Making the Case: PBY Catalina

[gyrene81]

oh so this is all about the late war? yeesh...im sure the PBY would see alot more use in the early/mid war arena's though.

what's your call sign, i'd like to see for myself how much time you spend in early/mid war arenas. the early war arena is probably the only arena a pby would survive a flight around 1 sector, nobody is in there.

[Ack-Ack]

what's your call sign, i'd like to see for myself how much time you spend in early/mid war arenas. the early war arena is probably the only arena a pby would survive a flight around 1 sector, nobody is in there.

IIRC, he only plays offline.

ack-ack

[gyrene81]

IIRC, he only plays offline.

ack-ack

oh that's right, explains the delusions.

[Karnak]

how is the betty vastly superior? its ripped apart by a few .303's and its payload isnt that great. the boston and the JU-88 are just a step better than the PBY though. i think the PBY would fare better than the betty.

Depends on where the .303s hit.  I had a nice fight against a C.202 and my G4Ms came out with some bullet holes and nothing worse.

As to why it is better, speed and climb rate.  You could probably do two or three G4M sorties in the time it takes to do one with a PBY.  The Ju88 is slower on the climb, but still much faster. All three of those bombers are more likely to survive to reach the IP than the PBY.

[Slate]

  Won't need the PBY for two weeks until the Subs get here.

[Sikboy]

When Combat Theater was in development, I thought there would be a niche for the PBY and other “scout” planes.  In the MA, where the world is a constant furball, I just don’t seem them being used. Even in Scenarios, I’ve seen a severe lack of interest in the playing community (hell, I had a hard time convincing SEA players that Torpedo planes were a viable offensive weapons platform).  But in the Combat Theater, where there could be massive areas of relatively empty airspace, flying around looking for targets could really work.

The only thought I had on MA utility, would be to give some advantage to the MARPAT planes for CV spotting. Basically, my idea was that if a designated “Scout” plane was able to target a surface unit, that unit would appear on the clipboard of everyone on that side. I really don’t know how useful that would be, but it might help with any CV hiding issues, and to be honest, I haven’t been in the game in years, so I don’t even know if that’s still a constant complaint or not.
 
-Sik

[tmetal]

pilot rescue is one of the main arguments for adding the pby, besides what else would you want to do with it? make an attempt to drop 4000lbs of bombs on a cv from 15,000ft at ~170mph? i don't mind a suicide run once in a while but, it gets tiresome quickly.


what i said was neither ignorant nor generalized as both of those would require making a statement without having fully considered the utility of the pby in the main arena. in a battle near a friendly base, if you ditch or bail a jeep or half track would be faster getting to you than a pby. in a battle near a friendly cv, if you ditch or bail on water, a pt boat would be faster getting to you and it has a slightly higher probability than the pby of surviving the effort. any battle around enemy bases, it would not only be time consuming making the attempt but nearly impossible to succeed, not only due to the enemy units in the area but the terrain as well. the pby is big and slower than anything in the ww2 arenas, the only thing it has going for it is the ability to carry bombs and barely adequate defensive armament.

it would most likely be used frequently for one tour after being introduced, then only those who find themselves bored and new people who are curious would try it out.

The part of your first post "...seriously anyone who brings up the idea of pilot rescue has no idea how long it would actually take and hasn't thought about all the conditions that would make most attempts fruitless..." is a textbook example of a generalized statement made out of ignorance.  You have no way of knowing if some one who brings up the idea of pilot rescue has considered all the conditions of the idea or not (this is the ignorant part of your statement) and your use of the word "anyone" in your post makes it a generalized statement by inferring that 100% of the people who bring up the idea of pilot rescue give the same amount of thought to the idea.

Now that I've said that:  I agree with you that the PBY would be mostly a large slow target and that if pilot rescue where a part of the game there would be faster/safer/better ways of retrieving that pilot; my first post on this thread was just made in order to point out a real life use of the PBY that might see eventual inclusion in AH besides recon or maritime attack. You seem to think (I could be wrong about this so feel free to let me know) that I am connecting pilot rescue solely with the PBY and that is why you made your statement before. Maybe it would help if I made my position clear. Aside from being a great looking plane and historically significant, I don't think the PBY has a place in AH yet or even in the near future for several reasons that I can list if you want; I do think that pilot rescue does have a place in AH sometime down the road a few years; no I don't want pilot rescue included just so myself or others can still get their "name in lights" after being shot down. I do think that if pilot rescue was a part of this game other planes would be used much more often for the role even if the PBY was a part of the plane set.

[gyrene81]

The part of your first post "...seriously anyone who brings up the idea of pilot rescue has no idea how long it would actually take and hasn't thought about all the conditions that would make most attempts fruitless..." is a textbook example of a generalized statement made out of ignorance.  You have no way of knowing if some one who brings up the idea of pilot rescue has considered all the conditions of the idea or not (this is the ignorant part of your statement) and your use of the word "anyone" in your post makes it a generalized statement by inferring that 100% of the people who bring up the idea of pilot rescue give the same amount of thought to the idea.

ok you got me on that one. i should have started by fully stating i was surprised you brought the idea up, didn't expect it. after being in the midst of the previous extended discussion on said aircraft in the wishlist, those who brought up the idea of using the pby for pilot rescue did not care to consider anything but "how cool it would be", so i didn't believe what i stated would be generalizing.

[tmetal]

Thats understandable gyrene. I would probably have done similar if I had been through the same situation you had.

Back to the topic, personaly I would much rather have the IJN "emily" than the PBY; mostly based on looks and functionality.

[olds442]

The only way the PBY would be a viable aircraft in AH would be if we were to finally get a real night time modeled and use it as a night time intruder aircraft.

ack-ack

thats so EASY reduce vis (no mater what grama settings) and no icons at night!

[skorpion]

thats so EASY reduce vis (no mater what grama settings) and no icons at night!

gamma cant be controlled by the admins because you cant have 1 size fit all gamma in game.

[Ack-Ack]

thats so EASY reduce vis (no mater what grama settings) and no icons at night!

Which is why I said a "real night time" modeled so you couldn't up the gamma to make is as bright as day.  Sheesh...don't you kids learn reading comprehension in school these days?

gamma cant be controlled by the admins because you cant have 1 size fit all gamma in game.

Yes it can.

ack-ack

[skorpion]

Which is why I said a "real night time" modeled so you couldn't up the gamma to make is as bright as day.  Sheesh...don't you kids learn reading comprehension in school these days?


Yes it can.

ack-ack

ok i think the admins could control gamma in game, but there is no "1 size fits all" for gamma. i have to turn mine way down because of my monitor brightness. if you model a "true night" in the MA's or any other arena, then the people who have a very high monitor brightness will see it like a dawn/dusk thing possibly.

[ACE]

ok i think the admins could control gamma in game, but there is no "1 size fits all" for gamma. i have to turn mine way down because of my monitor brightness. if you model a "true night" in the MA's or any other arena, then the people who have a very high monitor brightness will see it like a dawn/dusk thing possibly.

Turn your moniter brightness down..

[skorpion]

Turn your moniter brightness down..

its lower than half right now. and i dont think turning it down will make much of a difference, but why would one turn down the monitor brightness over a game? if your that worried about it then you need to chillax, take a swig of some orphan tears and let the hallucinations roll on in...