Well guys, here's my thoughts, for what they're worth.
Storch did two things that could be seen as not exactly fair and square.
First fight: BearKats was off the end of the runway only 15 to 20 seconds when Storch turned for the merge. Let the other guy get some speed before you head in. BearKat should have called "No Joy" and not maneuvered. By maneuvering, BearKats accepted the fight.
Second fight: Storch was flying in the weeds on his next merge, which hides the aircraft icon. It's very hard to pick out a dot on the landscape full of dots (shrubs, bushes and the like). Storch's icon didn't appear until he was between 3.0k and 2.5k distant. Meanwhile, he could see BearKat's icon from D6.0. If done on purpose, I'd call that trying to steal an advantage. Stay out of the weeds. Diving to get below the other guy is fine, just begin from an altitude where your icon is visible.
As to the HO... Yeah it was an HO from either view in the film. However, I can't fault Storch as BearKats set up the situation by not getting his 109 reversed in a timely fashion and turned nose on to Storch. Storch could not know that BearKats would not fire, so he fired. I don't think BearKats realized that he was in a pure HO until too late. As they say in racing, "It was a racing incident".
As to the flying, BearKats clearly doesn't fly 109s very often. He was having a very hard time, stalling repeated times and hanging at the top of a climb too often. First, 109s turn better left than right. Much better. Second, when slow in the vertical (especially with flaps out), the 109s resist rolling against torque (to the right). It's almost always faster to roll left. If you must roll right, pull back the throttle and use full right rudder. Otherwise, you'll hang their like a big, immobile target.
Storch was much smoother than BearKats, who wasted several good opportunities by hamfisting the 109 around. 109s like smooth control inputs, especially when flying a high AoA or under significant G loading. Slower, deliberate inputs are always better. Snipers have a saying, "Slow is smooth and smooth is fast." Think about that some.
BearKats, if you want to practice in the 109s, stop by the TA Tuesday or Wednesday evening after 9 PM Eastern. I suggest flying the 109G-2. It turns nearly a well as the 109F, but tends to be a bit more difficult to fly at the limits. Master the G-2 and the F model becomes easy mode. It takes some time in the 109s to learn when to use the flaps, how much flap to use, when to get them back up, and when to slow down some to avoid auto-retract. The occasional wobble is expected, but you should avoid harsh inputs in general. Besides, nothing conserves E better than not loading the airframe more than needed.
My regards,
Widewing
