Getting Familiar With Planes

[Cremator]

I'm into my third month of AH. I am experimenting with all the different aircraft looking for one that I feel will best fit my flying style. I typically start by slow flying the plane, learning stall speed, recovery, gaining energy, etc. My question is what are some other strategies for learning how a given plane performs? Are there any links that will teach me more about the particular bird and individual ACM's best suited for said airplane? Example the F6F, which is what Im currently learning.

As I said I'm fairly new and I'm not an instant gratification type of guy. I throughly enjoy the game and the historical value. I have already learned a lot from this forum and the information each of you have posted. My goal is to be proficient and fly the planes, not let the prop just pull me around.  Any ideas?

 

[Big Rat]

Cremator,

I'm primarily an F4U guy and trainer but most of my stuff readily transfers over to the Hellcat.  Do a search through my posts, hopefully you'll find some info that will help you out.  If there's a particular question, post it up and we'll help you

 
BigRat

[Cremator]

OK. Ill do that. What is it that you prefer with the f4u? How did you learn its abilities and weaknesses outside of trial and error?

[Traveler]

I'm into my third month of AH. I am experimenting with all the different aircraft looking for one that I feel will best fit my flying style. I typically start by slow flying the plane, learning stall speed, recovery, gaining energy, etc. My question is what are some other strategies for learning how a given plane performs? Are there any links that will teach me more about the particular bird and individual ACM's best suited for said airplane? Example the F6F, which is what Im currently learning.

As I said I'm fairly new and I'm not an instant gratification type of guy. I throughly enjoy the game and the historical value. I have already learned a lot from this forum and the information each of you have posted. My goal is to be proficient and fly the planes, not let the prop just pull me around.  Any ideas?

 

The best strategy is exactly what you are doing.  My Dad flew P47's & P51's in WW2 and when I asked him how much training he received for the transition to the P51, he told me he flew a 47 mission on Monday and flew a total  of  4 Training flights in the 51 on Tuesday and Wednesday, followed by an actual escort mission on Thursday. He preferred the 47 to the 51, he felt the 47 could take more damage and he hated the radiator thought it was a soft spot in the 51.   He was credited with two confirmed air to air and two probable and like 25 aircraft destroyed on the ground and according to him at least  a 1000 rail road engines.   They didn’t attack the box cars unless they had good info on what was inside.  

[Cremator]

Thats incredible what your father did. My hats off to him.

[FLS]

I like to fly aerobatics to compare aircraft handling. I like the 4g stall speed as an indicator of relative turn performance.

[Cremator]

Can you explain exactly what that means?

[Dead87]

Cremator ..it all depends on what plane your flying.....looking up how some planes fought back then can give you valuable insight on how each plane reacted from the others...you wanna make things easy....for a BEGINNER ...(watch the flak that comes with this)....theres 2 trees to look at....Speed Fighters...and Turn Fighters.....which of course these can be broken down even more to a certain aircraft....but for the latter...look at it like that...Speed planes and Turn planes....F4Us, P38s, FW-190s, just examples...these are Speed fighters...or Boom and Zoom fighters...they use their fast speeds to close in quick...shoot...and get back up to ALT...in a jiffy.....Spits, LAs, Zeros, -examples of turn fighters....meaning they use their agility to their advantage to outturn you and get on your 6 to shoot...they use their quick turns to get in and out of dogfights.....

Now your like on but how does this help me.....it helps you at identifying what your opponent has vs what you have

So heres a quick mission for you...your in a F4U...and your at 13k...and you spot 2 zeros say 5k below you.....so lets do a quick calculation...
1.) HEAD ON A SWIVEL...your not the only fighter out there at those ALTs...so always be on the lookout
2.)Quick on the fly thinking...in the following random order
a.) whats the best angle for me to hit them at...
b.) what do i bring to the table vs them...heavy firepower...and tons of speed.. VERSUS..No speed...some guns and can turn on a dime.


^ this list can be added onto by more measures by veteran pilots...I.E ...Position of the Sun....Speed at attack angle..if i want to disengage whats my best escape route, even the convergence on the guns can be all added to this list....and this is usually all done in the head within like what ...3 secs for the average player?...

but that all comes in time and practice and just usually trial and error...

