Do you fly to beat the enemy plane, or the pilot?

[Wiley]

First of all, this post is assuming I'm out to scientifically murder the enemy plane, like in FSO or something along those lines.  Basically, trying to kill the guy without putting myself at undue risk.

Something that crosses my mind every now and again is how I approach different fights.  When my plane has some kind of distinct advantage over the enemy, I use it as a club to beat them with.  If I'm high and fast in a faster plane, I use the speed to BnZ him to death.  If I've got something that outturns the enemy, I try to get the snapshot as he overshoots on his BnZ attempts, or I outturn him if he tries to saddle.

There are many matchups however that I don't have a distinct advantage over the enemy plane, or worse yet their plane outclasses me on virtually every level.  When I run into one of these situations, I start thinking more in terms of beating the pilot's reaction time, or sucking him into making a mistake.

I was just wondering what most other people do.  Is beating the plane effectively laziness on my part, and I should be trying to beat the pilot at all times, or is beating the plane when I can, the pilot when I can't more or less normal?

Wiley.

[ink]

I try to beat the plane until the pilot shows me he knows how to fight...which usually happens at the merge....no matter what though the plane will only do so much and every engagement must be assessed individually....actions taken by you should be determined by initial situation, not necessarily what or who is flying nme con.....

[The Fugitive]

I think its beat the pilot.

I think as you when comparing planes, but I treat each fight as.if I'm going against one of the top sticks.  By diving on a.guy and seeing how he breaks, or panics tells me something about who I am fighting . I use that info to forge ahead in the fight.

[Ardy123]

I think its beat the pilot.

I think as you when comparing planes, but I treat each fight as.if I'm going against one of the top sticks.  By diving on a.guy and seeing how he breaks, or panics tells me something about who I am fighting . I use that info to forge ahead in the fight.

note to self...

always bounce my nose and pretend to ho with my bbs on the first merge.

[SPKmes]

bit of both....you know one thing straight off..the con plane....from here you have an idea of what type of fight you maybe in for...then it comes down to pilot and how he/she uses said plane....for me...get the pilot to fight my fight and usually it can go my way...sometimes it takes time..for example you spoke about BnZ...continuous repetive movement's in this situation will ween out the impatiant fighters and drag them into yours..if not then the superior plane will usually win the fight....so really for me it is more about who you are fighting as to what....and can I get them to fight in my comfort zone...I will quite often make myself look all E'd out and vunerable just to make a con Blow his E....hahaha  quite often I truely am though  hahaha

[Big Rat]

If you know the enemy's planes limits and your planes strengths it's silly not to exploit both your strengths and thier weaknesses.  If the enemy plane your fighting is equal to our outclasses the one you have, then your best bet is to fight to your personal strengths. Example, if you are good at rolling scissors, try to force that fight.

 
BigRat       

[waystin2]

Assess the enemy con's plane vs. your own and then re-assess your plan of attack every millisecond when you begin maneuvering against the pilot.  One thing that has helped me somewhat is to envision the deadliest pilot in a given bird and act accordingly.  If it's a K-4 I treat it like it's flown by Suns or Grizz.  If it's an F4U, I treat it like it's flown by Mtnman, Shawk or Shiv.  Follow this thinking and you'll never assume you got an easy kill, until you do.

[GNucks]

I try to beat the plane until the pilot shows me he knows how to fight...which usually happens at the merge....no matter what though the plane will only do so much and every engagement must be assessed individually....actions taken by you should be determined by initial situation, not necessarily what or who is flying nme con.....

Same here. I'm thinking of how I'm going to approach an engagement based on the enemy A/C and it's relative position and E, it usually only takes the first merge to tell whether or not I'm going to have to leave my comfort zone and start fighting with my head instead of just obeying SOP like a robot.

[Ack-Ack]

Both.

ack-ack

[grizz441]

Both, clearly.

[mtnman]

note to self...

always bounce my nose and pretend to ho with my bbs on the first merge.

Ha!  One of my favorites is to follow someone up on a rope, wag my wings like I'm stalling, roll onto my back and then drop my nose, all with plenty of speed, lol!  When the y horse it around on me I just shift to one side or the other and shoot them as they go by or latch onto their six.

[ink]

Ha!  One of my favorites is to follow someone up on a rope, wag my wings like I'm stalling, roll onto my back and then drop my nose, all with plenty of speed, lol!  When the y horse it around on me I just shift to one side or the other and shoot them as they go by or latch onto their six.

haha  Ive been playing possum a lot more lately with the BnZ planes, playing like I don't see them until they are right there, and just doing a hard barrel roll/ yoyo right onto there 6....sad when so many don't want to fight and disengage as soon as they see it might be difficult to kill the con....

[mechanic]

Both, not to mention the third dimension of what my plane is, fourth dimension of the starting E states and fith dimension of good/bad luck or possible mistakes on both sides.

[Tyrannis]

My enemy is not the other countries. my enemy is my kill record. I wish to land more and more kills every time. The red planes only help me to succede at this task, whether voluntarily or not 

The enemy of my enemy....

[skorpion]

First of all, this post is assuming I'm out to scientifically murder the enemy plane, like in FSO or something along those lines.  Basically, trying to kill the guy without putting myself at undue risk.

Something that crosses my mind every now and again is how I approach different fights.  When my plane has some kind of distinct advantage over the enemy, I use it as a club to beat them with.  If I'm high and fast in a faster plane, I use the speed to BnZ him to death.  If I've got something that outturns the enemy, I try to get the snapshot as he overshoots on his BnZ attempts, or I outturn him if he tries to saddle.

There are many matchups however that I don't have a distinct advantage over the enemy plane, or worse yet their plane outclasses me on virtually every level.  When I run into one of these situations, I start thinking more in terms of beating the pilot's reaction time, or sucking him into making a mistake.

I was just wondering what most other people do.  Is beating the plane effectively laziness on my part, and I should be trying to beat the pilot at all times, or is beating the plane when I can, the pilot when I can't more or less normal?

Wiley.

so...do i try to beat the plane or the pilot?

yes.

i only fly for fun. if i see a p38 and im flying a p39/yak9t ill ho him from 1.5k with the 37mm

honestly, its about having fun not trying to be the winner all the time.