Strategies, Tips, and Films: Fw190 D-9

[DoNKeY]

Like the title says, I am looking for people who are successful in the Dora to post strategies they use (like try to come in X above the enemy and drop on their 3/9 or whatever), tips for flying and fighting in the Dora, and also films of multi kill successful sorties.  

Thanks for whatever help you guys give, I'm looking to try and get better at the flying her.

PS:  What convergence do you guys have?  I have both set to 175 or 200, 175 so when i zoom down close to them.  What do you guys find works well??

Thanks
-Brian

[Krusty]

175 is fairly close. If you get kills that close, all the better. However, I usually set mine further out, about 250-300. The guns on the dora are all close to the centerline, and as such you don't have as many problems with convergence. That means you can adjust for "drop" and still land long-range shots, instead of them crossing and scattering on either side of the target.


Anyways, I might have a film of a multi-kill sortie with multiple 190D wingmen. I'll have to look in my film directory. I recall filming it and using the film to get screenshots, so I might still have it.

[Spatula]

I think you'll find your convergence settings a bit too close in. Try it out around 275-325. I'd personally, only fire the cannons, and leave the MGs for scaring purposes. So perhaps, if you were doing that, set the MGs further out - 400 or beyond and just use em for scaring people at longer distances into turning, then use the cans for the real work.

A lot of people think there are specific or even secret 'moves' for particular aircraft which if performed are the miracle cure to all your combat woes. People think that to get good at one aircraft, they need to know those moves or quick-tips. When in reality there is no such thing. What you really want is to learn the Dora's flight envelope entirely, and its quirks and characteristics, and how to push the outer limits of the envelope. On top of this you need to know how its envelope compares to your adversaries. So, you will need a good comprehension of your adversaries flight envelopes and quirks. What im saying is to get good in one aircraft, you need to master its envelope and understand all your adversaries envelopes. Its as much learning your aircraft as learning all the others.

Furthermore, once you understand this, you'll understand that any tactic can be employed in any aircraft to varying degrees of success. The principles of air-combat and ACMs are the same irrespective of the type of aircraft you fly. Its just that some are better in some aspects than others. Its a matter of knowing the capabilities and knowing your adversaries capabilities and let that dictate how you engage and fight.

Example: In the Dora, you wont try to get into a slow-speed turn-fight with a zeke or a spit. But you would be happy to get into a slow-speed turn-fight with an Me262. You would take to the vertical against a P47, but not against a 109K etc etc. You would use your speed against a spit 16 etc etc.

Im no Dora expert, so i cant offer you any really interesting tid-bits regarding the Dora's flight capabilites. Except it rolls very well. It has a terrible slow-speed handling characteristics. Its brutally fast. And climbs pretty well. It has good high-speed handling characteristics. Its at its best at high-speeds. Keep her fast and you'll be in the zone.

[Greywolf]

Sorry for the off Question, But in regards to the FW190 does any one have a pic or screen of the instrument panel???

[DoNKeY]

Allright, let me give you guys a situation that I frequently encounter.  I fly to an enemy airfield and end up somewhere between 12-17k.  It's usually somewhere between 12-14 know though.  I level off and drop my drop tank and start searching for guys.  Usually I'll see somewhere around three people to start of with usually between 2-5k.  I end up diving down hitting like 550 or whatever level off of come at them at a slight angle and shoot a little bit if they don't break.  I usually don't hit them or injure them.  I'll pull almost straight vertical zooming back up till I have about 200-240 mph left and usually immelman or loop and come right back down on them.  On the second or third try when I isolate I guys I might zoom down but then slow down, and get on his six.  I can usually shoot this guy down, but know I'm only going about 250 on the deck with cons higher and faster, or worse case scenario with one on my six.  So I either run away or I try to shake him, usually ending up with me getting shot down cause I'm low and slow.

