P-39D

[MAINER]

In a recent GV battle I decided i would try out the P-39D with the bigger gun package and i enjoyed great success against tanks with the 37mm i downed 2 panzers and 2 M-3's and i was there fighting until my 30mm ran out of ammo. It is a lot more maneuverable then the IL-2 and is a joy to fly. Luckily there were hardly any nme air cons and the ones that were there where concentrating on our GVs. The P-39 took lots of small machine gun fire from the tanks but it held up. The only thing i dont like about the aircraft is the week nose gear i collapsed it on landing returning from that sortie so i was not able to re-arm and re up. but still its a nice little airplane to fly.  

[Krusty]

Generally speaking the 30mm on the P-39 won't do too much damage to tanks. Soft-skinned stuff like M3s go down to even light cannons, though. Overall I do like that 37mm. Especially when dogfighting! If/when you connect hits with it you KNOW the fight is over.

As a tip: the P-39Q has the same gun but better performance (more horsepower!) and feels more nimble when dogfighting. Give it a try too, you might get hooked.

[MAINER]

Generally speaking the 30mm on the P-39 won't do too much damage to tanks. Soft-skinned stuff like M3s go down to even light cannons, though. Overall I do like that 37mm. Especially when dogfighting! If/when you connect hits with it you KNOW the fight is over.

As a tip: the P-39Q has the same gun but better performance (more horsepower!) and feels more nimble when dogfighting. Give it a try too, you might get hooked.

yah i do like the p-39Q but it has less guns but is still a very nice plane

[Krusty]

It has less guns, but the nose guns are the same. The wing guns on the P-39D have a lot of bullets but their overall effectiveness is very low. You need to be less than 250 yards to do any real damage, and with the P-39D being rather slow this doesn't happen often.

It's a fair tradeoff, as I'm sure most of your kills are done by the nose .50cals anyways (not counting, naturally, the 37mm itself).


EDIT: It also removes hundreds of pounds from each wing, making you roll and loop much better

EDIT2: Also, the Q has gunpods. While they slow you down a bit and weigh you down a bit, that 1x .50cal is still 50% more powerful than the 2x .30cal that were in the 39D's wing. Each .50cal bullet is about 3x stronger than each .30cal bullet, but on top of that they retain their "punch" much further out and are better long-range guns. Taking the gunpods got most of my kills back when I couldn't kill with the 37mm.

[MAINER]

It has less guns, but the nose guns are the same. The wing guns on the P-39D have a lot of bullets but their overall effectiveness is very low. You need to be less than 250 yards to do any real damage, and with the P-39D being rather slow this doesn't happen often.

It's a fair tradeoff, as I'm sure most of your kills are done by the nose .50cals anyways (not counting, naturally, the 37mm itself).


EDIT: It also removes hundreds of pounds from each wing, making you roll and loop much better

EDIT2: Also, the Q has gunpods. While they slow you down a bit and weigh you down a bit, that 1x .50cal is still 50% more powerful than the 2x .30cal that were in the 39D's wing. Each .50cal bullet is about 3x stronger than each .30cal bullet, but on top of that they retain their "punch" much further out and are better long-range guns. Taking the gunpods got most of my kills back when I couldn't kill with the 37mm.

  good point i will try flying the P-39Q tonight and see how it does.

[Tyrannis]

Generally speaking the 30mm on the P-39 won't do too much damage to tanks. Soft-skinned stuff like M3s go down to even light cannons, though. Overall I do like that 37mm. Especially when dogfighting! If/when you connect hits with it you KNOW the fight is over.

As a tip: the P-39Q has the same gun but better performance (more horsepower!) and feels more nimble when dogfighting. Give it a try too, you might get hooked.

The p39 has a 30mm?

[Krusty]

Obviously not... But Krusty does have typoes. 

EDIT: or brain farts, whatever happens first.

[Vinkman]

  good point i will try flying the P-39Q tonight and see how it does.

