Aces High Bulletin Board
Help and Support Forums => Help and Training => Topic started by: Wahoo on October 23, 2002, 07:20:06 PM
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I'm getting rather frustrated with myself due to my astounding skill at getting my arse handed to me in the MA. I spend quite a bit of time in the TA, and most of the people I fight there, including the regulars in the MA, tell me that I am at least as skilled as many of the people in the MA, but every time I go to the MA, I am very lucky to last longer than about 5 seconds in a fight. I don't think the problem is my SA, since I have yet to get shot down by a guy I didn't see coming...I usually fly a Spit 9 or a Spit 5, depending on if I think I'll need the extra turning of the 5, or the extra power of the 9. It doesn't seem to matter what I fly, though, as I never last long. Just wondering if anyone has any ideas on what I can do to survive long enough to practice my skills. Thanks! :)
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Well seeing someone coming isn't enough, you also need to know how to react to it. You don't say much about the kinds of situations you're flying in though. If you're being attacked from above, you're starting with the disadvantage.
A few things though,
Avoid places where you're badly outnumbered, especially if you don't have an altitude advantage.
Always have as much altitude as possible, if you're going to enter a furball, do it from above. Furballing isn't about ACM at all. It's about making yourself a target not worth chasing, while looking for people who are setting themselves up for a gunshot. Once you become too mixed up in it, odds are you're going down.
Also, if you have the stall limiter turned on, this is going to give you a HUGE disadvantage in any turning fight. Turn it off and learn to fight with the stalls.
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Well, first of all, I'm a proud Rook, so I'm always badly outnumbered. :)
And, as to the kinds of fights I get into, I usually try to start with either an alt advantage, or a dramatic speed advantage. Usually it's the latter, since I often fly as low and as fast as I can. Half the time I can get proxies doing that, since anyone that can keep up with my plane's speed won't have the agility to avoid being a lawn dart.
I probably need work on determining an opponent's E, since I am almost always out-turned by a bad turning craft (for example, at slow speeds, my spit 9 stalled out trying to force a 262 to over-shoot. At around 100mph, I stalled out, and the 262 was cutting inside my turn, and didn't stall) or I'm out-run by a slower craft (I've had an La-7 get out-run by a N1k on the deck. Rather humiliating). So apparently my E judgement is off...I'll try to work on that and hope for the best.
Thanks for the help!
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Well, Any spit traveling at top speed on the deck has considerably less E than a plane at even a thousand feet. If you're anywhere near a furball, your plane screams "EASY PREY" to anyone who sees you.
Also, even though you're flying a more maneuveable plane, that doesnt mean that people cant get a gunshot on you. When you do a hard break turn, the person on your six gets to start the turn way ahead of you, which gives them the opportunity to lead the turn, close the range fast, and get a snapshot on ya.
Having speed gives you room to maneuver, but a higher con will almost always have a big e advantage. You can get a LOT more speed in a dive than any plane can in level flight. This is why the la7 can be run down, even a slow plane like the n1k2 can pick up enough speed to catch it(And the n1k2 holds e for a long time)
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Flying as low and as fast as you can limits your options even in low wing-loaded a/c. The cagey stall-fighters will leave some altitude below them to play with so that they can rebuild airspeed and remain effective after trading energy for angles in maneuvers prior.
Try filming your fights. I learn the most from the ones I lose and spend time analyzing the fights that I lose to figure out what I could have done different in the situation or how I can avoid the situation altogether.
Tango, XO
412th FS Braunco Mustangs
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Wahoo, try shadowing some experienced pilots. The temptation is to quit following them & start out after your own kills only to find yourself in the tower going @%#@%$#$:mad:
Stick w/them for an entire evening. When what they're doing starts to make sense & you can begin anticipating their moves, then you know you're gaining real ground.
Hap
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now I must admit it, I have a soft spot for the 'ol spitty. One major problem with the spit is its ability to roll when it is fast -- it can't. If, say, a 51 or fw190 cruises in from above and you are fast, like over 300kts, when your spit breaks, the 51 or fw can roll twice as fast as you, and as already said in this post, your nmy can line up a nice lead shot and toast you in no time. A spit is best when slashing from above, or fighting at its best cornering speed. A slow spit it tough to kill; a fast spit from above is nasty; a fast spit in front of a good b/z fighter is lunch.
Hook up with a wing man (email me if you need a squad to fly with ;) ) whenever possible and try to choose a plane that suits both the 'environment' and your intended mission.
later, bockk
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Have you tried going to http://www.simhq.com Air Combat corner and reading all the material there? Some good stuff there !
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Whatever you do, DO NOT listen to anybody who tells you to try to ALWAYS have the altitude advantage over every enemy plane in the area. That will turn you into an "altmonkey"...it WILL NOT improve you as a virtual pilot. Plus you'll just be wasting a lot of time climbing only to find you blow all that excess ALT 5 seconds after you enter combat.
Get off the deck, up to about the altitude you see everyone else flying at. That's a good start.
Here are 3 rules of air combat in a crowded environment:
1. ALWAYS check your rear and rear-up view at MINIMUM of every 8 seconds in a fight, better still every 5 seconds. Check the clipboard DAR BAR at minimum once every 30 seconds. Check your tail as you prepare to fire and immediately after you fire; many pilots will attempt to attack you when your attention is accupied as you line up on someone. Keep tabs on the odds in the area; you'd be surprised at how quickly a 10 vs 10 fight can degenerate into 6 or 7 enemies all piling up on you. If things seem to be going sour, it's your choice to either fall back and regroup or attack and go down fighting.
2. DO NOT ever get "fixated" on a single enemy in a multi-plane engagement....do this and you WILL die in short order. Feel free to get slow and "mix it up" with someone, but always watch out for somebody trying to pick you off, because trust me--it'll happen. The converse of this is also true--if you see an enemy lining up on a friendly, blow him to hell while he's not watching his tail.
3. Don't choose your targets based on what model they are. When there's a Spit and a P-40 co-alt, most pilots will attack the Spit and ignore the P-40, considering the Spit to be more of a threat.....then that P-40 will turn around and blast you. Pick your targets based on how much of an immediate threat they are and on whether you can kill them or not--NEVER make the mistake of discounting a plane just because it's a "bad" model....very often the "bad" planes are flown by the best pilots and are actually a greater threat than the common models. Fact is, if an airplane is in a position to shoot at you, then it can kill you just as dead whether it's an N1K or a 202.
I hope these pointers are of use.
J_A_B