Author Topic: What aircraft do you have the most success with?  (Read 3743 times)

Offline Widewing

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What aircraft do you have the most success with?
« on: February 01, 2014, 12:45:54 PM »
I was wondering about the question in the topic... I don't adhere to any particular type of aircraft. Largely, because I select planes based upon what I need for specific circumstances. However, looking over my stats since I've been using my Tredlite handle, I noticed something that was a surprise. My best results are almost always in the F6F-5.

I might not fly this fighter at all during a tour. Sometimes a little, and other times often. However, when I do fly it, my survival rate is extremely high. I hadn't noticed this before. I use it against fighters, bombers and armor. Probably 50% of my kills in it have been vehicles. Still, it's one of those fighters than can fight anything, with a reasonable expectation of winning. It can stall fight with Spitfires and chase down P-47s in a dive. It's rear view is lousy, diminished significantly after the update to the F6F-5's graphics. This is offset by its all-around goodness and durability. The Hellcat requires very good SA to overcome the rear view. But, one on one, it is always a formidable opponent. It's isn't fast like many later war fighters. Its climb rate isn't stellar. Level acceleration is merely average. It rolls a bit slower than many types. It doesn't carry as much ordnance as some. It doesn't have long legs, meaning that for long flights, bombs must be swapped for a fuel tank. What is does offer is one of the best combinations of capability. Only the F4U-4 is significantly better as an overall package, and I feel the F6F-5 shrugs off hits better than the Corsairs. In the game, the F6F is used as a carrier-borne bomb truck. Very few players know what it's actually capable of air to air. Even fewer have the skills to exploit it.

Thus far using the Tredlite user name, over the various tours, I have 406 kills in the F6F-5, against 9 losses. A 45 to 1 K/D. The best tour was 163, where I landed  84 kills vs 1 loss. That loss was to a P-38J, and I don't recall the circumstances. 40 kills air to air, 44 vehicle kills. My second best tour was tour 149, when I somehow managed 72/1, with the one loss being to a manned ack. 37 were air to air kills, 35 were vehicle kills. I suppose that this is why I often grab the Hellcat without much thought. It'll do just about anything I need it to do. Suffice it to say that I usually use the Hellcat to defend a base.

The F6F-5 is obviously a good fighter, and it should be even better. Unfortunately, it's modeled using data that corresponds to MIL power, not WEP. There's test data that shows it to be as fast as 409 mph at 21.6k (TAIC Report 17). I guess that I've been asking HTC to address this for at least 5 years. Several Navy tests show ~ 386 mph at MIL power. That's what we have in WEP. A Sept. 1944 test at PAX River showed 391 mph, in MIL power at overload condition. Surely at normal weight with WEP, it should blow right past 400 mph. Anyway, this is one of my biggest gripes about the game. The data is there (I've sent it), but no change has been forthcoming as of yet. Of course, it took a long time to get the F4U-4 climb rate fixed too... HTC staff are certainly very busy people.

Perhaps they will get to the almost decade long flap modeling anomaly someday. For example, the F4Us stall at a much lower speed than the real aircraft did. In game, the F4U-1A at 25% fuel, stalls at 68 mph, power on, full flaps. Navy test data shows that his should be closer to 73 mph at that weight, and 77 mph at normal weight. Likewise, in game, the F6F-5 stalls at 77 mph with 100% fuel, full flaps, power on. That's about spot-on to test data. So, why does the F4U stall a full 5 mph slower than it should? I'd argue that it's the magic flaps that came to be after the last flight model change. Clean, in game, the F4U-1A stalls at 93 mph, the F6F-5 at 87 mph (both 25% fuel). This corresponds to real world test data, relatively. Drop flaps and the F4U gets a stall speed reduction of 25 mph, while the F6F-5 gets a stall speed reduction of just 15 mph. Why? In the real world, test data showed that both fighters had virtually identical stall speeds in landing configuration. However, in Aces High, the F4U gets a huge benefit from its flaps, not reflected in Navy tests. This is why the Aces High F4Us have ridiculously small turning circles with flaps out. It truly is a modeling bug, and it affects other aircraft as well (Bf 109s, for example got better, while planes like the P-51s and Ki-61 got much worse). I would guess that it's related to the lift and drag equations used for flaps.

