Air Combat Tactics

[LordBeer]

To start off, here is that video I made of some energy fighting I was doing. It's me in a P47 vs 4 zeros. It's not really a perfect example of it, but it should give you a good idea what I mean by it.

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[LordBeer]

I didnt actually realize at the time that 2 of those guys were kinda crawling up my ass near the end of the video. Also near the end you'll kinda notice that I do bail on the energy fighting and just go for the kill. Those two were just so nicely placed in front of me, I couldnt pass it up and had to bag one of em. I just wish I hadnt wasted so much ammo trying bad shots on frontal passes. Those planes really dont have a lot of ammo.

Most of the time that I'm goofing around in IL-2, I like to be outnumbered. Figured it's better practice to have the odds stacked against me. I dont fly the P47 often though, so I wasnt really used to how it handles and using it's guns. I'm more of a cannon person. If you're curious, my favorite planes in IL-2 are the La-7 and FW-190 a-9. They're both cannon heavy planes. Although I must say that I found the P47 handle better then I expected. I sure had an easier time energy fighting in that then I did in the Corsair. I couldnt seem to get it right in that plane. :dunno:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lavochkin_La-7

A couple things you should know about energy fighting in '42 vs IL-2. First off, you wont rip the wings of the plane off in '42. So you can be MUCH more aggressive in the dive. Second, It's kinda hard just to look around the cockpit in '42. So if you're at a significant altitude above a guy, he probably cant see you. Half the time Lamer got me on Aces night, I never knew where he was.

'42 will teach you bad habits guys. If you really want to kick ass in the air, I would recommend getting IL-2. The physics model is just much more realistic so you dont pick up bad habits. It'll help teach you gunnery as well. The planes in IL-2 will shutter from the recoil of the guns and throw off the reticule. Might sound like that sucks but you can also slow down time to help you learn how to improve your targeting. IL-2 will also help teach you discipline when just flying the airplane. Jamming the stick all the way might work in an arcade game. In IL-2, you'll probably loose control of the aircraft and go into a spin. This can really help you develop your stick and rudder skills so you'll only move the stick as much as is needed. It will translate into other flying games because you wont be pissing away all your energy in a dogfight. :thumbsup:

[LordBeer]

Here is a good tip for everyone that I had to relearn myself while trying to practice the energy fighting. Know your airplane! Learn the strengths and weaknesses of your plane and the one you'll be fighting.

I bring you the P38 Lightening for my 1st example. I always loved this plane growing up. Just seemed so neat and exotic compared to a P51. I also liked the idea of having two engines because of my gaming in Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe. I'd always get my engine shot to bits during ground attack missions and would rarely make it home. Anyway, I loved the P38 but it does have a little flaw. The flaw was referred to as compressibility and it could mean trouble (death) for pilots that dont know what it is. Basically in steep dives, the controls would seize and you couldnt pull out.. (insert sex joke here) The P38 picks up speed real fast with the 2 engines so really doesnt take much of a dive to cause it. Once you realize you're in it, it's probably to late to get out of it. Late Model P38s had some special dive brakes installed to counter this but I'm not 100% sure on how to use them. I dont believe at this time that they're automatic. I supposed I could post the video of me rediscovering this, but there isnt that much to see other then a P38 plowing into the ground at 800 kph. Blammo! I dont supposed I should stress that this can be a great trick to use if you have a P38 on your tail. Dive, hope the P38 gets greedy, and watch him buy the farm. No you wont get credit for a kill doing this but you can laugh at him later.

Japanese planes have their strengths and weaknesses as well. They may be very maneuverable but dont take much damage. Most of them lack armor or self sealing fuel tanks. So a little tap and the pilot may not be dead, but he probably wont make it back to base since his fuel will slowly bleed out. That leaking fuel also raises the chances of starting a fire. Unfortunately, I am kinda making a broad generalization of Japanese planes since I really dont know that much about them. I also have trouble spotting the differences between them. Although, there is a big difference between a little Zero vs N1K-J Shiden. Zero has 2x20mm and the Shiden (George) has 4x20mm.

Some of the British planes have problematic weaknesses. The Spitfire had a carburetor in it's engine. So in certain maneuvers, the fuel flow could be cut off. The carb could also lead to problems at high altitudes because it would loose power. I've never experienced this in IL-2 but I rarely fly Spitfires (I like the Tempest). I dont doubt they modeled it in IL-2 seeing how they put in the Me-262 flaw.

German also had some minor problems. Most of them are great planes but they really didnt have much range. This probably wont come up much in online dogfights though. What might come up is something like the Bf-109's rather poor low level performance vs Allied fights. It's turning circle just isnt as good as a spitfires. Even the mighty Me-262 has got some flaws. Aside from the fact it's a pain the ass to target something while going that fast, the engines had some issues. The engines were new and advanced. They also didnt have the best quality control. So if you're trying to just take off, dont gun em. They have a tendency to explode if you do that. Yes this IS modeled in IL-2. Guess the Me-163 had some flaws, but I've never had my pilot 'melt' because of a fuel leak in any game. :dunno:

One thing that can really be spread out among all planes is knowing what kind of engine you have. Leaving out the exotic/rare rocket and jet engines, you pretty much had just two types in WW2. Radial air cooled, and inline water cooled. The radial air cooled are the big mofo engines you see on the p47, Fw-190, and F4U Corsair. They radial engines tended to be a bit bigger and heavier. However they were more durable. I've read things about p47s having part of the engine block blown away, bare pistons flapping around, still making it back to base. Radial engines helped make the B17 such a survivable aircraft. These would be the kind of engines you'd like to have for a ground attack plane. On the other end are the inline water cooled engines. You'd see these in the Bf-109, P51, and P38. A little bit smaller and lighter with better engine performance for their weight. They have the disadvantage of a vulnerable water cooled radiator. Putting a hole in the cooling system was petty much a death sentence.

Anyway, just wanted to give you guys some examples of different fighters strength's and weaknesses. It can be one more important tool to use while trying to stay alive in the clouds. As GI Joe said, 'Knowing is half the Battle'.

[LordBeer]

Found this while farting around today and thought it would be useful. It's a little program called HardBall's Aircraft Viewer 4.08. It will let you compare any two airplanes in IL-2. Gives you an assload of stats on each plane. Armament, power to weight ratio, time to climb, turning time, and max dive speed are just a few of the stats you'll get for each plane. It's a pretty interesting program.

Know your enemy!

http://img697.imageshack.us/img697/6738/hardball.jpg (http://img697.imageshack.us/i/hardball.jpg/)

http://www.mission4today.com/index.php?name=Downloads&file=details&id=325

*You will have to register for their website to download this. Does seem like a nice site for simulation files though.

[LordBeer]

Need to go a tad off the subject material for a second. I just figured that those following this thread should be aware of the deal on Steam for IL-2 1946. It's $5. If you've been thinking about it, now is the time. It wont get any cheaper. If you guys do pick it up, I promise I'll hold a little fly in during the holidays to get you guys setup. The game is hard, but it becomes much easier after a few little tweaks to the controls.

Also, I do hope the previous posts have been useful. Did the video on energy fighting make any sense?

[SnaKe]

It helped me LB.