mossie vs 38l

[Solar10]

A Mossie with a 25% fuel load is a good agile plane.  I rarely fly it with more than 50% gas.

I love getting into fights with P38s and P51s in a Mossie.  In a turn fight you need to use Hi and Low YoYos to gain angles.  Also use the flaps when going over the top to help your turn.  Good rudder use is needed as well.

I have found that if you get good in a Mossie it really helps you in fight in other planes that are more capable.  I also find that you don't need to go looking for a fight as the Mossie Icon tends to attact the red guys looking for an easy kill.

[Bruv119]

Since the Spin bug was fixed the Mossie is easier to fight with.  NC don't be put off by getting shot down in it.  Geaux is a good stick and can be very slippery.  

When I was new here Thrila used to and probably still does kick some major bhind in it.   He would be outturning spits on the deck and I'd be thinking to myself thats interesting!

Practice is the key and keep an open mind when learning.  Anything is possible in combat.  Try out new ideas.  People tend to think like sheep and behave like them.  Expect the unexpected.  Thats what keeps us hooked.

In an equal fight with equal pilots the Spit 16 would kill the P38L.

Bruv
~S~

[thrila]

Thanks for the kind words guys.  I've not really flown the mossie since i came back to AH a couple of months back.  After several years of flying the mossie pretty much exclusively, i decided to give another plane a go: the 109g14.  Primarily because i wanted to fly a plane with qualities in stark contrast what i used to fly.  I do have a hankering for the mossie, i imagine i'll by flying her more often in the future, especially because i have a ch throttle quadrant that i want to play about with.  

 I had perhaps 1 or 2 sorties in the fixed mossie and i wasn't quite sure i liked it.  It felt like in order to fix it they put a limit on the AoA you could pull, because i couldn't pull it as tightly as i could at middle speeds that i recall i could perform.  IIRC i even had trouble getting the thing to black out- though i may have had stall limiter on it was my first couple of sorties when i came back.  I wont be able to test it out out until i'm back at home in the new year, i'm currently at my parents house for a couple of weeks over the x-mas period.

My own preference for flying the mossie was to be aggressive, turning into the opposition as often as i could, making angles for the single shot- which is all that is needed.  If i was unsuccessful i would dive away and grab more speed and repeat.   A couple of notches of flaps helps in turns, reducing your turning circle, though i would raise them ASAP because speed reduces dramatically, coupled with the mossies poor acceleration, leaves you as a sitting duck.  As someone has said above full flaps will make your turning circle very tiny- which is hand should the fight end up on the deck- aslong as the opponent refuses to go vertical, which is indeed the major weakness of the mossie.

Luckily i have my old PC at my parents so if you aren't against seeing some retro mossie films, i've decided to host a couple.

first an example of a wingover in the mossie.  Although going vertical in the mossie is tricky, it can be done quite tidily with a bit of experience.   film

Next a couple of one on ones:  film1  and film2

and a couple of multi con engagements:

film1

 film2

 film 3

film 4

Most if not all of these are several years old i'm afraid.  On the plus side some of you may recognise some of the old names.

[Bruv119]

There ya go NC from the horses mouth.  

I will download and watch them when i get in from work.

Should be good viewing

[humble]

Nice to hear from you thrila...Obviously I've got way less ability/experience in the mossie then you do but I noticed the high AoA issues immediately after the reworked FM. Since I'm not a particularly adept mossie driver I wasnt sure how much of it was the FM and how much was do to my increasing experience in the A-20. I've always been able to get "more" out of an A-20 but that gap seemed to widen after the rework. I'd agree they robbed peter to pay paul somehow.

What suprises me is what feels like an increased "shudder/wobbliness" at moderate speed high AoA in the vertical obliques. It seems much harder to work a spitty or similiar plane in those semi vertical cutbacks then it did...

[hyster]

Originally posted by Bruv119
NC don't be put off by getting shot down in it.  Geaux is a good stick and can be very slippery.  

as i said in my first post i thought what Geaux did with the 38 was compleate B**l s**t. when i saw who had shot me down i sorta took a step back and said "WOW. didnt no a 38l could fly like that". ive been up against Geaux a few times (always lost) so i quckly realised he flew outstanding in the 38l and i had made a bad assumtion about the 38 in the hands of a great pilot.

ill fly the mossie for a bit and see how i get on with it, even my few flights over the past few days i was impressed. i think part of the problem was i used the twisty stick as a rudder, now i have a set of saitek peddels i seem to be able to perform manuavers i coudnt do before.

thanks thrila. ill watch the vids asap

thanks for all of the replys guys, it has given me a lot to think about.

[bozon]

The new fixed mossie is easier to handle. The trade off is reduced elevator authority. At some parts of the envelope, you can pull full elevator stick deflection and not snap-stall the plane. It seems more "lazy" over all.

Official charts and performance data are misleading. They are usually with 100% fuel which means about 70 (!) minutes at full throttle and sometimes with bombs included. You never ever need more than 50% in the MA. If you go bomber hunting or short range fighter mode, 25%+DT is enough, which will get your climb rate to over 3000 fpm. Acceleration is also much better than it gets credit for and the diving acceleration is top rank.

However, as a knife fighter it is inferior to the P-38. It should be significantly faster than the 38 down low, but our mossie model has low engine rating and the flame dumpers which hold it back. As an E fighter it is comparable with the 38.

You'll find the 38s and mossie's greatest problem is on defense. While superb on the offense, you are a huge target on the defense which makes you vulnerable to snapshots from cannon planes. The other mossie problem is difficulty in shedding speed to create/prevent overshots. It hold on to its inertia well, which is great for BnZ or wearing down you opponent, but makes cutting corners and over shoots a problem. To loose speed fast you much apply a lot of rudder or it just will not happen. If you ever tried to land a mossie with both props feathered you'll see what I mean about not shedding speed.

The mossie, unlike the 38, is not a pure fighter and unless you fly it timidly (which works VERY well in the mossie) it can be a handful in a furball. This is actually what makes it so much fun, likely the same reason Humble likes his A20 fighter.

edit:
btw, I posted a long mosquito guide as park of my "fix the mossie" campaign.
http://forums.hitechcreations.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=206568
It was sarcastic for that purpose, and emphasize some of the problems that were fixed in the previous version, but most of it is still valid. It also has likes to a few mossie films:
http://files.filefront.com/moss+f6fahf/;7684214;/fileinfo.html
http://files.filefront.com/MOSS+16+0430ahf/;4914737;/fileinfo.html
and another:
http://files.filefront.com/moss+38+rollingahf/;9280798;/fileinfo.html

[LilMak]

The reason you've developed this mentality that P-38s are easy kills is the huge disparity of P-38 pilot skills. There are generaly two different types of 38 pilots. Those that are flying them as a bomber, and those that actually know how to use them. Many people in the MA use the 38 for porking bases. These usually are the Spit/Hurri/LA pilot who decides they need to carry a little more ord to target but don't want to fly a true bomber. When these pilots come across another plane after they've dumped their ord, they start figting in it like their normal ride and get spanked pretty quickly. At the other end of the spectrum are the people who KNOW the plane. Then it doesn't matter what you're flying or how good you are, they will give you the fight of your life.