Number 1 Fighter Rank

[Grimm]

Originally posted by Dead Man Flying


1) Unrealistic pick and run behavior

-- Todd/Leviathn

Heheheheee  Are you Fishing here???

I dont know that Run behavior is unrealistic...  Live for another day isnt such a bad day...

Most WW2 pilots Iv talked with, including Dutch, would have prefered not to encounter enemy fighters.  

In fact most real life combat pilots prefered to have all the advantages when engaging  and prefered to bug out of a bad situation.   Here death is cheap... not so in RL

Probably not really fair to compair what we do here, with real situations.  

::Nibbling the hook::

[Dead Man Flying]

Originally posted by Grimm
In fact most real life combat pilots prefered to have all the advantages when engaging  and prefered to bug out of a bad situation.   Here death is cheap... not so in RL

Here's the difference between real life and AH, and why K/D leads to unrealistic running behavior.  While real life combat pilots preferred to have all advantages when engaging and preferred to bug out of a bad situation, oftentimes this was entirely impossible.  We're talking a zero-sum game here... for every situation where someone possessed an advantage in real life, someone else by definition did not regardless of his own preferences.

In AH, it's possible to flee at will and leave countrymen/wingmen/etc. behind.  It's possible to allow others on your side to become chum to the enemy while you grab alt and BnZ the engagement.  In real life, such tactics would be frowned upon.  In real life it was optimal to pick and choose engagements and to fight with advantages.  In practice, this was often not the case.  It's much easier to "game" this in AH where you have no mission, no rules of engagement, nothing.

-- Todd/Leviathn

[funkedup]

Todd you remember when somebody asked Gabby if he would run away?

[Grimm]

Funked,

I never got to meet Gaby in person,  Id be interested one what he said

[Grimm]

Originally posted by Dead Man Flying


Here's the difference between real life and AH
-- Todd/Leviathn

Yup..  I think we are in agreement then

[Vortex]

Originally posted by akak



Nope...a plane is only as good as its pilot.


 

No chance. An uber-ride will make a mediocre pilot good.

Pick the uber-ride, you have the advantage. Pick the dog, you gotta actually earn your kills when flying against the thoroughbreds.

A GOOD plane will always bring the pilot up a notch, whether you're a rank dweeb or a crusty vet.

Plane choice is everything.

[Karnak]

Eskimo2,

What is the best hit percentage in fighters?  I have a 16.21% hit ratio in fighters and am ranked 33rd (In my defense I want to say that I'm a not a very good shot)

[eskimo2]

Originally posted by Karnak
Eskimo2,

What is the best hit percentage in fighters?  I have a 16.21% hit ratio in fighters and am ranked 33rd (In my defense I want to say that I'm a not a very good shot)

A lot of folks say stats are worthless, and those are probably the same folks who can't get their fighter hit % above 10% no matter how hard they try.  Anyone should be proud of a fighter hit % of 16%.  WTG!

Attack and GV hit % can be upped by pounding fixed ground objects, and are basically worthless.  A good fighter hit % either means that a guy is a good shot, or he's very patient and works his enemy into a good position before he opens up.

This is a perfect example of of where a players stats and sub-category ranks can tell you something about how he flies, and what he can do to improve.  I just looked at your stats, and I would say that you may be able to get more kills if you start spraying a bit more.  Your hit % is by far your best sub-category.  Would you be willing to trade an exceptional hit % for a better K/D, K/S, K/T and Points?  You fly the Mossie, right?  Fire your Hispanos at more shots that seem impossible.  Go for high angle deflection shots, long range shote etc.  If you are regularly landing or dying with lots of ammo left, you've got nothing to lose.  Save the 303s for easy six shots, fire both when you need to.

eskimo

[SirLoin]

Another excellant tip from the Eskimoooooooooooo!..

[Widewing]

Originally posted by UnDeth
Anyway, one thing I noticed was hermit, who's ranked number 1 in fighters.  Looking at detailed stats I see he has 160 kills in the KI-61 and 6 deaths in the KI-61.

In regards to the K/D, K/T discussion, these numbers really prove nothing by themselves, other than the pilot in question is probably a decent stick. Other factors must be considered, not the least of which is plane selection. Hermit flys the Ki-61 most of the time. He is the very best in that aircraft, and not far behind in anything else either. Nonetheless, the Ki-61, like SpitV, is not a fighter for running from trouble. More often than not, you are going to have to fight your way out of a lousy situation. That Hermit maintains a naerly a 15/1 K/D in a relatively slow, poor-climbing fighter speaks volumes about his skills.

I also have nearly a 15/1 K/D, but I mostly fly the Bf-109F and G-10, as well as the P-51D. I have the option to bug out should things go the hell (not so much with the 109F though, it's not especially fast). I have no illusions of matching Hermit's score if I were flying the Ki-61 too. I've been feasting on bombers this tour.
Really, K/D by itself doesn't tell you much.

