190 stinks

[save]

you  lose some speed, and you will add weight using the ETC rack, even after ordnance have been dropped.
The A8 is already the hippo at the party.

[Perrine]

you  lose some speed, and you will add weight using the ETC rack, even after ordnance have been dropped.
The A8 is already the hippo at the party.

I guess it can't be helped.

This poor bird (to me) has bad CoG when loaded beyond 75% internal fuel; it  must be fitted with with center rack.

When A8/F8 is loaded with center rack and transitions from 'slasher' to 'dogfighting', to me this plane just 'shudders' and 'drops a wing gently' instead of 'snapping' if not loaded with center rack.

[Debrody]

Idk, for me, the 190s stalled quite fine and steady. Just cant see the point in adding more weight to an already overweight aircraft, especilly when it decreases your (otherwise not too high) speed by 5-6mph.
The problem wasnt with the poor CoG, but with the high flap deploy and stall speeds.

But keep using that bombrack, cant wait to face your 190  

[Perrine]

A5 is fine without center rack... it's the A8/F8  that needs it.

[save]

I always take off with 100% in A8, 95% without drop-tank or bomb.

If you wep it up to 4km more than half of the aux is burned up, wep it again from 9k to 13k, you have now about 75% fuel.
Don't just let you in a fight with fighter planes until your fuel level has shrunk, buffs are still excellent food before the main dish.

[Debrody]

Fine. Do it your way, ill do it my way, and we will se who will be more successful 

[Zacherof]

Fine. Do it your way, ill do it my way, and we will se who will be more successful 

the noobs who ho?

[mthrockmor]

yada yada yada Fw-190A5 is the best yada yada yada

Boo

[Zacherof]

yada yada yada Fw-190A5 is the best yada yada yada

Boo

pfff I heard all a5 jocks are idiots . 

[Debrody]

pfff I heard all a5 jocks are idiots . 

Ouch, i heard all the 190 fliegers are brainless fools 

[Zacherof]

Ouch, i heard all the 190 fliegers are brainless fools 

yeah! I think that awesome roll rate has turned thier brains to poo

[Charge]

"The problem wasnt with the poor CoG, but with the high flap deploy and stall speeds."

You mean low flap deployment speed? Eg. P51 has high deployment speed which is pure BS and just an unfair crutch, IMHO.

-C+

[Debrody]

Ouch, yea, that is what i meant, thanks!

So, the flap deployment speeds are very low (~190mph for the first notch). This, along with the high stall speed, makes really hard to keep the flaps opened - if you are in a flat turn, you cant even open it all unless you chop throttle. Pretty much the only remaining close-combat option is to keep the nose up as long as possible then hammerhead back, as anything nose-down such as a low yo-yo or a breaking turn, is a complete failure.

[bozon]

So, the flap deployment speeds are very low (~190mph for the first notch).

190 mph is not low. This is the typical speed for most non-US planes.

The advantage of high speed flaps like in the P51 is way overrated. Above corner speed they do absolutely nothing except helping you lose a bit more speed - if this is the desired effect, rudder can do the same for you. Then at the 200-250 mph range the US planes really do enjoy the advantage of the flaps, but since unless a loss of height is involved, the turns are unsustainable and the speed will quickly drop to below 200 where everyone can use their flaps and the difference will be the type of flaps, not the deployment speed.

The real advantage that I find in 250 mph flaps is that I dont have to constantly fiddle with them - deploy and let them be, while with 190 mph flaps they will often auto-retract, then you have to redeploy when the speed comes down again. The 190 with its high stall speeds would really enjoy every extra mph it gets on the flap deployment limit. I still maintain the claim though, that 86.7% of the fights that you won with flaps you could have won without using them. I won't go into the explanation of how I got this number, but it involves doing some pulling action and my sitting organ.

Which brings us to the most important effect of flaps on the flight - they boost... lift? max angle of attack? drag? yes, but those pale in comparison to the boost they give to confidence and aggressiveness of the pilot. US planes get a confidence boost at 250 mph which is a huge advantage against LW pilots who are uncertain of their plane ability to fight aggressively before the flaps deploy at 190 mph. I wonder if in WWII plane someone had installed a big red button that says "placeboost" and told the pilot to hit it before entering a dog fight, how many pilots would swear that they won the fight due to the use of this secret technology.

[Debrody]

Bozon,

i have to disagree with you on this. In every sigle knife-fight i fought, had the feeling that the ponies had an enormous advantage by being able to go nose down withouth doubling their turn radius. That was the real problem for me, every single second i couldnt fly with full flaps opened, was losing position and energy as i had to chop throttle to slow down.

Nope, i wasnt as much of a newb in the 190, ask anyone, but with my preferred flying style, it was a truly huge disadvantage, as the flaps meant a slower stall speed, and that was everything i wanted.