Choose your plane and stick to it.

[A8TOOL]

I expected the primer 38 jocks to argue my points of course. I know you love your plane but there is no doubt that someone coming into the game will do nearly as well.

There are no noobs who can fight it well in a low furball. That takes time and practice and even when you think you've had enough to engage in a low furball for more than a minute or two, you'll find yourself in trouble quick if you don't extend.

There are much better planes for furballing is what I said.

As far as carrying one 1k bomb around looking for another GV to kill or finish of someones hanger, it's a very unstable way to fly a 38.

There are much more stable planes to use if your going to fly those types of missions. I don't care who you are, that plane becomes incredibly unstable having just one 1000 pounder left when in a turn especially a diving one.

The f6, 51,nik and F4U's all fly much more stable having just 1 1000 pounder.

BTW, yes it's true, I'm not very good at dog fighting in a 38. My main use for it is jabo. There I have experience and there is where I truely excel in a 38. It's something I can easily talk about and explain the do's and don'ts of the plane.

[Furball]

Those that tend not to be very good in the Lightning, like yourself, hold the view that it's not very good in the attack roll or in low altitude fights.

ack-ack

 

[Yarbles]

         Of course if I remember correctly, Yrables is one of those "fly historically!" guys
who wants Axis vrs Allies style arenas.

 

[Grape]

For me my one and only was the P-47 for a really long time. Now I have switched to the P-38 as of 01 June 2009 and I am loving it because I am back to the learning phase and reminds how gratifying it is to pull a new trick off. Off topic >>> had a really fun 1 v 1 with ZZee in his TA 152 v my P-38 at about 12k the other day. ZZee won...No suprise there. I can't wait to try a triple Immelman in the 38 during my next encouter online when I got off work.

[Yarbles]

You learn a plane well and it is "the" plane for any job.

Thats what I am getting/aiming at

Looking at the bombs on a 16 it seems the closest to the Spit allrounder but it has no weakness to work round so I am flying the 8 as a fighter/escourt, seafire of the cv and spit 16 jabbo.

The 8 at least has poor secondry guns and weak roll rate.

I admire someone who opts for say a 47 as an allrounder, people do and succeed.

Well I think so anyway.

[Masherbrum]

I think your sarcasm detector needs recalibration.

No my shadow, it doesn't.   

[frank3]

Back in the days when I still flew, I thought of the P-47 as my main ride, just because there were so few of them in the air!
As it turned out, I sucked terribly at flying it 

[Shuffler]

38's are terrible for jabo missions plus they're big frame make them ack magnets. A few hits and your out an eng or you'll more than likely end up w a pilot wound going for a CV, town or air field.

There are far better planes for jabo missions. 38's can not hold onto one bomb and fly around nearly as easy as lets say a 51 or F6.

On top of that, 38's do not do nearly as well as other planes in low furball's

There is a right plane for the right job when it  comes to that IMO

You obviously have not learned the 38. Your wrong on all accounts.


As far as ack and size goes... if your hit your hit. On a 38 you lose an engine your ok.... single engine not.

[Masherbrum]

38's are terrible for jabo missions plus they're big frame make them ack magnets. A few hits and your out an eng or you'll more than likely end up w a pilot wound going for a CV, town or air field.

There are far better planes for jabo missions. 38's can not hold onto one bomb and fly around nearly as easy as lets say a 51 or F6.

On top of that, 38's do not do nearly as well as other planes in low furball's

There is a right plane for the right job when it  comes to that IMO

You sure are barking a lot, but you're only making noise and not sense.   

[usvi]

FW-190,s (Metzger-Vogel)  

[waystin2]

FW-190,s (Metzger-Vogel)  

Butcher Bird

[Lusche]

FW-190,s (Metzger-Vogel)  

The German name for the species is "Würger". Metzger-Vogel is the literal translation of "butcher bird" that doesn't exist in German

[Soulyss]

The f6, 51,nik and F4U's all fly much more stable having just 1 1000 pounder.

I can see how the F6F and F4U's may be more "stable" the ordnance is carried much closer to the center line.  I don't see how or why the 51 of N1K would be though, I don't pack bombs too often on the 38, when I do I usually drop both because I'm such a bad shot.  I'll have to find some GV's to bomb next time I'm up, I'm guessing that the tendency for the plane to roll with an asymmetric load could be trimmed out, and see if it works or not.


As for the 38 being poor at furballing the original statement was not conditioned with "for a beginner", and since the OP's point was to pick a single plane and learn it thoroughly I responded as someone who flies the vast majority of fighter sorties in the 38, and I stand by that remark.    For a new player I probably wouldn't recommend the 38 for that sortie either.

[Stampf]

The German name for the species is "Würger". Metzger-Vogel is the literal translation of "butcher bird" that doesn't exist in German

There's only one...



 

[LTARogue]

Oh crap, we're only supposed to fly one plane....dammit!! 

LTARogue