I'm beginning to think speed is the #1 asset in the MA

[2bighorn]

It is just not worth it to try to have a dogfight with anybody in the MA unless you can look horizon to horizon and see no other red. OR green. Fly in a horde, come in on the tail of anyone who is occupied, and run screaming for help if it even looks like the bandit you are fighting is gaining your six, that is the way its done in the MA, and like it or lump it, it works better than trying to do it any other way.

Yeah, and as long as you guys will preach that kind of attitude it'll just get worse.

[1Boner]

MA seems to be dominated by niki's or runstangs.  The niki's will spray an pray but stay.  Runstangs you literally got to offer them your arse to keep um in the fight.

Yep....just another faze

Yeah, 99% of the P-51s I encounter are "runstangs".

But imagine my surprise last nite as I co-alt merge with a 51 and I go turn around to chase him, but instead find him hanging in mid air about 2k above and behind me

Long story short, we fought for about 2 minutes and next thing I knew,I was enjoying a nice Capt and Coke in the tower.

Ran into Shane08 twice last nite in his stang.

It wasn't pretty.

But the Capt. and Cokes were pretty damn good.

It was definitely a surprise, but a pleasant one.

I will certainly not take ANY 51 for granted again.

You never know who's behind the wheel!!

I wish there were more 51 pilots like him, It makes for a veeeery interesting nite!

[Steve]

Ran into Shane08 twice last nite in his stang.

Yup, he can fight in any plane.

[Anaxogoras]

Sorry fellas, but Zaz is right. It is just not worth it to try to have a dogfight with anybody in the MA unless you can look horizon to horizon and see no other red. OR green. Fly in a horde, come in on the tail of anyone who is occupied, and run screaming for help if it even looks like the bandit you are fighting is gaining your six, that is the way its done in the MA, and like it or lump it, it works better than trying to do it any other way.

I don't think that's a very charitable interpretation of what zazen said.

[BillyD]

If you get bored of fast planes you can pacify yourselves with " a false sense of speed"

It's real easy........implant the 262 jet engine sound into the engine sound file of your A6M and stuka.  

 

[BnZ]

Yeah, and as long as you guys will preach that kind of attitude it'll just get worse.

It was already "worse" when I got here. What, am I to ignore my own experiences? Besides, I don't think there will be many takers on the opposite advice:

"Okay, go ahead and fly the slowest plane in the hangar. Ignore odds and energy states. If you get shot down 6 times for every time one the bandits bnz'ing you is stupid enough to slow down and get killed by you, that is fine, because your kill/loss ratio or the fact that you are starting to loath a game you used to think was great is of no importance."

[2bighorn]

You're talking like we are in damn war. It's a game, which can be very fun if you dare to try something else besides "live at all costs".

[BnZ]

You're talking like we are in damn war. It's a game, which can be very fun if you dare to try something else besides "live at all costs".

I "dare". How else would I know?

And nope, the circumstances I describe, are not even a little bit of fun. In fact, it is the opposite of fun. x10.

[2bighorn]

I "dare". How else would I know?

And nope, the circumstances I describe, are not even a little bit of fun. In fact, it is the opposite of fun. x10.

You have to learn to walk before you can run...

Some former B&Z and cherry picking guys (Yenny for example) are starting to figure out how fun can it be. Of course, you have to polish a little bit on ACM and such. 

That doesn't mean you have to stick to it forever. It's just another aspect of the game, another tool in your box...

[BnZ]

You have to learn to walk before you can run...

Some former B&Z and cherry picking guys (Yenny for example) are starting to figure out how fun can it be. Of course, you have to polish a little bit on ACM and such. 

That doesn't mean you have to stick to it forever. It's just another aspect of the game, another tool in your box...

I was never a pure bnz cherrypicker though, my handle aside. It just seems like in the MA lately, any attempt at a sustained fight means you end up under a dogpile, which no amount of ACM can get you out of.

Unless you outnumber the other side. Then typically, say you engage a bandit high. Then you get to watch the bandit you spent time, energy, and Energy fighting get blown out of the sky by a friendly swooping. 12 clears are always easy to come by.

So, I cannot, in good faith advise "flying like an idiot" (by Batfink's definition) to anyone who is not a masochist.

[Yenny]

Hehe I kinda stop playing after I realized it just a game . I want something more realistic so I picked up microsolf flight sim!

[FiLtH]

  I'll take timing and position over speed and horse power any day.

[Chalenge]

I just tried to see what you are meaning about the 109K but the performance chart #1 is not loading for some reason.

[Simaril]

And the opposite of RunspeedstangdoraK4?

Try the Hurri I for a tour. It's all Schatzi flew for the longest time, taking patience and toleration of killsteals and death. But there's not much like the feeling you get taking out a La7, or an overconfident zeke.

Kinda miss seeing Schatzi around....<S> for the departed!

[toonces3]

Ok, I just watched Pete Bonnani's "Art of the Kill" and he touched upon exactly what I was talking about when I started this thread, and what Zazen and Trotter put so eloquently.

Speed builds a bigger 'escape window'.

Bonnani explains that, when you enter a fight, once you begin maneuvering both your energy and your SA begin to decrease.  When you begin a fight, your escape window is large.  As a fight goes on, both your energy and your SA go down; and with them, your escape window becomes smaller.

Upon entering a fight in the MA, your escape window depends on a number of factors: how far from a friendly base, other friendlies around, your alt, speed, type of plane, etc.  Once you engage and commit to a fight in the MA, your escape window gets smaller as a factor of the parameters that initially determined the size of it.

Any plane, even the 262, caught low and slow on the deck can be hit and killed by another plane. 

But, assuming a moderate environment, avoiding extremes of alt and energy, I think speed might be the best asset for a plane to survive engagements in the MA.  If you blow everything, this argument doesn't make sense.  But, if you fight sensibly, having the top end speed may be the biggest survival factor in the MA.

I use the situation I portrayed earlier to illustrate my point.  I engaged outnumbered and successfully fought defensive BFM to defeat two bogeys and get into my escape window.  Neither the Yak, nor the Spit were a factor once I disengaged....with enough top end speed.  It was being a bit too slow that allowed an enemy to very slowly catch me (and kill me) that was the biggest factor in the fight because once I got into the fight, the only thing that would allow me to successfully disengage was to be able to egress out of gun range of the bogeys.