Quote:
Originally Posted by David198502
hello guys!
as im a total beginner, but really looking forward to become a hunter and not the bait, i have some questions about the spitfires in general and the MKIX, which i prefer to fly.
i think to know that the spitfire is a really good turning plane and good at speed too.
but if i fly online, most of the time i cant catch up witch the enemy planes.
especially if they climb up and i try to follow, they either escape easily because they remain faster, or i even turn into a stall because i loose really fast speed.
and the other problem is that i cant outurn other planes if they are on my six.
even the bfs follow me.if i try to outturn a bf, first i turn tighter,but losing speed, so it catch up and shoots me down.
....so i guess im doing something really wrong with handling my spit.
maybe its because i dont know what the magnets are for, how i use propeller pitch,cowl flaps and compressor stages.
so my question, is there anywhere a thread which explains in detail, how to use the spitfires properly.
i would be very grateful for any information!!!!
by the way excuse my bad english.
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Hi David... now that you've been flying a bit you're going to start getting into the details which will make you worse for a while and then turn you into a much better combat pilot.
There are a lot of things that you can work on to improve your situation online. I would start by doing some searches online for combat maneuvers (air combat maneuvers also called ACM). Go here:
http://www.simhq.com/_air/acc_library.html
Look up Discussion Of Boom And Zoom Tactics and all four of the Tactics 101 articles.
These tactics can be applied to ANY aircraft from a WW I biplane to a Spitfire in WWII to a F-35 Lighting II fighting in the future. The technology and capabilities change but the same basic tactics still apply.
I'll try and address two basic areas that you've identified:
Speed - Speed is definitely a key aspect of air combat. Speed is energy which can be spent like money on different moves. Every move will either cost you energy (i.e. climbing, turning, etc.) or gain you energy (i.e. diving). A really good combat pilot can take a slower aircraft and make it competitive with the right tactics and by maintaining a constant energy advantage over their opponent. With the Spitfire you have a relatively fast aircraft that gathers speed well but isn't always the fastest to accelerate so maintaining your energy is very important if you fight faster opponents. Planes that are faster are aircraft like the Fw190D-9, La-7, Ki-84, P-51 and so forth.
Turning - Turning is directly related to speed. Spitfires turn best at certain speeds (about 350kph IAS is about where I like to put it). A tight turn is not always the best turn in a Spitfire... work on balancing out your speed and tightness of turn so that you maintain some speed through the maneuver. Versus most 109 models you can out turn them at 300-350kph but when speed drops to 250kph their leading edge slats deploy and they can temporarily get a firing angle while bleeding speed themselves. Stay away from turning battles if you can and focus on using altitude, speed, dives and gentle climbs to engage the enemy.