US Equivalent of a Spit?

[Guppy35]

Originally posted by The Fugitive
You fly the "G" because you need the extra engine to get home with !:huh

That too

[Karnak]

Originally posted by SlapShot
The only plane that gives me fits while flying the FM2 is the A6M5.

I remember doing some tests with the FM2 just after it was added finding that it was a very good, if slow, fighter.  Given its role and place I remember finding it odd that the A6M5 was about the best fighter against it, and flown right, the A6M5 would completely dominate the fight.  All the FM2 seemed to have was the ability to dive away, and heaven help it if the fight was at low alt.

[Saxman]

That's why Wildcats never tangled with Zekes 1v1.

[WWhiskey]

if you fly the fm-2 agianst the zeke higher is better and vertical the fm-2 can dominate with proper e managment. but you must be way ahead of the game before the fight ever starts!
 one v. one i like the fm-2 best of all the planes. there isnt a spit or hurri . i havent shot down, and im not that good,but they lose there edge in a furrball pretty quickly because everybody wants to shoot it down as an easy target!
 there is nothin better than going into a pair of spit 16,s and putting them both on the ground in the wildcat!

[SlapShot]

Originally posted by Karnak
I remember doing some tests with the FM2 just after it was added finding that it was a very good, if slow, fighter.  Given its role and place I remember finding it odd that the A6M5 was about the best fighter against it, and flown right, the A6M5 would completely dominate the fight.  All the FM2 seemed to have was the ability to dive away, and heaven help it if the fight was at low alt.

If a WildCat is slow and decides to fight a Zeke ... the Zeke will CRUSH it. .

But, as WWhiskey pointed out ... "you must be way ahead of the game before the fight ever starts!" ... then the WildCat has a marginal chance. The best bet for a WildCat is if it gets the initial angles and can loose some .50 cals into the Zeke. The longer the fight is ... the worse the chances are for the WildCat to survive.

WildCat pilots, as well as HellCat pilots, were told to NEVER turn fight a Zeke and they also eventually learned not to try and follow the Zeke in a zoom and get "roped". That was the IJNs favorite move against the WildCat. The WildCat just didn't have the power to follow.

Once the WildCats were swapped out with the HellCat (they look similar), the IJN suffered terribly trying the "rope" on the HellCat. Zooming and waiting to see the plane behind them (HellCat) stall and then seeing that it not only wasn't stalling, but gaining on them ... death followed very shortly after.

The HellCat will dominate the Zeke ... if flown correctly.

[BaldEagl]

Originally posted by Karnak
I remember doing some tests with the FM2 just after it was added finding that it was a very good, if slow, fighter.  Given its role and place I remember finding it odd that the A6M5 was about the best fighter against it, and flown right, the A6M5 would completely dominate the fight.  All the FM2 seemed to have was the ability to dive away, and heaven help it if the fight was at low alt.

That is precisely why the Hellcat was developed to replace the Wildcat (to kill Zeke's).

[SlapShot]

Originally posted by BaldEagl
That is precisely why the Hellcat was developed to replace the Wildcat (to kill Zeke's).

And boy ... did it do the job !!!

Navy and Marine F6Fs flew 66,530 combat sorties (45% of all fighter sorties of the war, 62,386 sorties were flown from aircraft carriers) and destroyed 5,163 enemy aircraft (56% of all Naval/Marine air victories of the war) at a cost of 270 Hellcats (an overall kill-to-loss ratio of 19:1).

The aircraft performed well against the best Japanese opponents with a 13:1 kill ratio against Mitsubishi A6M, 9.5:1 against Nakajima Ki-84, 28:0 against Kawanishi N1K-J, and 3.7:1 against Mitsubishi J2M during the last year of the war.

The F6F became the prime ace-maker aircraft in the American inventory, with 306 Hellcat aces.

[crockett]

Originally posted by Guppy35
If you like Spits, fly em and don't apologize.  I really like the 8 as well.

I fly the 38G because it's really a twin engined Spit

A lot of people get tired of flying the same plane over and over. Personally I try to pick a new plane every tour to be my new main ride or at least fly something new a good portion of the tour. (this month it's the C-Hog)

IMO, Spits are just way too easy to fly, so it's easy to get bored with them. Hell I took up a Spit 14 last night for the first time in probably 8 or 9 months. Had 3 or 4 kills in almost no time and threw them away attacking a formation of B-26's..

Besides that it's good to get experience in other planes, because then you get a better feel for what they can and can't do. That in it's self will give you more knowledge than anything else IMO on knowing how to fight other aircraft.

I will suggest again the Ki-84 because it's a great transitional plane. It's a pretty good all around fighter, so it's easy to then step into just about any other fighter after you learn it. IMO it's one of the most middle of the road fighters in the game.

I decided to start flying it again this tour and I forgot how much fun it is. When you get good in the Ki-84 make sure you play around with the Ki-61 because it's a another great little fighter, just a little less capable on the engine power side.

[Guppy35]

A reasonable suggestion Crockett.

Bottom line is it's all about having fun and 'flying' what you enjoy, not trying to please or impress someone else:aok

[DmonSlyr]

the f4u will out turn the spit8 when you know how to fly it. it dives great and turns on a dime. only down side is that it doesnt climb all that great. but any F4U is prolly the best US turn fighter with good speed.

[mna78]

Yeah I'm not bothered if it is seen as a Dweeb plane, I think I've seen just about every plane being called a dweeb plane over 200 for some reason or another, hell if a Swordfish was in the game it'd be labelled a dweeb plane for something...

I'll probably always go back to one of the Spits, but like some have suggested just wanted some alternative allied turners to try out and get a feel for what planes are capable of.  This it turn will help me understand what they are capable of if I encounter them.

I flew the F6F-5 for a few of sorties last night, seemed more responsive at higher speeds than the Spit8 and could turn with the Spit pilots that I encountered.  The firepower seemed to lack over the Spit8 although that could have been the conveyance (375,350,325) or the 8 Fosters that I'd drunk

I tried the Ki84, I think the tour before last and with some success also, nice plane to fly and I'll probably revisit it at some point in the future again.

[SlapShot]

Originally posted by mna78
The firepower seemed to lack over the Spit8 ...

The firepower is not lacking ... it's a cannon mentalitly vs a .50 cal mentality.

Don't be afraid to hold down the trigger in a .50 cal plane ... you will be surprised at how far the ammo load will go ... and kill with impunity.

[Saxman]

mna set your guns for point convergence, rather than a spread. Also imo the closer you fire the .50cal the better. I set mine at 200yds and those things are outright buzzsaws.

[Squire]

Fly what you want to.

That being said, there are some nice rides out there that don't get used a lot, Yak-9U, Ki-61, ect, that are great rides.

US birds that can manuever hard: try the P-38 series, F6F, F4U (when you get more comfortable with it).

They are all "fun" in their own way, and you will learn more trying different types, at least sometimes. Dont be shy, you might discover a favorite you didn't even think of.

[Bucky73]

Space shuttle Atlantis will run a spit down in a dive but the 16 will outclimb it.