Kronos:
I have flown with you enough to know that you are a very capable pilot. You are certainly much better than I am, so I won't presume to give you advice. Nonetheless, my recent "slump" experiences have led to a couple of observations that might be helpful.
1. I have only been flying AH (or any flight sim) for a little less than a year now. In that year, however, it seems to me that the quality of pilots in the MA has increased appreciably. I don't know if it is due to the influx of experienced pilots from other sims, or if it is just my misperception. In any case, the number of kills I am able to get due to "newbie" (I use that term sparingly, because I still consider myself a newbie compared to most of the jocks in here) behavior on the part of my oponents seems to have decreased.
2. Most of my slumps correlate directly with my lack of patience. The more I struggle, the more desparate for kills I become, and the more I plunge into unwinnable situations. There may be some pilots that are good enough to engage 3-, 4-, 5-, or 10-to-odds and get some kills and maybe even survive, but I am not one of them.
3. When I'm successful (for me) flying in a furball environment (which I love to do), I fight on the edges. Normally, a furball is located between two opposing fields, and if I get sucked too close to the enemy field, I invariably end up with a red conga line on my six.
4. I usually fly relatively fast, relatively poor-turning planes, and rarely am able to saddle up on a potential kill. Thus, my success depends to a large extent on my shooting ability. I am not by any stretch of the imagination a good shot, but I have been flying with tracers off for the last tour, and I find that I am getting better. I suspect that the really good pilots (i.e., those that can take on a large number of planes and survive) are really good shots. It seems to me that if you're in a 3-to-1 situation, you really can't hope for more than one or two gun solutions (probably snapshots) before you are smoking. Of course, if you're got an energy advantage, you can always zoom far away and re-engage at your leisure, but I don't think that's much fun.
5. As far as situations for breaking out of a slump go, I like to fly field defense. Of course, taking off from a completely CAP'd field is not a good idea, but if you can find a window to grab some altitude, you will soon find yourself in a target-rich environment. Nothing is more fun than killing vulchers
. I generally don't like to fly the La-7 (because I don't like the guns), but for field defense, it is my plane of choice. As far as I can tell, no other (non-perked) plane can accumulate energy as quickly.
6. I never used to fly missions, but I now try to do so whenever someone posts them. I think that they're a lot of fun and a diversion from worrying about how much I'm killing and dying. Plus, getting involved in the strategic war adds a new level of interest to the game (for me).
7. I find that when I am flying well, I pay attention to my instruments. In my opinion, the most important (particularly for the planes I tend to fly), are the speed and g meters (Of course altitude is important, too, and I've ignored it far too many times to my own demise!). I am often surprised by how flying a little more conservatively with respect to energy retention/accumulation makes a big difference, particularly in a furball. I am never pleased when I get a kill only to hear bullets tearing into my plane two seconds later!
That's enough rambling. You'll bounce back, I have no doubt about that!
- JNOV
