High Alt. fighters with good turning.

[Fancy]

I've been playing AH for about a month now and I love the N1K. I recently joined a squad and last night we were doing high alt. fighter supression into a deep enemy airbase.  The alt was 30k+ and I found my Nicky to be a bit too greasy at that alt.  I imagine most planes are, but I know that there are others that are better.  Basically I prefer agile turners to speed demons, so I am looking for a high-alt. plane that maintains a nice turn rate/radius at 30k.

[Innominate]

It's probably about time you graduated from the n1k2 to a real plane.  

Up around 30k nothing will turn well.  The best high-alt fighter is the ta152 without a doubt.  The P-51, 109G-10,  and p47, to name a few, are fairly decent at those extreme altitudes though.

[thrila]

Spit IX is good up high too.  Climbs well, turns well, not the fastest @ 30k but faster than most.

[Kweassa]

P-51s and P-47s are excellent over 25k. Those two maintain much of its original maneuverability, and are very fast too.

 I dunno why it is so, but the Ta152H-1 sucks over 30k. The speed is faster than any prop plane in the game, but even the slightest bank, turn, changing pitch eats away at E at a tremendous rate and destabilizes the plane, therefore, fighting something at 30k in the Ta152 is absolutely horrible experience.

 I've met some P-51s and P-47s at that altitude, and the maneuverability sucked so much that I actually had to drag them down to 18~20k to kill them. Their skill? Let's just say they weren't exactly 56thFG or 412th Braunco material, and I still had a very hard time staying alive at 30k against a P-47 or a P-51.

 Spit9 performs very well upto 30k, too. It is the fastest at that altitude, and surprisingly, its turn performance doesn't feel much hampered. At 30k, after the Spit9 and Ta152 takes a HO pass, by the time Spit9 completes its reversal the Ta152 is not even half way through and you can hear stall warning already.

 ...

 Contrary to popular belief, 109s suck at high alts. Their reputation for high-alt performance was in the 1940~1942, where "high-alt" was defined as something like 14~18k. SpitIs and 5s would drop performance over 15k...

 But when it comes to really high altitudes over 25k, even the G-10 begins to wheeze heavy breaths. At that altitude, I'm not entirely sure that I can beat a total newbie in a Spit9. I'd have to drag him down to 15k or so to get the real edge I need.

 ...


 So, in my experience, the best high-alt fighters in AH are the P-47D, P-51D, and Spit9.

[gofaster]

Try the P-38 and learn to use its flaps.

[Hornet]

p38 and the p51B in particular will do well.

[Soda]

I concur, the P-51 and Spit IX are great at alt, or at least don't seem to suffer nearly as much as many other planes.

Many others, like the 190s and 109's seem to just lose too much at high altitudes over 25K.  Even a Ta152 just seems to feel far to mushy to be useful.

-Soda
The Assassins.

[Matt1221b]

well i think that the typhoon is good up at high altitudes and i find that it can out manuver some fighters that i have encountered:D

[akak]

P-38L is pretty good at altitudes above 25k, you just have to be careful with your throttle control to stave off compression.  The P-38L also is great at stall fighting at those nose bleed altitudes.


Ack-Ack

[Fancy]

Thanks for the tips, guys.

Another question:  what is "compression"?
and another:  I never use my rudder, but I assume I should learn.  Pointers?

[Innominate]

Compression is an effect caused when your plane hits critical mach.  The shockwaves over the wings render your control surfaces worthless.  It mostly happens at high altitudes.  Take a p38 up to 25000 feet, do a shallow dive to about 300IAS and you'll see what I mean.

The P38 also has a nasty tendancy to lose elevator authority at high speed at any altitude.

Rudder isn't needed most of the time.  It is, however, usefull for any time you want to slow down.  The sideslip adds a lot of drag to the plane.  Also when flying a buff, the rudder allows you to turn from the gun positions.

[Blue Mako]

Rudders are very important for flight.  They allow you to make coordinated turns which are more efficient then un-coordinated turns.  Rudder is also critical for lining up shots.  Using rudder you can fine tune a firing solution so you don't waste ammo spraying all around your target...

[SpinDoc1]

I think P38, P47, and P51 are my fav high alt rides. Spit IX does alright also. As for rudder, Fancy, it's critical to experienced pilots. My strategy falls apart if a con rips my rudder out, it's very hard to get the guns on target after that. The rudder can be used for snap rolling (i.e. roll an F4u and rudder in the same direction, it'll roll like a top), snap shooting, and coordinated turns as Blue Make mentioned. In a real airplane, when you turn without rudder, you get adverse yaw, which is plane seeming to nose away from your direction of turn. Think of it like inertia in a car, when you turn the wheel your body wants to keep going in the same direction (opposite your turn) so you feel like you're being 'pushed' to the outside of the car. In a plane, this is not so much a function of inertia, but it performs a similar action. In AH you won't feel it so you won't know the difference unless you get more experience and want to make your plane movements much more effective. Hope this helps.

Jason

[Blank]

if you want to experience compression quickly try taking a 109G-10 up and diving from 10k you'll soon find out what the term 'Lawndart' means

Tip: if you do get compressed you need to slow down quickly and get control back.

turn off engine and trim elevators up manually to help pull up (default K key )

remember it can leave you a sitting duck if your like this after a Bounce/dive bomb attack , as you'll be travelling in a staight line all you have going for you is your speed.

hope this helps a little bit

[Xjazz]

How about perkpork ala Spit XIV?