Also pick your targets and when to strike carefully...a aware enemy can usually give u a bad day....but an unaware or just on the fly o shyt your behind me enemy can be easy kills....Knowing and picking your chances to strike can help you greatly..

also having a somewhat knowledge of the aircrafts and what they can and can not do...is and usually very helpful 

[FLS]

Can you explain exactly what that means?

Fly a flat turn and hold 4 g.  You can read the g on the accelerometer.  The drag from turning will slow you down. As you get slower there will be a speed where you can no longer hold 4 g.  Note this speed. This is your 4 g stall speed. Compare it with the 4 g stall speed of other aircraft. The aircraft with the slowest stall speed will have the fastest turn rate.

You will know you are approaching the stall when you hear the stall horn. Use film so you can watch g and speed more easily.
If you aren't slowing down try a slight spiral climb. Don't slow down too fast as it makes accuracy difficult.

[Big Rat]

OK. Ill do that. What is it that you prefer with the f4u? How did you learn its abilities and weaknesses outside of trial and error?

The F4U series is really a jack of all trades and master of none.  Match it up to any other plane in the plane set and it will normally have an exploitable advantage.  The best way I use to find the abilities of a certain aircraft is fly it against someone who is really good in it.  You'll see exactly what it it capable of.  Optiker showed me how to fly the F4U way back when.  I was originally a 109 guy and after fighting against Optiker many many times I started to appreciate the F4U and its versatility.  I decided to learn it at that point and fell in love with it.

 
BigRat

[Cremator]

OK. Thanks for the help. I am looking into all advice given and its been very helpful thus far.

Ive read a lot. A particular question comes to mind on the art of dog fighting. As a guy who wants to learn proper technique should I concentrate on any one given plane to give me a solid foundation to improve upon? I'm not extremely partial at this point.

[Big Rat]

OK. Thanks for the help. I am looking into all advice given and its been very helpful thus far.

Ive read a lot. A particular question comes to mind on the art of dog fighting. As a guy who wants to learn proper technique should I concentrate on any one given plane to give me a solid foundation to improve upon? I'm not extremely partial at this point.

The Spit 8 is a good foundation plane as it is very good at most things and without any major quirks to work around.  The Spits are not a flap intensive plane, so the work load is less then most, and allows you to concentrate more on ACM and less on flying the aircraft.

 
BigRat

[Cremator]

Rgr that. Thanks.

[Oldman731]

As I said I'm fairly new and I'm not an instant gratification type of guy. I throughly enjoy the game and the historical value. I have already learned a lot from this forum and the information each of you have posted. My goal is to be proficient and fly the planes, not let the prop just pull me around.  Any ideas?

Yes.  Stay here.  We need more guys like you.

The Hellcat is a fine plane to learn on.  As Big Rat said of the Corsair, the Hellcat is good at nearly everything, and best at almost nothing.  If you're practicing slow flight, see how it handles with different flap settings in steep, high-G turns.  You'll be doing a lot of those.  Pay attention to how long it takes to get back to about 250 mph from those turns, and see how a slight dive, compared to a steep dive, helps you get back to that speed.  Hellcat is not a famous climber, but it's no slouch, either, so practice loops and yo-yos, always paying attention to how best to regain your speed after the maneuver.

Adjust your view settings.  People complain about the Hellcat's rear view, but if you adjust your settings you shouldn't have any problem with it.  Fly in front of the drones and practice keeping them constantly in view while you do turns and dives and things.

For starters, set your gun convergence at 300, and don't shoot at anything over 400.  Even better if you wait until 200.  You'll probably want to change this as you go on, but it's a good beginning.

More than anything, have fun.  This is a great game, with great people.  Glad you chose to join us.

- oldman

[bozon]

More than anything, have fun. 

THIS ^ is how you learn. Good advice.

Pick a plane you like - any plane for any reason, even if it is just a cool skin it has. The know that during your early learning period do not expect any great success, so do not measure yourself by your stats and you will enjoy more. You can have very enjoyable fights that you ultimately lost, but felt that you made the other player (or players) sweat. This is not school so enjoyment is vital!

Other then that, skills transfer well between planes, so what you have learned on one plane is not completely wasted when you start flying another, as different as it may be.