So as everyone is most certainly aware, the Me410 has been released and there have already been complaints as to its performance and effectiveness. It's definitely a unique airplane, and I don't think many knew what to expect. It has it's strengths and weaknesses, however I don't believe it's truly as bad as everyone seems to think.
First off, it's a heavy airplane. 25% fuel and the Mk103s yields more than 22,000 pounds. It has relatively small wings for it's size, resulting in higher wingloading and therefore a higher cornering speed. Turning is most certainly not one of it's strengths, however it has a big rudder and sharp nose - very good for a quick snapshot. You have the firepower to make snapshots count, you can even get almost sloppy with your shooting as you have so much ammo - I've gotten a couple kills from 1000 out just shooting a 3 second burst. It's speed is definitely not bad for a plane of it's size, it will outpace the 110 (albeit barely) and doesn't seem to be a sluggish airplane, although it wallows in turns. I think one of the biggest strengths of the 410 is its wonderful visibility, IMO one of the most important and overlooked characteristics of an airplane. With good SA it's pretty easy to force an overshoot, and then snap around and blast the offending party.
However, perhaps the best thing thing about the 410 is the versatility of the airplane. If you show up to a field in a P51 when the town needs to be going down, you can empty your arsenal into the town and be out of ammo and not accomplished much. With the 410, if you arrive and the town needs to go down you have the ability make it happen quick. CV down and spawning PT boats? You can deal with that. GVs? Attack from the rear if you have the Mk103s and you will make short work of all of the non perked tanks. (and some of the smaller perked ones, like the M4 76) It seems to take fire about as well as a 110, maybe even a little bit better. With the BK5 mounted it will make even shorter work of GVs, although I prefer the Mk103.
I suppose after singing it praise, I should probably talk about some of its drawbacks. The roll performance is below average, it feels a lot like an A20 in this respect. While the Me410 is a big airplane, it feels like an even bigger airplane when you're flying it. When you are light, it's turn radius is quite large. When heavy, the turn radius is the size of West Texas. Climb performance is marginal, trying to go vertical is a moot point unless it is against something woefully underpowered, or you have a significantly higher amount of energy. This airplane is not suited to 1v1s unless the other pilot is in something very slow, however in a group of airplanes it can be quite deadly. It's a big target, and anyone with a few brain cells should be able to hit one. The rear guns are almost useless, however I managed to get a kill on an LA that parked 600 off my 6 with them. Perhaps just dumb luck. It dives like a P38, familiarize yourself with the K button. It starts shedding parts around 520mph, compression starts around 410ish.
I heard a figure of speech about a week ago that has stuck with me, and seems to describe the ME410 quite well "Jack of all trades, master of none" It's a good airplane, I enjoy it. Predictable handling and fun to fly. I suspect there will be a few who will find it suits their style and I think we will see a group of dedicated ME410 pilots. Anyways, those are my thoughts. Feel free to expand and add your own experiences. I do like writing, although I have never done anything like this on the boards before. Let me know if you liked the read, I'd like to do these reviews on other planes.
All the best,
Tupac
