P-38 kill ratio...out of whack.

[Steve]

the only time i generally encounter ponys in mw, is guys that have the time to climb above the fight, then they pick, time after time.

 when they lose their alt and/or e-advantage, then decide it's time to extend about 1.5 sectors, and await the right time to come back and pick some more.

 i forget who it was, but there was a good ponyb stick in mw for awhile. he turned that thing like nobodys business. it was amazing to see, even though he was kicking my cartoon arse.

Might have been Strip, he's pretty darned good in a B pony.

[MjTalon]

Yea, Strip's amazing. He's in the DA often now.

[Karnak]

actually, if the 38 were so easy, then 2 excellent pile-its doing the experiment they did, would've proven your point,......when 2 excellent pile-its jump into an airplane, and try to fight in it....unsuccessfully at that...against each other, it proves, that yes martha, it is a difficult airplane to fight in.

Quite the opposite.  The P-38 is so easy to hit with and is tough enough to take a bit of thumping that when you put people in a brawl while they don't really know what they are doing, it comes out much better.  Yes, Spitfires IX, VIII and XVI will do better as will the N1K2-J, but I can't think of any other fighter that is as easy as the P-38.  I am no expert sim-pilot like some here, but the P-38 has what is needed for beginners.  I know P-38 drivers in this game like to talk themselves up as the best of the best doing well in a dog, but it just ain't so.

You're doing well in the next best thing to a Spitfire.

[B4Buster]

Vink, this video was taken with me in my 38, and a K4 enthusiast. I told him i wouldn't shoot, and he tried to see if he could hang on longer than I.

This is what I feel to be a fairly well executed hammerhead and why the 38 is so deadly in the vert. (19 second clip)

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?wkgjzljj2ok

Looks pretty bad arse if you watch it from his view  

[CAP1]

Quite the opposite.  The P-38 is so easy to hit with and is tough enough to take a bit of thumping that when you put people in a brawl while they don't really know what they are doing, it comes out much better.  Yes, Spitfires IX, VIII and XVI will do better as will the N1K2-J, but I can't think of any other fighter that is as easy as the P-38.  I am no expert sim-pilot like some here, but the P-38 has what is needed for beginners.  I know P-38 drivers in this game like to talk themselves up as the best of the best doing well in a dog, but it just ain't so.

You're doing well in the next best thing to a Spitfire.

i believe that he said the 38 lost in his and the other dudes hands.

and to me, a hurri is better than a spitfire(for the fights i find myself in anyway), as is the zeek.

i think my progression was hurri2, zeek2, spit5 spit9 spit16(i don't understand what you guys see in that one..i can't fly it for poop), zeek5, f6f-5, then p38j, now working on the p38g.

[CAP1]

Might have been Strip, he's pretty darned good in a B pony.

you meant the good ponyb stick, right?


it could've been.

i wish more would fly it like that. the fights i'm talking about were those ones that have your heart pounding, and you're sweatin heavy when it's done. 

[dev1ant]

Quite the opposite.  The P-38 is so easy to hit with and is tough enough to take a bit of thumping that when you put people in a brawl while they don't really know what they are doing, it comes out much better.  Yes, Spitfires IX, VIII and XVI will do better as will the N1K2-J, but I can't think of any other fighter that is as easy as the P-38.  I am no expert sim-pilot like some here, but the P-38 has what is needed for beginners.  I know P-38 drivers in this game like to talk themselves up as the best of the best doing well in a dog, but it just ain't so.

You're doing well in the next best thing to a Spitfire.

The next best thing to a Spitfire?  What a joke.  Just the fact that it's such a magnet for the masses who can't aim and it's incredible size make it one of the more difficult planes to survive in.  

[CAP1]

The next best thing to a Spitfire?  What a joke.  Just the fact that it's such a magnet for the masses who can't aim and it's incredible size make it one of the more difficult planes to survive in.  

actually when flown properly, it is very hard to hit. look at one from dead 6. it's no bigger looking than a pony.

i sometimes manage to cause a picker or bnz'er ty miss by getting "skinny"

[MjTalon]

P-38 has one of the smallest plane profiles in the game. It is by no means easy to hit with a experience stick behind the yoke.

