Spit 8 Tactics for Spit 16's

[waystin2]

Well I took a look at my kills of/killed by yesterday and lo and behold the Spit 16 has killed me the most, making up over 10% of my deaths.  I am currently flying the Spit Mark 8 99% of the time. I took a look at the fighter comparison site, and the planes are basically evenly matched in turn, speed & acceleration with a slight favor going to the 16 in all three categories.  What the heck should I do when you got one of these on your 6 at 200 to 400?  I have tried turning to the point of stall, barrel rolling over the top and bottom, rolling scissors, not to mention good old unpredictable violent maneuvering.  I have shook maybe one or two at best.   Any ideas are appreciated!

[BaldEagl]

There is essentially no difference between these planes (discounting the gun packages) but, the clipped wing on the XVI, while giving it a better roll-rate, is less forgiving when the fight gets slow and has a tendancy to snap roll violently under certin conditions.

If you can pull him deep into the stall buzzer on the deck you might just see him auger behind you.

[Latrobe]

The Spit 8, with its gorgeously large wings, can easily out maneuver a spit 16 in a slow fight. When your in a spit 8 use rudder to help you roll because the spit 16 is the better plane in the roll. If you get into a fight with a spit 16 in your spit 8, try and get the 16 slow. The fight will basiclly, almost always, come down to who has more experience.

[MjTalon]

LATROBE I CHALLENGE  U NOW TO A SPIT DUEL

[waystin2]

Originally posted by MjTalon
LATROBE I CHALLENGE  U NOW TO A SPIT DUEL

I am try to figure out the relevance of your input to the question.  Are you disagreeing with Latrobe or just running your pie-hole?  If you have something to share as far as the stated topic, please by all means do so.  Otherwise cork it!

[MjTalon]

My apologies  Latrobe's a good mate of mine, but sorry for putting an non relevant post on your thread, won't happen again I'll cork it now

[waystin2]

Hey sorry Talon!  I thought you were another one of those waste of time chest thumpers.  Remove cork now! I would be interested in any thoughts you my have on the subject.  See ya up there!

[SlapShot]

Originally posted by waystin2
What the heck should I do when you got one of these on your 6 at 200 to 400?

Don't let them get on your 6 ... and I am not trying to be a smartass here.

If you have fought a Spit16 (or whatever) and they have worked the fight to lock onto your 6 at D200-D400 ... well ... then there isn't much you can do about it.

98 out of 100 times ... you are gonna die ... and it's not just you ... it's most anybody ... noob or vet alike.

Now ... "Don't let them get on your 6" ... this is where you might need help.

You may need to handle the merge better to get angles before he gets angles, is just one area to work on.

If you are trying to HO or hope you get a luck front-quarter shot ... then you have basically blown the merge and anyone worth their salt will reverse so quick it will make your head spin.

Only other suggestion I can think of is to get some personal 1 on 1 time with Widewing in the Training Arena ... he is a wealth of knowledge and can also teach it.

We have alot of good sticks in this game, but most (including myself) have no clue as to how to transfer that knowledge to someone else. Not everyone can teach.

[waystin2]

Thanks for the additional feedback Slapshot.  As far as any merge, I always try to turn slighly away during that portion of the merge allows a front-quarter shot for the enemy, then turn hard and climb into them.  I pretty much use this tactic on every plane type except bombers and any plane that can out-turn me.  Maybe it's my timing on the merge I need to look at. Thoughts? I religiously avoid head on situations as they are disastrous for a Spitfire.  1 plink and something will stop, fall off, spray me & my windshield in blood and oil or worse.  Makes me wonder why I love this bird!?!  The other has got to be situational awareness.  Usually I am engaging a different con and failed to account for a Spit 16 that is within easy closing range.  Thanks everyone on this, as I have some new devious schemes already at work!  Keep the info coming.

[The Fugitive]

Also knowing when you lost the fight BEFORE they shoot you down helps. Don't push a loosing position. If you can recognize that the fight is going against you before its too late, you can disengage, and reposition yourself again. Murdr posted a film recently about him getting out of a bad situation alive. Knowing when and how to disengage can help a lot.

[MjTalon]

np waystin, care to test out your theory a bit in DA ? i'll fly the 16 and you fly your 8? All for fun of course and you can test out some tactics and ACM's

[Latrobe]

 You? Talon? A stuka pilot fly a spit 16? I never heard anything so funny

[evenhaim]

learn some overshoot manouvers fly the plane by feel, and learn to recognize a wingline overshoot and gunnery solution.

Regards,

freezman

[humble]

The 1st thing to recognize is that the problem exists earlier in the fight. The guy who can fly his plane to your 6 is more apt to stay there then not. Spit on spit fights are all about the throttle, there is no real difference between the 8 & 16 except in the minds of those who favor one or the other. The 16 rolls better and the 8 is less "twichy"...thats it. I've got a clip or two that might help a bit...I'll post em here in a bit.

[bozon]

First thing I'd do is not take the performance comparisons too seriously. If you think the other guy can out perform you - he will. They are good only for a very vague and generalized comparisons.

Then, instead of calculating the exact dps turn rate difference, you can free your brain resources to think how to out fly your enemy by cheating (aka doing that pilot s#!t).

Seriously, turn rate and radius especially, are two things that almost never happen in situations where the test results are relevant. Getting locked in a level, co-centric turning circles with another plane is not something you should wish for, even if you hold a 0.01378 degree per second advantage in turn rate.