Numbers that guys like Steve put up ARE impressive IMHO. Sometimes I fly realistically, sometimes I fly stupid...but I tell you, even if I consider only the times where I fly "smart", I can't do what they do. Even if I were to fly a Temp 100% of the time, never make a pass on anything at less than 400 mph, and never get bogged down trying to dogfight anything, I don't think I could do it, and I doubt 10% of the people posting on this board could. Let me say this: Yes, anyone can get a kill now and again on a "sleeper" diving in at 500mph and usually extend to survival, but the kills will be few and far between. Conversely, anyone (even me) can now and again hit an overshoot on an unwary diver and sting their tail feathers as they pass, then post a film of it to show their 'leetness. Not that this is easy to do consistently, but then again, neither is getting a savvy opponent to bite on a rope, or hitting a crossing shot while moving at high speed, etc. Yet for whatever reason, the former has some sort of sim pilot "moral high ground" over the latter.
Thinking of oneself as "leet" and not being impressed by people emulating Hartmann are two different things...
It's your $15, but here's my point of view: If you want to spend your online time in this absolutely consequence-free environment where death means nothing, running around practicing Dicta Boelke and pretending you're Hartmann, that's fine. Just don't expect much respect or adulation from those who run around pretending they're Marseille.
OT perhaps, but we all DO realize that Hartmann got into some dogfights? And Marseille was not an IDIOT. Cutting your throttle and dropping flaps to nail a turnfighter going around in a Luftberry may have been less conservative than standard German fighter dogma at the time, but its not tantamount to having that same Hurri on your long six with no closure and deciding you are going to try scissor with him "for fun" instead of diving away.
Personally, the people that impress me are the guys that take a plane "worse" than mine, and put up the absolute best fight they can. Win, lose, or draw, they've got my admiration.
Losing is losing period. I do it a lot myself, and it is neither admirable nor does it build character. My philosophy for AH and life in general is that if I/you lose, it means I/you didn't prepare properly, stupidly put myself/yourself in a bad situation, the Gods of Odds hate just plain hate me/you, or I/you are just naturally inferior. None of these possibilities are good in any way that I can see. Note my use of a bloody awkward combined pronoun to emphasize the fact that I judge myself by this standard, probably more harshly than I judge others.
I guess it's kind of like how a high school dropout turned millionaire will sell more autobiographies than a silver-spoon-fed guy who inherited his riches. People like the feisty underdog in life, and in this game, it's no different.
YMMV
If someone is telling me how to fly my plane in X conditions, I want to see their graveyards, make sense? If I am to emulate XYZ's method, I want to see lots and lots of carnage and them getting clean away with the dirty deed most of the time. And obviously, it must be something i can expect to practically carry off in relation to my own reflexes, skill at gunnery, and other natural factors. I'm not after a fan club, a "good fight" or a <S> after going down in flames. This doesn't mean I am uninterested in the techniques of disadvantaged fighting, since finding yourself at a disadvantage is the norm in a chaotic multi-bandit enviroment. Its just that disadvantaged fighting is not my religion and killing WITHOUT letting the other $%@%$@% return the favor is where my "bliss" is in this game most of the time.
