The Real Reason the P-51 is so Popular

[bongaroo]

Ki 84 will own a pony any day 

HEAR HEAR!  This man speaks the truth!

[pdm]

Pony is the best all around plane in the game.

Well said Bucky

[2fly]

Yet another 2 cents thrown into the fray.

    My opinion on the P-51 is that it is an excellent compromise plane.  When the pilot executes a modicum of discipline and keeps the speed up to 225 or faster then the pony has no faults to use against it.  It does everything to at least a "good" rating and is excellent in speed and energy retention which gives incredible zoom potential.  As others have stated its only poor characteristics are very low speed handling and abominable acceleration.  Theese two factors mean nothing if you use a tad bit of discipline.

    Part of the bad rap it sometimes gets here is that it is by far the most chosen "newb" plane.  There are more ponies in the air than anything else.  (Lusche can produce the charts to prove that) Therefore an inordinate number of P51 kills are scored due to inexperienced pilots going up against good pilots.  (Even mediochre ones like me kill more ponies per tour than anything else.  Followed by the spixteen of course.  Current tour P51d=43 kills, spixteen=33 kills.)  This is not a strike agains the pony.  And believe me, when you meet a good pony jockey you learn fear very quickly.  I wont name names but there are some guys out there who can make that thing dance. Hats off to them.  I can BnZ some in it, but in a turn fight I become a semi mobile target drone equipped with high powered bullet magnets (just in case you might have missed me). 

[navajoboy]

Ive been a pony pilot for a long time but starting to love the F4u-1d. Very good turning ability and attack mode loadout.

[Getback]

So you're saying that it's popular in game because it could escort buffs to Berlin?
Sorry...My opinion...P51 is popular because it is fast and turns well, can outrun any plane except jets and maybe the crackshot F4U4/Lgay7.

I was in a fight with 2 p51s vs my F4u4. It seems the F4 accelerates faster but the p51 is overall faster. I did have a film confirming that.

[bongaroo]

The pony always wishes it had the extra engine of my p38 as i cruise home for a (crash) landing.



(unless i'm in my ki84, than the p51 just got pwnd and i'm not missing any engine parts or fluids anyways)

[crazierthanu]

The reason the p51 is so popular is that it was glamourized more then any other plane. It also was so popular becuase the U.S didnt have many planes in the air at the time. (and the U.S being smart and a democracy could've produced something better) I mean Its a O.K  plane but some people are very good in it, and is not just your casual noob who flys it because it is said to be the best plane of world war 2.
Just my 2 cents.

(anyways I like two see my p38 reduce p51's to flaming chunks of striped metal )

[uberslet]

Well the P-51 is a great plane in the right hands but there were better planes in the war.  In here almost everyone jumps right into the P-51 because they have heard it was the best plane in the war.  The reason that I think the mustang is so popular though is not its fighting capapability as much as it being able to get to Berlin.  Who here hasn't been killed by a plane that was worse than his by a large gap.  So say that the P-51 was outclassed in many things it would still be a fighter that would be there in Berlin.  Plus also the Germans were starting to lack pilot skill by the time the P-51 came into action.  So I think the real reason it is so popular is

A.  It was a fighter that could excort bombers all the way to Berlin
B.  It faced worse pilots that pilots in earlier planes had encountered making it look like it was an incredible plane.
C.  It was a great fighter in the right hands but it took experience something that many new people that use them in here don't have.


     Please post any ideas, comments, or disagreemants in a kind manner

heres my idea of why it isnt as good in AH as one may think. even though the recruits in the war didnt have 30 million lives to lern the plane, and they may not have gone through training with it, in Advanced Flight Training they flew the 51's.

[Tr1gg22]

What you probably mean to say is that a P-51 can drop on a Tempest around it's corner speed, drop flaps, pull back on the throttle and sustain a great turn RATE long enough to pull lead for a shot...but practically any plane can do that if the E states are right. P-51 will lose an angles fight with a Tempest from an even break in this game. Not saying thats right, bu that is the way it is.

Well I really never had problems with the 2 in a turn fight there both on my turn fight while im in a pony list..Maybe things have changed since my pony only flying days Ill have to try it with a squaddie tonight and ill get back to u 

[MajIssue]

I avioded the pony-D for a long time because of the n00b stigma attached to it... Then a squaddie suggested a pony sweep to break up a cap at one of our bases and I was hooked. I now fly the pony-D as my primary fighter. It's fast... to paraphrase "Oddball" in the film Kelly's Heros "It can get you out of trouble as fast as you got into it" and it is a good turning airplane. With 1 noch of flaps that you can use at high speeds, it will out-turn alot airplanes in the game at 300kts IAS. My only "wish is that it had 6 hispanos instead of 6 M-2's. It is also forgiving in high compression situations... much more than most. a 109 or a P-38 will be a lawn dart at the speeds that you can dive in a pony. Another plus is the exceptional visibility... Better than most!
<salute> P-51

[BnZ]

Trigg:
I did some Temp v PonyB duels with a squaddie, to try it with a human instead of the AI. If you go into the fight with some decent speed, so you can enter and win a high-speed turning contest and get behind, the Pony with flaps can turn just good enough to stay with the Temp long enough for a shot, especially if the Temp works mostly in the horizontal plane.

But if the Temp is well flown, uses his superior weight-to-power ratio in the vertical more, the Ponys chances goes down, and with the Tempest behind, it seems like only throttle management is required, Tempy can saddle long enough to get the fatal shot just using abit of vertical work to stay behind without having to fool with flaps, seems like.

I think the only sticky point for the Tempest man will be remembering to use a little E fighting at the medium speed 300mph or so, where the Pony can get its flaps down and turn insanely fast, until the Ponys speed is bled off a little more to the point where the Tempest begins to win the angles contest.

Its close enough that pilot skill makes the difference, not a out-there proposition like P-51 vrs. Zero in a turnfight. But I think the Pony pilot has to 1. Enter the fight at decently high speed and have 2. A Tempest pilot who disregards his own airplanes superior horsepower for muscling up into vertical maneuvers. Equally skilled pilots, the Tempest should win.

Pony can win, but I think it would be more accurate if the Mustang pwned the Tempest almost as bad as it does the FW190 in an angles fight...might just be my jingoism talking though.

[HighGTrn]

Hey I'll tell you a secret but ya gotta promise me you'll keep it on the down low.... ssshhhhhhh....  If you don't, SAPP will hunt me down, tar and feather me.

If you really want to fly the pony well.....

Learn to fly and fight in the P-38.  That's it!

(said like in the commercials for a new drug)  Do not take this medicine if you have an aversion to being lit on fire, exploding, vaporized, jumped on and horded by everyone cause killing 38s are fun and landing with no wings, tails (cause 38s loves their two tails) and gears.

I happen to like my skin melting and trying to land with one wing.  But the best part is when you get a kill in a 38.. Its so sweet.