NOT SURE HOW TO TITLE THIS ONE

[CAP1]

ok...in midwar last night, there were a couple nice fights to be had. just after the reset there was some nice furballing at about 3 to 5k alt just north of 55. not a very big one, mind you, only about 5 or 6 planes on each side.  for awhile, it remained at that alt level. then the inevitible happened. the spits n hurris started grabbin a bit before they got to the fight, and finally a pony driver came over at well over 10k alt. so here i am in a P38 for the first time in a week or so, with a b-n-zing pony. for some reason though, with all of us there, he was making every attempt on me. he seemed to ignore my countrymen in the spits, hurris and whatever else they were in. on several of his passes, i managed to grab alt during my evasives, and on noticing this, he closed in to keep me from keeping my alt. it got to the point where i actually did try sucker himinto following me down past a friendly(he didn't fall for it). finally, i did manage to equalize our altitudes. now what his solution was? he ran(or extended) back to base. from a big overweight p38 that still had drop tanks hanging. it's ashame, because as i followed him, we got out of range of my friendlies, and i think it would've been a nice fun 1-1 at 22k
 now out of curiousity, those of you that fly ponys........is there a particular reason to go for a 38 first? are they actually more dangerous to you than the spits?

<<S>>

[hubsonfire]

I always go for the bombers first, and I imagine that's what happened here.

[Guppy35]

38s are big targets and always draw a crowd.  It goes with the territory

Fly a low 38G and tell em you are coming.  Talk about drawing fire

[CAP1]

I always go for the bombers first, and I imagine that's what happened here.

BUT  it can't be a bomber..i can't fly it in the F3 mode

[CAP1]

38s are big targets and always draw a crowd.  It goes with the territory

Fly a low 38G and tell em you are coming.  Talk about drawing fire

i did 3 runs in the 38 last night......one was in the G, as eny was too high to get the J. i actually got a couple kills in it too

[Ack-Ack]

ok...in midwar last night, there were a couple nice fights to be had. just after the reset there was some nice furballing at about 3 to 5k alt just north of 55. not a very big one, mind you, only about 5 or 6 planes on each side.  for awhile, it remained at that alt level. then the inevitible happened. the spits n hurris started grabbin a bit before they got to the fight, and finally a pony driver came over at well over 10k alt. so here i am in a P38 for the first time in a week or so, with a b-n-zing pony. for some reason though, with all of us there, he was making every attempt on me. he seemed to ignore my countrymen in the spits, hurris and whatever else they were in. on several of his passes, i managed to grab alt during my evasives, and on noticing this, he closed in to keep me from keeping my alt. it got to the point where i actually did try sucker himinto following me down past a friendly(he didn't fall for it). finally, i did manage to equalize our altitudes. now what his solution was? he ran(or extended) back to base. from a big overweight p38 that still had drop tanks hanging. it's ashame, because as i followed him, we got out of range of my friendlies, and i think it would've been a nice fun 1-1 at 22k
 now out of curiousity, those of you that fly ponys........is there a particular reason to go for a 38 first? are they actually more dangerous to you than the spits?

<<S>>

Sounds like you ran into Vonbf and his incredibly timid flying in a P-51B.


ack-ack

[CAP1]

Sounds like you ran into Vonbf and his incredibly timid flying in a P-51B.


ack-ack

ya know what? i had killed him just as he dropped from hi alt in a p47, and was killing a squaddie. and it was a ponyB too, so you're probably right. i still wish he would've fought me, as it would've been a fun fight i think.

[Ack-Ack]

i still wish he would've fought me, as it would've been a fun fight i think.

Actually, it wouldn't have been a fun fight at all.  It would have ended up the way your fight ended up being.  You would have finally grabbed to his altitude, he would have merged with guns firing and then proceed to run as fast as his timid little legs could carry him.  There are just some players that are totally incapable of offering any sort of 'fun' fight, Vonbf being a classic example of one.

ack-ack

[CAP1]

Actually, it wouldn't have been a fun fight at all.  It would have ended up the way your fight ended up being.  You would have finally grabbed to his altitude, he would have merged with guns firing and then proceed to run as fast as his timid little legs could carry him.  There are just some players that are totally incapable of offering any sort of 'fun' fight, Vonbf being a classic example of one.

ack-ack

aaahhh......
well, i had grabed to his alt. i wasn't sure if i could do that in a 38. i had in the past in zekes made sure my evasives included grabbing alt when i'm being bnz'd. i tried the same moves in the 38 last night. although it seemed to take a bit longer, and may not have worked with someone that was a better gunner than he was, it did work this time. i started out at around i think 5k or 7k alt. by the time i got co-alt to him i was at 22k. i think he did some grabing too, as he saw me getting close to his alt. o well, someday

<<S>>

[Soulyss]

The problem with timid flying is in many ways it becomes a self fullfilling prophecy of sorts.  A cartoon fighter pilot either isn't very good or things of him/herself as not being better than the other cartoon fighter pilot and not wanting to lose over and over again begins to fly "safe" only engaging with alt and speed and beating a hasty retreat at the first sign of a "fair" or disadvantaged battle.  They do this for awhile and get a few kills which re-enforces the idea that they are getting "better" but they are really stunting their own development in the game. 

It seems that most shrug off and explain or try to legitimize this behaviour by claiming some link to history, ignoring the fact that this is a silly little cartoon airplane game and as a very wise friend of mine likes to say "no one really dies and the planes are free".  The only realy way to learn and become a better cartoon fighter pilot is to fight and lose, then try and answer the all important "why?". 

To quickly apply my own experiences here, it went something like this.  I joined the game waaaay back in the AH1 beta days... coming off boxed sims like EAW and Janes WW2 Fighters I was really anxious for people to think that I was "good" and the best way to do that was to have an impressive K/D score to hold up as proof of how good I was.  I flew high, I flew fast and I didn't worry too much about really learning ACM and how to dogfight because I had a big trump card I could play, as long as I had a few thousand feet of air under my wings I could dump the nose and high-tail it out of there.  When I finally switched to a slower plane and removed that trump, my "skill" curve shot up.  After a few months flying a F6F I realized how stunted the first few years I spent here really were. 

Now I still get kicked around a lot, but I also win some, and I win them (and lose them) regardless of the initial situation, and have a lot more fun doing it.  Instead of spending 45 minutes of an hour flight climbing and running, only to fight for 15 minutes, I now can spend the 15 minutes climbing out and the rest of the flight fighting. 

No one wants to lose all the time, but if you can make the loses educational you'll find that they start coming less frequently.

[Masherbrum]

I wish I could be a contendah, instead I wallow in the crappy pool of pile-its.       

[Anaxogoras]

People target 38s first because they are big targets.

As for the 51, all they do is run when the fight becomes co-e, even against aircraft that turn worse.

[Ack-Ack]

People target 38s first because they are big targets.

The P-38 has a rather slim profile compared to the other US Army Air Corps planes.







The P-38: Is Size And Shape A Disadvantage?  Thanks Widewing for this excellent article!


ack-ack

[Anaxogoras]

Ack-ack, I agree that historically the P-38's size disadvantage was not that great, but in the game that is not represented well.  It probably has to do with the damage model and how hits are detected; the rear fuselage is especially prone to soaking up bullets.

[RoGenT]

I usually go for P38s hoping it is member of S.A.P.P