Competitive

[SPKmes]

Yes...when I die it is my fault.... I didn't need to take the plane I used, I didn't need to jump into that gaggle of red, I didn't see that 5th con come in from the stratosphere.... Many of my deaths are due to bad gunnery.... I have learned (after many many sorties) to evade and fly defensively but offensively I really lack skills....

As most have said here...get with a trainer...or there is the squad option...there are many here that will teach you...

I would probably put trainers first as they will teach you how, when and why and allow you to adjust things for your fit...a squad have their particular ways...
Much like driving lessons...your dad can and will teach you...but he will unwittingly also teach you bad habits...where as a driving instructor will teach you correctly without the years of self taught bad habits.... That part is for you to learn

Once you find your style then you can find the squad that fits.

[morfiend]

Below are just my thoughts, so don't be surprised if people disagre with me, wyatt.

My advice for people starting out:

Gunnery

• Fly aircraft with similar armament.
• Fly offline for 5 mins prior to going online and shoot the drones from various angles.
• Open fire when an aircraft's icon is 400 yds or less.
• If you're not hitting on deflection shots a simple trick is to apply twice as much lead as you think you need.
• Try not to pull back hard on the stick when firing for shots which require high amount of deflection or snap shots- pull the required deflection or greater- relax the stick- fire and let the aircraft pass through your gun sight.

ACM

• There is a lot of literature avialable online- read it
• Focus on a specific BFM/ACM for your sortie. e.g. This sortie I will try and 'rope a dope' every con, when a con does a flat turn I will perform a high yo-yo and when a con is on my 6 I will do a barrel role. They may not be the correct manouevre for the situation- but you will build experience on how to correctly perform them.
• View your films from the cockpit of the enemy when you get shot down. How easy did it look to shoot you down? Did you conduct a manouevre too early or late? Did you perform that manoevre well- was the barrel roll really a barrel roll?
• Conversely if you fought a guy you just couldn't out manouevre or hit- watch his film with trails on and try to recreate it.
• Don't be afraid to die. You will not progress unless you're willing to get shot down. There are a lot people ingame who are good at fighting from an advantage but poor fighting defensively. You should try to view fighting a higher con as just requiring different ACM to shoot them down.

I could go on and on I assure you.

  This is some pretty good advice,except you left out the part about getting with a trainer!


  I'm usually in the training arena most week nights between 9pm and 11pm est. The only night I'm not available is Friday,thats for FSO and you will almost never see me on Saturdays for some reason.


  Drop by the TA and just ask if I'm busy.



     

[JimmyD3]

First thing I do is admit the reason I am climbing back out or in the tower is because I made a mistake.  Not because some someone else HO'd, or someone else picked, or someone else was an alt monkey or the other players plane was faster or the other pilots plane turned better (you get the picture).  Figure out what that mistake was and do not repeat it.  Lift that plane and go at them again.  Do not get upset and just have fun. You are gonna get whooped, we all do.  My A** has been kicked in some of the best fights I have had...

 

Best answer I've seen, and oh so very true.
  waystin2

[NatCigg]

want to be a good pilot, live for tomorrow?  here you go. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dicta_Boelcke

There are only so many things a plane can do.  I played around, trying new things, see whats possible.  My experience was always trying to get better, get the kill, or get away.  This road is tough, rewriting the book.

Your biggest improvements will come from a trainer.  He can help you see the light.

Learning all that pilot stuff is in ground school.  getting familiar with basic elements that make a plane fly and how everything works, would get you on the right foundation to understanding the limits of flying; the limits of flight and the machine is where many fights are won and lost.

Actually, the fight is decided before it begins, hence u should read the "dicta".

The rest is just games and execution.

 

[thrila]

This is some pretty good advice,except you left out the part about getting with a trainer!

Oops!

[edge12674]

There is a lot of good advice given so far.  Here is my two cents. 

Your first step is to fly ALL the fighters offline a couple times.  Try some S-turns, 360 degree turns, loops, flying through a hangar, etc.  Keep an open mind and you will probably find at least one plane that just "feels" right/comfortable.  Remember that there is no "BFG" in this game and any fighter can be a good killing platform IF the pilot feels a connection to it.  When I started playing I immediately gravitated towards American/British fighters.  The last fighter I was interested in was ANYTHING Japanese, but I found the A6M5b suited me and provided the kind of dogfights I found most enjoyable.  That kept me coming back and having a continued desire to learn.

Once you find a fighter that you like then it is time to learn about the type of dogfighting it is suited for (boom and zoom or turn and burn).  Learn ACM and gunnery through research and from a trainer (either an AH trainer or fellow player that is good in that aircraft).  The beautiful thing about AH is that real world ACM theory has application online and will help you see your mistakes and successes clearly.  You might consider picking up a book called "Fighter Combat" by Robert Shaw as a text book for ACM.

Choosing a fighter in AH is similar to choosing a hand gun.  First step is finding something that "feels" right in your hand, like it is an extension of your body.  From there the fighter will dictate the fighting style and ballistics you will have to learn.

Also keep in mind that you are pitting yourself against real people.  The learning will be continuous.  You WILL have good days and bad days.  There will always be times when you are shot down.  The good news is that you will feel a real sense of accomplishment as you learn and improve.

Hope this help! 

[Petey]

Superbee you have great potential and are a killer in your other sim but, this is a whole new deal. the talent in AH is above and beyond any other combat flight sim.

you wanna play with the big boys then you have to do your home work.  Every virtual pilot in AH has put the time in working on their craft and honing their skills.  for some it takes more time and for some it comes natural.

put in the work and it will pay off for you.

