Head On

[BING0]

I find myself getting killed in a lot of HO's even though I try to evade them.  Is there a "BEST" way to avoid them?  Should I try going up...down.....askew from the line of flight on the enemy pilot?  Does it matter if I try avoidance when I have Altitude....when i'm lower........same  Altitude,,,,ie...... differing methodology for differing altitudes? Would appreciate any Help!




BING0

[WldThing]

Dive under their nose, but again will always get those people that will try to shoot ya when you go under them.Works 9 out of 10 times.

 If there is no room to dive, like the deck, i always do a barrel roll when their heading towards me.  Works well.

[akak]

Originally posted by BING0
I find myself getting killed in a lot of HO's even though I try to evade them.  Is there a "BEST" way to avoid them?  Should I try going up...down.....askew from the line of flight on the enemy pilot?  Does it matter if I try avoidance when I have Altitude....when i'm lower........same  Altitude,,,,ie...... differing methodology for differing altitudes? Would appreciate any Help!




BING0

You can barrel roll on the merge or slip the aircraft or anything else that creates seperation between you and the oncoming aircraft.

You should go to NetAces and read Rocketman's lectures on the merge.

Ack-Ack

[SlapShot]

An HO is nothing short of a direct head on encounter ... If you are trying some evasives, and you are still getting shot, then they are shooting you with a high deflection shot (very hard), and your evasives aren't quite evasive enough.

Like WldThing, I like the barrel roll.

[Soda]

I tend to slip and barrel roll, though that depends on our relative speeds at the time since if I'm already travelling quickly then the likelihood of anyone making that sort of deflection shot is remote.

A guy that is intent on HO'ing you though is giving up on any sort of lead-turn, so it can be a good thing to know he is only thinking of that one manuever and not actually 1 maneuver in advance like he should.

-Soda
AH Trainer Corps

[Batz]

90 % of the time if you suck them into the ho then slip under their nose slightly offset to one side they will miss. You can go vert into a zoom. You may need to roll or do some other small manuver to ensure he doesnt hit you. Depending on what type of guns the attacker has will determine at what range to begin to manuvre. Hizookas and 50s start before d1k.

As you are zooming up vertically, look back and see what the bad guy is doing. If he executes a flat turn you have won the fight. Hammerhead (any pitch back) down and shoot him dead. Most of the time they do a flat turn to the right. You must use roll in the vertical to match his turn then dive in and get him

If the bad guy climbs up vertically like you did, then you are in trouble (unless your energy was considerably greater than his, if so keep zooming and gain as much of an altitude advantage as possible) . This pilot is smart, and even if he's not as good as you, if hes in a spit or any good turner he may gain angels on you quick.

If you look back and see him go up level out and extend away to keep up your speed as he turns to pursue you can go up again and try to reverse or run.

After a while depending on the circumstances around you you set the ho'er up for an easy kill.

If you have FB I have a track that shows exactly what I am talking about. All my ahfilms are porked for some reason.

[bockko]

yepper, at about 1200-1000 yd range pull up into a turn combining elevator, aileron, and rudder. As soon as ho dude is past check 6 to see what he is doing. if extending, you have time to think, if he is pulling up, you can convert to a vertical move if you have e, or nose over to negate his move.  If you see a ho coming in time, there is no reason why he should get you..just maneuver so he can't get a nice clean shot. I see guys firing at me about 70% of the time...the ones who don't take the cheap shot are the guys you really gotta watch, they usually know what to do next.

of course, if you see a ho coming and you want to give it a try, all yours

[humble]

One other thing you can do...if you have a plane with mg's and cannons ( I fly 205 and Ki 61 for ex) is to open up with mg's at 1.5 or so with them...often it either "locks" the other guy into aHO or he breaks early...key is your not really trying to HO.You need to still do the above mentioned stuff.  Alot of the time you'll get an earlier evasive from con or he'll waste alot of ammo opening up early and have a bit more "target focus"...99.9% of time HO is easy to avoid...Ideally I'll go for the "under" spot at 3.0 or so with a bit of lateral seperation...basically a classic rocketman merge and adjust from there...if I'm reacting to a front quarter inbound in a "furball"...often I'll chop (throttle) square up and squirt the mgs then continue the break turn down thru and rev back up and in. Lot of the HO's I end up with are really turning into a guy in a multi con enviornment...if your inside 1.2 or so they almost impossible to avoid...I go to barrel roll as est option most of the time.

