[gbtstr]

What were you flying?

I don't think of it as completely an excuse. We've all heard, it's the pilot not the plane - and to a good extent I'd agree. But I think there is a line somewhere where no matter how good the pilot, he is at too much of a disadvantage by virtue of his mount. Either that, or he'd have to be Chuck Yeager + von Richthofen + Hartmann + Bader + O'Hare + ... you get my drift. There's not many that fit that bill. McGervyn is a good pilot with a lot of experience, and throw him in a better than average plane, it will only tip the balance more in his favor. If you were in say, a P-47, it would not shock anyone that you had a pretty rough go against even a barely competent pilot, let alone one as good as McGuyver. I flew against him back in his xbox days and had my tail chomped on by his Spit many times. But, I was able to make his Spitfire fold in half several times with my 109s.

If he was in the La-5, there aren't many planes that stack up evenly with it. Allegedly, but I believe it to be true, it can out-turn the Spit Mk IX (which afaik is the best turning Spit). And, unless the dynamics changed drastically in the PS3 version, or post-patch (not something an xbox player would know about), the La-5 down low can only be out-run by the La-7. Up high, the Bf-109K-4 has the top speed advantage, but the La's still might out-accelerate the 109 in a sprint.

Other things to consider in sim -

Better eyesight/bigger screen can give you an advantage over somebody dogfighting on a 13" dinosaur. If they're up high, you can pick out a speck at some distance. In the weeds, you will only see them when: they get close, you see tracers whizzing by your plane, or you see them moving rapidly across your line of sight.

Different control setups may give you an advantage over someone else's. I don't know the new schemes, but if there's a better way of looking around other than click and hold the right stick, it would be an improvement, and probably an advantage in a fight. Remember, he who sees first wins - and also, lose sight, lose the fight. Perhaps your setup in that regard is not as good as it could be.

Combat flaps. If you're not used to flying sim it's easy to forget about them. Use them to get the edge in a turn-fight. However, if your opponent also uses them, I guess it's a wash. But, if you don't use them and he does, you will know about it real soon as he saddles up on you after a turn and a half. You can yank back all day and he'll just line you up and send you down in flames. This is the voice of experience talking. Spitfire vs Spitfire and I was kicking myself all the way back to the loading screen after it was over.

Otherwise it all comes down to tactics. 1v1, this La-5 leaves little place to hide from it. If you turn with it, you're gonna die. If you stay down low, it will have a speed/acceleration advantage over your bird.

You really have two options: 1) also take an La-5, or 2) chose the 109K-4 and be a very, very, very disciplined boom and zoom attacker. Neither option is very good. Assuming you were as good a pilot as he, it could only end in a draw for La-5 vs La-5. Odds are one of you will make that fatal mistake, and by your own admission, odds are it will be you more often than him. BnZ works best on a predictable, unaware target. Get up high, dive down, blast the fucker, and zoom back up to safety. You won't get a lot of kills this way - one or two a match if you're lucky/good - but, on the other hand, you'll die a lot less. Working against you: he will most likely be very aware of where you are and not provide you that predictable target. Also, the priority is that if you don't hit/kill him on your pass, you have to get out of dodge with your own ass intact. Having a high energy state (a lot of speed) on the pass will help you live to fight another day, however, it gives you mere seconds to try to hit a moving target. This is also why it helps to have a lot of killing power on a BnZ aircraft - like all those nice cannon on the 109K-4. Also, it can be easy to botch the escape (the zoom). When you go whizzing by, he will turn to get on your six. If you climb away too steeply, or bleed speed by turning a little too much (no turning is best), he could have enough accel on that Russian hunk o' junk to catch you and spoil your whole day.

In reality, the Fw-190D-9, the P-51D and P-47 were all great at BnZ fighting. However, in the game they've been neutered and don't have the speed advantage that made them good at BnZ in real life. I'd say the D-9 could almost pull it off - I outran an La-5 once, but he would have dogged me to the end of the map had there not been more appealing targets way back there in a giant furball. In game, the 109G-10 and 109K-4 are the only two that can do BnZ successfully while solo - and you have to be on your game.

If all else fails, next time bring a wingman. At least one of you should get a shot.