Training request [109G-6 or G-14 or P51B]

[Cajunn]

The throttle does a few things for you other than make you go fast.

When you start to knife fight ( get slow and scissor) it is very useful to use the massive tork of the plane to maneuver.

Pulling the throttle off (not slamming it off) then left rudder and slamming it on will fling your plane over and slew the nose around. The timed use of wep at the same time will also produce even more tork. With the nose up and stalling you can make the plane do amazing stall turns.

Turning right when slow can be hard. But if you cut throttle to zero quickly,,,right rudder and roll hard then slam it on again after the turn you can make the plane turn just fine to the right.

Anytime the nose is pointed down (below horizontal) you will gain speed quickly. If you need to get your nose back up quick you must cut the throttle.

Flaps wont come out unless you are under 200 mph. So you must pay attention to the speed. Contolling the speed such that you can deploy flaps to maneuver then gain E is all throttle dependant.

A common mistake 109 sticks make is to nose down gain speed then pull up...now they hit the wep and climb like crazy after the target. What you really want to do is glide down and up...when going up pull the throttle OFF and get your flaps out. Once they come out hit the wep and continue to climb.

When I finally get in close and cut the seperation down my goal is to MAKE THE OTHER GUY FLY CIRCLES AROUN ME  cutting his turn every time. The faster he stays like this the better.

As a learning drill get in the MA and put your throttle at exactly half speed. DO NOT TOUCH the throttle. Now engage and maneuver without using the throttle. This will force you to manage your energy and make you understand how to use the verticle. At some point you start thinking I need speed..or I need to slow down. You will have the almost overpowering feeling of using the throttle. But do not touch it.

AFter you do this a few times it will become very clear when the throttle should be on and when it should be off. And you will know when to use the throttle to tork the plane. Try it..you will be very surprised how you can out fly many planes with only half throttle.

I fly the Spit IX at half throttle, faster isn't always better....good right up Agent! 

[slyguy]

I like the 109 a lot.  It is a very versatile plane and just really cool to fly and is my ride of choice.  But I have to go with the guy at the beginning of this thread about the guns leaving quite a bit to be desired.  I know some people will tell you to improve your gunnery but that doesn't change the fact that the single stream of 20mm is inferior.  It still leaves you disappointed even when you have improved your gunnery because the gun system on the 109 leaves too many planes still flying around where almost any other plane would have it dead. 

The result is frustration after getting hit sprites all over your opponent and nothing happening to him.  The reason nothing happened is because not as many 20mm's connected as you think they did.   He should have been dead.  Chalk this up to poor gunnery or whatever, fact is too many people have poor gunnery in this plane so I have to assume it's the plane and not them.  A common denominator is a common denominator.  But with a lot of practice you'll get it.

For dueling it's totally cool.  More than enough ammo.  But taking this thing into the war is not the best option if you're a lone wolf.    If you'll notice, you don't see many 109's landing with 5+ kills.  5 kills is shooting absolutely lights out for most pilots in this offensively challenged plane shooting ability aside.  You have to have the opportunities first, which are rare because everyone has to fly 1945 aircraft in the MA and you can't catch them unless you fly a late, late war 109K-4.  But typically 109 fans like to fly the variants that had a legit production and combat record.