Very powerful fighters without the dweeb moniker

[Karnak]

It seems to me that there are a number of extremely potent fighters in AH that are only marginally harder to use than the most over used types, but the people who use them get backslaps rather than rasberries for their performances.  These are the aircraft that I think are in that special category of being very powerful and easy to use and yet are neglected.

Bf109F-4:
10 minutes of WEP and extremely sweet handling make this a wonderful brawling fighter with light firepower being the biggest drawback.

F4U-1/-1A/-1D:
Fast, decent climb, decent range, average firepower with great ballistics and oh, the flaps.  The F4U is simply one of the best fighters in AH.

F6F-5:
Docile handling, average firepower with great ballistics, good ordnance hauling and tough as a brick.

Ki-84-Ia:
Great acceleration, reasonably fast at AH combat altitudes, decent firepower, fast roll rate, insane WEP cycle and yet more uber-flaps.

La-5FN:
It is an La-7 that is slightly slower, only has two cannon and none of the stigma.

P-38L:
The true jack-of-all-trades in AH.  There is nothing this fighter isn't at least good at, if not great at.  Oh, uber-flaps for the third time.

P-51B:
Like the La-5FN, this is much like its derided sister, yet carries no stigma.  The P-51B is fast and has the great high speed handling of the P-51, though slightly light on firepower.

Yak-9U:
Like the Bf109F-4, a great brawler that only lacks for firepower and fuel range.  No WEP to worry about.

[quintv]

Along the same lines of very good planes with high ENY and none of the "dweebishness" are a surprising amount of the Luftwaffe kit.

The Bf.109G2 is a very good knife fighter with an ENY of 30;  the K4 is not an "easy" plane to use but its insane engine and medium to high alt performance along with its MK.108 makes it special and has an ENY of 20.

The D9 has an ENY of 15 and for all its roll rate, speed, and firepower, this is odd. The Doras older brothers are all squirly little ships with firepower and rollrate to make them fun furballers.

[Sketch]

Great list Karnak!   I fly most of those just because they are not dweeby to a sense, except the La5, never really touched it.  The Yak-9U is a great plane and if you hit about 8k which is prime performance  for that baby... it is nice!  Killing in it is tricky and you have to be patient.  
Two others you forgot:
C205 : Great climb, very nice ammo load-out, decent WEP, and handles very nicely and can take some punishment.
Yak-9T : Decent turning, climb pretty good, and that 37mm in the nose is nice.... all you have to do is hit your mark. One or two round breaks anything.
Where's your Mossie on that list?  That should be there as well...

[Hoarach]

With the 38L you might as well put all the 38s.  The 38s are pretty underrated in the fact that people see it as an easy kill.

That 38G "Stevie Wonder Special" doesnt deserve any recognition.

[Ball]

C.205?

It is like a spit IX but uglier (so ugly in fact that the paint job looks like the last pilot puked over it in horror) and harder to see out of.

Originally posted by Sketch
Where's your Mossie on that list?  That should be there as well...

Mossie is crippled.  Has the potential to be awesome but is bugged

[Kweassa]

Only a personal opinion, but I'd replace the Bf109F-4 with the G-14.

 For me, the Friederich is in the class of planes such as the A6M, Hurri2C or Spit5 - lethal fighters in trained epxert hands but overall performance too lacking to ensure a certain amount of "survival factor".  However the G-14 seems to be an excellent compromise between the earlier 109s and the ultimate K-4, and thankfully a little more powerful than the G-2 in speed, climb, and firepower. Also the given choice between a 20mm cannon and a 30mm cannon is also a big plus.

 I know some 109 pilots say the G-14 handle terribly, but frankly I really don't see what's so horrible. I'm not a good pilot but I've also been flying the 109s for a long time too, and to me all the Gustavs basically handle very similarly.. the G-2 may feel a bit lighter in handling, but honestly there's nothing I can't do in a G-14 which I can in a G-2. (but then again, maybe it's because suck too much in 109s to tell the difference)

[1K3]

Ki 61.  This clowncar has bags of tricks that you can't guess.

[Benny Moore]

Originally posted by Karnak
P-38L:
The true jack-of-all-trades in AH.  There is nothing this fighter isn't at least good at, if not great at.  Oh, uber-flaps for the third time.

They're called Fowler flaps.

I'd like to add to the list the Curtiss P-40, the Republic P-47, and the Focke-Wulf FW-190.  Hmm!  That appears to put all of the ships in the game into either this list of the other.

[Karash]

I fly the Ki-84 and am still pretty dweebish...in a straight up fight with equal energy I usually lose to any competent pilot.  That said, I have had great success with the "Frank" if I bring an energy advantage to the fight.

[quintv]

Originally posted by Benny Moore
They're called Fowler flaps.

I'd like to add to the list the Curtiss P-40, the Republic P-47, and the Focke-Wulf FW-190.  Hmm!  That appears to put all of the ships in the game into either this list of the other.

The P.40 being powerful?

*lol*

[Benny Moore]

You missed the sarcasm.  The point is that half of his list are ships that are hardly "very powerful."  They're difficult fighters to fight in, for the most part, or else slow.

[SuperDud]

I fly what I like and laugh when people call me a dweeb. Normally it occurs because I killed them.

[bj229r]

[E25280]

Originally posted by SuperDud
I fly what I like and laugh when people call me a dweeb. Normally it occurs because I killed them.

Too true!







Ahem . . . not that I would know.  I've never killed anybody.

[DiabloTX]

I'll add the Me-110 but only because I've seen some people, back when I flew regularly, OWN in this ride.  

When I first started with AH back in Nov. '02 myself and Ro flew a couple of P-40's against someone in a 110 in the CT (Sicily map IIRC) and this guy just schooled us to no end.  I wish I could remember who it was but it was one of the most frustrating things I ever expericenced in Aces High.