quote:

Originally posted by JtD:

quote:

Originally posted by BillSwagger:
On the other hand, a zero or ki-61 gets on my tail, its usually over pretty quick.

I do wonder how you managed to get a tail in planes that on average are 100 km/h faster than the A6M.

You are referring to level flight characteristics. JPN planes flown from above are pretty difficult to avoid. This is the situation that i find where limitations in dive speed /drag modeling really give the advantage to the lighter planes. i will point out the exceptions, but I virtually have to point my nose straight down to get any decent separation. Even if i'm already kilometers away, i will dive only to see that i've gained little separation from the dot. In fact, they bleed less speed after the dive, and depending on the altitude i level out at, they have little difficulty catching up. So level flight characteristics aren't really a good indicator of how the planes will perform.

The only exceptions i've noticed are with the P-51D and the F4U they can usually get away from their attacker even when those dots are close enough to appear as planes. The P-38 and P-47 can get away, but their initial start speed needs to be above 250IAS, which means that its unwise to climb toward your enemy, or you will be caught in the climb.
whats interesting is that the GER plane set can attack with similar advantages but because they are not nearly as good in the turns, its much easier to utilize a break turn or flick to avoid their firing solution. A JPN plane will cut right inside of you. I'm not sure if you can snap a wing in most JPN planes, i know its possible in the J2Ms.

You can see that flying a JPN properly has more advantages than you might think.

Bill,

If you are attacked from above by a more maneuverable aircraft, I wouldn't recommend pointing your tail at him to try to get away. It's usually better to meet your attacker face-to-face where we he will have to change direction to get your 6, and *then* you will have an easier time gaining separation.

You can also try fighting, too, as you always have surprise on your side when you engage a more maneuverable attacker.

+1

Turn tail-to and you maximize the time he has to lay shots on you. Dicta Boelke tells you turn into the attack
to minimize the time he has to fire at you.

Bill, I can frequently outrun A6M's and Ki-61's in a F6F when they dive on me from whichever altitude while I'm carrying my typical 6xHVAR+1x1000lbs at 5000ft. The F6F is one of the slowest planes in the US arsenal. I use shallow dives which forces them into shallow dives in which the F6F has a marked superiority.

If I fly the F6F as a fighter, I don't get a tail, but then I don't let my speed drop below 400 km/h and don't climb into the enemy. In particular the last thing is a well known recipe for certain death.

But I understand where you're coming from now, thanks for explaining. My advice would be: Don't do it. You'd just collect a hard to shake tail.

I don't fly blue often and I'm no Sakai but I once went on a D.F. server where I flew against other members of my squadron. For chits n' giggles I took an A6M against mostly late model Mustangs, I downed 4 and damaged three before they drove me off. I could do things in that plane that I could never, ever do flying Red. Of couse, one burst would've ended my shennanigans but, in the hands of a good pilot, check that, great pilot, the early Japanese planes are NOT dogs.

Worf

Thanks for all your thoughtful replies. I can't nit-pick every fight i have or even go into lengthy details over how to avoid what's an obvious pitfall. I just notice tendencies with in a planeset, thats all.

I've learned to avoid the traps that a beginning pilot might not be aware of.

quote:

Originally posted by megalopsuche:
Bill,

If you are attacked from above by a more maneuverable aircraft, I wouldn't recommend pointing your tail at him to try to get away. It's usually better to meet your attacker face-to-face where we he will have to change direction to get your 6, and *then* you will have an easier time gaining separation.

You can also try fighting, too, as you always have surprise on your side when you engage a more maneuverable attacker.

The head on solution makes sense, and its my preferred method for working from a defensive position into an attacking position. A lot of that maneuver will depend on planesets, and like i said i can't nit pick instances, but i've gone head on with plenty of Zeros to know that they can usually turn around fast enough to line back up on your tail after the head on. So....hopefully the turn you did to encounter them head on didn't bleed off too much speed where they can still shoot at you with those powerful 'short range' cannons of theirs.

I want to avoid trailing off on the discussion of how immensely great the Zero is in game, but rather focus on the original post, and mention that any perception of mis-balancing of a map has a lot to do with pilot skill.
There are times i can score kill after kill in XYZ plane, and then next map fly the same plane, and have nothing but my *** handed to me.
Sometimes i think it has more to do with the concentration of rookie or veteran pilots. If your used to shooting 4 or 5 planes down in one sortie, and then find that you can't shoot down 1 or 2 planes fighting from the other side, consider the skill level that you are fighting against. Its my loose assumption that most rooks fly lower than 10k, and don't really understand energy management beyond the scope of pouncing on whats below them or turning to get out of the way.

quote:

Originally posted by BillSwagger:
and mention that any perception of mis-balancing of a map has a lot to do with pilot skill.

+1

Pilot skill is a huge factor, especially in many vs many scenarios.