Hellkitty drivers: Give me the run down

[Lephturn]

Fly the Hellcat like a Jug that can turn some and you'll do very well.  Beware a well flown Spit IX... it's strengths match the Kitty's very well, so it's tough to beat a Spit IX if you are starting co-E.  The Spitter will retain more E in hard maneuvers, so if you don't kill it quickly, you will lose.  Use E fighting techniques at all times... you need to win the E battle to win in the Hellcat.  Most planes that are much faster than the Kitty you can out-turn, and most that are markedly better turners you can out-run.  In any case the key is to have an E advantage going in and know how to maintain it without extending.  The Kitty is deadly when used this way.  As a bonus, it's tough as nails, so you can screw up some and live to tell about it.  Learn to use it's flaps below 200 or so.

It's a pure E fighter.  It doesn't outright excell in any one area except maybe diving, but it's a great all-around plane.  As others have mentioned, keep your speed up higher than you would in a pure TnB ride.  The Hellcat with an E advantage is a very dangerous foe.  The Hellcat can also dive VERY well... one of the best in the game.  If you have a bit of E you can nail "faster" planes that try to dive away from you.  It accellerates reasonably well, better than most other Ami planes save the 38.  Use unloaded dives to surprise those that try to run and keel them!

[K West]

Hellcat is a USN "spitfire"  Just slower.  I haven't flown one in a while but it had tendency to enter a real mean snap roll/spin when slow and turn fighting. Found I had to use liberal amounts of trim (more than using CT will give you) to keep that from happening.
 The only thing I would not turn fight with was a Zeke or 202. Well, most often I would not...  

Can't wait to see what the F4F's are like  

 Westy

[Nifty]

btw, I respect the Hellcat a lot.  She absorbs damage, and can dish it out.  I raked one with Hispanos the other night, and it just laughed at me!    She has the best instantaneous turn in the game, IMO.  I forget about that sometimes in the Pac CTs and will think I can easily out turn this Hellcat in my Zeke.  Yikes!  he just pulled lead turn and filled me with 0.50 cals!  She dives extremely well in the short term, and above average all throughout the dive.

A Hellcat with E on you is a dangerous beast, especially in the hands of some of the guys that have posted here.

[Soulyss]

Whoops, guess that came out wrong, let me clarify my earlier statement.  

I have never found myself in a scissors battle with a Spit IX that was flown by a really good pilot.  Just like I've never found myself in a lot of situations that could happen in the MA, just because it hasn't happened to me doesn't mean I think it COULDN'T happen ever.  

I did not mean to imply that there aren't any good spit pilots out there.  


I only mentioned it in my first post as a matter of tactics, I would usually give a rolling scissors battle a go if I know the spit I'm facing is a IX rather than a V.   In the rolling scissors I would usually try to get a snapshot early in the fight while the speeds are still reletively high where the hellcat really manuvers well.  Using a little rudder input to roll inside the spit for a snap shot.  At close ranges the .50's really do a number on a spit.

Maybe I should have said I haven't run into a good spit IX pilot in a scissors battle.....YET

[Kekule]

Hi nopoop, you bastige.

I am curious how the hellcat matches up with the Ki-61-KAIc in AH. There is no 61 in WBIII yet, but in 2.77 it was a close fight (with Ki-61-Ib) unless you had an expert in the F6F (=scop= or =tech=).



Kekule

[AKDejaVu]

The Ki-61 and F6F-5 are very similar in performance.  VERY similar.  The advantage going to the F6F-5 with weapons.

I haven't really ran up against any aces in the Ki-61 in the MA... but I've ran into a few decent sticks.  I've not lost the advantage to one yet.

I did also fly the Ki-61 in the CT and really found it to be almost identical to the hellcat in performance except for high speed handling and dive ability.

AKDejaVu

[Kutt]

I probably need to be join a Hellcat Anonymous group. I’m still in the early stages of addiction. I actually think I can quit flying it whenever I want. I have thousands of perks that I have racked up with the beast, but I just really don’t feel like flying anything else.

Weaknesses

1. It can get slow fast if you’re heavy on the stick.
2. It can lure you into an extended turn fight if your not disciplined. It turns almost as well as some of the best turning planes in the game, but it is a losing proposition if you stay too long turning with a Zero, SpitV, N1k, etc.
3. If you begin a fight at an E disadvantage it can be tough to work your way out of it.
4. It is difficult to pull off the quick one burst of gunfire kill with the 50’s. My gunnery is fair at best so sharpshooters may have more luck with this.
5. Yaks, La7s and bombers are what I fear most. Yaks because they are so nimble and small. La7’s because they are just freaks of nature. I usually get La7’s when they are either not paying attention, or an inexperienced pilot is at the stick. Bombers will usually win a gun duel with 6 50’s, and the 6 50’s and a slashing pass don’t usually get me the one pass kill.

Strengths

1. It turns well
2. It dives well, and retains control authority in a dive. This means you can run down a lot of fast planes. Once they are forced to maneuver your better turning ability usually results in a kill.
3. Enemy’s underestimate the plane constantly. A lot of the better turning planes in the game tend to attract pilots who seem to just pull back on the stick in a fight. The Cat will make them pay for that maneuver.
4. TONS of ammo. Even a poor shot like myself can usually get around 5 kills before running out of ammo.
5. It usually has either better turn, or better speed than any opponent you fly against. It doesn’t turn better AND have more speed than every plane. It usually does one of those things better. If you understand what advantage you have over the competition there is usually a way to win the fight.
6. She’s tough

The best thing about a Hellcat is that it I honestly believe it will make you a better pilot. I see some individuals with great scores who are phenomenal shots. If you you stray in front of their nose your gonna die. Many of them fly tight turning cannon heavy planes. They get in a fight, take the quick snap shot, and get the kill. I also have noticed that doing this type of flying can stunt the growth of your ACM tactics skills. They can pull back and hang on the verge of a stall with the best of them, but they never are forced to really perfect the art of setting up the shot. This is NOT to say ALL. I’m positive there are some Spit and N1k drivers that could hand me my lunch in ACM tactics.

