"Starter" plane (s)

[Midway]

Spit's main drawback is ammo load I would think. But yeah, wings pretty fragile.

That can actually be good by forcing you to spray less and work to get a good shot.  

[BaldEagl]

By all means stay with the Spitfire, as long as you want to fly a plane that sheds it's wings at the first sign of lead.

And trust me, there will be plenty of lead flying around.


 

All planes shed their wings when there's lead flying through them.  The trick is to keep that from happening.   

[morfiend]

 My advice,for what it`s worth is to pick a plane you like and spend as much time in it as possible. I figure about 100 hours of practice time and you should know the plane pretty good.

  Practice time isn't flying in the mains,you need to practice stalls and recoveries,basic flight maneuvers and slow speed flying,all of which will get you shot down pretty quick in any of the combat arenas.

 I suggest to most beginners that they get comfortable in a plane that is relatively easy to fly and turn off the stall limiter. A6m`s Brewster,spits,hurries are all good beginner planes to learn the basics in.

   Putting the time in to really learn `your` plane will only pay dividends when it comes time to fight.

 One last thing,several alluded to it already,who cares what plane you fly,those that do usually do so from the tower.



   

[Ten60]

I agree with whomever recommends Spits. The 8 is fun and pretty easy to fly and kill in.  One recommendation I would make, no matter WHAT plane you fly, learn how to keep your E.  That's what kept getting me killed real fast and in a hurry...  Besides my overall suckage that is lol.

If I could start again I'd learn in order Spit8, Niki, La, 190-D, and a 109-k4.  If you can master those you'd be in pretty darn good shape.

[ToeTag]

Fly something  slow...turns well....and has good guns.  Why?  You can not run, you will learn acm / sa and when you learn how to aim it will hit hard for the kill.

Hurri IIC

TOETAG15

[Hazard69]

Id recommend a spitfire to start out with too. Once you get comfortable in the air (and able to hold your own without being part of a horde) Id suggest you move on to something like a F6F. Its a jack of all trades, though master of none.

[ink]

I completely disagree with the spits as a first plane to learn in, unless its the spit1......

yes it is very easy to fly and will allow him to get kills quickly, but is that whats important to learning how to fight?

the spit just teaches bad habits from the start, personally I think it is one of the worst planes to start with, due to this fact, if you want to really learn how to fight stay out of the spitfire as a learning plane.

[morfiend]

  Ink,

  While I agree with you in principle,most new players need to learn how to fly not fight!

   Once they have the basics down ya sure move on to a plane that needs more work to control.
 
    Just last night I was helping a new player,trying to show him a basic barrel roll defense move and he was having trouble stalling and keeping control of his plane. Of course being new he choose the P51 which IMHO isnt a very good beginner plane so I suggested he use a plane that was easier to fly,a spit.

   Even after upping in a spit he was still having troubles just trying to do a basic barrel roll defense.

   So while learning to fight is one thing,learn the basics of flight is a whole new ball game and it's best to use a relatively easy to fly plane. Think about it,all pilots start out flying trainers for a reason.


   YMMV.


   

[ink]

  Ink,

  While I agree with you in principle,most new players need to learn how to fly not fight!

   Once they have the basics down ya sure move on to a plane that needs more work to control.
 
    Just last night I was helping a new player,trying to show him a basic barrel roll defense move and he was having trouble stalling and keeping control of his plane. Of course being new he choose the P51 which IMHO isnt a very good beginner plane so I suggested he use a plane that was easier to fly,a spit.

   Even after upping in a spit he was still having troubles just trying to do a basic barrel roll defense.

   So while learning to fight is one thing,learn the basics of flight is a whole new ball game and it's best to use a relatively easy to fly plane. Think about it,all pilots start out flying trainers for a reason.


   YMMV.


   

I hear ya, I think 

I forget that some have a hard time just controlling the plane, but ya I remember some friends that wanted to tr AH and they couldn't keep it from crashing, so ya if you are that new to it, I can see the spit being good, but as soon as you get that down, shouldn't take but a day, don't stay in the spit for the fighting part....

all ACM is the same in whatever plane you use,(which I am sure you know) with the spit you can make mistake after mistake and still be in the fight...that is bad for really learning what ACM to use and when to use it.

that's why I say choose something other then a spit to learn to fight.

[Bruv119]

I say the totally opposite to INK and suggest because the Spitfire can perform all manner of ACM and reach the very limits of what is possible the pilot who dares to dream awesome flying can really achieve it. 

When I fly other planes that do not do aswell, I can then limit my ACM to what that particular planes strengths are. 

[Midway]

I say the totally opposite to INK and suggest because the Spitfire can perform all manner of ACM and reach the very limits of what is possible the pilot who dares to dream awesome flying can really achieve it.  

When I fly other planes that do not do aswell, I can then limit my ACM to what that particular planes strengths are.  

Indeed.

 

[ink]

I say the totally opposite to INK and suggest because the Spitfire can perform all manner of ACM and reach the very limits of what is possible the pilot who dares to dream awesome flying can really achieve it. 

When I fly other planes that do not do aswell, I can then limit my ACM to what that particular planes strengths are. 

That's for when you have a good foundation of what ACM is.....flying spitfires to begin to learn to fight teaches you bad habits that are hard to break.....will be imposable to break if you fly the spitfire to long.

[Lusche]

A new pilot has already his hands full learning combat SA, how to read the map, judging Energy, how to aim and so on.
He need's an "easy to use plane" - meaning no 'secrets' ot very specific tricks he has to learn (like flaps dpeloyment in a F4U for eample), no severe handling issues (like a 109 at speed) and enpugh speed, maneuverability and not at least firepower (including ammo supply!).

A Spit 8 or 9 fits the requirement quite well.

[ink]

differences are what make the world go round

[Lusche]

That's for when you have a good foundation of what ACM is.....flying spitfires to begin to learn to fight teaches you bad habits that are hard to break.....will be imposable to break if you fly the spitfire to long.

What exactly are those "bad habits" which a Spit will somehow force upon a new player?