Author Topic: Comparison: a5 to a8? (Read 789 times)

Engine · « **on:** January 31, 2005, 06:30:12 AM »

Lately I've seen a lot of a8s landing kills, and it made me start wondering why. I used to fly the a5 a good deal, tried the a8 a few times and found it sorely lacking in comparison. It just wasn't anywhere near as maneuverable. Aside from the extra guns (what, 250 20mm rpg in the a5 ain't good enough?

), are there any advantages the a8 has over the a5?

Redd · « **Reply #1 on:** January 31, 2005, 07:04:48 AM »

Hiya Engine, what does landing kills tell ya ? Vulchers and buff-hunters would prefer the A8 I would imagine, but if you are going to actually fight - you'd take an A5 wouldnt you. I'm no luftguy , but the A5 flies pretty nicely the times I've tried it.

mechanic · « **Reply #2 on:** January 31, 2005, 09:40:08 AM »

both are favorable over the other 190s.

the A5 seems to turn slightly better although keeps its E better also.

the A8 has more firepower, and of course it is usefull for overshoots as it bleeds E like a drain.

i found the A8 to be better suited to fight Yaks, LA7s, Pony etc whereas the A5 better for furballing type fights.

just my limited view though, im no luft pilot either.

Misfit · « **Reply #3 on:** January 31, 2005, 12:33:01 PM »

Actually the 8 i believe is a tad faster. I only fly Luft but im really no expert as its a Love/Hate thing.

guttboy · « **Reply #4 on:** January 31, 2005, 12:42:00 PM »

I would call the A5 Nimble and Quick......

I would call the A8 a Flying Arsenal......

If I were dogfighting I would take the A5....If I were going to vulch or strafe I would take the A8.

Nomak · « **Reply #5 on:** January 31, 2005, 05:07:53 PM »

I have found the A8 to be a far better dogfighter in AH2 than it was in AH1.

The A5 is without a doubt a better ride for angles fighting than the A8.

The firepower that the A8 brings makes up for alot of that though. The A8 is an absolute animal when it comes to snapshots (See my "Overshoot" thread in this forum for examples).

The extra fuel range that the A8 has is very nice for MA duty.

Its a toss up really IMO. I have been prefering the A8 latley though just due to its awesome firepower. It has the ability to end the fight in an instant with a quick snapshot.

I should note that I ALWAYS roll the A8 with the 4 20mm option.

c yas up.... Dave

Engine · « **Reply #6 on:** January 31, 2005, 05:25:42 PM »

Thanks for the answers, guys. Think I'll stick to the a5 for what short 190 time I get.

Raider179 · « **Reply #7 on:** January 31, 2005, 05:49:56 PM »

I fly the a-8 and -5 all the time. Stay fast. and you will have a hard time getting killed. Don't go getting into turn fights especially at low or on the deck alts. Extend, extend, extend.

Krusty · « **Reply #8 on:** February 02, 2005, 11:35:29 AM »

Don't buy into the "Run-90" philosophy. On the deck is one of the best places to be at times. You get any spit dweeb on ya and you can out run them easily (spitVs have really crappy speed down there), and for anybody else if they get on your tail you can do 2-3 scissors and either nail them or break away by a large margin. OR you can just force an overshoot and nail the buggers with the A-8's uber l33t 2x30mm option (that is a sweet setup, I use it exclusively).

The A8 is faster. Better engine from what I understand. Only slightly heavier (some of that due to fuel) but the weapons package (2x20mm 2x30mm 2x13mm) is about double that of the A5.

190s are not just speed demons. They really suck at pulling ANY G's if you are under 200mph. You pull so much as an inch of stick past 1.1Gs and you snap stall and die. It's retarded. So just don't get into that situation. They do zoom nicely. General RoC is poor, though.

The times I've flown the A5 I've not noticed any big performance advantage. I think you all are imagining it. But I did notice that the lack of outboard weapons hurts for firepower, so I shy away from A5s.

Urchin · « **Reply #9 on:** February 02, 2005, 12:51:51 PM »

The A-8 is much better suited to the current MA than the A-5. The A-8 gains a LOT of firepower with the extra Mg-151s (they are almost twice as good as the MG-FFs), and the significant decrease in manueverability is offset by flying in a large pack, vulching, etc.

If you are off by yourself or in a small group, the A-5 is a better choice for fighting.

Marco · « **Reply #10 on:** February 03, 2005, 07:07:01 PM »

To tell ya the truth if i ever had to fly a Luft model, 9 outta 10 times i may choose the A5, probably because i have used it ever since i got into AH over 4.5yrs ago.

pellik · « **Reply #11 on:** February 04, 2005, 02:34:37 AM »

The 190a5 performs very, very well in the vertical. It's good roll rate allows it to avoid giving a guns solution to planes no matter how close behind they are, and its controlable stall means it can keep doing that right up until the end. Basically, if your opponent isn't in a helicopter like the P38 the a5 can reverse it in the vertical. The a8 can only hope the guy in back doesn't know how to scissor or cut throttle.

This huge performance gap doesn't make a difference in the MA, however. Most pilots are far too reluctant to go up when someone is on their 6, for fear of the increased energy bleed giving up any angles advantage they had left.

-pellik

JB17 · « **Reply #12 on:** February 04, 2005, 01:13:40 PM »

We use A-8 almost exclusively long range ops and against buffs. Long range ops is typically killing troops/radar, tremendous range great ammo loadout for straffing. The 30mm is great on buffs.

A-5 is the workhorse fighter that is better w/2x20mm cannons than the 4x20mm package. The later loadout adds a lot of weight for only 120 rounds.

DamnedRen · « **Reply #13 on:** February 05, 2005, 06:24:17 AM »

JB17

I dunno the 120 rounds can get used up very quickly and your back down to the 2x20 mm weigh and if your spreading the luv by your giving the ammo away to some enemy plane, it may be a couple of more scalps on your belt.

IMHO, knock down a few with the extra 120 then do the doggy thing.

Ren