[BnZs]

The vast majority of targets you shoot in this game have no idea how to fight, so using Batfink or yourself as an opponent does not reflect on the actual ease of use.  The fact is that the P-38J and even more the P-38L are very easy to succeed with.  They have few vices and a lot of strengths.  They are not as easy as the Spit XVI or VIII or N1K2, but they are easier than the Ki-84.

The P-38's great strengths compared to the rest of the LW set basically come down to its torque-less nature and its nose mounted firepower. For it to be "easy" to succeed with, you have to be seriously claiming that these two things are more important attributes in a plane for the inexperienced than turn performance, speed, and having multiple cannons, many airplanes having at least one and sometimes two of these things as an advantage over the 38. Hell, SpitVIIIs and SpitXVIs are just as fast and have superior turn and thrust/weight, Corsairs have superior speed and turn radius, late model 109s have all three advantages...

 You put it a 38L in a multiple bandit scenario in the LW MA, and much more than virtually any other LW plane you have to really choose your situations, else you'll get in a corner where you are out-numbered and can't extend because the sky is filled with much faster planes and also dedicated turners waiting to get on you when the bnz planes force you to turn. Nor can it plunge into a 550mph dive to gain some breathing room like a Jug or Corsair. On top of that, the 38 is a large target, conventionally flown.

And your Ki-84 example? Have you gone *completely* balmy? I know I don't fly it in the MA, but I've got enough DA time in it to know how it handles. Its a poor man's SpitXVI. If the SpitXVI were not free, the Ki-84 would probably be one of the most popular rides.

[Plawranc]

In a spit ignore them.

Once the 38 gets flustered and tired of hanging around he will make a mistake.

Then get him to turn and drop his E, the rest is easy.

[BnZs]

 I know P-38 drivers in this game like to talk themselves up as the best of the best doing well in a dog, but it just ain't so.

You're doing well in the next best thing to a Spitfire.

I just saw this...OMG...  

You DO know the P-38J/L has a larger tested turn radius than the P-47 D-11 or any 109 variant dontcha?

I'm not one of the 38's uber fanbois, but I will tell you: If you beat a Spit, 109, or Corsair from anything resembling a fair 1v1 with the 38, you have surely demonstrated above average ACM.

[Shuffler]

Quite the opposite.  The P-38 is so easy to hit with and is tough enough to take a bit of thumping that when you put people in a brawl while they don't really know what they are doing, it comes out much better.  Yes, Spitfires IX, VIII and XVI will do better as will the N1K2-J, but I can't think of any other fighter that is as easy as the P-38.  I am no expert sim-pilot like some here, but the P-38 has what is needed for beginners.  I know P-38 drivers in this game like to talk themselves up as the best of the best doing well in a dog, but it just ain't so.

You're doing well in the next best thing to a Spitfire.

Interesting take on the 38..... the bench your sitting on is lonely isn't it.

What do you fly? I don't ever remember seeing you in the arena.

[Ack-Ack]

a Ki-84 will out climb (or atleast climb with) , out roll, out run, and out turn a 38. with two equal pilots, the Ki-84 will win.

Well, the only thing is the P-38 can deploy its flaps earlier than the Ki-84 can and the experienced P-38 pilot will take advantage of that.  Also the Ki-84 becomes sluggish at higher speeds, another area where the P-38 can take advantage of to get inside of a Ki-84's turn.  When the Ki-84 is at the speed where it can deploy its flaps, then it will be all over the P-38 if both are at similiar speeds.

As Westy pointed out, P-38 vs. Ki-84 matchup the victory goes to the pilot that makes the 1st mistake, just like any other matchup between similiar experienced pilots.


ack-ack

[BnZs]

Interesting take on the 38..... the bench your sitting on is lonely isn't it.

What do you fly? I don't ever remember seeing you in the arena.

Just on principle I got to point that truth is not determined by a show of hands.

He flies the Mossi...compared to that the 38 IS easy-mode.