Fighting a Brewster

[shiv]

Any tips for fighting against a Brewster?  I used to get in trouble by underestimating them, now I'm more careful but I still get in trouble.  I'm usually in an F4U, but I'm interested in what the general approach should be.

[Vudak]

Did you check out Mtnman's post on fighting zeros in an F4U?

http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php/topic,272282.0.html

This might give you a few ideas for fighting the Brewsters.

[shiv]

I approached it like a Zeke at first but got in trouble taking the fight in the vertical.  Brewster's flaps (I think) made it easy to follow me up.  I might not have started with enough E though.

[Big Rat]

I did some experiments last night in the DA with F4U-1a's vs brewsters.  Was flying against some of my squaddies.  F4U really shouldn't have much trouble with them unless the fight gets slow and low.  We found as long as we merge with them fast enough (over 325mph) zoomed climed up and over (an exagerated immelman) we normally found them floundering below us (not enough speed and or mass to get to the same height we did).  In which case it became a B&Z session against them.  We did 2 on 2 merges at 8k foot alt limit till icon range.  Now when it was our turn to use the brewsters vs their hogs, it was a hard fight until they started to turn with us or got overly aggressive trying to force shots.  We did find that in medium speeds (250-200) the hog could hold it's own turning, with it's superior flaps. Below that the Brewster has a definite advantage.  So the bottom line is you treat a brewster like a zero or hurri, but I believe it is tougher then both.  Just for fun we took Brewsters vs FM2's to see what would happen.  The Brewsters won but almost ran out of ammo trying to take the FM2's down.  These might be the two toughest planes in the game .  This all of course started at work where one of my squaddies thought the brewster was a superior aircraft to the hog, and I had to defend my girl's honor like any good gentleman

 
BigRat 

[shiv]

Thanks BigRat, appreciate it.  I did some research by taking a Brewster up in the DA at furball lake.  What a fun plane.  Very nimble.  Just difficult to kill anything with just the 2 .50s, at least for me.  But an absolute treat to fly.

Now I have a healthy respect for them, I'm going to wary of them unless I have enough E.  And I'll definitely be flying the Brewster a bit for base-defense. 

[Agent360]

I recently flew this plane in brews vs brews in the canyon in the DA for about 3 hours.

The brew is inferior to both the zeek and hurri. Its only advantage is turn. It a cool plane but is very late war. Pretty much anything out performs it.
I found that the brew must be flown with full throttle. If you must reduce throttle do it only by less than 25%. If you use flaps don't use more than 2 nothces and only to make your turn. It is most important to keep your energy and use the turn.

It's not fast at all. You can escape from it quite easily.

Unless you have some plan I wouldn't get too slow fighting it. Just use energy. But like the zeek and the hurri it can just turn into your nose at will. The best thing is to use the verticle some and catch it low on the deck. Its not near the threat a zeek or huri is.

[Sonicblu]

I found that it will outurn the all but the a6m2 I think it is a great ride for what it is.
I have had lots of fun in it.  I been bnz to death in it but not out turned.
360 is right it is best to keep its E up. It you get low on E the fight is over it the other pilot is halfway good.
IT is lots of fun to kill spits with.

S to those that fly it.

[Widewing]

I recently flew this plane in brews vs brews in the canyon in the DA for about 3 hours.

The brew is inferior to both the zeek and hurri. Its only advantage is turn.

I'm going to disagree, especially in comparison to the Hurricanes. The Buffalo will devour any Hurricane in short order. It's no contest. The B-239 is close enough to the A6M2 that pilot skill will often make the difference. Its stall is easier to manage than the Zero's, and it's faster and climbs better below 5k. The Brewster's roll rate is much, much faster. Probably the fastest roll of all fighters below 150 mph. I've measured it against the 190A-5 at 150 mph, and the Brewster rolls faster, with far, far less adverse yaw. At 300 mph, the 190A-5 completes 3 rolls just 0.4 seconds faster than the Brewster, but the 190's roll is more of a corkscrew, while the Brewster doesn't yaw far off of its flight line. That's a 190 class roll rate, with greater precision. This may be one reason that contributes to the Brewster being able to hold E better than expected when maneuvering.

During the Beta, I took on all comers with the Buffalo and never felt like I was so outclassed that I was worried. I could avoid the fast movers until they screwed up or got frustrated. Hurricanes were no issue whatsoever. Avoid the Hurri II's HO attempt on the merge... They die soon after. The Hurricane Mk.I? Target practice. The Brewster is superior in every flight category, and to that add better guns, better visibility and greater durability.


My regards,

Widewing