I'm cruisin say 15 k in my Dora... I spot a P-51D, 12k coming in from 5 o'clock, headin right towards me, 6 k out. Best thing to do to in this situation?Kill him. Keep some E incase he decides to turn tail. Depending on the pony pilot, don't play any E bleeding games with him. Slow in a Dora v. Pony isn't fun - it's winnable, but not the desired outcome given the initial altitudes.
5k in a 109G-2, heading for a furball (why not?). I spot a high con, comin in 15k. Its an F4U-1C. He sees me, dives in on me.
Best thing to do?With such an energy difference (5k v. 15k), always turn into the attack and mind the Hog's snapshot. Your main goal is to equalize energy states by bleeding his and sustaining yours. By turning into his attack, you are making his kill window smaller. If he commits, he may have to steepen his dive and inefficiently manage his E. If he doesn't commit and flies timid, extend your distance between and repeat the process. After some patience in this process, and depending on the pilot, you may be able to set up an overshoot situation and nail him in a reversal.
If I were the Hog, I'd make a pass or two. Then depending on which path you choose, I may choose to kill throttle and saddle up for a definite kill, or take a risk and commit for the high deflection kill. Either way, you're dead if I'm in a chog.
Worst situation...
10k in a P-38J, spot 2 cons comin in at 16k, from my 4 and 11 o'clock. Spit 9 comin in from my 11 and a P-47D-25 comin in from my 4. Both heading right at me.
Best thing to do?This one is tough. The intent and aggressiveness of each enemy is unknown. Always keep your energy up, be very aware of the situation, and just react.
The best advice I can give is try to take the Spitfire out first. Wait for one to make a mistake (most likely an overshoot) and capitalize on it - once again, if you turn INTO their attack and follow their path of departure, you will usually have a small kill window after their blown pass. That involves spending a small amount of your E getting your nose up to them. Just be aware of what the other guy is doing at the time - you don't want to try this if the two enemies are coordinating their passes.
