Tac,
I fly a Jug, significantly slower than the top speed planes in the game like the 51 and the F4U. I have never been caught by a N1k, as I said I can disengage at will. Heck, if I keep my speed high I can even out-climb them... yes in a Jug.
I can slowly climb at a speed that is above the N1k's top level speed given the right altitude.
http://www.hitechcreations.com/n1k2.html See that big notch at 12k? I use that if I can. Any mechanically driven supercharged plane has this notch where it shifts from low gear to high gear.
Lets compare that to a few other planes. Right-click the links and choose "open in new window" and you can then arrange them side by side for easy comparison.
http://www.hitechcreations.com/f4u1d.html http://www.hitechcreations.com/p47d30.html http://www.hitechcreations.com/p38l.html The F4U-1D is faster than the N1k at all altitudes, some of the time without even using WEP.
Now as a Jug driver, I have to be a bit careful. As you can see, around 7k the N1k under WEP is very good. So, I just need to either take him up over 10k, or drop to the deck and check out. The Jug under WEP is a bit slower than the chart for some reason in AH, so I have to be even more careful not to play at the N1k's best altitudes.
Tac, I don't know where the P38 came into this, up until now I have been talking about the F4U-1D primarly, and I brought the Jug into it because it's what I have experience with. But, since you mentioned it, lets take a look at the 38. Since the 38 is also Turbosupercharged, it has a nice smooth curve very much like the Jug, however it is not quite as fast overall. It can be done, but the 38 driver must be pretty careful. You either want to be slammed on the deck or at 12k to be sure to outrun him, but it can be done. The benefit to the P-38 is that it is the best accelerator in the allied plane set. Not as good as the George, but it's good enough that it won't get eaten alive as badly during low-speed acceleration. I also notice that up to about 3-4k, the P-38 will outclimb the N1k. Over that, I wouldn't count on it, but there is something there to work with.
As you can see, the N1k is no super plane. You can outrun it, so long as you pay attention to what altitude you are at. The real key here is not to mis-judge it's E state. If he is hiding his E as speed at lower altitudes, you can often be surprised and caught. However, the charts tell the tale, the N1k2 George can be out-run by most of the planes we talked about. My experience backs this up. If you think the N1k2 is fater than that, please test the plane in AH and post if it's faster than the charts show. However, I think if that was the case we would have heard about it by now.
These are simply the facts. If your experience doesn't match the facts, I submit that you misjudged the N1k2's E state. The only other option is that the planes in the game do not match the charts. That is possible, but they are likely really close. If you feel there is a discrepancy, you should run some tests of the N1k2 and compare them to the charts. If there is a discrepancy, I'm sure it's something HTC will look into. No matter what happens, you'll learn something about the N1k2.
Terracota I would be glad to work with you in the F4U vs. the N1k2. I think the best guys I know to do this would likely be Jinx, Duckwing6, or one of the other D-Hog experts, but I can do a good enough job at running away in any case.
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Sean "Lephturn" Conrad - Aces High Chief Trainer
A proud member of the mighty Flying Pigs
http://www.flyingpigs.comCheck out
Lephturn's Aerodrome for AH articles and training info!
