Invincible Betty?

[Plawranc]

Skorpion where arrreeee yoooouu!!!

I blasted your Betty's last night in a Spit 16.

I named the G4M, the Flying Cigar.

Because its fat, round and lights up on the best occasions

[Squire]

burst into flames with no provocation

Oh cmon...you didn't tease it just a bit? 

[killrDan]

Shot my first set of Betty's down just hours after the patch released.  I used an A8 with 20mm gun pack.  They sure do burn nice when you hit them in the wing.  I had enough ammo left to go pork some ord 

[Karnak]

I tried to turn fight one last night, wings snapped off at like 1.5 Gs   

Shouldn't be that fragile.  It was flammable and unarmored, but it wasn't particularly structurally weak.  Saburo Sakai described it being dived for speed and then looped by a G4M pilot who had wanted to be a fighter pilot.

[grizz441]

Not sure how much you fly the 262, but if you hit pretty much any plane, any where with a 30mm tater, it's over...  To emphasize the power of the 30mm, If a 262 (or any aircraft shooting 30mm) is too close to the enemy aircraft when the cannon impacts, the blast damage will destroy the shooter.

Misconception, this typically only applies to fighters.  Bombers can take quite a tater lashing, including A20s and IL2s.

[JOACH1M]

Misconception, this typically only applies to fighters.  Bombers can take quite a tater lashing, including A20s and IL2s.

Ineed

[Oldman731]

Shouldn't be that fragile.  It was flammable and unarmored, but it wasn't particularly structurally weak.  Saburo Sakai described it being dived for speed and then looped by a G4M pilot who had wanted to be a fighter pilot.

"Almost" looped, I believe he said the Betty exploded at the top.

Karnak's point is accurate, though, the Betty was a versatile plane in the 1941-42 time frame.  It was known to be a flamer, as were most Japanese planes of the period, but it wasn't as if every Japanese Betty raid resulted in no one coming home. 

You could put together a plane set where the US side was limited to Dauntlesses for bombers while, because of their range, Bettys could be used by the Japanese side.  Escorted by A6M2s against Wildcats (Guadalcanal) or against P-39Ds and/or P-40Es (Port Moresby), both sides could have a pretty good time.

- oldman (scratching down notes)

[Pand]

Misconception, this typically only applies to fighters.  Bombers can take quite a tater lashing, including A20s and IL2s.

hey Grizz!  Have you tried this out with the Betty Yet?  I hit his drone in the fuse, in the middle between the back of the wing and the tail with a single 30mm shell and it ripped right in half.

[grizz441]

hey Grizz!  Have you tried this out with the Betty Yet?  I hit his drone in the fuse, in the middle between the back of the wing and the tail with a single 30mm shell and it ripped right in half.

Not yet, but it took me a while to come to grips that it takes 5-8 taters to kill heavy bombers and I'm letting you know early on.    

[Krusty]

I flew a Betty sortie today, hotpadded, and went back again, and then landed safely. A few close calls, but because of the brisk ROC I was up at 13k and the cons below me gave up rather than chase (but I was ready! I was waiting to test out that 20mm tail gun).

What strikes me is the rather short range... I get only 30 minutes full power with 25%. Cruise really didn't help the fuel consumption as much as I expected. I thought this plane had about 1600 mi range (if not more) and seemed rather shorter than that. Had to cruise to and from a target merely 50 mi away.

Next time I know better, will take more fuel, but still.... overall? Shouldn't that gas last longer?


P.S. It's quite light on the controls and feels almost aerobatic when the bombs are gone. I pulled some (somewhat) sharp pull-ups and dives, some moves that other bombers might lock up under. Just don't over-stress the wings! They were made with the least amount of metal physically possible to get the job done!

[321BAR]

Not yet, but it took me a while to come to grips that it takes 5-8 taters to kill heavy bombers and I'm letting you know early on.    

just give it the tracer 30mm to the wing you'll have no problem with one tater killing a betty

[palef]

Samnite in his La7 took out 2 of my Bettys and a wingtip on the remaining one in one pass.

He politely waved as I spiralled into the sea shedding parts.

[Masherbrum]

just give it the tracer 30mm to the wing you'll have no problem with one tater killing a betty

But Pand already said he didn't hit the wing and he's one of the best sticks in the game. 

[321BAR]

But Pand already said he didn't hit the wing and he's one of the best sticks in the game. 

i was talking to grizz about the tater just having to throw a tracer through the wing...

[Masherbrum]

Go to Pand's reply to me.