Ki-84 Usage (or Lack Thereof)

[Yeager]

Why does the Ki84 get such low use in the MA?  I notice that it starts to compress early.  I have no clue as to the accuracy of this but it seems off that one of the best performing Japanese fighters historically gets such minimal use in the MA.  Perhasp this is indicative of a modeling error on the part of HTC.

How many people who frequent these boards (and still play the game of course)
actually have flown the Ki-84 as a regular ride?

[Airscrew]

I usually fly the Ki-84 a few times out of the month, I just happen to pull the rudder or one of the elevators off almost every time I fly it.   To me it seems to compress very easily.  I dont remember the exact speed but somewhere in the neighborhood of 350-360 the controls get real stiff and if your nose is pointed down its a real struggle for me anyway.   I like flying it when I do but I havent read alot about the Ki-84 and I havent spent a lot of time trying to learn it either.

[Krusty]

Ki84 is frikkin' uber. It sees plenty of use. It doesn't see the use the spit16 has or the lgay7 has because it is neither fast nor easy to fly. Well it's "easy to fly" but not "press button to go" or "idiot proof" like a few other planes. As a result nobody wants to put in the prerequisite 5 minutes to learn it.

[Urchin]

The Ki-84 doesn't have hispanos, so it will not be the plane of choice for the melee crowd.  If it had firepower equal to a Spit, I imagine it would be the most popular TnB type plane.

[Spatula]

I see it round quite a bit, and it can be a tough cookie to counter in a non TnB plane. It has a climb rate very similar to the spit 16 and 109k4, so it should be an excellent energy fighter if used correctly, plus has excellent turn ability too.

[Lusche]

Originally posted by Yeager
Why does the Ki84 get such low use in the MA?  I notice that it starts to compress early.  I have no clue as to the accuracy of this but it seems off that one of the best performing Japanese fighters historically gets such minimal use in the MA.  Perhasp this is indicative of a modeling error on the part of HTC.

How many people who frequent these boards (and still play the game of course)
actually have flown the Ki-84 as a regular ride?

My two cent:

The Ki-84 is one of the more dangerous planes in MA. It has problems above 450mph, but at low-medium speeds it is extremly capable, a very good turner, nimble, good climrate and very powerful & fast acceleration.

The comparatively little usage of the Ki-84 is not based on crappy performance, for each tour the Frank has one of the best K/D ratios of the whole planeset. Last tour the Ki-84 had a K/D of 1.54 which resulted in 2nd place of all non-perked rides, only 109K4 had a better K/D ratio (1.68).

The Ki-84 was my main ride for about 2 or 3 tours. Like most planes, you should know its limitations. Controls get stiffer above about 400mph, and you better not go over 450. Use acceleration & climbrate. Spit XVI aside, you have either better turning performance or more power than most planes you encounter.

[Saxman]

I'm glad that Ki-84s are still comparatively rare. She's definately a plane that could deserve a perk price if she started seeing heavier use in the MA.

Although personally, I haven't seen any of that control stiffness in high-speed dives trying to escape from one. Been into dives that make a CORSAIR groan (550-600mph) with blackout-inducing pullouts that scrape the trees, and I've STILL got that dammed Ki following me and not showing any sign of trouble.

[badhorse]

Originally posted by Lusche
My two cent:

 It has problems above 450mph,
 

I took one up in the TA and put it in a dive because it seemed like when ever I lowered the nose the darn thing would start creaking and groaning.  The ailerons came off at about 420.

If you don't need speed, it is a very good airplane.

[Krusty]

Originally posted by Urchin
The Ki-84 doesn't have hispanos, so it will not be the plane of choice for the melee crowd.  If it had firepower equal to a Spit, I imagine it would be the most popular TnB type plane.

I'd disagree. It's got the late-war 20mm that are almost as good as the Hispanos. It's also got a lot more rounds than a spitfire has, and a lot more 50cal than most planes have. The guns are evenly loaded so that they run out at about the same time, which is nice. I've got 7 kill sorties in ki84s before, WITHOUT reloading.

As for the climb: Once they were the king of climb, but the spit16 leaves them eating dust, for straight rate-of-climb.

[SAS_KID]

Krusty the WEP climb is a lot better for i am sure the KI84 holds its E longer than a Spit16 in a zoom climb.

[Krusty]

The spit16 does 3500fpm WITHOUT WEP at 10k. It does 5000+ on the deck. Even with WEP the Ki only brushes 4200fpm max under 5k. Forget about higher altitudes. Spit16 blows it away. Spit16 also has the UFO flight model. In tight spiral climbs maybe the Ki flaps give it an edge, but the  spixteen can also hang on its nose forever without stalling.

As for pure zoom, the spit seems to bleed less E, has a faster top speed, also has a much more powerful engine, so I think it zooms better. I've not tested it, though.

[Guppy35]

Originally posted by Yeager
Why does the Ki84 get such low use in the MA?  I notice that it starts to compress early.  I have no clue as to the accuracy of this but it seems off that one of the best performing Japanese fighters historically gets such minimal use in the MA.  Perhasp this is indicative of a modeling error on the part of HTC.

How many people who frequent these boards (and still play the game of course)
actually have flown the Ki-84 as a regular ride?

Check it against anything but the uber rides or the big cannon birds.

The 84 has more kills then all the Spits besides the 16.  It has more kills then the 109s including the K which surprised me.  It has more kills than any 38 version or Jug version, including the N.  It has more kills then the Corsairs.  It has more kills then all the 190s outside of the D9.  It has more then the Yaks and the Zeros.  It has more kills then the La5

So it's used a lot by folks besides those who want big cannons.  Tiffies, N1Ks and Hurri IIcs are way up there in kills, or those who want to go fast with cannons like the the usual LA7, Spit XVI drivers, as well as the 51Ds and the 6 50s

Essentially it's 8th behind the LA7, Spit XVI, P51D, N1K, Tiffie and Hurri IIc and 190D9.

There are a lot of birds below the Ki-84 in usage including many that surprised me to be honest.

[Domin]

Originally posted by Krusty
The spit16 does 3500fpm WITHOUT WEP at 10k. It does 5000+ on the deck. Even with WEP the Ki only brushes 4200fpm max under 5k. Forget about higher altitudes. Spit16 blows it away. Spit16 also has the UFO flight model. In tight spiral climbs maybe the Ki flaps give it an edge, but the  spixteen can also hang on its nose forever without stalling.

As for pure zoom, the spit seems to bleed less E, has a faster top speed, also has a much more powerful engine, so I think it zooms better. I've not tested it, though.

True. The KI84 is a good bird. It does not climb with K4 or spit16. They set around 4.7-4.8k fpm and the ki84 sets around 4k fpm. One of the KI84s problems is between 5-10k it loses over 1k fpm bring it to 3k fpm. At that point  even a Spit5 can match and even out climb it.

About this plane possibly being perked.......WHAAAAAAA? The spit16 out climbs, out dives, out rolls, out accelerates, and its faster then the KI84. Their turn is nearly identical.

My favorite match up is the Spit9 vs KI84.

[1K3]

Originally posted by Domin


My favorite match up is the Spit9 vs KI84.

nah, spit 8 vs Ki-84 is a better match imo. I'm more comfortable taking the spit 8 in lo speed fighting vs the Ki-84.  Try fighting the 84 in spit 8 and you'll notice they're almost identical in performance.

[SuperDud]

KI84 is my main ride, great plane. As for good fights, P38vsKI84.