A8, because it is far and away the most challenging of the set (the F8 obviously excepted) to fly well in a dogfight.
Some day I trust I will learn how to do so.
- oldman
Oddly enough the A8 is the first plane I flew consistently well in. Trying to master it made me a better pilot in the long run, to the point where I feel totally spoiled in a Spitfire.
Some tips on flying the "Ugly Stepsister" of the Focke Wulf family:
1. Grab Alt. You need it to start with, the more the better.
2. Assess the Environment. The A8 doesn't have the escape velocity of the Dora, nor the additional turning ability of the A5. When you get to a fight, look around at the situation before you go in. Do you have advantage in numbers or alt? The worse the odds, the less time you should stay in the fight.
3. Conserve E as much as possible. You can't get it back easy so hold on to what you have as long as possible.
4. Save some E to get the heck out of dodge. If you hear a little voice in your head saying now would be a good time to extend...listen to it. Greed kills, especially in an A8.
5. You have less of a margin for error on that stall warning. Make your stick movements as gradual as you can. The only time you should jerk the stick around hard is when you're employing your roll rate.
5. Use the vertical. It's the best way to conserve E. Loop, High Yo-Yo, climb away from low and slow targets.
6. Fly like an opportunistic, sneaky, and dare I say it, cowardly little
. Hit em when they're not looking, and run away laughing.
7. HO 'em if they come straight at you. Anyone dumb enough to charge directly at an A8 is signing their own death warrant. They might get you, but you will definitely get them. Open up at 1.0 and they will fly right to their doom.
8. One major advantage of the A8 is hitting power. You can shred almost anything that crosses your gunsights. You have tons of ammo so take any kind of shot you can get. 300 is a pretty good balanced convergence setting for the 4x20mm package. The 30mm option is kind of overkill, viable for bomber kills, but since you can land effective hits on bombers at -600, why risk getting close.
9. Oil is optional. You can fly for a while without it, but I wouldn't recommend fighting without it unless you have no choice.
10. One situation where the A8 can actually survive for extended periods on the deck is against a CV based attack, especially when the carrier planes are coming in low. If you can climb out a little but stay below the ack, you can actually zip down low and hi-yo-yo the Navy boys to death. Not even a Hog can withstand your firepower.
11. The A8 is one of those birds that is tough enough to get you home even with some parts missing.
Treat her right, and she will treat you right!
-Muzzy
