I have been surprised to find that many posts suggesting how much the P-51, as modelled in game, sucks. So I figure it's about time for everyone who flies that bird with a little, or better much, success, to post what makes him/her successfull. Maybe a few hints can make one or the other pilot pick that plane in his/her next sortie. I am just an occasional P-51 pilot, but I tend to stay alive flying one. My hints are focusing on the D-5 model:
1st) Joystick settings. The P-51 has a very effective rudder, even little stick input will lead to rather big nose movements. Around neutral position, you should not have stick-steps larger than 6-7. Give it a little testing, it makes a HUGE difference when you want to keep a firing solution on evading planes.
2nd) Gun convergence. It is a matter of personal taste, but as you usually will not fire much further than 500 meters, you should not set it any larger than 250. Mine is usually set to 150.
3rd) Fuel: The P-51 has a long range. Most likely you will never need more than 50% fuel. With this fuel you can fly around at high speeds for ages.
4th) General flight: Fly high, stay fast. This is true for about every plane, but even more for the P-51. You have a high speed high altitude plane, so you can not expect to avoid trouble if you climb at low speeds or don't climb at all. Really good altitudes to fly at are 3500 and 7500 - no other prop plane will come close to your top speeds at these alts. In fact, most struggle to keep up with you even if you only fly at 100% power. A cruise speed of 500-600 kph is totally possible and advisable.
5th) Combat: Opponents: The P-51 will frequently face Japanese and German opponents. I'd like to focus on the latter, namely the 190A-8, the G6Late and the G-14, which are about what the P-51 would mostly face in combat. You are pitted against D-9's and K-4? Choose a different server. The P-51 is an early 44 plane and should compete against contemporaries.
6th) Combat: Getting bounced: It may sound just too simple, but your best and most effective maneuver is to push the stick forward and enter a steep dive. Your dive limit is higher than the dive limit of any of your opponents, so once you are past 850 you can be sure he broke off. Keep in mind that you must not pull the stick hard when pulling out, wings tend to leave your plane if you do. Safest thing to avoid that is to trim nose down by about 6-12 ticks. Once you seperated, keep it fast and sooner or later the enemy will be left in the dust. Against the Bf you may dive right down to sea level whilst against the FW you should try to keep it above 1000 meters.
7th) Combat: General tactics: Get to your best altitudes, as I said around 3500 and 7500 meters. If necessary cool your engine before you start to mix it. If you just fly straight and level at 100% power, noone can catch you and you will still cool down.
Once co-alt, only the G-14 has a chance to gain the initiative. The other two planes do not have a sufficient anough climb rate to overcome your speed advantage and, sooner or later, will either be forced to react or will have to settle with the fact they can't get you.
8th) Combat: Your best maneuvre: Zoom climb. The P-51 has a tremendous zoom climb, owing to the higher starting speed it almost always will have. As a matter of fact, zoom climbs never work if the other guy is close on your six. The best starting situation for a zoom climb would be a head on, so once you seperated you need to turn around. I suggest a zoom climb with a wing over. Make sure you are far enough from him. Come back down and fly about level with the bandit. You should have a considerably higher speed now and will start the engagement with a strong E-advantage. You don't need to do a 12 o'clock head on, because competent enemies will use this moment to blow you out of the sky, esp. the FW stands a good chance. So fly past him, at best slightly below him, so he has the choice to either turn for a rather poor firing solution and bleed E in the process, or to let you go. If he tries to take the shot, you have almost won. Start climbing at a shallow angle and gradually steepen the climb. Most of it should be carried out at around 45â?. Once your plane gets slow, you should perform another wingover and either start attacking the enemy stalling below you, or repeat a few dive-zoomclimb maneuvers until your E-advantage is big enough.
9th) Combat: You got the advantage: Now you just wasted minutes of your precious time to establish an E-advantage. DON'T BLOW IT! You cannot turn with any opposition, it is the best way to get killed. Against the 109, you will not even complete a 360 turn before he will gain on you. So, esp. against the 109, do not throttle back and try to sit on their 6. It just does not work. Use repeated hit and run passes, force them into evading action and beware of the huge cannons that will always be on your 6 when you passed the opponent. Seperate a little before you zoom up again. In case you start to maneuvre a litte, use the combat flaps. This way, you can afford half a turn with a FW and probably get a good firing solution.
10th) Combat: Firing: Keep in mind that your plane is not armed with 4 mini-nuke throwers like a FW. You will, most likely, need a few bursts on target and thus a few attacks to achieve visible results. Just don't lose your patience.
11th) Combat: The opponent is an ace? Well, most likely he is not going to play your zoomblimb games, but as he is slower, his only option would be to disengage. In a 109, he will climb. You just keep going and leave him alone. In a 190, whatever he does, you can match it. If he turns away, turn around and chase him down. He climbs, you climb as well, but keep in mind you need high speed climbs. He dives, dive as well. The FW essentially has no real option to disengage.
12th) Combat: You biggest problem: You know, most good pilots will sooner or later call their team for help. This help will usually arrive with all possible advantages. Since the above style of fighting take a lot of time, this help will often arrive before you got your first decent burst into the enemy. KEEP CHECKING YOUR 6! When the help arrives, you are usually back to No. 6 of my list, but noone says you may not call for help yourself...
Well, I think that's about all for now. If you want to put it into a nutshell: Use your speed advantage!
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