friend and will let u beat down on ur lower e con. Acell is horrible for a plane wit 2000, dont rely on drag racing away from a con unless u already have 350 mph on the tach. Ur rear view sucks so u have to fly wit ur eyes in the back of ur head, i sneak up on alot of sleep f4us this way. F4u1 feels liter and turns better and once up to speed is faster then f4u1d, but f4u1d has a better climb better accel and a better cockpit view. hi speed turns are ur friends, i have had times when a trailin spit 16 would chase me at about 8k, i would nose down get the speed up to around 400, and hard right or left, u cant follow u, he will break off or break his plane. If u flew somethin like p47,p51 u shouldnt have a prob.

Im wit bodhi on this, i have spent all my time in hellcat this tour and feel that it is alot better.

[Saxman]

F4U vs Hellcat is largely a matter of personal preference. As Widewing's tests have pointed out, the two aircraft are very close in terms of speed, acceleration, climb and maneuverability. The Cat's only real clear advantage is in stall behavior.

[llama]

The Corsair is a study in contrasts. (I flew it exclusively for two tours, then the F6 exclusively for one tour plus this one. They are similar in many ways.)

The Corsair has a fairly good top speed, but ironically, has average to poor acceleration. It is only an average climber, but confusingly, has a FANTASTIC zoom-climb. It doesn't have an instantaneous turn rate of a spit or zeke, but has an amazingly tight turn radius (when used with flaps and gear - more on that in a moment.) Though very heavy, it is very stable when slow and can almost hang on the prop going vertical, and its HUGE rudder can swivel the guns around as necessary.

In a furball, as has been mentioned, you need to keep it fast. The B&Z tactics are a good idea here, but the beauty of the zoom climb means you can almost do it indefinately. When the furball has been whittled down to just a few enemies, or you have chased one enemy out of the furball, you can safely get low and slow, PROVIDED YOU ARE AWARE OF YOUR SIX AT ALL TIMES, because due to poor acceleration, you won't be able to get fast quickly enough to get away from anything.

On the positive, getting slow is not a bad thing when you are one on one. With lots of flaps usage, plus by dropping the gear for a second or two at the appropriate times, you can almost outturn anything. Yes, the early spits can turn slightly better, but they aren't as stable AND can't go over the top in those.

Generally, you can outturn what you can't outrun, and outrun (with enough head start) what you can't outturn. And if you can't outrun something that's slowly closing in, you can roll to the side and pull hard, drop the gear for two seconds (if you roll and pull, your pursuer can't see you deploy your gear) to slow down enough to get all those flaps down, and then kill the hell out of that guy. Unfortunately, if he has a buddy, now you're low and slow and a much easier target. That can be workable too, but if there's much more than that and you are all alone, things get tough.

Still, the Corsair is one of those planes that you can be a lone-wolf in and survive, which is something that can't be said for everything.

Also, its ability to absorb damage and get you home is nothing short of amazing.  A shot-out engine can usually get you from an enemy field to home if you break away immediately and start climbing. You can EASILY get home with a wing shot off (in the corsair, the outer wing panel just past the bent part of the wing is what gets shot off when you lose a wing) by dropping just one notch of flaps on final approach. And being able to land at any local Carrier Group can be handy too.

And finally, you can carry a lot of bombs to a target, if necessary. And you can get a 4-cannon version, if that floats your boat.

And though you didn't ask, the F6 is very similar. I fly it about the same way, but with the following differences: top speed is slightly slower, turn radius and stability is slightly better, and you can't use the landing gear trick to get slow because the F6 never had airbrakes tied to its landing gear like the Corsair. It seems slightly more stable when hanging on the prop.

I will conceed that the rear view of these aircraft can leave something to be desired. But I use a TrackIR, and with that, the rear views are actually quite good. With the keypad/coolie hat, I could never stand the F6's views.

Good luck!

-Llama

[bkbandit]

the cannon corsair isnt the best dog fighter, it feels noticeable heavyer, i use it only for hit gvs, the d feels better in the dogfight. f4u should alot faster then f6f but since there so close i wouldnt call it an advantage(theres another thread for that discussion). U can get in behind spit and stick wit him useing ur flaps long enuff to kill him, but if u miss the shot u r screwed.

Aint nothin else u can noe that anyone esle hasnt posted so just take ur time and learn it. ABove all else just remember stay fast.

[Gooss]

Chicks dig gullwings.

HONK!
Gooss

[ALF]

I love the F4u, it was my ride of choice for a long time, and was the plane responsible for prying my butt out of the F6F cockpit.  The most important thing Ive found is that the F4u isnt 'A' plane its several planes, depending on the model.

The F4U-1 is a little more twichy, but it turns nice

The F4U-C has the guns we all love to hate

The F4U-D is the venerable old timer of the game, and merges respectable speed and overall preformance with the Mustang very well.

The F4U-4 is nothing short of a BEAST if you are a dedicated, and disiplined pilot.  Its not the turner the F4u-1 is, but its got power to spare.