What am I doing wrong?  How should I approach situations like this?  I hate having such a huge E advantage to start off with, but when I zoom down on people it seems that for that split second I have a shoot my guns don't do any damage.  I'm not sure if I'm not hitting enought or what, but I eventually have to settle down and saddle the guy up, but when I kill him I'm in a very bad position, which usually ends up with a bad guy getting on my six moments after.

Should I just continue to bnz and hope that eventually one of my snap shots will hit?  At what angle should I zoom at?  Is a loop a good way to reverse back on the guy at the top of a zoom?  If the guy knows im above him/ doesn't know, should I zoom down a distance away and then level off and catch up to him on his six, or some other direction, or do usually what I do which is come down on his six but from like a 10 degree level and try to get him and then pull up and zoom?

Thanks for any help guys.

[Fianna]

I might be wrong about this, but you might need to stick to picking people.


Same goes for flying a 262, P51, Tempest... and any of the other planes that rely on speed. These planes go so fast and when you combine that with their relatively poor turning ability, they become very easy to avoid if they're trying to BnZ you.

If you have other cons to worry about though, or you're on someone's six, you become a much easier target.

[DoNKeY]

By sticking people do you mean just continue to dive down at hight speeds and attempt a deflection shot and then zoom back up?

[Lusche]

Originally posted by Fianna
I might be wrong about this, but you might need to stick to picking people.


Same goes for flying a 262, P51, Tempest... and any of the other planes that rely on speed. These planes go so fast and when you combine that with their relatively poor turning ability, they become very easy to avoid if they're trying to BnZ you.

If you have other cons to worry about though, or you're on someone's six, you become a much easier target.

You are right for the most part. The D9 is supreme at picking and (*gasp*) vulching. Incredibly fast, stable and hard hitting. The rate of roll enables very quick heading changes while using the vertical, e.g. zooming up & down. That can compensate the bad turning ability. As an angle fighter, it sucks.

The P51 and Tempest however, are much more suited to add some "turnfighting" components to your fight. The Pony as a much better instantaneous turn rate at high speeds and is much better controllable at slow speeds. And the Tempest can turn much better than most people think, it's no-flaps turn radius is about average, but it's turn rate is actually pretty good at the same time. If you make use of the fact that it's turning better in the opposite direction of most planes, you can actually turnfight a surprising huge number of fighters.

[Spatula]

Originally posted by DoNKeY
Allright, let me give you guys a situation that I frequently encounter.  I fly to an enemy airfield and end up somewhere between 12-17k.  It's usually somewhere between 12-14 know though.  I level off and drop my drop tank and start searching for guys.  Usually I'll see somewhere around three people to start of with usually between 2-5k.  I end up diving down hitting like 550 or whatever level off of come at them at a slight angle and shoot a little bit ifthey don't break.  I usually don't hit them or injure them.  I'll pull almost straight vertical zooming back up till I have about 200-240 mph left and usually immelman or loop and come right back down on them.  On the second or third try when I isolate I guys I might zoom down but then slow down, and get on his six.  I can usually shoot this guy down, but know I'm only going about 250 on the deck with cons higher and faster, or worse case scenario with one on my six.  So I either run away or I try to shake him, usually ending up with me getting shot down cause I'm low and slow.

What am I doing wrong?  

You said it yourself: "I'm low and slow". Simple fix, don't be. Well actually, the real problem is being low, slow and exposed to an enemy aircraft which isn't. When you get all these three together, you in serious do-do. Take one out of the equation, and your odds go up. Being low and slow isn't a problem if the only enemy aircraft is the one in your gun-sights (assuming you don't let them off the hook). So from this you should note that knowing the locations, numbers, E stakes of enemies near you is critical to surviving the low and slow conundrum. Situational awareness (or SA for short), is the name for this art. So, to put it simply, having a good SA picture is crucial for your survival when low and slow.
In fact, SA helps you no matter what your E stakes are. High, and fast? those 3 higher P51s are really going to dampen your day if your SA didn't allude you to their presence in time to take appropriate evasive actions.
So to answer your question directly, it sounds like you're getting target fixated, and not paying attention to the wider tactical picture, and that high 109 that has come in from the south. Have you got separated from mutual support of your wingman or countrymen? Have you been sucked into a trap? If you're going to go diving down, and want to get out again, make sure you know where and when to cut your losses and re-assess your tactical situation and re-evaluate your priorities.

