Author Topic: Rediscovering the KI-67 (Read 861 times)

Rich46yo · « **on:** October 29, 2007, 05:21:09 PM »

Ive started flying the 67 again after a hiatus of sorts. What happened is, well, I did have some bad luck in it. Either I got caught in the bombsight, got caught trying to land the thing, or always ended up 100 rounds to short defending it. Once I was flaps down, almost touching the runway, in a safe strip with dar up, only to go head first into a Knit NOE mission.

A few times I ran into 4 or 5 fighters who decided they hated the schmuck who just took their dar and ords down. And they were going to keep coming until they ran out of gas, or, either of us croaked.

But the real truth is I wasnt fighting the airplane correctly. Im used to bombers where you can start shooting guns on Monday and not worry about running out of ammo til Saturday. Like my B-26s. Ive never once ran out of ammo in it. Yesterday I ran into a slick stick who decided he was going to use his "dodge in and out and get the bomber stick to use all his ammo" tactic. The only problem with that is the B-26 has 1,600 rounds in its arse and if you duck and dodge at 800k long enough you'll eventually get hit with enough pings to at least make you break off.

But with the KI-67 you cant do that. You cant even begin to shoot until hes 600k from you, and even then Im now using short bursts to get the lead. And once I have the con ranged then I'll open up with 2 second bursts. Further, Ive been spending a lot of time in the TA learning the guns and the airplane better.

As a pure "raider" I think its unmatched. When I see our CV coming close to shore I'll jump into 67s and raid the ords at the closest enemy bases to the CV. If theres a mission coming up I'll use the 67s to raid dars and ords.

The bomber is a kick in the arse to fly. Its fast, turns well, climbs like a demon, and the top 20mm cannon can smoke a fighter like nothing else in AH bombers can. The bombload isnt great but its fine for certain missions.

Really, to the AH staff for including this airplane for us. It makes me wonder how many other great "unknowns" could be introduced into the game? I think modeling the KI-67 was very thoughtful of the AH staff and I for one love flying the thing.

It is simply a gas to fly in this game. ......Rich

AAolds · « **Reply #1 on:** October 30, 2007, 03:31:28 AM »

I like Ki-67, good for town hits too with those 8 100kgs. Gun package is better than lancs, which I fly more often. Those 67s r fast, the climb rate for a bomber is excellent. It does take a decent amount of punishment too.

Rich46yo · « **Reply #2 on:** October 30, 2007, 05:22:41 AM »

Quote

Originally posted by AAolds
I like Ki-67, good for town hits too with those 8 100kgs. Gun package is better than lancs, which I fly more often. Those 67s r fast, the climb rate for a bomber is excellent. It does take a decent amount of punishment too.

Another great thing about the airplane. You can actually afford to let fighters get in a little closer cause its so tough. I flew it last night against Knit ords with very good results using my revised tactics. Also its tremendous climb rate allowed me to take some high ground away from a 190, "I hate the Butcher Bird", when it appeared he was going to chase me until the end. Its a great airplane to raid with.

Spikes · « **Reply #3 on:** October 30, 2007, 06:20:14 AM »

I take Ki's up to kill a VH...(Don't ask)

Devonai · « **Reply #4 on:** October 30, 2007, 11:15:31 AM »

As long as people don't know about (or ignore) the Ki-67's 20mm top cannon it will remain my favorite medium bomber, especially for NOE missions. Sometimes I go out just to pick a fight with the 20mm.

Rich46yo · « **Reply #5 on:** October 30, 2007, 04:40:07 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by Devonai
As long as people don't know about (or ignore) the Ki-67's 20mm top cannon it will remain my favorite medium bomber, especially for NOE missions. Sometimes I go out just to pick a fight with the 20mm.

Yeah its pretty fearsome. Ive been on the recieving end of big cannons enough to appreciate actually having one on my airplane.

mussie · « **Reply #6 on:** November 01, 2007, 04:22:36 PM »

Love the 67. Got a film where i dog fight a spit and manage to shoot him down with the nose gun after getting on his tail. Got another where i make 5 or so guys auger by stall fighting on the deck. And dont forget how fast and tough the girl is. Also the eggs are in kg so a 100 kg egg is 220 lbs.

Rich46yo · « **Reply #7 on:** November 05, 2007, 09:09:25 AM »

The Cannon has saved my butt a few times. Even when I run out of tailgun ammo Ive been practicing rolling the 67, climbing it, finding ways to get the cannon into play.

