A Cry for Help is Heard

[Airscrew]

....and answered.

For the new guys/gals....when you call for help because you just cant shake that bogie of your six.....when someone says they are coming to help..... Do not fly towards your rescuer.  When I answer your call for help Do Not say "I see you, I'll drag him to you".  I will come to you, don't "drag" him to me.  Its very unsettling to come to someone's aid, and they drag the attacker straight at you headon.  
 I will do my best to clear your six but you have to break right or left, scissor, pull up, dive down, do anything to spoil the attackers shot but dont turn towards me.   I cant help you if I blow my E trying to reverse , then I have to catchup to you because you blew past me at 350.

[anton]

The above text is accurate & wise. However the correct newbie lanquage is "Caps Lock" so it will unfortunately fall on deaf ears.
Anton

[gofaster]

The best way to get help is to drag the bandit in a course perpendicular to your help.  The helper can cut the corner and drop in behind your attacker.  As he does so, you may want to pull up slightly so that the target is easier to spot against the clear blue sky (and also keeps your helper from nose-planting into the dirt during the bounce).

[gatso]

I hate it when people do that. Do it to me and yer on your own as far as I'm concerned.

There was a GREAT thread this ages and ages ago. "Dragging 101" I think it was called. If anyone can find it I'm sure it could use a bump  

Gatso

[Airscrew]

your right gofaster,  usually the "helper" should call out and tell you which way to break so it will line up the attacker.  Unfortunately in some cases the friendly is so worried about the attacker that they dont hear a word you say.   The guy I tried to save last night was being chased by an LA7, He called, I answered, when I saw his relative position to me I called out for him to break left, which would have brought that La7 right in front me.   Instead he made a hard turn to the right and came straight at me........

[GRUNHERZ]

I hate it when noobs do that.  

Help! Help!  Zoooom......Whoof.. Help! Help!

[OIO]

ya I hate that.

You tell they guy "OTW!" and they turn into you, resulting in the con faceshooting you or ending up with the guy you were trying to save dying and leaving you in a really bad angles situation vs the other plane.


The best kind of dragging is the weave. When someone tells you they are clearing your 6, weave! bank left with nose below horizon, pull like 3gs for 1 second, level, nose down for 1 second, level, bank right and pull 3gs for 1 second with nose above horizon, etc.

Your plane ends up flying in a relatively straight line but twisting, making the guy in your 6 really concentrate on shooting you and not whats on HIS 6..and he does not twist as much as you are, making him an easy to hit target.

Last night my A20 cleared THREE cons from one of our guys in a yak. He had a n1k, a spit and a P51 in conga line behind him, he was trying to lose them in the vertical wingovers but the n1k and spit stayed with him. I gave him 6 call with OTW in priv, and the yakguy dove and started weaving. the 3 cons died in less than 5 seconds after I dived on them, none of the 3 even saw my big lumbering A20 on their 6.

[palef]

Originally posted by MajTom
your right gofaster,  usually the "helper" should call out and tell you which way to break so it will line up the attacker.  Unfortunately in some cases the friendly is so worried about the attacker that they dont hear a word you say.   The guy I tried to save last night was being chased by an LA7, He called, I answered, when I saw his relative position to me I called out for him to break left, which would have brought that La7 right in front me.   Instead he made a hard turn to the right and came straight at me........

This could be a little harsh, given that quite a few people seem to have NO idea what left or right is.

I have a hint though folks.

Only works if you can read though.

Hold both hands out in front of you so you are looking at the backs of your hands.

Point your fingers at the roof.

Point your thumbs at each other.

See the hand that now makes an "L" shape? THAT's your LEFT hand.

palef

[San]

You guys are right on. It really makes me mad when I try to help someone and they drag the badguy head on to me.

 As the dragger you should do a few things to help the person trying to clear you. If its a situation where the friendly coming to help is in your front quarter at distance 2.5 start a 90 degree turn(don't turn into more badguys if you can help it). This will allow your helper to keep his E as he saddles up. If  the badguy is over 1k to 2k back you can bleed a little E and let him close.  Use caution, You want him to think he is closing for a shot. As your helper gets in range say 800 and closing stop making any extreme maneuvers.   A gentle dive followed by a pull into vertical if timed right is awesome for the setup.

 Another thing you can do for your helper since you should be in the rear view for most of this  time is keep an eye on his six.

 As the helper use the radio and let the friendly know what you want him to do to help you. If he does not follow your  request avoid the headon and keep right on trucking. Better luck next time.

[Kweassa]

Bringing the con straight towards someone does have some use:

1) when it is a steady drag-chase between two high speed planes with not much closure

2) the wingman has enough altitude and speed to drop down on the chaser in time

3) the defender absolutely trusts his wingman, that he can time his drop perfectly so it doesn't become a lame 3-man "Train" chase where the attacker can't get to the defender, and the wingman can't get to the attacker...

 ...

[udet]

I always drag enemies towards friendlies  in order to try to save my tail. Unfortunately, it doesn't work very often.

[midnight Target]

I like to drag the bogie head-on to my "helper" then double back as they are both going down in flames so I can fill the bogie full of lead and steal the kill.

[Steve]

I run into this frequently, sort of.  I'll be vectored to intercept the bogie on my teammate's 6, nearly perpendicular to their flight path. Instead of turning away from me to give me a nice tail shot on their adversary, they turn into me, forcing me into a head on if I want a quick shot. If I let them go under me, I have to reverse to latch onto the bad guy's 6, but this takes a few precious seconds longer than if my teammate had just turned away from me in the first place.
I think this falls under SA..maybe experience but I swear,  more often than not, my teammate turns the wrong way!

[Beegerite]

Screwman;

You'll be interested in knowing that I had the very same thing happen to me last night in ww2ol.  The obvious answer would be to decrease my AOT instead the sucka turned the banding directly into me.  The reason is obvious, everybody in these sims is born a full fledged fighter pilot.  No training in real life combat maneuvers or tactics required whatsoever

von Beeg

Originally posted by MajTom
your right gofaster,  usually the "helper" should call out and tell you which way to break so it will line up the attacker.  Unfortunately in some cases the friendly is so worried about the attacker that they dont hear a word you say.   The guy I tried to save last night was being chased by an LA7, He called, I answered, when I saw his relative position to me I called out for him to break left, which would have brought that La7 right in front me.   Instead he made a hard turn to the right and came straight at me........

[Catching Spies]

Haven't we done this before......But very good advice.