Zscores

[Anaxogoras]

A Zscore is a fighter's performance number, minus the average (for all fighters), and then divided by the standard deviation.  For example, the formula for speed would be:

Zscore = (speed - average speed) / standard deviation

Why do this instead of comparing raw numbers?

The Z-Score curve is a bell curve.  -2.00 = a score that is just over 2% better than all the rest of the POSSIBLE scores. Possible not necessarily meaning exisiting.  -1 = better than just under 16%, 0.00 = right at 50%, 1.00 = better than just over 84%, 2.00 = better than just over 97%. So you see (or maybe not) that the better or worse a score is, the further up the curve it is and in reality the more impressive it is. 

Because of the nature of Z-Scores and the bell curve, a 2.00 in one category is the SAME as a 2.00 in another, or any other like number.  Z-Scores turn apples and oranges comparisons into Apples to apples.

In other words, this way we can meaningfully compare top speed to firepower, relative to the whole planeset.  Instead of using Zscores to rank aircraft over all, I am simply going to share the individual categories with you because some of you might like it or find it interesting.

Speed at sea level:


Best speed at 10k ft (or less):


Best True Air Speed:


Climb at Sea Level:


Climb at 10k ft:


Climb at 15k ft:


Sustained Turn Rate:


Turn Radius No Flaps:


Turn Radius Full Flaps:


Roll Rate 200mph:


Roll Rate 300mph:


Roll Rate 400mph:


Level Acceleration 150-250mph:


Dive Acceleration 150-400mph:


Energy Retention 400-150mph:


Lethality (1 second burst):


Primary Weapon Muzzle Velocity:


Secondary Weapon Muzzle Velocity:


Gun Destruction Potential; ammo duration time * lethality:

[Saxman]

Gun Destruction Potential; ammo duration time * lethality:
(Image removed from quote.)

Any chance of getting a score chart that factors muzzle velocity, ballistics and range in with fire duration and lethality?

[Anaxogoras]

Any chance of getting a score chart that factors muzzle velocity, ballistics and range in with fire duration and lethality?

What's "range?"  I could do a chart that has different colored bars for lethality, ballistics, and duration, but it would still have to be sorted by a single category.  Do you mean a single number that factors in those 3 categories?

[Saxman]

Yes. I'd like to see a chart that rates the weaponry based on a combination of ALL factors, because the ballistics, muzzle velocity and rate of fire are just as important to the weapon's capability as how big of a hole it makes.

[Krusty]

Bell curves ought not be used in classes, and IMO don't really help that much when cold hard numbers (not subjective curves) tell you what you need in an easier to understand manner.

[shreck]

WOW!  My P38G is a piece of crap     


WTG Gav.

[Kermit de frog]

WOW!  My P38G is a piece of crap     


WTG Gav.

I thought you only flew the la7?

[Lusche]

Gun Destruction Potential; ammo duration time * lethality:

I think this chart shows pretty well that it's difficult to weigh different factors.

"lethality*ammo duration" sounds good at first. But if you examine the chart you will see the Ta-152 classed as "average", even behind the 110C with its somewhat anaemic MG/FF and its battery of 4 MG-17.
I think most of us take the 152 into the air for several reasons, the immense firepower being not the least one

[Cajunn]

nice job and Thanks for all the work you put into this!

[Sloehand]

What is 'ammo duration time'.  Total number of seconds of full fire?  If I'm not mistaken, firepower (or lethality?) is usually determined by the 'throw weight' for an individual round times the number of guns/cannons times the number of rounds fired (often at different rates) in one second.   Throw weight establishes both the kinetic destructive power (using size, physical weight, muzzle velocity and trajectory info) plus chemical destruction (if any) imparted by explosives, for a single round. 

While ammo duration or size of an aircraft's gun loadout is important, IMO it should be an additional criteria added after pure firepower is determined.

[Anaxogoras]

What is 'ammo duration time'.  Total number of seconds of full fire?  If I'm not mistaken, firepower (or lethality?) is usually determined by the 'throw weight' for an individual round times the number of guns/cannons times the number of rounds fired (often at different rates) in one second.   Throw weight establishes both the kinetic destructive power (using size, physical weight, muzzle velocity and trajectory info) plus chemical destruction (if any) imparted by explosives, for a single round. 

While ammo duration or size of an aircraft's gun loadout is important, IMO it should be an additional criteria added after pure firepower is determined.

Yup, what you're describing is under the heading "Lethality."

The last chart does tend to throw people for a loop, but after previous debate on this board, it was recommended that instead of simple ammo duration, the total destructive potential of an aircraft's weapons was a better thing to measure.

[Motherland]

Perhaps you should take rifle caliber machine guns out of the equation when dealing with that. No matter how much firepower they have, when someone sees that they're out of cannon, they will most likely go home. It's just not practical to sit and spray bb's at things for 10 minutes before they exlpode.

[Anaxogoras]

If I called it ammunition capacity would it be better?

[Brooke]

Where did you get the turn-performance data and roll data?

[Anaxogoras]

I tested it with a stopwatch and averaged 3 trials for each aircraft per category.  Other categories I tested myself were dive acceleration, and energy retention, not to mention testing everything for the P-39.

Fwiw, regarding Lethality, it came up in another thread that some aircraft with the same weapon types have different lethality depending on synchronization with the prop: this is accounted for in the data, as you'll see that the Ki-84 has greater lethality than the Ki-61.