yak vs f6f

[df54]

anybody have any tips on fighting against hellcats. On paper its a close matchup as far as performance is concerned but i get my head handed to me on a platter all the time against then.

[whiteman]

Originally posted by df54
anybody have any tips on fighting against hellcats. On paper its a close matchup as far as performance is concerned but i get my head handed to me on a platter all the time against then.

Find another fight?  

Honestly I don't know never fly the yak, i do know i hate seeing them go vertical. Thats most likely due to them coming in with more E, I generally run into them after I've already been In one fight or just dropped some ord.

After a few passes if I have equal E then I'm not to worried and try to get them turning and slowing down. Thats just me and I'm no expert.

[splitatom]

you can out run it and you can out turn it i think go in quick at 6 oclock and give him a large burst into the tail it should take the tail off

[Rollins]

Well, you can out run it at certain alts, you can't out turn it when she drops out full flaps.  Check your figures before you post splitatom.

[uberslet]

i dont know anything about Yaks, but Fire5336 (or wat ever his digits r) likes them. he may be able to help u.

[Xasthur]

I would expect that nose-up would be your best solution. Also, make your turns and rolls to the right, the Yak's opposite spinning prop will help you in tight turns in that direction when the Hellcat will be fighting its torque all the way through that same turn.

The Yak is a relatively light and nimble aircraft that climbs fairly well. These are attributes not often found in American aircraft, play to those strengths.

[BaldEagl]

Keep the Yak fast and use it's speed and climb rate.  If you get slow in a Yak the acceleration is so poor you have no exit option if things go bad.  Be wary though because the F6F has an incredibal zoom climb but once slow it's not great in the verticals.

For lack of a better description you want to play a fast, in-the-box, vertical B'n'Z game with him.  Keep your turns low-G and set up angles using the vertical.

[moneyguy]

hmm...the yak's that i fly have plenty of accelration.

[humble]

The yak has speed climb and roll and should control the fight. The F6F has zoom, Turn and the benifit of combat flaps. Best performance for a yak is roughly 16k. The two wildcards here are the F6F's ability to take a punch and its ability to snipe. Most yak drivers have to get in close to hit and that creates the opportunity to hit back for the F6F. Ideally the yak driver will fight in the vertical obliques (think of it as flying the "X") with the F6 at the junction. If the F6F driver is good then the yak driver has to settle for marginal shots or "go for broke". If the F6F driver can get the yak driver to pull G's and get in close enough to force continued evasives the yak is in trouble.

[FireDrgn]

There are two Yaks in the plane set im going to guess and say your talking about the _U_ model..

Like already stated  you really need to keep the speed up and low G turns. A good f6f pilot is going to clean house in a turn fight.

It really depends on the other pilot. If he makes the slightest mistake you need to capitalize on it.

When you get your shot oppurtunity hold the trigger down a little longer that normal. f6f are tough an unless u get a pilot kill your going to use that ammo anyways.

[SlapShot]

Originally posted by humble
The yak has speed climb and roll and should control the fight. The F6F has zoom, Turn and the benifit of combat flaps. Best performance for a yak is roughly 16k. The two wildcards here are the F6F's ability to take a punch and its ability to snipe. Most yak drivers have to get in close to hit and that creates the opportunity to hit back for the F6F. Ideally the yak driver will fight in the vertical obliques (think of it as flying the "X") with the F6 at the junction. If the F6F driver is good then the yak driver has to settle for marginal shots or "go for broke". If the F6F driver can get the yak driver to pull G's and get in close enough to force continued evasives the yak is in trouble.

Yup ... in a Yak, you want to try keep the fight ABOVE the F6F and keep it fast.

Nothing better, when I am in an F6F, to find a Yak wanting to fight the fight in the horizontal, or if they Split-S or make any downward evasive. I throw flaps out, hard rudder, pull flaps back in and in most instances ... death follows shortly there after.

Don't give an F6F the chance to fight going downward ... it usually doesn't work out too well.

Conversely, if the F6F has a decent amount of E, don't under estimate it's "zoom" abilities ... it climbs like a scalded cat in the zoom. Once the zoom has been exhausted, and your still alive, then the planes with better climb rates can take advantage of that.

The Yak and a whole lot of planes have a much better acceleration rate than the F6F, but what most forget ... if the F6F is anywhere withing the D400-D600 range ... you WILL NOT out accelerate the .50 cal lead rope.

Had a fight with a P-38 a week or so ago and after I evaded and reversed, he thought that a D600 separation was comfortable, began a lazy climb ... the lead rope reached out and snapped in the butt ... big time.

[Bubbajj]

Yup, being under an F6 is a bad place to be. Combat flaps are neat and it turns well enough. You won't out turn the turn fighters but you can out run most of them. It dives like a brick and zooms back to the moon. The six fifties get the job done well too. If it gets too slow, it wallows though.

[DoNKeY]

Haven't really fought many yaks, although when I have gotten on their six, they are such a small plane that they can often fool you if you aren't paying attention to the distance meter.  This can cause you to misjudge lead or even overshoot.  Be careful of that.

For the Hellcat, yes she's tuff, and for being as big/heavy as she is, it can still turn.  Use the vert. as others have said, but be alert, I've known more then a few people who can make a hellcat hang in the vert for at least a little bit.

donkey

[SuBWaYCH]

Originally posted by uberslet
i dont know anything about Yaks, but Fire5336 (or wat ever his digits r) likes them. he may be able to help u.

If anyone knows ANYTHING about Yakolev's,  Aka and Chanzz do. Try them out for help. Of course, you could just talk to me sometime. It's my primary ride, so I could tell you about a few tricks in it. Then again, i'm no expert.

[WMLute]

Originally posted by SuBWaYCH
If anyone knows ANYTHING about Yakolev's,  Aka and Chanzz do. Try them out for help. Of course, you could just talk to me sometime. It's my primary ride, so I could tell you about a few tricks in it. Then again, i'm no expert.

chanzz is the only yak driver to give me "fits" in a fight.

he would be the person I would aks about how to fly/fight a yak in AH.