Request tacticle help for USN planes

[Flanker1985]

Hi guys, I just survived a Jap air raid. They launched so many fighter and bombers at us. I had to bail after shot down 1 Zero and 2 Torpedo bombers.

I tried the energy tactics you guys told me, that Zero was bough down like that. However, during that charge, I didn't slow down my speed and did NOT bank hard, one of the Zero still manage to catch me after I shot down that one. Which I had no choice but to started heavy maneuver. I got away because 2 of friendly fighter came to save me, but I still got cornered by 3 Zero in the end and they shot my instruments and roll control all to hell. So I had to bail. Also since we are being raided, they had altitude advantage since the beginning, and they have been using this tactic on me.

I just wonder, why DIDN"T they use P-40s?? P-40 had way better maneuverability and better speed as well. And F4F's gun fire like a shotgun. I went so close and aim at Zero for like 3 seconds straight and I could see only few shots hit it. If it was a P-40, I could have bought down 2 Bf-109 already (which has better armor than Zero). But I can't shot down Zero because this gun fires like a shotgun. The bullet trajectory spread so large.

When I was piloting MiG-3, I can notice there is a difference in maneuver and acceleration if I only give MiG-3 70% (or less) fuel. But I have only given my F4F 30% fuel and I can't feel any differences.

Anyway, but it is fun. I have uploaded that mission so everyone can have a try and enjoy the sea battle.

Also to everyone who have been helping me so far: Thanks guys and anymore suggestions?

[Daniël]

If you don't feel comfortable with the guns of your F4F, you could try to change the gun convergence. Experiment a little and find out what works the best for you.

You said that you were very close to the Zero. In that case the gun convergence was too far I think. The bullets don't come to one point before they hit the Zero, so they spread on the plane. But don't set your convergence too close or shooting from a distance becomes useless. And with wing mounted guns convergence is always an issue. Shooting with a Bf 109 is a lot easier

[Flanker1985]

Originally Posted by Daniël

If you don't feel comfortable with the guns of your F4F, you could try to change the gun convergence. Experiment a little and find out what works the best for you.

You said that you were very close to the Zero. In that case the gun convergence was too far I think. The bullets don't come to one point before they hit the Zero, so they spread on the plane. But don't set your convergence too close or shooting from a distance becomes useless. And with wing mounted guns convergence is always an issue. Shooting with a Bf 109 is a lot easier

I don't think it is a issue of convergence though. It is way easier if you are on a P-40E

[horseback]

Originally Posted by Flanker1985

Hi guys, I just survived a Jap air raid. They launched so many fighter and bombers at us. I had to bail after shot down 1 Zero and 2 Torpedo bombers.

I tried the energy tactics you guys told me, that Zero was bough down like that. However, during that charge, I didn't slow down my speed and did NOT bank hard, one of the Zero still manage to catch me after I shot down that one. Which I had no choice but to started heavy maneuver. I got away because 2 of friendly fighter came to save me, but I still got cornered by 3 Zero in the end and they shot my instruments and roll control all to hell. So I had to bail. Also since we are being raided, they had altitude advantage since the beginning, and they have been using this tactic on me.

I just wonder, why DIDN"T they use P-40s?? P-40 had way better maneuverability and better speed as well. And F4F's gun fire like a shotgun. I went so close and aim at Zero for like 3 seconds straight and I could see only few shots hit it. If it was a P-40, I could have bought down 2 Bf-109 already (which has better armor than Zero). But I can't shot down Zero because this gun fires like a shotgun. The bullet trajectory spread so large.

When I was piloting MiG-3, I can notice there is a difference in maneuver and acceleration if I only give MiG-3 70% (or less) fuel. But I have only given my F4F 30% fuel and I can't feel any differences.

Anyway, but it is fun. I have uploaded that mission so everyone can have a try and enjoy the sea battle.

Also to everyone who have been helping me so far: Thanks guys and anymore suggestions?