1000 virtual deaths = learning to be a virtual pilot.  that does not mean that you will be an Ace. what it does mean is that you will have a baseline of your skills and know that areas to improve upon.  Then add another 10,000 sorties and you may then have a clue and chances are you will become a pretty good stick of you take the lessons along the way and apply what has been learned and lesson from each flight.

practice off line, train with a friend or a trainer, take your lumps record then review your fights, figure out what you you need to improve on and work on them.

but, what do I know?

be patient Glasshopper!

/0 <salute>

oh yeah.... let the dog out

[FLS]

Before you practice learn what to practice.

[Petey]

I agree.   

[nrshida]

Just three points I'd contend. The odious slavery to Dicta Boelcke Rule #1 which has become vigourously asserted recently doesn't allow for three things: 1. You might indeed view the game as a 'sport'. A long-term perspective of development would include pitching your skill against insurmountable odds and situations. 2. The 'historical realism' assertion you usually hear to justify it isn't accurtate as many real WWII pilots did not have the luxury of being able to choose when and where they fought as we do. 3. You might find it more fun to fight hard with no regard to the outcome.

Secondly I do not think the blame for a defeat can always be ultimately attributed to oneself. Sometimes situations degrade and your opportunity to 'escape to fight another day' closes. That's just the nature of chaotic environments.

Lastly I wouldn't buy a copy of Shaw as it's a bit expensive, not especially relevant and in my experience there are some AH pilots employing technique which goes faaaar beyond what you will read in there. The repositries of the ultimate <1:1 thrust ratio ACM might in fact be a small number of living AH sticks. Fascinating possibility.

[Kingpin]

Before you practice learn what to practice.

One of my favorite quotes is "Practice does NOT make perfect.  PERFECT practice makes perfect." (Usually attributed to Vince Lombardi)  That means, first learn what you NEED to learn, THEN put in the time practicing it correctly.  Otherwise, you will just repeat your mistakes and form bad habits.

There is lots of good advice here but as someone who spent many hours in the Training Arena before I ever became a Trainer, I can tell you that tip #1 is get with a Trainer.  One hour working with a trainer is worth many many hours trying to learn in the main arenas or figure it out on your own. (Have you noticed that in all the various advice here, that has been repeated the most?  )

Trainers are here to help identify specific things you can improve on that you yourself may not be able to identify in your own flying.  Saving and watching films is great advice.  Learning the capabilities of the entire plane-set by flying different aircraft is great advice.  Learning and practicing the principals of gunnery is great advice.  However, they are of limited help if you aren't precisely aware of how you can improve or don't know how to practice them correctly .  That is where the Trainers come in.  Trainers are here specifically to help find things you can improve on, to explain and demonstrate them clearly, to work with you on doing them correctly and to give you tips and ways of practicing to improve.

Also, training is not just for beginners.  I am constantly amazed at how many veteran players I encounter who benefit from one little tip that they were not aware of despite years of flying in AH. If all you get out of a training session is one more tool for your toolbag, it is time well spent.

Tip #2 is to only measure yourself against yourself.  There are so many different ways to play this game that measuring skill is highly subjective.  Score in game is not a great measure of skill.  Sometimes the people who are landing the most kills are not necessarily the most skilled dogfighters.  Sometimes the most skilled players will take on overwhelming odds or fight at a disadvantage just to push themselves or because that is what they consider fun.  For these players getting shot down doesn't bother them, as long as they had a fun and challenging fight in the process.

So, tailor your goals to what you find fun and challenging and measure yourself against yourself (your own improvement).  Sometimes that's just surviving 3 turns with a player that usually kills you in 2.  Ignore other players' scores, or landed kills or especially comments on 200.  If you are having fun and improving your skill set (which as a competitive player is something you will probably push yourself to do) then that is what is important -- not necessarily how many kills you are landing compared to other players.

Hope these tips help and hope to see you in the TA!

<S>
KP

[Petey]

fully agree KP. 

now ask him if he let the puppy out. <g>

Superbee is my son.   

[RedBeard]

If you want a simple answer, then figure out what you want (fun, challenge, K/D ratio).  If you want fun, fly with a squad.  If you want challenge, don't worry about getting shot down.  Take off from capped fields in a good (or for more challenge, early war) furballer and try to last as long as you can.  If you want K/D ratio, pick an energy fighter, climb to 20k, and drop on people going to/from battles.

If you want a more academic answer, then it requires lots and lots of study and practice.  You have to a) learn how to fly with skill and precision (no ham fisting), b) learn aerodynamics and how it affects the aircraft, c) learn the difference between energy and angles fighting and why some planes are better at one versus another, d) learn BFM manuevers or how to manage the geometry (position, aspect, and distance) and closure rates of a fight, e) learn ACM or how to fight more than just one airplane.

Military pilots train continuously throughout their career.  Aside from a couple of years of initial pilot training, there's a 3 or 4 month long advanced fighter weapons school that is a very intense form of training dedicated to teaching the art of air combat.  I have been attempting to recreate this for Aces High from scratch and will open it up when I'm ready, but it's not going to be a quick "good enough" kind of school.  It will cover Advanced Handling Characteristics, detailed aircraft performance determination and evaluation (Energy Maneuverability Theory), Formations, 1v1 BFM, 2v1, 1v2, 4v4 ACM, and ACT.  Varying levels of graduates will be available so you don't have to go through everything if you don't want to.  If that kind of training appeals to you, great, but you'll have to wait a bit.  I'm about 60 pages into a training syllabus and I haven't yet started BFM, ACM, or ACT yet.  I need to get some test students through it first and I'll probably need to spin up 1 or 2 additional IPs to work with students and play the role of aggressors.