BF110, any tricks to use as a fighter?

[salt101]

These days I have been doing a lot of ground attack and Im really fond of the 110. The 110G is an awesome attack craft, but I find if a fighter shows up I am pretty much dead meat. It cant out run, out turn or out climb anything it seems; and the rear gun is useless. If I have alt I can sometimes dive on them, or even HO them, but in a ground attack situation Im low level, usually. IF I do get that lucky shot, usually one hit and the fighter goes boom. The 110G will also tear a bomber formation a new one. Is there any tricks or secrets to the 110G? Also, unrelated question, will the 110G's cannons be able to destroy, or detrack, a tank?
The older 110 is an excellent turner, but the guns seem weak and its super slow.

[xPoisonx]

These days I have been doing a lot of ground attack and Im really fond of the 110. The 110G is an awesome attack craft, but I find if a fighter shows up I am pretty much dead meat. It cant out run, out turn or out climb anything it seems; and the rear gun is useless. If I have alt I can sometimes dive on them, or even HO them, but in a ground attack situation Im low level, usually. IF I do get that lucky shot, usually one hit and the fighter goes boom. The 110G will also tear a bomber formation a new one. Is there any tricks or secrets to the 110G? Also, unrelated question, will the 110G's cannons be able to destroy, or detrack, a tank?
The older 110 is an excellent turner, but the guns seem weak and its super slow.

To me the 110G seems to turn pretty well. There usually aren't many tricks or secrets to planes. And most of the crazy flip tricks involve losing all your energy and get you killed more then save you.
Also the cannons can destroy some (mostly lightly armored) tanks and track the heavy ones.

[salt101]

Thanks Poison, usually when you get jumped by fighters in a 110 do you survive? You do seem to have mad skills. Also, thanks for your deacking tips, so far Iv deacked 7 fields in a row without getting whacked, hope I can keep this momentum.

[bozon]

The 110 can fight better than it gets credit for. It turns OK, and while slow, it is not Brewster slow. The guns are your main advantage - players should be scared of you and this means you have to be very aggressive, keep them on the defense, and try to finish fights as quickly as possible. If you play timid, they will equalize E states very quickly. The tail gunner is there as ballast, don't even bother to man those guns - you are always better served by maneuvering.

While I am no 110 expert, I find that all twins (P38 and mossie) behave quite similar in a furball. Everyone will try to kill you first, which means you have to track closely all planes within d3.0 of you. Be prepared to be ganged and assume that all bandits are looking at you, because they are. Also, since you are a big target, you have to react early - if the bandit is within 1000 yards on your 6 it is already late. Evasives have to be decisive and get you completely out of the way - you cannot wiggle your way out of trouble like 190s or yaks. It is absolutely vital that you never allow a full plane shot on you! If you cannot dodge the shot completely, then give your opponent your side by rolling and pointing your wing at him - never your full top plane.

You biggest weapon is disrespect. Most players will expect you to be an easy kill and get too eager. They also expect you to turn like a C47 and will be shocked to discover that as long as the speed is not too low, you can turn with just about any of them except the really exceptional (and very slow speed) turners. The 110C will out turn most late war fighters by quite a margin.

...and never ever man the rear guns unless it is for giggles.

[darkzking]

C47 is the best turner besides a ki43 i've cut inside of Zeros with that monster

[glzsqd]

If your GV hunting in almost any plane your pretty screwed if you run into opposing fighters. That being said the 110 can bee flown like an F4U in the sense that it can pull a very tight turn when flaps are extened. Use this to put yourself into a Head On position.

[Zerstorer]

Ahhhh....so you want help with the premiere ride in the LWMA, do you?  Well...you've come to the right place.  Sit down and let Uncle Fulcrum give you some pointers about his favorite ride:

1.) Stick with the 110G.  110Cs are like turny little planes that elves fly...and you are no elf, are you!?  HELL NO!

2.) Aggression is key to success in the 110G for lots of reasons.....but most of all because it intimidates the crap out of the war uber ride pilots!  Nothing gets a Spitteen pilot's guts churning more than seeing a plane twice the size of his turning with him....especially when he also considers it has three times his firepower.  BWHAHAHAHAH!

3.) Working flap and the throttle is essential.  While this is true for nearly all planes it's especially true with the 110G.  If you have dual throttles you can do some really interesting stuff with practice....just be careful with rudder use with the flaps out i.e. can result in some nasty stalls.

4.) I disagree with bozon slightly...the rear gun IS useful, but only as an absolute last resort.  I've killed and/or softened up a few victims with pot shots from the "stinger" more than a few times. Think of it as a hold out weapon (i.e. a 'Deringer') and you have the right idea.  Just be prepared to receive lots of nasty PMs as a cheater when you kill someone with it, tho'.  

5.)  If you take a hit but everything seems OK, don't worry.....your rear gunner just died!  You don't have the 'Deringer' anymore....but who cares!?!?!  YOU HAVE HUGE GUNS ON THE NOSE!  

6.) You need SOME alt to work with to truly be effective in a turn fight.  The plane loses E quickly in a turn, so you have lose alt to compensate i.e. "fight downhill".  You don't need a lot of alt.  This is not to say you can't turn fight on the deck...just not optimal.  

