Learning a plane

[CAP1]

I was thinking about this for a couple of days now.

On a scale what plane is the easiest to learn and which one is the hardest to learn.  I am talking about being good at the plane and not just taking it up and landing kills.

On the easy side I would put the spit series of aircraft ther.

I am having trouble figuring out the hardest one to learn.  Is it the P-38 because of its size, the jug because of its weight, or the 190 because it cant turn.

I am not talking about taking a plane up and landing some kills (anyone can do that), I am talking about knowing what the plane can and cant do... becoming a master at the plane if  you will.

Easy                                                                                                                     Hard
<---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------->
Spit                                                                                                                      ????

Sorry about the typing I had hand surgery and it is hard for me to type.

<S>
Jebus

i'd say the 38's the hardest to learn, as she's not uber at anything, but does everything pretty well. she can't disengage at will, as the faster fighters can, she can't dive away as the really fast fighters can, and she can't flat turn as tight as the turners. but ya learn her, put the right hands on her controls, and she's one of the most deadly aircraft in here. it just takes time.

 the 190's might not be able to turn, but can easily outrun most of what they'll encounter in the arenas. the 47's can be made to turn fairly well......redtop, and N72 come to mind in the 47's. if they get into trouble though, they have enough power to spare and disengage at will, and dive away.


just my opinions.......

<<S>>

[Anaxogoras]

i'd say the 38's the hardest to learn, as she's not uber at anything, but does everything pretty well. she can't disengage at will, as the faster fighters can, she can't dive away as the really fast fighters can

What about the fact that the 38L is tied for first (with the 47N) for roll rate at 400mph?  Granted, there's still compression on the elevators with the dive flaps, but the ability to change direction in a dive when other aircraft can barely roll is worth a lot.  If you're only talking about the J then I would agree with what you say.

I can't help but quote hoof's old comments about the 38L in the late '90s Warbirds:

The P38L has been called in Warbirds, and rightfully so, the Super Plane. The P38L is Jack of all trades, and master of most. The P38L does practically everything well, it dives with the best of them, is fast, has excellent high altitude performance, rolls with the best of them, until beyond 275mph, where it leaves all other planes in the dust, outturns all but the Zero and Ki43, has an excellent climb rate, has one of the best and most accurate gunnery packages in the game (with the exception of Otto), and has plenty of ammunition to burn. It's only major weakness is it's huge planform, making it an easy target in some situations. Fortunately, it's exceptional roll eliminates it's predecessor's big problem of being unable to roll away when that huge planform is exposed.

Can you imagine a 38 that turns with a Spit V?

[CAP1]

What about the fact that the 38L is tied for first (with the 47N) for roll rate at 400mph?  Granted, there's still compression on the elevators with the dive flaps, but the ability to change direction in a dive when other aircraft can barely roll is worth a lot.  If you're only talking about the J then I would agree with what you say.

i was basing on the fights. we don't fight at 400 mph. i can see you point, but as the 38's diving and able to roll at 400, the pursuer is most probably already approaching 450 to 500 or so, and shooting the poopoo outta ya. i guess i should come to lw someday, and try the L.....
i was actually, only thinking in terms of the J and G........

[BnZs]

It is too hard to define "hard".

There are some planes which don't have all that much going for them (P-51, P-47) in terms of what they can do, but their visibility, guns, and handling are very straightforward. Then there are planes like the 109 K-4 or SpitXIV which have alot going for them in terms of performance but also quirks.

[Anaxogoras]

i was basing on the fights. we don't fight at 400 mph. i can see you point, but as the 38's diving and able to roll at 400, the pursuer is most probably already approaching 450 to 500 or so, and shooting the poopoo outta ya. i guess i should come to lw someday, and try the L.....
i was actually, only thinking in terms of the J and G........

Yeah, I know the die-hards like the 38J, but the moonlighters like me appreciate the 38L's roll rate and dive flaps.   If only the skins were olive-green...

