Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Aces High General Discussion => Topic started by: rkanjl on April 13, 2009, 09:43:34 PM
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It was two days ago now and I smile every time I think about it. I was in the DA in my usual ride (190A8) and things weren't going well at all. I was feeling like a bullet magnet, not getting any good shots and mostly swimming in Furball Lake. I decided to try a different plane, add a little variety to things.
After a little time poking around in the hanger I settled on the C-hog (what can I say, I like cannons) and took her up for a flight. As I crossed edge of the cliff I dove down and maneuvered a bit to see what she could do and immediately noticed how everything just felt right. She just had a "feel" about her that made her instantly comfortable.
Emboldened, I headed for the fray. Still inexperienced myself and now in an unfamiliar plane I did manage to get some shots off and while I damaged some bogey's, none of them were kills. Now I'm bingo ammo and on the far side of the lake looking for a way out. I feint a couple of aggressive moves to slip past two bogey's and manage to egress from the conflict. As I'm departing I check six and notice I have picked up a P51 2000k out and slightly higher than me.
I think, ok, if you want me you're going to have to work for it! I enter into a shallow dive from about 500 feet above the deck to pick up speed, climb enough for a little altitude and start to "porpoise" my way back to the base. I keep checking my six and he's slowly catching up but only flies straight and level which helps me to drag this out. This is going to be close. A few more shallow dives and slow climbs, another check six and he's still gaining. This is going to be really close!
I finally reach the shoreline and there is no way I can climb the cliff wall and survive, he's right on top of me hoping I pull up. I start right and then kick in left rudder and yank the stick into a sharp left bank just as tracers start whizzing past my canopy. I hear a few pings but nothing serious.
As I bank hard left he recovers spraying me and landing a ping or two but ends up outside of me. I yanked that plane left and right, rolled and dove, did everything I knew how to do (which isn't a lot) and even did some things I didn't know I could do. I went to the ragged edge and back and he followed my every move just that little bit wider than I, tracers whizzing by me and the occasional pings ringing through the cockpit. She holds together and I think, if you won't give up, neither will I and so around we go.
It seemed like 10 minutes had passed but couldn't have been more than 2, ...120 seconds. I looked back and the P51 is heading out over the lake! He must have spent his ammo. I can barely get my damaged bird to lumber over the cliff wall, my landing gear and flaps are inop. As gently as I can I coax her down onto the runway and slowly we skid to a stop.
Now all is quiet, no drone of the engine, no more creaking of metal stressed to breaking point, no tracers whizzing past my head. I notice I'm sweating as I bring up my clipboard, I think to myself "Take that, I DENIED you your kill!". I click "End Sortie".
No kills were scored, no perk points awarded. So what, you say. What's your point you ask? Well, for 120 seconds, that plane and I were one, for 120 seconds I was as in the moment and as in control as you can be. I flew the best that I possibly could for 120 seconds.
And now, the work day is done, the supper dishes put away and my story is told. Now it's time to climb into the cockpit, fire up the engine and lift up into the big blue to look for that next 120 seconds.
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Thats whats its all about. Glad for you :salute
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:aok Congrats!
Cheers,
asw
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:aok
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Clap.. Clap clap... :confused:
:aok
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Well told!
:salute
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120 seconds?
For a moment there I thought you were describing my sex life. :devil
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:rofl
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Sounds like you had a blast. :salute
What do you hope to accomplish with the "porpoising"?
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What do you hope to accomplish with the "porpoising"?
I wondered the exact same thing.
I have seen many players do this.
Waste of Energy.
I love posts like this. Sound like you had a great time and those moments are why after all these years I still play AH.
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Excellent write up. A joy to read. I was afraid there would be some flame-bait tacked on to the end, lol.
Great stuff. Should serve to remind us all why we enjoy this game so much.