[Sikboy]

I've had success with using a bit of sideslip, with a zero G dive to get under their nose. Just off-setting enough to avoid the hit, but doesn't seem to burn too much E.

Of course, I'm usually doing this in a yak, and running for my life.

-Sik

[Kweassa]

There are some pilots in the MA, who have practiced intensively with the purpose to knock out enemy planes that plan on doing the 'standard' "pass under the bogey and make your move" HO-merge.

 99% of the pilots you meet will miss those shots, but some 1% of them, will still hit you. So don't let your concentration slip. When trying to pass under his nose, never keep your eyes off of his nose.

 If there's onething I can give to those Japanese pilots who love flying N1K2s, many of them almost 'specialize' in those HO shots.

[WldThing]

If they miss those shots as Kweassa pointed out...They are at a huge disadvantage, wingover on to your back and there they are, with cannons you can sometimes kill them on that one snapshot.

[gofaster]

Why avoid?  Fly the FW190A8 with four 20mm and embrace the HO!


... unless the other guy is flying a N1k2, LA-7, P-38, Typhoon, Me110, or Mosquito, in which case do the offset barrel-roll and extend out and up.  Except for the N1k, LA-7, and P-38, you should be able to out-roll and out-maneuver the other planes I mentioned.

[Soda]

Gofaster, the La7 is a bad HO machine.. has to get too close before the cannons are really aimable (is that even a word?).  Anything with hispanos or lots of .50's set to a distant convergence has mutiliated you by then.  In more of a snapshot type of HO, then the La7 is deadly, but the real merge type HO's are not really a strong point of the La7.

Been there, done that, know the La7 pretty well and most decent pilots know that it's not really a good HO'r.  Totally agree with your other selections though... Mossie is plain nasty, I even have an aim-mark on the sight specifically at D1.1 for HO'ing when I need to break through someone because I know I don't want to stick around a turn-fight



-Soda

[Maniacal81st]

<>


    I also had some difficulty with being killed in HOs.  After practicing one particular evasive, I now usually end up on their 6 within seconds.  Here is what I do:

  As soon as you realize you are in for an HO, dive! Dive!!  What you are trying to do is get enough E to climb back up and reverse directions, placing you behind your enemy.  Now you are at an advantage, because you are behind him.  If you time it right, with enough E, you can saddle up for the shot.  You should start your climb back up to him right as he is overhead to enable you to get as close as possible.     Otherwise, you have avoided the HO, and given yourself more time to set up for another pass.   Don't wait until the enemy is within shooting distance before you dive; you should dive as soon as you recognize that he is going for a HO merge.  

  Obviously, how he responds, dictates your next move.  The above works if he does not turn back on you after you pass below.  Either way, you have avoided the HO.

   Other than the "surprise" HO,  you should be able to avoid any attempt at the HO.  

   <>

     Major MaNiaCaL

       ~*81st*~ Krewsaderz

           ROOKS!!!!!

[SunKing]

Here is my strategy that works 99% of the time vs the HO in the Main Arena.

When you see cons coming in, level your plane and get to combat speed... 250+ , reason being, to get your speed up to the minimal  speed for an Immelman.  When you see the con coming in for the HO. At about 1.2k pull hard and go for the Immelman. He will try to pull and get the quick shot on your blowing some of his speed. When he flies by 90% of the time the con will break hard left or right trying to turn back into you as fast as he can losing all his E. At this time you are high above him , with more speed and you smiply need to manuver once or twice and you are on his 6 for the easy kill while he is flopping around like a slow fish.