A friend of mine, Chris Fahey, flies both the F6F-5 and F4U-1A on a regular basis. Chris is a retired F-16 driver, now flying for an airline. In his spare time, he flies the Planes of Fame aircraft. He has a great deal of time in many of their warbirds. The P-38J, F6F-5, F4U-1A, P-51D and MiG-15 are probably his most common airshow rides. I asked Chris about his experiences with the Hellcat and Corsair. He much prefers the F6F-5 over the Corsair, because "it handles like a trainer at 85 knots. The F4U is a handful at 85 knots." In game, we can fly the F4U-1A around in super-tight left hand circles, as steady as a rock at 65 knots... Go figure.
 
My regards,

Widewing

YGBSM. Retired Member of Aces High Trainer Corps, Past President of the DFC, retired from flying as Tredlite.

Offline bozon

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Re: What aircraft do you have the most success with?
« Reply #1 on: February 01, 2014, 01:53:54 PM »
I think my best results are generally with the Mosquito VI. However, over my AH career most of my record sorties were in the F6F-5. It still holds my no-rearm record of 12 kills with a few sorties of 10 (base defense in most cases, so no vulches). I only managed 10+ in a P47 once and never in my Mossie. The F6F also holds the record for most amazing "how the **** did I get out of that alive" kind of sorties, though that is more difficult to quantify.
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Offline BaldEagl

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Re: What aircraft do you have the most success with?
« Reply #2 on: February 01, 2014, 02:36:13 PM »
Over the years the last time I checked the 190A-8 was, by a wide margin, my most successful plane to fly.  I'm guessing that has more to do with the role I fly it in (as a buff hunter) more than anything else but I'm not averse to mixing it up when there's no buffs to be found.

I use the F6F-5 almost exclusively in attack mode.  I remember one night flying to an enemy field, dropping the VH is one pass then getting 5 kills furballing around the base before flying home and landing successfully.  I think the F6F is the only plane I've ever landed ten kills in.  By extension I love the F4F and FM-2 as well, particularily the F4F-4.

Oddly enough, I spend most of my time in Spitfires and don't do that well in them, mostly because I get wreckless.  No horde is too big to attack and no opponent is out of bounds when I'm in a Spit.

I don't fly enough to get the number of kills in a year that you get in a camp.
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Offline Shifty

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Re: What aircraft do you have the most success with?
« Reply #3 on: February 01, 2014, 04:33:16 PM »
The best I ever did in a fight of 1 vs many situation was when I was in an F6F once. I ended up alone near an enemy base with a cloud of bad guys all wanting to kill me. I only shot down three which is usually about my limit anyway. I got two more to auger before getting nailed myself. I was very impressed by that so I flew the F6F for a few days after that. I got myself killed over and over. I guess it was a one time good thing for me. :)

For whatever reason, be it flying style my personal limitations in gunnery or SA the one plane I've always had the most success in has been the Corsair, followed closely for some reason by the Ki-61.

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Offline Ack-Ack

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Re: What aircraft do you have the most success with?
« Reply #4 on: February 01, 2014, 04:45:54 PM »
P-38J for me.  Does everything I need for it to do.  Drop bombs, fire off some rockets, E and Angles fight, it does it all.

ack-ack
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Offline save

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Re: What aircraft do you have the most success with?
« Reply #5 on: February 01, 2014, 08:08:57 PM »
My FW190A8, 20 kills without rearm
My ammo last for 6 Lancasters, or one Yak3.
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Offline FLOOB

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Re: What aircraft do you have the most success with?
« Reply #6 on: February 01, 2014, 08:09:45 PM »
C-hog. Take off fly around for 10 minutes, land it just to see how many kills you got because you don't even know.
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Offline mthrockmor