7.)  The plane has the surprising capability to point it's nose UP and keep it up with some rudder work, especially below 5K.  USE THIS TO YOUR ADVANTAGE IN A 1V1 SITUATION.  A good late-war ride pilot will go vert on you and try to stay above you.  If (when) he gets overconfident and gives too much horizontal separation point your nose to the sky in front of his flight path, hold it there by popping a notch or two of flaps, apply a bit of right rudder, and then hold down the firing button.  Boom!  Aww...poor K4 fall down!

8.)  WEP lasts a long time in the 110G...which is good cause you need it to keep that E up!

9.) The 110 is slow...but that's relatively speaking.   In a dive it can build up quite a bit of speed....with that and a bit of luck you might just get to base.  Maybe.    Just be aware the 110G compresses kinda like a 109 in a dive.  Be sure you know how to use trim to recover before you go splat.

10.) If someone is dumb enough to point their nose at you for a HO....do as I do and OBLIGE THEM.  It will be a valuable educational experience for your soon to be vaporized opponent.  Consider it your way to give back to the community!  


 

[Zerstorer]

If your GV hunting in almost any plane your pretty screwed if you run into opposing fighters. That being said the 110 can bee flown like an F4U in the sense that it can pull a very tight turn when flaps are extened. Use this to put yourself into a Head On position.

Or on their six.   

[Volron]

5.)  If you take a hit but everything seems OK, don't worry.....your rear gunner just died!  You don't have the 'Deringer' anymore....but who cares!?!?!  YOU HAVE HUGE GUNS ON THE NOSE!  

 

[xPoisonx]

Thanks Poison, usually when you get jumped by fighters in a 110 do you survive? You do seem to have mad skills. Also, thanks for your deacking tips, so far Iv deacked 7 fields in a row without getting whacked, hope I can keep this momentum.

I don't usually fly 110s but it seems like it would depend more on the skill of the enemy / 110 pilot then it would their flight characteristics. Glad I could help ya deack.. maybe we can set something up where you deack fields so I can vulch them 

[scott66]

Had a 110 out turn my spixteen not to long ago..I was shocked then died and I reupped a few more times to make sure I wasn't seeing things...alas same result

[Slade]

Had a 110 out turn my spixteen not to long ago

Can the two prop fighters really be manipulated into that kind of consistent turn envelope?

If so how is it done please?


I tend to fly single engine fighters and dont have a joystick or rig that could optmize a twin engine fighter.  I'd still like to know.  I have great respect for pilots good in those birds.  Thanks for sharing info on this.

Slade 

[bozon]

Can the two prop fighters really be manipulated into that kind of consistent turn envelope?

If so how is it done please?


I tend to fly single engine fighters and dont have a joystick or rig that could optmize a twin engine fighter.  I'd still like to know.  I have great respect for pilots good in those birds.  Thanks for sharing info on this.

"Out turn" is a very broad term. Most planes can out turn most other planes given the right conditions. Yes, a plane can out turn its clone. The reason is that two planes fighting are rarely at the same speed, same alt and in sustained turns. This is simply not how most fights play out, especially between two different planes. This leaves quite some room for pilot skill to come into play.

Players that out turn you in what is precieved as a lesser turning plane simply understand the geometry of the fight and how planes perform at different conditions better than you. There is noagic involved and 90% of the ACM they pull is quite standard stuff - they just do it right and at the right time.

I am sorry. No "do this" solution.

[Zerstorer]

Players that out turn you in what is precieved as a lesser turning plane simply understand the geometry of the fight and how planes perform at different conditions better than you. There is no magic involved and 90% of the ACM they pull is quite standard stuff - they just do it right and at the right time.

I am sorry. No "do this" solution.

All kidding aside I agree with all of the above.... but please note the highlighted section.  

To quote Sun Tzu:

"If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”

Just remember that "knowing yourself" isn't just some philosophical concept...it means knowing your available resources, strengths and weaknesses.  In air combat this translates in part to knowing not only how to fly and ACM, but also knowing the plane you are flying.  You simply cannot completely discount pilot experience with a specific plane.  The more one flies a plane the more he or she will understand its strengths, weaknesses and how to get the best performance out of it.  It's not "tricks" per say...just awareness.  Most "tricks", as one of the previous posts note, will usually just end up getting you killed or are of limited utility except in very specific situations.

Best advice I can give is to fly the plane in the MA and DA...a lot. Fly it offline.  Do so to learn how it handles, when it stalls and under what conditions.  How quickly does it lose speed in a gentle and hard turn?  How quickly does it climb and dive? Can it zoom climb?  How much rudder can you apply? All of this helps.  All the stuff I posted eariler are not "tricks"...just the result of experience.
 
Just be sure to fly other planes too...that will help with the "knowing your enemy".  

 

[Karnak]

Just be sure to fly other planes too...that will help with the "knowing your enemy".  

This is what has always made me shake my head in sadness at the people who whine about things like the Spit XVI or La-7 and then proudly claim to have never flown one, not even offline.  Pride causing them to cut their own noses off.