Having trouble when H2H

[Waggle]

Ok, here's the situation I find myself in most often:

-   I’ve been a good little pilot and I have MUCH more E than the enemy that I see below me.
-   I dive towards the enemy.
-   100% of the time the enemy then turns towards me.

From this point on, I usually have one of the following outcomes:

1.   I lawn dart because I can’t pull out of the dive in time.
2.   I have so much speed that my plane starts to fly apart.
3.   The enemy flies straight at me and fires when we get close and either damages me or kills me.
4.   The enemy flies towards me but is level or diving and I get a couple of very quick shots in but that’s all and then I pull up to extend and turn around again for another pass.

#4 is the outcome I best like but I’m coming in so fast that I have maybe a quarter of a second to fire and I rarely hit the other plane.

Any ideas what I should be doing to alleviate this?

Also, what kind of range do my guns have (I prefer to fly the Yak 9U)? I’ve only been bothering to fire when I get inside of 500.

Thanks.

[straffo]

1. I lawn dart because I can’t pull out of the dive in time.
2. I have so much speed that my plane starts to fly apart.

Cut throttle before entering dive , use your rudder to lose speed.

3. The enemy flies straight at me and fires when we get close and either damages me or kills me.
4. The enemy flies towards me but is level or diving and I get a couple of very quick shots in but that’s all and then I pull up to extend and turn around again for another pass

http://www.netaces.org/genmerges/merges.html

[bockko]

its hard to believe, but there IS such a thing as too much speed. If you are bouncing someone, you need an ideal amount of e, which is about 1.5x what the other guy has, depending on the planes involved. Now, anyone who is not afk SHOULD break when you approach, ideally toward you. Or, some slicker guys barrel roll to force you to overshoot and then take a shot at you. At this point, you have to decide what type of fight to make this -- either you set up for acm, or extend to regain alt to make another run. If you decied to take the guy out now acm is needed. This is where speed is critical, if you are at 500 kts, you CANT set him up, you need to be faster than him but still in control. You zoom up above him, if he follows, you let him stall and roll down, take him out, if he doesn't follow, try another pass. Now, this is all easier said than done, and there are hundreds of variables. We have not even touched on how many other enemy are around and what threat they are to you. So, for your situation, when you are diving in, ease throttle, and as straffo said, u can put rudder over hard to burn speed, or circle over your victim while speed gets managable. D500 is not a bad max shooting range, some prefer less while others prefer more. I try to hold fire until around 400, convergence around 300-350 depending on my mood.

Now, when the nmy points up on you for a head on, you don't have to play! when you get in around 1k, do a fairly gentle maneuver like roll with a bit of rudder, or nose your plane down, just enough to screw up his shot but not so hard that you maneuver violently. The other guy only gets you when you let him. You gain nothing when you let a lower energy plane take a clean shot at you!

later

[Blank]

I fly yak alot and you want to be close, very close, if i'm not inside 300 i wont fire as you have to make the ammo count.

Yaks dont have much ammo to throw around at high angle deflection shots, its possible but it doesn't really have the punch for a quick kill.


if your compressed your going to fast, throttle off and use manual trim on your plane to help to pull out (think default is K).

[Shuckins]

Waggle,

Head on shots should be denied to the enemy whenever possible.  Many of your better pilots won't take them because they're considered to be a no-skill "cheap shot."

Ideally, you want about 1000 feet of separation between you and the enemy when you merge.  A hot pilot won't let you have that much space, but if the enemy pilot gives you that much room start breaking into and slightly above him as he reaches your ten or two o'clock position.  If you start your break before he does you have a good position of pulling onto his six fairly quickly.

That's the ideal situation.  But let's say that the enemy won't give you that much separation.   Let's set up another scenario for the merge to see what tactics will put you on the enemy's six.

You've just spotted an enemy fighter at 6.0k, at the same altitude as yourself, and he's headed straight for you.  As soon as you spot him, begin a shallow dive under him to gain energy.  You want to attain at least 300mph, or a little more.  If he's a rookie, he'll likely try for the cheap head-on shot as you merge.  Quite often they use tracers, which let's you know how far out he starts shooting at you.   If he starts firing beyond 1.0k he's probably a rookie.  If he's trying for a head-on, he'll likely be diving to keep you in his sights.  Level off about 2.0k out from him, to keep from gaining too much speed.  Roll your wings almost vertical to make him believe you're about to start a turn but do NOT begin a turn.  Watch him.  If he opens fire he's probably attempting to pull lead to hit you in the turn he THINKS you're in.  As soon as he opens fire roll you're wings level again and start a gentle move in the opposite direction.  You are using deception to make him miss.  

After he misses, and most of the time he WILL miss,  he'll pass almost directly over you.  As soon as you begin to slide out of sight under his nose pull your plane into the vertical, as tight as you can for a few seconds, almost blacking out, and then ease the stick pressure so you can see clearly.  Continue the loop, rolling slightly to bring him into view. If his speed at the merge was much greater than yours he is probably still trying to pull out of his dive and reacquire you in his views.  

Congratulations, you have survived his head-on shot and are now ABOVE and BEHIND him.  Dive on him, not too fast now, and kill him.

Lots of luck,

Regards, Shuckins

[Ghosth]

One thing I do a lot if I'm higher than the other guy.

Stay 2 or 3 k above him, roll onto same heading he's on. Roll inverted, watch him in up or up/forward view.

Ussually when you get close they will zoom, break, turn etc.

nose down & roll to whatever heading he
settles on, pull onto his 6 & try for a shot.

Oftentimes they just blew all their E on the last move. They won't have much left to manuver with.