North American P-51 Mustang one of the best ww2 fighters why so "crappy" on bop?

[U2711AZ]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_P-51_Mustang

[olife]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_P-51_Mustang

hello U2711AZ,

welcome and good question.

here is my opinion :the p51 was for sure one of the best fighter of ww2,but one of the best is the same thing that the best in all.
i think the p51 was very good because :

1-long combat range
2-very good speed
3-can use for dogfight or strike
4-total numerical superiority in the sky of europe and pacific
5-allied fighters pilots have a very good training instead of the poor training of the axis pilots at the end of war

i think we have the wrong idea to believe that all the very good ww2 fighters is so good because of their manoeuvrability but it is not always the case and the p51 is the perfect exemple,i ' m sure the p51 was outclassed in manoeuvrability by many ww2 fighters,i think about fw190d,spits,ki84,n1k,yaks,la5-7 series, and some messerschmmitts flown by a experten.
in fact the sucess of the p51 is sure but because a total numerical superiority,a good training for the pilots ,a long combat range,a good speed and the good strategy and tactics of the allied forces but in my opinion(and only)not because of his own maneouvrability qualities even if it is was not too bad.
i think the flying qualities of the p51 in bop are similar to the real p51.
but in the video game it is not possible to have the same conditions that in the real war.

this is my opinion ,would be cool to have others.

sincerely
olife

[bobbysocks]

the 51 isnt the only POS in this game....the 190s, 47s, Ta152s...and Spits to a certain degree all fall short of how they really handled. as for the 51, the flight model for this game was taken from aircraft with drop tanks attached...or so it was rumored. in reality the 51 was on par with all the fighter aircraft of the day. it could turn with a 109 or 190 at any altitude. when they first came on the scene in 44 they were vastly outnumbered and up to mid 45 would engage larger groups of LW ac. the main reason for its success is it would spend several hours each mission in LW home areas. so they had more time to be engaged and to go hunting. in the latter part of 45 the US tactic was to use bombers as bait to sucker the LW up for a fight where the ponies could play with them. if the huns didnt oblige 1/3 of the fighter group was cut free to go down to the deck and shot them up on the ground. and doing such they got into many a rumble down low. the fact that it ( and the other mentioned ac ) are so totally outclassed is a shame.

if you have PS3 you will get a patch which i hear makes the plane fly better. in xbox its lead covered brick. you can learn to fly it and have to adapt different tactics. at any rate it is something they HAVE to address and fix in BoS.

[McQ59]

You guys have a lot better intel on the mustang than me, but in my opinion the mustang handles very well in sim if the settings is good. I take the D-5 eight notches down and the E seven down on the ailerons. Clue is to use the throttle and the roll-rate. You can't turn it like some of the brittish or the early germans (the focker turns like a fridge!) but you can compensate with tactics. Flown in cockpit-viewgames it's great fun. Psn is my field.

[Robotic Pope]

There is no doubt the Mustang is broken in BoP. You only have to fly it in Il-2 1946 on the PC (which is where the BoP flight models come from) to realise this. Its a Joy to fly in that game, where as in BoP its a pig. As ive writen before its not because its not manuveable enough in BoP like some people think, Its right that the Mustang can't slow speed dogfight with the light turn and burn fighters that rely on power to weight ratio and acceleration to fight. The reason it sucks is because there is very little Energy retention in BoP which is what the Mustang was all about and where it got its greatness from. In BoP a plane with high drag (low energy retention) like the Hurricane with its thick wings, will lose speed at 0% throtle at the same speed the low drag Mustang does. This is just wrong. In fact the Mustang seems to have very high drag in BoP, it loses a ridiculous amount of energy in a turn which is what causes those sudden snap rolls leaving you a sitting duck.

[U2711AZ]

Thx you all for your detailed reply. Anyway IL-2 bop is the best combat flight simulator for xbox and i guess we all hope that our critiques will help to lead 1c staff to set up an even better birds of steel. ( i do apologize for my uncorrect english )

[MACADEMIC]

It's my favourite airplane in BOP on the PS3, however as I understand there is big difference to the one on the XBOX due to the difference in patching. We can expect an accurate Flight Model in Birds of Steel, most of BOP Players are for realism and that will mean that the available power will be adjusted to historical models. This should result in higher top speeds however lesser climb rates.

MAC

[Robotic Pope]

I will add that it doesn't help that the constant speed propellor in BoP is allways set on max engine RPM which is best for acceleration and climbing but creates more drag because the blades are more face on to the airstream.

In a Mustang once you got to altitude you would lower the prop rpm and the blades would become less face on, causing less drag so you could then dive faster and better retain that speed once you leveled out. You'd then put the prop rpm back at max when you needed more power from the engine for aceleration or for gaining altitude again.

[MACADEMIC]

I will add that it doesn't help that the constant speed propellor in BoP is allways set on max engine RPM which is best for acceleration and climbing but creates more drag because the blades are more face on to the airstream.

In a Mustang once you got to altitude you would lower the prop rpm and the blades would become less face on, causing less drag so you could then dive faster and better retain that speed once you leveled out. You'd then put the prop rpm back at max when you needed more power from the engine for aceleration or for gaining altitude again.

Absolutely correct RP. The devs have stated already that engine management to the extent as WOP has it will be also available in Birds of Steel when played at highest difficulty, however may require an additional input device (keyboard) to be used.

MAC