<S>
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i didnt have the time to read it, so ill throw a :aok cause everyone else has
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First of all, let me thank you all for the positive comments. As for the "porpoising", it is my understanding that the Corsair retains its E very well. I used the shallow dive to increase my E sacrificing just enough (perhaps mistakenly) to gain enough altitude to do it again assuming I will end up with some net E remaining. I'm only a 6 week noob so perhaps someone with more knowledge can let me know if I'm wrong on this. Much appreciated.
rkanjl
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Yeah, the 51 was doing the correct thing, he knew where you had to end up going and flew straight on catching you up....I make use of this fact when guys start dodging wildly infront of me.
Good story though, however I would also add you should bring it on over to the MA,... where the same wild ride becomes several times more satisfying....
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First of all, let me thank you all for the positive comments. As for the "porpoising", it is my understanding that the Corsair retains its E very well. I used the shallow dive to increase my E sacrificing just enough (perhaps mistakenly) to gain enough altitude to do it again assuming I will end up with some net E remaining. I'm only a 6 week noob so perhaps someone with more knowledge can let me know if I'm wrong on this. Much appreciated.
rkanjl
Nope.
Each time you roller coaster like that you lose energy.
Think of it like this. Say you are at 10k and dive down to 5k, and then go back up. You won't make it back up to 10k with the same speed you were before the dive (if you even make it back to 10k in the first place). You lost energy in the dive and then again in the zoom back up.
Now think of this on a much smaller scale. Every time you go from 500' to the deck for speed, and back up again, you loose energy just like when you go from 10k to 5k. It's on a smaller scale so it isn't as noticeable. It's kinda confusing because you are going faster because of converting the stored Energy (alt) to speed, but each time you do that dive down/back up you are going to have less energy.
It is a better use of energy to stay level and let your plane gain speed and not sacrifice the stored energy (alt) until you are at your max speed at that alt. Granted, if you got a faster bad guy borin' in you don't have the time to wait for your plane to accelerate. So you should dive down (zero G dive is best) and stay level maneuvering as little as possible. After you dive each time you maneuver you loose energy (speed) so don't flop it all about. Granted, if the bad guy is in a faster plane than you, with more energy, you should be doing a reversal as opposed to running and hanging your 6 out there for 'em to shoot at.
If I am chasing an nme who is faster, but is roller coasting like that, I can maximize my use of Energy and many times catch them. Even if my plane is "supposed" to be slower than theirs I still have a shot at catching them because they are wasting so much E whereas I am efficiently using mine.
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You're also zig-zagging in the vertical, making the flight distance longer. A straight line is always faster.
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Thank you WMLute and Die Hard for your explanation, that's good to know! :salute
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A good story! Those moments are pretty rare, having your heart beat in your throat! But it's AH at its best :aok
I remember the same thing happening to me during the first mission I did in H2H, P-47 vs FW-190, 4 vs 4 at high altitude, icons off.
In the end I got clobbered, but what a thrill!
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Good read.
I can only caution you to not pick up the bad habits that seem to be the norm on DA Lake. Remember it's a game and supposed to be fun too. Good luck!
There are folks in the TA that are happy to give pointers on most any bird you choose to fly. You might look into that some.
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Thanks Frank3 and Shuffler. Not to worry, I've got my head right and am a team player. I'm heading for the TA as soon as our schedules align. Hope to get competitive enough to at least hold my own against you guy's! :salute
rkanjl
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Great read, and a testimate to having fun in the game without score. Have fun, try a bunch of different craft, get good at controlling them and the kills and score will come with time. :aok
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STAY AWAY FROM THE DA. STAY AWAY FROM THE FURBALLS IN THE MA. DOES GOLD JUST FALL INTO YOUR LAP? NO, YOU HAVE TO SEARCH AND WORK FOR IT. MANY HERE DON'T UNDERSTAND, HAVE THE PATIENCE OR ARE WILLING TO WORK FOR WHAT IS TRULY THE TREASURE IN THIS GAME. BE PATIENT.
:salute 11