Author Topic: Enough of being the Lone Ranger – now I’m a P51D(weeb) (Read 419 times)

beet1e · « **on:** February 11, 2002, 01:06:42 PM »

OK, I’ve had it with flying lone missions and then being bounced by 2+ superior planes. Just now I was up against a Yak and a 109. The Yak was a cool guy, and did well to avoid my Spit ix, at the same time downing one of our buffs. The 109 was an opportunist. Came in high, went for the HO (naturally

) and after we passed I saw him reversing at D2.9. Well damn me if he didn’t catch right back up to me. Must have been a G10. I dived at some friendlies but couldn’t out run the 109. Oh well

I have long resisted flying dweeb planes, and the P51D is… well… I would prefer to fly something like a F4U and make a challenge of it. If the F4U-4 weren’t so expensive, that might be my plane of choice. But what with all the lack of support, lack of 6-calls etc., I’ve got to fight fire with fire. So today for the first time ever, I took a P51D. It was great – climbs well, fast, but I really love the E retention for those zoom climbs after a bounce (just check high 6 before doing those!). I bagged four – Spit, P38, F4U and a B17, which I got with only 110 rounds left, and used 102 of those, then landed safely.

Were we to have an RPS, I would look forward to flying different planes. But, we have all planes available all the time. So it will have to be the P51Dweeb for me, but I don’t feel guilty about it. However, you will never see me in a N1K

Wardog · « **Reply #1 on:** February 11, 2002, 02:12:28 PM »

hmm..

Last night i got 4 kills low & slow off a22 in a p51. You want a challenge, try low furball against La7s, Spits and F6Fs under 2k and turn fighting. I was riding 2 notchs flaps and on & off the throttle right till the last Spit went boom and a 109 came in hi and cut me in half.

The p51 is a well rounded plane, i like using it as bait staying under 15k and letting the enemy jump me

The challenge is where you find it, not what you fly.

Dog out.............

CavemanJ · « **Reply #2 on:** February 11, 2002, 02:48:24 PM »

yeah, what Dog said

Steven · « **Reply #3 on:** February 11, 2002, 03:06:03 PM »

You are flying a Spitfire and tired of "dweebs"? ????

Sorry you got B&Z'd but no one is gonna fight you on your Spit's terms. No way will a Mustang or 109 get slow to turn with you.

Manxer · « **Reply #4 on:** February 11, 2002, 03:31:45 PM »

I turnfight Spitfires with my P-51. I don't always beat them, but HTC has cheap pricing on pony's. You'd be surprised how well the Pony does in the initial turns, and if those don't work as expected, you can always get some clearance take a breath and setup again.

beet1e · « **Reply #5 on:** February 11, 2002, 03:59:13 PM »

LOL steven! I guess I asked for that, but the Yak seemed more manoeuvrable than my Spit, just as it was in WB. My problem in the Spit was that it was much slower than the 109 that eventually got me. Had I tried to make a fight of it, the Yak was there waiting for me. I couldn't win.

funkedup · « **Reply #6 on:** February 11, 2002, 04:08:26 PM »

Don't worry about it Beet. The dweebery system here is upside down anyways. They call "dweeby" those planes that take some aerobatic skill to kill with and survive in. The snobs think it's somehow more impressive to get kills and live with a ridiculously fast plane while flying in a straight line 95% of the time. Bass ackwards. You and I know who the real dweebs are.

beet1e · « **Reply #7 on:** February 11, 2002, 05:11:12 PM »

Funked up! What a nice post. Is this the same funked that used to reply to my posts in WB/AGW?

I'm going to frame this one on the back of my bathroom door

Rude · « **Reply #8 on:** February 11, 2002, 05:16:23 PM »

I beg your pardon......I'll let ya know that my 51 can slice and dice with any of you ACM Giants....even with me flyin it:D

bowser · « **Reply #9 on:** February 11, 2002, 06:10:17 PM »

Agreed funked. Always wondered why some think it takes "more skill" to fly a plane you never turn in. Boom, zoom, repeat. Wow.

bowser

Swager · « **Reply #10 on:** February 11, 2002, 06:17:04 PM »

It's all relative!

Steven · « **Reply #11 on:** February 11, 2002, 08:11:03 PM »

Beet1e, like Swagger says.. "it's all relative." And if you want to fly the F4U, why aren't you doing so? I'm actually giving the F4U-1 some time this tour and last tour. If you are new to the E-business, you'll soon learn the aggravations are relative. There are times that my pig is fighting some other big hunk of American iron in the sky and a Spitfire or N1K jumps in and ruins the enjoyment of a good fight. That can be equally aggravating as some guy diving in and taking a pot shot and climbing for the stars to do it all over again. It's relative. It's a variety of threats and I think that is a good thing.

If this were real, we wouldn't see the types of dogfights we are seeing now because self-preservation would take a huge account in any decision to combat or not, unlike it does in the MA. People wouldn't look for a fair fight but rather the biggest advantage they could get. The aggravations are relative it seems to me.

streakeagle · « **Reply #12 on:** February 11, 2002, 10:42:12 PM »

Quote

Angles tactics are inherently more agressive, placing the opponent in a defensive position early in the engagement, and they can have significant psychological impact, particularly on an inexperienced adversary. This technique is also generally quicker than energy tactics, an important consideration when a fighter is limited by very short combat endurance.

Energy tactics, on the other hand, require more patience and training. Speed control is very important, as is the ability to judge the bogey's energy state accurately. This technique also demands proficiency in the rolling scissors, which is a difficult maneuver to master.

--Robert L. Shaw, FIGHTER COMBAT Tactics and Manuevering, p.111

So there you have it from the bible. BNZ is the harder of the two. Anyone can yank a stick in a Spitfire and pray to the Hispano gods for a kill. Only a few can perch up high in a much inferior aircraft and kill just about anything. Of course a good pilot in a good plane is the best combination. But even the best energy fighter can be stalemated by and angles fighter. Of course a slower angles fighter can't leave until the faster energy fighter chooses to leave. So if you fly a fast tnb plane but you are also good at BNZ tactics, you should rule in 1 V 1 combat.

Has anyone consistently used P-51D endurance to run people out of fuel for repeated "deadstick" kills? A properly flow P-51 with full tanks should be able to fly any plane that is slower into the ground without firing a shot

beet1e · « **Reply #13 on:** February 12, 2002, 03:39:15 AM »

Steven -

No, not new to the E business. It's the T&B that I'm no good at. For this reason I prefer the plane set in AH over the WB one, especially as WB had an RPS which forced everyone to fly T&B crap for the first few days. I used to get my best results in the 190A4 flying with a group, but also had outstanding tours with the F6F, which I used for e fights and B&Z.

Yes, I like the F4U - always did, even in WB. But I don't think it's a lone wolfer, and it's not a good plane to be in when flying alone and finding multiple cons above, apart from the fact that it does dive away very well indeed.

MANDOBLE · « **Reply #14 on:** February 12, 2002, 04:01:58 AM »

beet1e, your spit keeps E like a monster, outturns and outclimbs the P51, keeps in a dive with the P51 up to 550 (u cant read this in the instrument gauge, but go to DA and dive at the six of a P51D from A1 to sea level and u'll see u catch with it) and, while the P51 will disintegrate trying to recover at near 600 IAS, the spit will exit the dive with no harm keeping more than decent elevator authority all the way down. The P51 is faster at level, nothing more than that. Basically, Spit vs P51, the Spit will be unable to flee, but while fighting, ALL the cards are in the Spit side. If P51 dives to flee, the fight is over.

Flying Spit and calling dweebs to P51 drivers is hilarious.