So as some of you know, back just before the beginning of tour 166 I noticed that I had 9000 perk points that I had accumulated over the course of the 4 years that I’ve playing AH. This was due to almost never flying perk rides. So for kicks I decided that starting Nov1, I would for the entire duration of tour 166, fly nothing but the 262. I figured if I could lose roughly 45 planes, which would be 1 to 2 a day, I could make it through the whole tour. So I set out to see what a mediocre pilot could do in the first operational Jet of the war. Here are the results, and some thoughts and conclusions.
K/D results are for the 262 only. I did have to fly other planes on a few occasions because ENY forced me out of the 262, so the other stats are almost all 262. Rank is combined, of course.
357 Kills, 33 deaths.
Kills per Death = 10.8
Kills per Sortie = 2.8
Kills Per hour = 6.8
Hit percentage = 5.41
Kill points = 46,000
Fighter Rank = 45 [all inclusive]
Flying the 262 is very different from how I am used to flying because it’s largely a Boom and Zoom plane and I am mostly a furball pilot. But I learned some good tips I would like to pass along about the 262. Also the Wiki AH page on the 262 is very good.
It’s faster when it’s fast: The 262 maintains Energy in high speed turns better than most prop planes, and the engines make more power at high speed than at lower speeds. If you keep it and above 400mph it will out roll, out turn, and out run almost everything. It’s important to note that when the fast proppers are dropping on you with a lot of smash, running straight is not always the best option. These include Doras, Corsairs, Ponies, La7, Tempies, Ta 152s. In a straight line these planes can achieve over 500mph in a dive and hold it for a while on the deck. If you are 400-450mph you will may not be able to out run them, unless you can get nose down. If you can’t get nose down, turning the 262 is the next best option. At 400 or more mph, it rolls very quickly and bleeds little energy in moderate turns. The proppers roll slower and bleed while pulling to keep up. In this way you can regain the speed advantage and extend.
The gun package is incredible: The 262 has 4 mk108 30mm cannons with a total of 360 rounds. The trajectories of these cannons are better than that of the 109K4 and I found that hitting targets at 600yrds was fairly easy. The real advantage is that the 4 cannons in the nose create a perfect scatter pattern, and the high fire rate that makes it very difficult for planes to escape. Here is a stat that will blow your mind. 357 kills…15 assists. Four 30mm cannons in a tight cluster don’t leave many survivors when you strike pay dirt. A single 30mm will drop any fighter. With four of these blasting away, most enemies just exploded in mid air. When attacking bombers I often killed 2 on the first pass. The firepower is so devastating that you can aim center of mass and still just explode a bomber. This made it easier to attack Lancs and B-26s from the side just below centerline so the top turrets and rear turrets couldn’t hit me. From 1000 yards out, coming from 3 o’clock I would fire out in front of the formation and kill the center, and right drone on the first pass. Hits on the bomber fuselage in almost any other fighter can’t do that, but the gun pack in the 262 can.
The scatter pattern is so dense that even fighters have a tough time turning hard enough to escape. The 262 at high speed rolls faster than most fighters. So when coming up behind a fighter you can beat him to the turn, even when he breaks first. Roll, pull, and rudder to get the nose round very quickly and fire a burst with as much lead as you can generate in that first 1-2 seconds. The high density, yet wide scatter pattern of the 4 30mm will do the rest. The rudder has excellent authority and swings the nose around even faster than the plane can roll and pull, so you can use the rudder to great effect when snap shooting. In fact this is the preferred method.
The 262 is very maneuverable: I surprised many fighters by following them into turn and loop fights. With 5 notched of flaps that can start at 350mph, the 262 turn extremely well down to about 250mph. Below that, the engines lose thrust and the proppers will out turn you and out accelerate you. But you can be very aggressive against single fighters if you commit to the fight. This is not recommended if enemy help is nearby. Dog fight at high speed. At 450 and above the 262 is every maneuverable. It doesn’t show signs of compression until it’s faster than 575mph. Diving Jugs and ponies, etc start getting sluggish to respond above 450. So a simple barrel roll will have many overshooting and sliding right out in front of you for an easy shot. So if you’re fast and getting dived on, check your speed and don’t panic if you’re over 450mph.
Keep the fights Horizontal: The 262 climbs fairly poorly, and bleeds speed very quickly in vertical climbs., so avoid going vertical when pursued, unless the sky is clear and you have a very large [100+mph] speed advantage. Stay horizontal where the 262 will stay fast, even when turning. The 262 will also out dive everything. If you have the space below you, escape is as easy as pointing it down. Combine your dive with a slight barrel roll as this will make hard to pull lead on, especially as speed increases and the pursuer starts compressing. When climbing, keep the climbs shallow and at high speed. The 262 will maintain 3K climb rate if your initial speed is 400mph+. When taking off, I go level from wheels up at full power until I’m 425 mph, then I pull into a 3K climb. In this way the plane will maintain 400mph while climbing at 3k.
Save Fuel: When in level flight, throttle back to 6000rpm. His will maintain 425mph and get you to most places on the map in short order, but at significantly less fuel consumption. At 6000rpm the flight time doubles. So don’t be afraid to fly a few sectors from home to find the action.
Avoid High altitude: The handling, accelerating, and climb rate deteriorate considerable above 20K, so many of the plane’s advantages have eroded by that altitude. I recommend staying below 20k.
Shout outs to: Pervert who killed me twice, once in a Ju-87 and once in a Dora.
SFOX who killed my twice, once in an F4U and once in a really fun 262 vs. 262 fight. GOOBM who got me in a Tempest.
SunGard who got me in a fun 262 1v1. Also <S> to the many
Knights that had my back and kept an eye out with all the check 6's I got, and covered me for more than one desperate landing. It was fun to be able to spend all those perkies with reckless abandon. In the end I went from 9000 to 2800. So I spent ~6200 on 33 262s for the whole tour.
Kills and death breakdowns by plane type.