Should I just continue to bnz and hope that eventually one of my snap shots will hit?

Depends if you want to survive and not at risk of being BnZ'd yourself.

At what angle should I zoom at?  

Dependant on your situation, and depends on how you want your opponent to react. Do you want to create seperation for a conventional reversal? Do you want to tempt them upwards into a rope? Do you want  to spiral climb? Are you just going to bug-out? Are there multiple bogeys?

Is a loop a good way to reverse back on the guy at the top of a zoom?

 
See above.

If the guy knows im above him/ doesn't know, should I zoom down a distance away and then level off and catch up to him on his six, or some other direction, or do usually what I do which is come down on his six but from like a 10 degree level and try to get him and then pull up and zoom?

Again depends on whether you think they've seen you or not. Coming in dead on their six will offer you the best shot opportunity if they do break. Diving to their low six and coming in from their blind-spot is a good way to avoid detection, or confirm they've seen you - if they have seen you they will do little rudder-skids to check up on your progress. If they dont, they probably havent seen you For this reason i tend to attack from their low 6.

[Krusty]

Seems to me you haven't got your aim down yet. When you're diving in with so much excess speed, you can't line up your shot, and you can't land the shot.

Set your convergence out further, and open fire further. I'd also suggest firing MG131s with your MG151/20s. They're almost as strong as 50cals, can set fuel tanks on fire, wound pilots, or just give that last straw that broke the camels back (broke the target's wing off). You have plenty of ammo, so fire further out. If you're not hitting, lead more. Take what you think is normal lead, and double it. Doesn't matter if you're too far ahead, they often fly right through your bullet stream.

Now about the setting up of the shot. Don't just dive right down onto the target. Chances are it's heading in a direction other than yours, and as you close so fast you won't get a shot. Instead, throttle back in the dive (to slow down), do a bit of a spiral, until you're behind the target more, THEN finish the dive directly on the enemy's 6 oclock. That will give you the best chance to finish him. If he breaks, then you keep going, climb back up and repeat.

low, slow, and outnumbered... First, if the enemy only show up at 2-5k you don't need to waste time climbing to 14k. Just climb to 8k. If you're not sure how high the enemy is, go higher if you like, but if you know the enemy is low don't bother going sub-orbital. You've got alt and speed. You make a few passes on the targets below you. Keep an eye out for new enemy targets coming in high. If you see any that look like they're coming to pick you, just break off your target and head off to your field, calm and level.

ALWAYS know which way is "out" and which way is "in".... More than once I've RTB'ed to an enemy field and been swarmed to death. Know in general which way is "clear" to head off to.

So, if the high cons look interested, just angle away from them. Stay level if you're in no immediate danger. Most often this is the best way to avoid 5 vs 1 situations. Most times you pull away from the busy cons and only 1-2 want to follow you, making it much easier to engage/disengage as you wish.


If you're slow, level out and hit WEP. You have 10 minutes of it. You won't be using it when you're BNZing, so you should have plenty left to spare. It won't take long until you're fast (and fast and low is much better than slow and low).

I've got an hour-long film that is 5MB zipped, but am trying to find a place to host it. It's a 190D sortie (vox/text removed, for the protection of ... well everybody else from hearing what my squaddies and I talk about ), and I think it's got about 6 or 8 pilots in 190Ds (I'm one of them). We go out and get some kills, RTB, maybe hotpad (can't remember) and we end up finally landing after a long sortie.

[DoNKeY]

Thanks, would love to see that film.

[Krusty]

I think I have a place to upload it. I'll try it this evening when I get home from work.

[DoNKeY]

[Krusty]

I'm sending you a PM in a minute with the download link for the file. Let me know when you've got it (I've got to take it down when I'm done).

[DoNKeY]

Sending pm to you, I downloaded it, thanks a lot.