Ki-61

[maddafinga]

So I flew the 61 a bit yesterday for the first time really and discovered that I liked it pretty well.  I plan on flying it somewhat more often now.  Now I'm kind of fishing for tips and guidance with it.  Anyone with experience fighting with or against this bird want to chime in with advice on it, or impression formed from fighting against it?  I've read the Soda's breakdown of it but didn't feel like it was all that helpful to me.  Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

[Lusche]

<-- waiting for the inevitable rant about how this "community" deems the Ki-61 to be a "POS" 

[Krusty]

Uh... yeah... That's right.... It's a POS... right. (*WINK*)

Nobody should fly it, not worth learning! 


P.S. Short ammo clip, get in close, a solid burst from the 20mms in the nose will take care of almost anything.

[JunkyII]

KI61 is great plane, and definately under rated by the AH community. For what i know about the Ki, is keep it going fast because if you do need to fight an enemy your gunna need the speed to reverse them or have enough speed to avoid them till you can get some help. The 61 can BNZ very well because it has great guns and can turn well at high dive speeds. Make sure you dont take too much fuel, 75% will let you fly over the enemy base for 20 minutes so take your time when your that heavy, i normal take 50 and drops and drop once i see first con

[Saxman]

I only ever flew the Ki-61 during the August Storm FSO, and maybe it's just me but I find the gun arrangement with the cannon in the nose and wing mounted machine guns rather awkward (but I'm used to "sighting in" with the cowl guns before opening up with the cannon whenever I'm flying a Japanese ride). I definitely prefer the more "conventional" layout used by the A6M and Ki-84. Not all that great of a sight picture, either.

Didn't have much chance to really get a feel for her, (we engaged a horde of B-25Cs on the deck) but I've rarely been concerned when I encounter one in my F4U so long as I've got room to work with her.

[maddafinga]

I've gotten fairly used to flying the 109s as of late, or the YakU some too, so the ammo load feels ok to me really.  I'm also pretty used to getting in really close to shoot, because of flying the 109s and Yak, so that's not an issue either really.  I was taking 100 percent fuel, just out of habit really, so I'll experiment some with lesser amounts.  I didn't get close to running out of gas before I did ammo, so that's prolly a good tip there, thanks.    I kinda like the nose mounted cannons, but that's probably due to my other rides as of late. 

I sort of felt like it handled pretty well fast and seemed to keep its E pretty well too.  I had a bit of trouble slowing it down to get in close with guys, and once I did, it didn't seem to build its E back up too quickly either. I didn't feel like it was a pos at all though.  It felt a little bit like a p40e to me, but maybe a bit more nimble. 

Saxman, when you say room to work, do you mean like vertical separation or altitude or what exactly?

[Saxman]

madda,

I mostly refer to situations where the Ki-61 has the alt advantage.  I like to have some air underneath me so I can work him a bit, especially try to force him to overshoot and reverse our positions so I'm on top, which isn't too hard against the Tony because of her poor sustained climb. Otherwise I'll work her until I can draw her in close and sap her of E, but again that takes a little bit of room.

Col-alt and E or coming from an alt advantage I really have no concern of Ki-61s.

[BaldEagl]

KI61 is great plane, and definately under rated by the AH community. For what i know about the Ki, is keep it going fast because if you do need to fight an enemy your gunna need the speed to reverse them or have enough speed to avoid them till you can get some help. The 61 can BNZ very well because it has great guns and can turn well at high dive speeds. Make sure you dont take too much fuel, 75% will let you fly over the enemy base for 20 minutes so take your time when your that heavy, i normal take 50 and drops and drop once i see first con

You don't have to keep it fast, you have to keep it in it's flight envelope and it will turn with all but the very best turning planes (and it's not too far behind those).  While you can BnZ with it I wouldn't recommend it.  There's much better planes for that role.  Acceleration isn't great and climb rate is pretty much on the poor side so if you plan on escaping vertically then yeah, I suppose you want to be fast.

I fly the Tony with 75% fuel... one of the very few planes I don't carry 100% in.

I really like the Tony.  It's fun to kill those who totally underestimate it's capabilities.  Don't be afraid to get down and dirty with it.

[JunkyII]

You don't have to keep it fast, you have to keep it in it's flight envelope and it will turn with all but the very best turning planes (and it's not too far behind those).  While you can BnZ with it I wouldn't recommend it.  There's much better planes for that role.  Acceleration isn't great and climb rate is pretty much on the poor side so if you plan on escaping vertically then yeah, I suppose you want to be fast.

I fly the Tony with 75% fuel... one of the very few planes I don't carry 100% in.

I really like the Tony.  It's fun to kill those who totally underestimate it's capabilities.  Don't be afraid to get down and dirty with it.

Wasnt sure what type of stick madda was.

[TonyJoey]

<-- waiting for the inevitable rant about how this "community" deems the Ki-61 to be a "POS" 

 

[Oldman731]

You don't have to keep it fast, you have to keep it in it's flight envelope

Agreed.  Keep the speed in the 200s.  Don't plan to do a lot of climbing.  Don't leave the flaps out too long, but a notch or two, dropped and pulled up quickly, help the turns quite a lot.  Don't be afraid to follow any other plane in a dive.

- oldman

[Strip]

<-- waiting for the inevitable rant about how this "community" deems the Ki-61 to be a "POS" 

I find the Ki-61 to be highly underrated by the general public...

[maddafinga]

Wasnt sure what type of stick madda was.

Heh, well I'd say that I'm average, maybe just a hair better on a good day.  I used to be good at this stuff but then I had 8 or 9 years off.  I've only been here for about 7 months or so now.  I can keep a plane in the envelope of its effectiveness though.  I plan to do a good bit more of flying it now, it seemed to be prett solid with no real weaknesses that I could find in an evening of flying it. 

[Ghosth]

Cannons in the nose, high ROF, fair clip (esp if you are quick on the trigger)

Very good in its envelope, very dead very quickly if you try to push it out of its envelope.

Fun plane, as mentioned many times before, considerably under rated by most of the AH community.

[CraneMan]

I love the KI-61.. The only thing I don't like is the shortage of ammo. It would be nice if it were a little faster though.