A 'Primer' for new LW pilots.

[gofaster]

Originally posted by Lephturn
What plane are you flying, what convergence do you use, and what ranges are you firing at?  Also, what happens when you shoot at somebody... what shots are you taking and missing, and describe what is happening when you miss.

I've been flying the FW190A8 a lot lately.  My usual guns package is the four 20mm cannons in the wings with the 13mm MGs in the cowl (if I'm going to fly with anything less, then I might as well use the 190F8 or 190A5 that have better flight characteristics).  With this arrangement, the A8 will win most of the HOs it encounters against other fighters, though the Me110 and Mosquito can be a problem since they don't have the convergence problems that wing-gun planes do.

I usually fire at d400 or less.  The few times I will shoot at farther ranges is if I'm at my target's dead-6'oclock and he's trying to outrun me.

The FW190A8 can be very effective at killing LA-7s, even though the LA-7s are faster, turn better, and generally perform better at ACM.  The trick is to enter the fight at a faster speed than the LA-7 so that he can't outrun you and must turn to be evasive.  At faster speeds, the 190 and LA-7 are on equal grounds in a turn, and since your 190 is attacking, it has the advantage of being on the offensive.  The 190 also has a bigger ammo load and more guns, so you can take low-percentage shots with no real penalty.  But- you must get him on your first pass because if he crosses farther than 20 degrees off your nose, you should look to get out of the fight and radio for help.

I won't tell you my convergence settings - that's a trade secret!

[Fancy]

Thanks for the punt as this really is good stuff.  I've been flying AH for about 2 months now and I've been sort of floundering in many planes.  The other day I jumped in a 190A8.   I chose it for the guns mostly.  I thought that if I'd be BnZing that the few shots I get on a con better count for something.  Well, 8 kills later I'm in love.  I agree with BOOT () that flying a plane like this makes you better at most planes.  I mean I knew my turning was molasses, so I just kept high and tried to pluck off the weak ones one by one.

It was funny, actually, I was flying CAP over an enemy base with some squaddies.  Squaddies got shot down as resistance got a little thicker.  I was being toyed with by two Spits.  i knew I had a slight speed edge and that I could dive better, so every time one got close to my six, I would dive and extend.  They would follow me for far too long though.  But I would turn to meet when I had enough d, then repeat until a squaddie came to back me up on this one Spit.  The spit broke off me as we extended, I rolled up and sort of flopped over to the left.  As my nose came under the horizon again I had a glimpse of his topside.  Four pings with the 30s and 20s is all it took for him.

[Imp]

bump!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Dr Lecter]

I checked out the MS CFS3 site out of curiosity today - but after having read this thread, I am humbled.  MS - you can STUFF your fancy graphics.  

There can be no way that CFS, or any other sim,  offers the same in depth gameplay and dedicated tacticians with such a community spirit as exists in AH.

One thing I would like to know - has an assesment been done by veterans or current warbird pilots on how all these plane handling charcteristics match up to the real machines? (would'nt that be something - fighting against a REAL ace!)

[Urchin]

There are some WW2 vets that play.  A couple anyway.  I'm not sure if they have ever done a comparison.  I know Robert Shaw plays occasionally, I had the pleasure of meeting him at this years Convention.  

From the reading I've done, the planes seem to match up well.  One thing you do have to remember though, is that a lot of us are more skill at flying our 'virtual planes' than real pilots were at flying the real thing, so that can skew the results.  

Overall, I think Aces High is the most accurate rendition of WW2 air combat ever made.

[gofaster]

Training manual in txt format using Urchin's posts culled from various threads, spelling and punctuation more or less corrected.  Enjoy!

[guttboy]

Well guys if you would like to know from a real fighter pilot.....Hawk1 was a Korean War Fighter Pilot and a VietNam Fighter pilot.  He commanded the last TIGER COMMANDO F-5 Squadron that was in Vietnam during that war.  We have some information posted on him at http://www.combathanger.com

Cyall in the air....

[Dr Lecter]

Hi, Guttboy.

Visiting the Combat hanger, and seeing your Tiger (Grrrr!) rang a bell with me because I am part of a real NATO Tiger Squadron. Would your online Sqn have any interest in becoming affiliated to the NATO Tigers? (Looking at your occupation, maybe you already are!)

Lecter

[guttboy]

Hiya Dr lecter,
In what way would you propose affiliation?  You must remember we are true to the ROOKS!....lol...Let me know what you are thinking!

TG12:D

[Dr Lecter]

Go to http://www.natotigers.org to find out what NATO Tigers are all about.

Sqns with a tiger as their emblem are banded together by this association and one sqn (in roation) holds an annual Tiger Meet, mostly jets attending, but with the odd helicopter Sqn, and there are also the occassional 'mini-meets'.  Theres a good mix of ac, typically F16, Mirage F1, Tornado etc.

What do we do?  A mixture of flying and social events.  There may be scope for your Sqn to make it's mark in some way, but I don't want to divert this thread too much.  Email me at mcauley.cooke@virgin.net if I can be of help further.

Regards,

Dr Lecter

[Xjazz]

*punt*

[Bonden]

.

[gofaster]

I've been flying the 109G6 with 30mm cannon over the holiday break and I'm impressed with the firepower it can dish out.  It'll climb real well with WEP but the turning performance is weakened with all that weight in the nose.  Still, 1 hit from the 30mm will knock down a fighter, 2 hits will knock down a medium bomber, 3 will take out a larger bomber.  Best tactic is to use it as a BnZ fighter.  Climb to 20k and make sure that all of your attacks are made from the top going down on your target, then using autoclimb to get back up because you'll probably be pretty close to compression if you dive more than 3,000 feet or so.

The shells are slow moving and ROF is pretty low, so get in close, give it plenty of lead, and only fire the 30mm - no real need to waste your 13mm MG ammo when the 30mm will knock down a plane with 1 to 3 hits, so save the 13mm for the low-percentage snapshots where you're just trying to puncture a radiator or knock off a flap.  

[Urchin]

In my opinion the 109G6 makes for a poor BnZ fighter.  What I do is "E-fight" in it.  You stay above your target if at all possible (it helps to start with an E advantage if you want to do it on Spits), and wait for your opponent to give you a chance.  When he does, you drop down onto his six and stick there.  If it is against a Spit it is OK to do a couple rolls in a rolling scissors if you think you'll get a shot out of it.  Against just about anything else tho, you are dropping down on his 6 to stay there, not to BnZ.  

You won't usually get more than about 1,000 meters from your target after the initial opening 'zoom' (and I sometimes don't even zoom, I come around hard over the top and see what happens from there).  It is form of dogfighting, just not your typical circle-fight.  Or rather, picture a 109 making vertical circles (i.e. loops of various sizes), and using Hi yoyos and such until he can drop back down into the horizontal plane behind his opponent.

[devious]