Yesterday I had downed 3 fighters but was out of ammo in the tail and had lost my drones. One fighter left and I think he knew I had no tail ammo. He made one mistake, luckily for me cause I was dead meat, and did one of those "reach for the skies pirouettes before diving down for E" maneuvers. At the top of his arc, when he was frozen in space, I shot his tail off with the big cannon. A .50 cal couldnt have done that.

Then I happily dove away to a safe airfield. Another plus about the "Made in Japan" bomber. In a slight dive it handles high speeds fairly well.

TOMCAT21 · « **Reply #8 on:** November 12, 2007, 07:20:21 AM »

KI-67 is not half bad....manuevers a hell of alot better then the -25.

Karnak · « **Reply #9 on:** November 12, 2007, 11:56:21 AM »

Only real problem is the lack of a payload. They gave it 3,600hp and only 800kg of bombs. One wonders at the design spec issued by the IJAAF, with that much power it should easily lift 3,000+kg.

Rich46yo · « **Reply #10 on:** November 12, 2007, 01:35:06 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by Karnak
Only real problem is the lack of a payload. They gave it 3,600hp and only 800kg of bombs. One wonders at the design spec issued by the IJAAF, with that much power it should easily lift 3,000+kg.

As a hit and run bomber tho its probably the best. You just have to limit the targets you want to hit. I pretty much only bomb dars, ords,fuel, and troops, with it.

A mistake not to make with it is to not close bomb doors when being pursued after a drop. Adding 10 to 15 more mph tends to force cons into the horizontal more. And the KI-67 is fully capable of busting thru numerous cons and making it home. There have been many times Ive busted thru 3 or more cons and made it home in at least one bomber.

Last night I busted thru 5 or more knits and would have made it had my tail gunners not been killed.

Karnak · « **Reply #11 on:** November 12, 2007, 02:49:35 PM »

I know. I used it often. It is surprisingly good at hitting cities too. The Lanc seems to get about 50-100% more with 14*1,000lb*3 than the much faster Ki-67 gets with 8*100kg*3. That is disproportiantly in favor of the Ki-67.

I was just commenting that with that much power it would carry ~3,000kg if it were American or European.

Rich46yo · « **Reply #12 on:** November 14, 2007, 10:53:38 AM »

Im a little surprised the crew gunnery positions die off so easily in AH, in the KI-67, because in real life the medium bomber had heavily armored crew gun positions. In real life the KI-67 also had hardpoints for an option of 2,360 lbs of bombs, which would be a nice option.

I'd rather have a fixed KI-67 with a lower eny and an option for more bombs on the wing hardpoints. This would give the aircraft about 600 lbs of more bombs, "hardpoints and bomb bay were never loaded together". The gun ammo is fine because speed is its main defense.

You just have to gun the KI-67 a little different. In the back of my mind, when flying it, is the fact you can easily find yourself 200 rounds short if you put yourself in that situation. I do lose some KI-67s, and not counting the ones Ive lost while landing or in the bombsight, because often I have to make a choice of whether I want to lose 1 bomber or all 3.

In other words I'd rather lose one 67, while waiting for the one gunshot I know I can make with a short burst, then lose all 3 cause I was spraying gunfire, as I would in a B-26, and run out of ammo.

Last night I had a good night cause Im learning to fly the airplane correctly. Im going into targets at proper angles, at 12,000', hitting, turning, running, trying to put myself in the position of getting in one on one fights, or, at worst, 2 on 1. And I have no fear of anybody 1 on 1 while in 67s. Not even an uber-stick in a 262.

You can get a lot of good gunsight looks at enemy cons in 67s because the speed of the airplane forces the fight into the horizontal more then any other bomber. One trick I like to use in it is when I first see a con grabbing air for energy I'll open the bomb bay doors and let my speed trickle down. When hes almost at the top of his arc, and right before he starts his dive, I'll close them and start a shallow dive.

Often it'll cause him to misjudge his slash angle and he''ll be left with either coming in flat or breaking off and starting new. Often they choose to hang up and come in flat. And then they are mine.

Another mistake fighter sticks make is they underestimate the waist guns and nose guns in 67s. The waist guns have a lot of coverage because the airplane rolls so well. I got that 262 the other day cause when he went past me he stayed flat and I hit him quickly with my nose guns.

You dont want to hang up or be flat anywhere around KI-67s.