Originally posted by Gomer:
I just want someone to explain to me how the F4u can out turn a spitfire????
Hi Gomer
I think I can explain. Take a look at the following diagrams.
This first one is for the Mk IX and the C Hog and shows their relative instantaneous and sustained turning performance.
Notice that the F4 does have a sustained turn advantage at high speed. Also that the Spitfire has a very significant advantage at low speed, as indicated by their relative maximum sustained turns. The diagram below shows what that rate and radius difference would look like.
With more than 3 degrees per second sustained turn rate advantage, and a smaller turn circle, I think few Spitfire drivers will be complaining if any F4U driver was unfortunate enough to find himself on the opposite side of that turn circle!!
However, that doesn't mean that the Spitfire is going to have an easy time fighting the F4U, quite the contrary! A good F4U driver simply won't enter that part of the envelope where the Spitfire is stronger. The magic number here for the F4U driver is 265mph, that's where the sustained turn rate curves cross. Above that speed, the F4U bleeds energy less quickly than the Spitfire. He has a sustained turn rate advantage and equality in the instantaneous turns!
It's an advantage that is only transitory, and for an unskilled pilot, fleeting and elusive. However, a skilled pilot can appear to make it last for an eternity.
Good F4U drivers have the ability to fly to their strength and stay above that speed, looking for an early shot before using their escape window.
Even so, the next thing to notice is that few fights start Co-E, and you can see from that EM diagram how a greater initial energy level directly equates to maneuvering potential. An F4U with more energy than a Spitfire will enjoy a higher turn rate for longer. More wisely, the F4U will have the ability to stay fast and go out of plane for a shot while maintaining an escape window. In my experience a good energy fighter will often leave the unsuccessful angles fighter feeling as though he has been out turned! It is the ability to convert an energy advantage into a positional advantage that forms the heart of BFM. It is that combination of energy and positional geometry that can result in surprising or unexpected advantage that makes BFM such a rewarding, almost beautiful intellectual challenge.
I remember a time when I felt the same as you, we have all been there! No one gets to be good at this without suffering at the hands of guys who know how to maximize the strengths of their ride. It is along road, but it can be an exciting and fun journey, providing you don't take your defeats to heart and keep an open and enquiring mind.
If have any questions about any of this, just ask... Good luck!
Badboy
