One thing I have noticed lately is that it is tough for players (beginners, intermediate) to learn new ACM and become better fighter pilots in a game that is tough as nails to learn. I will do my best to write out specific maneuvers and tips that can increase fighting performance and make for easier kills and more landing opportunities in any fighter plane.
1. Always avoid the HO
You always hear people talking about Head On shooting (HO). There are ways you can practically always avoid the HO. I haven't been shot from a HO in ages, and I definitely do not try to get kills by HO shooting either. Based on my experience you die 50% of the time or you get parts missing, oil leaks, ect, about 80% of the time. Also, believe it or not, avoiding the HO sets you up for a better tactic (typically emmil) to perform on the enemy plane who tried to HO you. The key is to nose down a bit and try to get to the left or right of them before you make the HO pass. It is really difficult to make a shot on a plane when you are below their nose, especially if you are to the right or left. As the person is trying to make the shot (generally turning a tad bit for the shot) pull up into an emmil (don't do this too early, it takes a bit of timing, normally pull up about 50-100 yards away so they cant follow you up. This gives you a giant head start on the emmil and you can typically loop much faster and get inside or use your E to stay above the enemy plane who goes for a HO shot.
2. The NOSE DOWN angle turn
So what do you do when you cant run away from enemy plane that is diving on you? There is a very basic maneuver that works almost every time, again it takes a lot of timing, like most things in this game. When the enemy is about 800-600 off your 6, flip your plane almost upside down and go in a downward angle to the left or right (heading back towards them, try to get under them as much as you can) use some rudder for help, cut throttle as well so you do not crash. Normally, if the plane is going really fast they will pull up and come back around for another attack, again do the nose down turn, DO NOT PULL UP in this situation. If you do the nose down turn too early, they enemy will be able to slow down and follow you. The point is to be able to get under their nose, if they follow you with all this speed they will be blacking out and will easily lose sight of you. Now, there is a very complex, advanced maneuver called a lag roll that can be preformed if the enemy plane follows you in the nose down turn. Cut throttle in the nose down turn, as they go for the shot, pull up, try to get flaps out, and do a stall barrel roll in the opposite direction, if they are going too fast, you can roll around right on their 6, or get in the famous rolling scissors. Judging their E you can tell whether to follow them in the climb or not. (lag roll is hard to explain).
3. Learn to do Emmilmans (loops) and not flat turns
The Emmilman is one of the most important ACMs. Generally, you will find yourself coming head-on towards a plane (ie, a HO). In the MA most people will try to make the HO shot, as I said earlier avoid that crap and you'll have the advantage. The Emmilman is the move you want to attempt while you are making the pass (like I said, attempt to get under their nose) about 50 yards out pull strait up and do a loop, If the player goes into a flat turn you can typically get inside of his turn by doing the loop, if you cannot get inside, you now have the E to pull back up and try again. Use your E and alt advantage to stall them out. The emmil allows you to fight using what they call angles instead of "out turning", as in at the top of the loop, you can use rudder, throttle, and flaps, to get inside of their turn for a shot. If the enemy plane attempts to Emmil you too, you will have the headstart, because they tried to go for the shot, work your way to try to get inside their loop as well. If they do the emmil and again go for the HO, it's a little tougher to make them miss, but you gotta try. Also, you doing the emmil first will allow you to SPLIT S before they can do one, so now you can pull back up avoid the HO shot (do another emmil). Flip back over, cut some throttle, use flaps if you have to to stay above them, and hammer stall for the kill. This is typically called Vert flying, and there is much more to learn, but these are the basics. Always check your surroundings, as sometime doing an emmil will be a nice easy kill shot for a picker.
4. Merging on fighters
Sometimes the hardest part in the MA is learning how to jump on people's 6 and not get picked. There are a couple of different tactics you can use to ensure you a kill while hopefully getting away.
Fighters - normally the BnZ method is the easiest way to gain people's 6. You start high, go fast in a dive, and shoot someone who is lower than you, pull back up or fly straight with speed and get away so other planes do not attack you. If you do this method, NEVER EVER EVER follow someone in the nose down turn as mentioned above. Pull back up, do an emmil and try again. Now, if you keep doing this you will lose E, so if you are in a position with a bunch of cons around, I wouldn't advise doing this more than 2 times or you will get picked. If you are sure to get the kill, cut the throttle attempt the shot, but watch out for the lag roll, people like me in my K4 love planes to follow me in the nose down turn.
Now if you are flying a plane that doesn't BnZ well (ki84, 109s, a6ms, ect), how do you get on a persons 6? The key is timing and attempting to be where you think they will be, pull into them as they fly by and try to get a quick d400 snap shot. Instead of flying right towards them, fly to where they are going to be. Also, and this is how I like to fly, let the enemy come to you. This takes much practice and experience to judge E, but when a person is attacking you, your goal is to get them to lose all of their E, planes that don't BnZ well generally turn better. You can make them over shoot by lag roll and get in a rolling scissors, they will lose E and atl advantage and you can gain their 6 and make the kill.
Look for planes that are going up. A lot of BnZers will dive and then go back up to regain alt. If you are at 8k and you see a plane that is diving on a friendly, keep your alt and fly to where you think he will go. A plane that is going up is the easiest target. So if you are 8k in a ki84 and you see a typhoon dive down, chances are he is going to attempt to regain alt. This is where you catch him, once he gains alt or is climbing up he will be nice and slow for you to make the attack.
Bombers- Attack from the front if you can, also attack from the sides, and attempt to be higher than them. NEVER attack from the rear or sometimes underneath, If you attack from underneath, make sure u are directly under them before you pull up. You had better turn off quick because the rear gunners are gonna be firing.
5. ALWAYS CHECK YOUR SURROUNDINGS every 4 seconds. Im serious!
Hope this helps a little bit. If you have any questions PM me or feel free to hit me up in the MA!
