Plane you fear most?

[TonyJoey]

The soon to be Brewster Buffalo!!! 

[Scherf]

WMLute's Schtookie.  I *hates* that vamint.

[RTSigma]

Spit16s. It can be any pilot, good, bad or terrible and I know that once I see one pop up all they're going to do is turn their wings perpendicular to the ground and just turn. Then if they miss or have the idea that I'm on their six,...they'll nose-down and just run and run.

That and tanks that are level with me on a hill.

[Xasthur]

I fear the plane that runs.

[Steve]

Several, I suppose?  heheheh My game has holes!

[Wingnutt]

to SORT of answer the question..  the 152..  again not because of the plane itself, but because USUALLY when I happen across one, it has someone decent in it.. I figure the ones flown by noobs get shot down before I find them. 

[SlapShot]

The plane that is 200 on my six and I don't know it's there 

The plane that is 200 on my six and I DO KNOW it's there ...

[caldera]

The one I'm flying. I know that with or without damage, it will auger in at the earliest oppurtunity. 

[slyguy]

Sorry but this is wrong. There are several pilots who have tendencies which can help in a fight against them.  People fly  the planes differently. I know Moot's 152, a muppet k4, Corky's 38(by the missing parts), Del's, AKAK's and Shreck's 38, Snaphook's a20, Shane's LA7, Skat's 51, Goobm's tiffie, Lippy's Ki, Greebo's F6, Skyrock's, mtnman and his wingie,   and shawks Hogs, etc etc etc
  
Many many times I've had people say "I knew that was you, Steve" so obviously I have tendencies too. Maybe this means I have a weakness that can be exploited.

Don't "sorry" me.  I'm right, even though you think I'm wrong because the facts is this:  At the end of the day no matter who you are fighting against, he can't make the plane do what it simply can't do.  So again, fight the plane not the pilot.  Unless you want to put yourself in that plane's envelope on purpose, in that case to each their own.

I've been flying WWII air combat sims for 12 years.  Don't tell me I'm wrong.

[slyguy]

In the end the pilot makes the plane.

Not really.  In the end, the manufacturer (or computer programmer in our case) makes the plane.  The pilot does his best to use what that plane is built to do and stay away from what it can't do.  If our discussion excels beyond the remedial then how can one tell me that a jug, flown by anyone, will out-turn a Spit?  Because it can't.  Because it's the plane. 

A pilot is only as good as his equipment allows him to be.  Know your equipment.  Win fights.  He who knows the equipment best is the better pilot.  So know your equipment and all you have to fear is yourself making an error.  Who cares about the other guy?

I'm not saying that pilot skill doesn't come into it.  Of course it does.  I'm merely saying that the pilot's skills are confined to what the aircraft CAN DO.  So you fight the plane.  Do that and it doesn't matter what the "pilot" does because his range won't extend beyond the plane.

[humble]

Not really.  In the end, the manufacturer (or computer programmer in our case) makes the plane.  The pilot does his best to use what that plane is built to do and stay away from what it can't do.  If our discussion excels beyond the remedial then how can one tell me that a jug, flown by anyone, will out-turn a Spit?  Because it can't.  Because it's the plane. 

A pilot is only as good as his equipment allows him to be.  Know your equipment.  Win fights.  He who knows the equipment best is the better pilot.  So know your equipment and all you have to fear is yourself making an error.  Who cares about the other guy?

I'm not saying that pilot skill doesn't come into it.  Of course it does.  I'm merely saying that the pilot's skills are confined to what the aircraft CAN DO.  So you fight the plane.  Do that and it doesn't matter what the "pilot" does because his range won't extend beyond the plane.

The problem with that logic is that it is incomplete. A Jug can easily out turn a spitfire for example....within a certain set of parameters. So what tends to happen is that the pilot who is secure that he has "the better plane" is often deficient in both tactics and imagination. On the other hand the pilot with the "lesser plane" is constantly looking for ways to shape the fight in a manner that allows him to exploit his planes strengths and play on the opponents short comings. The vast majority of a "dogfight" occurs within the meat of the overlapping flight models allowing for both pilots to utilize a significant range of options. In the end the plane is much more pilot limited. Really good pilots are good in any plane.

[Guppy35]

Sorry but this is wrong. There are several pilots who have tendencies which can help in a fight against them.  People fly  the planes differently. I know Moot's 152, a muppet k4, Corky's 38(by the missing parts), Del's, AKAK's and Shreck's 38, Snaphook's a20, Shane's LA7, Skat's 51, Goobm's tiffie, Lippy's Ki, Greebo's F6, Skyrock's, mtnman and his wingie,   and shawks Hogs, etc etc etc
  
Many many times I've had people say "I knew that was you, Steve" so obviously I have tendencies too. Maybe this means I have a weakness that can be exploited.

I agree with this.  I was running into K4s a lot in the last month and I could tell who it was by how it was flown.  I told BillyD one night that I could tell right off by the opening move he was making.  Agent tends to fly his K4 in a certain way too.

I think the other thing is you start to note in Latewar in particular who isn't flying the latest and greatest and watch for them.  That and you notice who knows what a throttle is and who doesn't, in particular in the BnZ birds.  Some of the 51 drivers are never going to hit anything because they drop from so high, going so fast that you can defeat their shot no problem.  And if you stick around a certain fight long enough, you know who is there and which birds are the bigger threat.

I suppose some of us would live longer too if we flew more 'anonymous' birds, but I kinda like knowing my 38G is going to be a target right away because it's a 38G

[killnu]

agree with Dan and Steve on this one.  I have called out a few people by plane type and how they flew....and have had some do it to me as well. 

[Steve]

  Don't tell me I'm wrong.

Well, as others have pointed out... you're wrong.  You must be disappointed to learn that having 12 years of sim experience doesn't guarantee you're right about everything.

 An enemy is a plane and a pilot, and pilots have varying abilities and tendencies. You would be silly to fight every plane of a specific model the same way when you have the opportunity to  use knowledge at hand to possibly gain an edge, but this is exactly what you are espousing. You go ahead and limit yourself though, while the rest of us use our experience and knowledge of our opponents as part of our tools of the fight. I wonder who is more successful, you or I.

FWIW, for all your many many years of sim experience and your boundless knowledge of the genre, I've never heard of you. Do you actually play this game?


And killn's ki, lately!

[Bruv119]

The one I don't see.