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Re: What aircraft do you have the most success with?
« Reply #7 on: February 01, 2014, 08:13:38 PM »
My preferred ride is the Fw-190A5, which I am the most experienced and comfortable with. Over the many tours I have flown a few sorties in other birds and landed fancy kill totals though for something that I fly regularly in the A5. For many reasons I think if I flew the PonyD I would be the most dangerous in, overall.

boo
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Offline jeep00

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Re: What aircraft do you have the most success with?
« Reply #8 on: February 01, 2014, 08:29:22 PM »
f4u-1.i too fly what fits the situation but i always gravitate to the -1.

Offline BaldEagl

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Re: What aircraft do you have the most success with?
« Reply #9 on: February 01, 2014, 08:34:38 PM »
f4u-1.i too fly what fits the situation but i always gravitate to the -1.

And here I thought you were going to say the Jeep.
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Offline Saxman

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Re: What aircraft do you have the most success with?
« Reply #10 on: February 01, 2014, 08:42:57 PM »


F4U-1A, unquestionably.
Ron White says you can't fix stupid. I beg to differ. Stupid will usually sort itself out, it's just a matter of making sure you're not close enough to become collateral damage.

Offline DaveBB

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Re: What aircraft do you have the most success with?
« Reply #11 on: February 01, 2014, 08:54:43 PM »
I value the P-51D.  It cruises at over 400mph at 10k.  Has very good range, which allows me to find a fight (which is becoming harder as the player base fluctuates).  So those two factors go into helping me find a fight.  It's 6 x 50cals gun package, combined with the fact that it allows me to perform almost all of the most common air combat maneuvers in it makes it my ride of choice.
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Offline chaser

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Re: What aircraft do you have the most success with?
« Reply #12 on: February 01, 2014, 09:48:39 PM »
The task I have the highest success rate in planes is flying into the ground. I do that more than I kill. However, the thing in game I have the most luck killing planes in is the M18  :devil

Offline RotBaron

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Re: What aircraft do you have the most success with?
« Reply #13 on: February 01, 2014, 10:16:59 PM »
A: Ki-84 for me

However the 190 A-5 is always more rewarding personally, for me it takes much more effort, wish I could fly it like EAce, or 1/4 as well as.
I used to get a lot in the La-7 (of course) but rarely fly it anymore unless the base is totally capped and Wfluffied.
The Brewster also for same reasons with a different approach.
The Oscar is a great tool when they're coming from all angles and different E states, possibly the easiest to stay alive in for awhile for me, but my gunnery stinks...
The 109 G-2 is my usual base defense choice if the situation is not as dire and I can get off the runway and establish 1k and 200+mph.
Zeke just for fun in any situation, but not often.
On attack and if ord is necessary, the F6, P47, and sometimes F4U-D in that order.  

On attack from CV almost always choose F6 these days, it's fun and durable (as you mentioned.)

These are just my personal choices, and not to be construed with criticizing any other choices.

Thank you for all the information on both planes, very, very interesting. My knowledge about plane performance is very limited and pales in comparison to many of you. The F6F is always fun to fly.

For whatever reason, although I try and try, I don't do well in Spitfires. Etec helped me correct many of my errors and misunderstandings of stall fighting and Corsair tactic(s), could probably use a training session like that in Spits. Long ago Morfiend also helped me,  both of those training sessions helped me greatly and fun factor increased greatly; need to do that again.

 :salute

LOL, Wfluffied above is meant to be WhiteFlagged, but abbreviated: filters  :lol
« Last Edit: February 01, 2014, 10:19:28 PM by RotBaron »
They're casting their bait over there, see?

Offline kilo2

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Re: What aircraft do you have the most success with?
« Reply #14 on: February 01, 2014, 10:17:18 PM »
Ta-152
X.O. Kommando Nowotny
FlyKommando.com

"Never abandon the possibility of attack."