There is NOTHING wrong with that type of fighting. My ACM skills are nowhere near what I want them to be. I just know what type of fighting style I want to use when I grow up to be a fighter pilot , and the Hellcat is getting me there.

[Lephturn]

Originally posted by AKDejaVu
The Ki-61 and F6F-5 are very similar in performance.  VERY similar.  The advantage going to the F6F-5 with weapons.

I haven't really ran up against any aces in the Ki-61 in the MA... but I've ran into a few decent sticks.  I've not lost the advantage to one yet.

I did also fly the Ki-61 in the CT and really found it to be almost identical to the hellcat in performance except for high speed handling and dive ability.

AKDejaVu

Yep, one of the best matchups in the game.  I'd say the Ki-61's guns are better though.  If you hit with those cannons, things die.  It has a more powerful gunset than the Hellcat IMO.  For a snapshot-taking E fighter, the cannons work great.  The Hellcat has more ammo of course, but takes a more sustained burst on target to get a kill.  I killed more and faster with the Ki guns personally.

Yeah DejaVu, I flew it in the Pac setups as well.  It's a sweet ride.

[Nifty]

Originally posted by Lephturn


Yep, one of the best matchups in the game.  I'd say the Ki-61's guns are better though.  If you hit with those cannons, things die.  It has a more powerful gunset than the Hellcat IMO.  For a snapshot-taking E fighter, the cannons work great.  The Hellcat has more ammo of course, but takes a more sustained burst on target to get a kill.  I killed more and faster with the Ki guns personally.

Yeah DejaVu, I flew it in the Pac setups as well.  It's a sweet ride.

in a strict Ki-61 vs F6F matchup, the Hellcat's durability probably negates some of the cannon advantage in the snapshot, at least on the first snapshot as the kitty usually can take some cannon rounds and not sustain any structural failures.  The 6 0.50's are truly devastating in a snapshot if you can hit it at their convergence.  Otherwise, it's just a tickle.    The cannons don't need to hit at convergence to pack a punch.

Even 4 0.50's that hit at convergence can be deadly.  I got in a fight with 2 P-51bs that worked wonderfully together, and Snorkey ended up getting a quick shot on me and actually popped my Spit V outright!  I heard ping ping BOOM.  (moral of that story is be very aggressive when attacking two 56th FS guys at once!  I was hesitant at the beginning and lost my advantage.)

[palef]

Just pray you don't run up against Hermit (posts as Mitsu on the boards) in a Ki61 if you are in a Hellcat. That guy is a SERIOUS Ki61 pileit, and is absolute poetry in motion to watch. I have had some of the coolest 15-30 sec fights with him but winning (for me at least) isn't an option yet. I think it took him like 20ns to kill me when I came up against him in a Hellcat.

palef

[Samm]

F6f and f4u are close enough in turn rate that fuel load can be a deciding factor . An f6f with 25% fuel will out flat turn an f4u with 25% fuel . An f4u with 25% fuel will out turn an f6f with 50% fuel . And by turn I mean low speed flat 360's on the deck with flappage .  I should add that afterwards the pilots had said that they were using combat trim in the f6f's, but I think most pilots you run up against nowadays will be using combat trim . Sooo. just be mindfull of your fuel load before you commit to a low and slow becuase if things start going south there aren't too many planes that you can run away from .

[AKDejaVu]

Still have to disagree with you samm.  I always launch with 100% fuel and have not had any F4u turn inside of me.

It does matter in some other situations and does affect handling... but the F6F and F4u are not close at all when it comes to turnability.

AKDejaVu

[NJMAW]

Real Historical Gunsights




I think I got the kitty's gunsight off of Nabe's website under player pages....but I am not sure.  


http://www.ceres.dti.ne.jp/~nabezo/AH/gunsight.htm    


here is the one I use just in case

[Steven]

<>  -AKDejaVu

I've been flying the F4U-1 lately and when I take less than 50% fuel (supposedly, that's like 75% in other Corsairs) and have burned some of it down, I'm not too wary of most Hellcats out there.  I'll be clear and say that I'm not that great of a stick, so I can imagine a good stick in an F4U-1.  However, I typically will not follow anyone into a sustained turn due to the gaggles of Spitfires and LA7s flying around who are going to get me should I slow down a little and stay in one area too long.  This might be the case with other Corsair pilots because the thing is really a pig at climbing and regaining lost E.  The one thing the Hellcat scores big over the the F4U-1 at is in acceleration and definitely climb (they are related attributes, right?)  But there are the occasional times I feel comfortable taking it to a Hellcat, though hopefully I have a tiny bit of E on him.

[Kutt]

I have to agree with AKDeja on the F4U. I seek out F4U's when I can find them. If they want to engage, the longer I "hang" with them, the more I think the tide turns in my favor. If they extend, and I don't have the E to run em down. I climb out. Either way I feel I'm holding the cards. I always fly with as much fuel as the field will allow me to carry internally.