I find the .30cals to be ineffective. So I take the Q but I choose the gun package with no wing guns. This make for the most manueverable and fastest P-39 [which isn't saying much].  I do this because I mostly only try to land the 37mm because it's so much fun when you connect. Lead deflection shots from outside of 400yrds take a lot of practice to land so don't be too hard on yourself you shoot all 30 of 'em and don't hit anything. 

When you run out of 37mm, the 2x .50cals with 200 rounds/each are enough to fight your way home.

If you killed two tanks with the 37mm you did very well. The HE rounds in the P-39 are not great against armored targets [as Krusty pointed out]. They are great for killing M3, M16, turreting flaks, and M18s. And they are monster for de-acking a field. Unlike machine guns, which have to actually hit the field gun, a single 37mm will destroy a field gun if it hits anywhere in the dirt circle around the gun. With 30 rounds you can de-ack any field by youself. Get over the field and come down as vertical as you can, and shoot from as high as you can to avoid getting pinged. Try it, it's fun.

[Krusty]

However, any gas leaks and you might have to RTB... The range is somewhat short IMO. With only 2 tanks, you lose 50% with the first leak.

I agree with Vinkman for the most part. However if I'm not feeling confident I'll take those gondolas, just so I can get some kills. I usually will continue to fight once the 37mm is gone, at least if the fighting is good. I use up my .50cals rather than save them for the way home.

[Vinkman]

However, any gas leaks and you might have to RTB... The range is somewhat short IMO. With only 2 tanks, you lose 50% with the first leak.

I agree with Vinkman for the most part. However if I'm not feeling confident I'll take those gondolas, just so I can get some kills. I usually will continue to fight once the 37mm is gone, at least if the fighting is good. I use up my .50cals rather than save them for the way home.

Yes. A good pilot might like the challenge of a P-39 with only 2x .50cals. But I would not recommend it for the beginner.   

[MAINER]

I find the .30cals to be ineffective. So I take the Q but I choose the gun package with no wing guns. This make for the most manueverable and fastest P-39 [which isn't saying much].  I do this because I mostly only try to land the 37mm because it's so much fun when you connect. Lead deflection shots from outside of 400yrds take a lot of practice to land so don't be too hard on yourself you shoot all 30 of 'em and don't hit anything. 

When you run out of 37mm, the 2x .50cals with 200 rounds/each are enough to fight your way home.

If you killed two tanks with the 37mm you did very well. The HE rounds in the P-39 are not great against armored targets [as Krusty pointed out]. They are great for killing M3, M16, turreting flaks, and M18s. And they are monster for de-acking a field. Unlike machine guns, which have to actually hit the field gun, a single 37mm will destroy a field gun if it hits anywhere in the dirt circle around the gun. With 30 rounds you can de-ack any field by youself. Get over the field and come down as vertical as you can, and shoot from as high as you can to avoid getting pinged. Try it, it's fun.

thanks for the tips!

[MAINER]

Yes. A good pilot might like the challenge of a P-39 with only 2x .50cals. But I would not recommend it for the beginner.   

yah i think i will try flying with the gondola guns first and see how it does

[Widewing]

I think you'll find the Yak-9T just as effective or better than the P-39 against vehicles. The advantage to the P-39s is the 500 lb bomb. However, the 37mm in the Yak seems to do more damage (probably related to higher velocity). I've killed a Panther with it...

[tf15pin]

I can't think of something the 39 is better at than the 9T, but there is just something about the look of the 39, maybe it is all the junk in the trunk? You can fly it timid and pick to land kills or find an area where you get a bnz guy to engage you one on one where you can make him look foolish but the 39 is something that really has to be flown to its strengths while the other guy makes mistakes to come out on top. Overall a very rewarding plane to fight in if you like to get sweaty palms every time you get someone to commit to a fight.

[Krusty]

Does the P-39 have a tighter turn radius than the Yak9T? I haven't tested it, and i know the yak is no slouch, but I wonder which wins the turn fight at slow speeds (let's say no flaps)?