[CAP1]

Yeah, I know the die-hards like the 38J, but the moonlighters like me appreciate the 38L's roll rate and dive flaps.   If only the skins were olive-green...

well, if ya wanna surprise some people, fly the G. it doesn;t have wep. it won't outrun much of anything. once your in the low alt turnfight, you're in it till ya kill the bogy, or he kills you. but it;s FRIGGIN FUN!!!!!!!!

 i still am nowhere near the skill level i'd like to be in the 38...but i've had a couple in the weeds 2v1's. i haven't survived in them, but i made the guys work much much harder than i think they thought they'd have to work to get me. 

[Shuffler]

yup I like my J bomber.

[Enker]

I feel that the 38 and 190s are the hardest to learn, as well as the Yak series, whereas the P-40's, 109's (especially the F), the Ki-61, and the American Navy Iron (especially the Wildcat/Hellcat) are the easiest.

[Martyn]

B5N2 is a really sweet primary trainer for getting to learn the controls and trying out level bombing - but not good in combat.

[SEraider]

Learn ACM first and then worry about what plane to fly.  

and the P-38 isn't a very hard plane to fly.


ack-ack

It would help to have dual throttle for this plane though.

[redman555]

spits,nikis, la las, all dweeb/easy planes


jugs, P-38, 190, F4u take skillz



-BigBOBCH

[Saxman]

F4Us are indeed hard to master for a new player. It needs experience & some good judgement to succesfully play it's strengths, to know when to use flaps and when not, and if, how much of them. In a F4U ist easy to burn your energy but relatively hard to get it back, being not in the top-notch acceleration crowd.

No comparison to planes like Spits and N1ks whose strenghts are more easily "accessible" to the newcomer - less things to consider in fight, and easier to have success in.
Only past the beginner stage, a player can begin to appreciate a F4U's more "subtle" advantages.

Quote for truth. Der uberflappen can let you get away with a lot of mistakes, but a real key to success in the F4U is knowing when to stay fast, when to dump speed, and when to cut and run. You need good SA to be able to gauge the situation quickly, and the flexibility to adapt as things change.

There's some guys out there that can drop into the middle of a furball on the deck and make it away with six or seven kills in a low-speed turning brawl, but I'd say for probably 95% of players the Corsair needs to stay moderately fast in large fights because she loses a LOT of options as airspeed drops. And of the remaining 5% above, I'd say 3-4% of them will STILL avoid an extended low-speed fight if they can. Even 1v1 the Corsair is much more of a  plane that requires careful management of Energy, position and timing to set up and make the kill. Even fuel management is CRITICAL to success, especially in the -1 and -1A which have a larger fuel load (always leave more gas in the right wing than the left. 75% internal, burned to a 0 / 25 load in L/R then switching to main for the duration of the fight I find best. It helps balance the plane against torque).

[Ack-Ack]

It would help to have dual throttle for this plane though.

No it wouldn't.  Using a dual throttle won't give you the 'edge' over someone that doesn't use one.  However, it does increase the immersion factor and let you perform some really nice looking hammer heads but that's about it.


ack-ack

[Krusty]

The statement about the 190 "being able to outrun most" is only applicable to the 190D. Doesn't apply to the A-5, A-8, F-8 (if you choose to furball with it) and not always with the Ta152 (about 10mph slower than 190D down low).

Much harder to take a 190A into a fight and get out alive because you can't outrun jack (or squat) unless you have 15k to dive with.

190s can be fought as fighters, not as BnZ only. I'll often fight one in the vertical until I run out of E and alt, then I'm reduced to less potent manuvers.

[Delirium]

It would help to have dual throttle for this plane though.

As AKAK said, there is no edge to be obtained with dual throttles, I've used mine since June of last year.

The only benefits to dual throttles is hammerheads and immersion as AKAK said, spin recovery, donuts on the runway, and the ability to compensate for a missing wing by throttling back the opposing engine.

(added a couple to AKAK's list)