I managed to knock him out of 1st place in Fighter K/D for about a day. However, he's currently ahead of me by a tiny .0461. Close, but no cigar. Hell, he's ahead of me in Attack K/D too, but by a measely .0820. If I catch him, it certainly won't be by flying mid-war fighters in furballs. It'll be by flying fast fighters, killing buffs, newbies and lamers.

My regards,

Widewing

[akak]

Originally posted by Vortex


No chance. An uber-ride will make a mediocre pilot good.

Pick the uber-ride, you have the advantage. Pick the dog, you gotta actually earn your kills when flying against the thoroughbreds.

A GOOD plane will always bring the pilot up a notch, whether you're a rank dweeb or a crusty vet.

Plane choice is everything.

Put a newbie or mediocre pilot in a La7 and I'll rope him everytime on the merge in my P-38L.  Put Lev in a Zero and he'll shoot down my P-38L everytime.  So again, it's the pilot that makes the plane, not the other way around.


Ack-Ack

[X2Lee]

Originally posted by SOUP




  As for actually ranking or points etc.. that was usually decided in AW and I believe in AH as well, by who can pack in the most flying time.  Points in AW was certainly the case.

This has nothing to do with rank in AH, Its not your time in the air, its what you do with your time in the air.
Some of the highest ranking pilots dont have a lot of airtime.
Hi rank pilots are playing to get high ranks. You have to try to get hi ranks to get them. IE, play to survive... This goes in bombing, attacking, fighting or GVing. You get bettr ranks for RTBing.
And the MORE you rtb the higher it is. So if your a timid little mouse in the arenas (who can kill things) your rank will be higher. Does that make you better? You decide.

[X2Lee]

Originally posted by eskimo2


A lot of folks say stats are worthless, and those are probably the same folks who can't get their fighter hit % above 10% no matter how hard they try.  Anyone should be proud of a fighter hit % of 16%.  WTG!
eskimo

Ok all that means is you wait till you have little chance of missing before you shoot, not so much that you are a good shot. I hardly ever shot from dead 6, most of my shots are deflection shots without tracers. I shoot a lil ahead and let the plane fly thro my bullits till I see sprites then hold it there. I admit Im not a great shot but I could "game" my hit percentage as easy as I can "game" my ranking.

[eskimo2]

Originally posted by X2Lee


Ok all that means is you wait till you have little chance of missing before you shoot, not so much that you are a good shot. I hardly ever shot from dead 6, most of my shots are deflection shots without tracers. I shoot a lil ahead and let the plane fly thro my bullits till I see sprites then hold it there. I admit Im not a great shot but I could "game" my hit percentage as easy as I can "game" my ranking.

I also do mostly deflection shots.  
The guy who works his prey into a clean 6:00 shot on a regular basis, hwever is different than you and I, he is patient and in control.  Not a display of good shooting nessesarily, but a good display of skill.  I need to kill the guy as soon as possible before he turns the tables on me, so I hose away on deflection shots.

Try "Gaming" hit %, see what happens.  I think that most folks would suffer in K/D, K/S K/T and points.  Basically, they would miss out on a lot of kill opportunities.  Hit % is one of the hardest Sub-categories to game.  It can be done, but usually at the expense of all else.

Plane type also is a factor in hit %.  A Typhoon pilot with a hit % of 5% is probably just as deadly as a Yak driver with a hit % of 15%.  The Tiffy guys can't turn with anything, but his Death-Rays (TM) can chop anything up at any angle.  He must rely on snap-shots.  The Yak guy, however, can run himself out of ammo before landing a cannon hit if he goes for tough deflection shots.  He has got to work himself into a good six-shot solution before he fires.  Fortunatly, his plane is well suited for that.  
A good Yak pilot should not be happy with a hit% of 10%.  But a Tiffy driver hitting 10% should be more than satisfied.

The main thing to keep in mind is that a poor hit % is NOT a sign that someone is a bad shot!  It's perhaps the most likely sub-category to underestimate a pilots skill on the low end.  If it's high, however, it's likely that that guy is a good shot.

eskimo

[eskimo2]

Originally posted by X2Lee


This has nothing to do with rank in AH, Its not your time in the air, its what you do with your time in the air.
Some of the highest ranking pilots dont have a lot of airtime.
Hi rank pilots are playing to get high ranks. You have to try to get hi ranks to get them. IE, play to survive... This goes in bombing, attacking, fighting or GVing. You get bettr ranks for RTBing.
And the MORE you rtb the higher it is. So if your a timid little mouse in the arenas (who can kill things) your rank will be higher. Does that make you better? You decide.

Not really.

To rank well overall, you play for well roundedness.

I.E. - at its simplest;
Playing to survive in attempt to get a good K/D typically hurts your K/T.  
Then again, playing for a good K/T hurts your K/D.  
The guy who's ballanced between the two will be ranked the highest.

eskimo