Your question about why the Navy and Marines didn't use P-40s has a very simple answer: it was an ARMY plane (never mind that for the first 18 months of the war, there just weren't enough of them to go around). In addition, the P-40 lacked the higher altitude performance that the F4F had due to its supercharged engine; the Allison was a very good engine up to around 4000m or so, but it lost a lot of what we cowboys like to refer to as 'oomph' above those heights, where the Wildcat had the same marginal performance right up to about 9000m. The Zero at those altitudes still had better performance, but the gap was not nearly as great.

This was extremely important at Guadalcanal, where airborne sneak attacks by either side were hard to achieve, because both sides had observers stationed on the islands between the major Japanese bases around Rabaul and the American held islands to the south and east some 500 (about 800km) miles away. When warned of an incoming strike the Marine and Navy Wildcats would take an hour to get up to altitude (most fuel efficient climb, I suspect) to be ready for the Japanese raiders, and there were still occasions that the Japanese came in higher than the Americans.

In real life, the Wildcat was considered more maneuverable than the Warhawk, and a better gun platform because the pilot's view was not obstructed by the nose and the carburetor intake; this allowed for easier deflection shooting, and US naval aviators were heavily trained in high-deflection tactics. They would have hated P-40s, never mind the better top speed.

cheers

horseback

[Kittle]

When the Corsair arrived in the South Pacific, the pilots that they faced were some of the best Japan had to offer. In Fact, one of the first major F4U opps became known as the 'St Valentine's day Massacre' when several F4Us, P40s, and a P38 were shot out of the sky by Japanese fighters. The book 'Fire in the Sky: Air War in the South Pacific' illustrates vividly the differences between American and Japanese doctrine, and the destruction of the Japanese air arm in the skies over the South Pacific. The attrition suffered in the SoPac Japan never fully recovered from. The drain of skilled pilots paid dividends during the later battles in the central pacific. In all honesty, it was aircraft like the F4F, P40, and land based F4Us that faced the last of Japan's skilled aviators, and sent them down in flames.

[JtD]

Originally Posted by Flanker1985

Anyway, but it is fun. I have uploaded that mission so everyone can have a try and enjoy the sea battle.

Flew that one for the fun of it. First try I stuck with my wing leader, he was extending, climbing and coming back high, at which point he dived and killed an A6M, a few moments later he had one on his 6, at which point I dived and killed that one. I then had lost him and went for targets of opportunity, found another distracted A6M and shot it down. Had to dive to the deck and run at some point, but wingmen cleared my 6.
Next try I just went up to mix it, turning around and climb immediately after take off, engaged the leading A6M flight, shot one down. Then I had 6 A6M's on me, so I dived to the deck and kept running. At one point four of them turned away, and I turned around to re-engage the remaining two. I had enough separation for a head on, where I damaged one, and having gone below them, they apparently lost track of me for a moment, which allowed me to easily position for another attack, killing the other one. Then going after the damaged one in a bit of a dogfight, got that one too. Headed back to the carriers, found a bit of a fight still going on, got three more kills, all A6M distracted with engaging other planes in my flight.
In the second run, only 2 A6M and 3 B5N survived the attack, and we lost 3. Pretty good result, I'd say. We lost the carrier, though.
Anyway, my defensive tactics were extremely simple, I usually just dove to the deck and ran away. In the initial part where separation was still small, I banked the plane a little alternating left and right as to not make a too easy target, but I didn't really manoeuvre. It's simple, but it works. Had to defensively stall fight once, when I got bounced and figured a dive wouldn't give me enough separation. I ended that stall fight when he had scissored on a course opposite to mine, at which point I dove away to the deck, as usual.
Note, you're in an F4F-3, which only has 4x0.50 cal. The P-40 (E&M) has 50% more firepower, so you'll have to get used to needing a bit more time on target. But ammo is plenty, so you can fire away more freely than in a P-40.