bogies on my 6

[The Fugitive]

What Muzzy wrote is 100% true and is the way you"should" fly in combat, problem is, this isn't combat, its a game and numbers 4-7 are boring as hell! 

Of course if your going in with your hair on fire turning and a burnin' your going to die..... well pretty much always. There are tips on SA, aim, not following a con to long, or sticking with a bad situation too long that will aid you in taking more of them with you when you die, but die you will. Look at "latrobe" Most consider him one of the top fighter guys in the game, and he is still shot down half the time he is in a fighter.

So you must decide young grasshopper, do you wish to make lots of kills returning to base often, or do you want to fly with your hair on fire? 

[Muzzy]

^^ Exactly...there are in fact times when you may want to go diving into a tough situation...I would say there's a time and place for both, and it really depends what kind of mood your in...strategic, or aggressive.

If I'm in the mood to mix it up, I kind of go Latrobe...I up a bird that I know intimately (in my case an FM2) and I will aggressively charge a group of cons. Once engaged I will basically maneuver like a butterfly on acid. Because the FM2 turns amazingly at slow speed and is almost impossible to stall out, I know exactly what I can get away with, so it's much easier for me to fly on the edge. This works really well against high performance planes who think you're going to be easy meat...they'll come barreling in on me and try to pick me, but since I have my views set optimally, I can see them coming and turn away. If they try to mix it up with me, well, they're dead. If they BnZ, I just keep avoiding their shots until they get bored and make a mistake, or until I die.

Interestingly enough, the  principle of energy is still in play. My goal is to get the high performance guys to burn off energy trying to nail me. I try to get them to commit to sharp turns...flat turns will slow them down, sharp loops will burn off their alt, until they commit to a low, slow turnfight which in most circumstances I can win. The trick is to keep your head on a swivel and don't commit to an attack unless you can get them in a single turn. You can't afford to dog another plane for too long because you know his buddies will be angling for a shot.

Flying this way is a lot of fun, but be aware, you will get shot down A LOT.

[mikev]

^^^  Great stuff Muzzy,pretty much what I have been trying to teach mike!  I may even use that money analogy!



   

  lol Morfiend now you know why i said break out the checkbook .
 well as most of us do  today was a bad day due to Skyyr. a couple scoobers thrown in for good measure along with a tree branch . this video  i think you will see some better flying but some poor choices because i did not know what to do,and a LA which i should of blown out of the sky but somehow managed not to.
  you ask what kind of flying i like well i would say both. i like to mix it up and then again come home with 200 kills , hehehe. lets face it the game is combat not checkers or monopoly. if it was real none of us would do it. sometimes i like 30 planes on my 6 makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside to be so popular. its even more fun when they auger and give me proxies. but truthfully i like to fight. i wont run or hide in the ack unless i sustain damage which make a fight impossible. but as the story goes when out numbered take as many with you as you can.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJ36eIZIGd0

[Muzzy]

Object lesson: you did a flat turn and Skyrr came over the top and nailed you. You really need to break yourself of the habit of going to the flat turn, otherwise you're going to make yourself an easy target.

As an exercise, try flying a few sorties while forcing yourself to climb *every time* you want to change direction. Throw a vertical element into every turn you make, either a loop or a high yo-yo...anything but a flat turn. It doesn't have to be a hard climb, but you need to force yourself to get into the habit of thinking in three dimensions. Actually, take a sticky note with the words "ANYTHING BUT A FLAT TURN" and stick it to your monitor. This isn't going to turn you into a success overnight, but what it will do is break you out of your habits.

[Puma44]

Learn the principles of maneuvering out of plane and use of lift vector against an opponent.

[FLS]

Good points Muzzy.

Before you make a flat turn Mikev ask yourself 3 easy questions.

Am I in formation with an aircraft making a flat turn?

Am I learning how airspeed limits radial g?

Am I on the deck without the speed to go vertical?

Once you break the level turn habit the next problem is getting too low and too fast or too high and too slow on the turn.
Use your maneuvering speed range as a guide to how slow you let yourself get in a climbing turn and how fast you get in a descending turn. Remember pitch, the elevator, is your primary speed control.

[Randy1]

Speed limits options.

[FLS]

Speed limits options.

Speed by itself usually increases options and a speed (energy) advantage lets you control the fight.

[Muzzy]

It's relative. Speed increases your ability to control the fight, but limits your maneuverability to some extent, depending on the airframe. You won't be able to turn as sharply, but you can dictate the terms of the engagement...either extend and get out of dodge, climb up, or catch someone trying to run.

Managing speed is one of the hardest skills to learn. The first component is judging the speed of your adversary, which is a lot harder to do than you would think. The second is to manage your rate of closure. Overshoots happen because of too much speed; you need to know how to chop throttle and/or maneuver in order to slow down. The two most common errors of new pilots are pulling hard flat turns all the time, and not managing their speed.

[Skyyr]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJ36eIZIGd0

Ha, I actually only had 6 rounds left when I shot you. Luckily, they all impacted you.

I was the LA you shot at initially. I'll see if I have film of the fight (I think I saved it).

[FLS]

It's relative. Speed increases your ability to control the fight, but limits your maneuverability to some extent, depending on the airframe. You won't be able to turn as sharply, but you can dictate the terms of the engagement...either extend and get out of dodge, climb up, or catch someone trying to run.

Managing speed is one of the hardest skills to learn. The first component is judging the speed of your adversary, which is a lot harder to do than you would think. The second is to manage your rate of closure. Overshoots happen because of too much speed; you need to know how to chop throttle and/or maneuver in order to slow down. The two most common errors of new pilots are pulling hard flat turns all the time, and not managing their speed.

When you talk about "too much" speed it's useful to define how much is too much.

Speed degrades max turn rate and increases turn radius only when it is above your corner speed, assuming you're pulling all available g.

[Muzzy]

When you talk about "too much" speed it's useful to define how much is too much.

Speed degrades max turn rate and increases turn radius only when it is above your corner speed, assuming you're pulling all available g.

True...I was trying to keep it relatively simple. Now we have to explain turn radius, turn rate and corner speed. We'll be here all day!   

[mikev]

Ha, I actually only had 6 rounds left when I shot you. Luckily, they all impacted you.

I was the LA you shot at initially. I'll see if I have film of the fight (I think I saved it).

ha i should of put a few more cannon in , i thought you lost the wing

[JUDAS]

Keep practicing MikeV!
you will soon understand how this game works!
buy a trakir if you can, it will help you with SA.
Pay attention to the orientation of your plane when doing vert maneuvers! when you are looking back/down  you are rolling your plane to get a view of the con .. its putting you into a flat turn!

when you are on defense you are doing a few things right (other than taking eye off con)  BUT...!  you gotta cut the throttle!!!!!  I seen plenty of overshoot opportunities .but you were full throttle

like I said keep practicing   keep on fighting fearlessly  and learn from your experiences   <S>

[HL117]

Ha, I actually only had 6 rounds left when I shot you. Luckily, they all impacted you.

I was the LA you shot at initially. I'll see if I have film of the fight (I think I saved it).

The problem with Skyyr is that he rarely misses if given an opportunity, I find this very annoying