P-51 Combat Tips and Tricks ( Dogfight Guide )

[panzer1b]

Originally Posted by Janosch

No, no, no it isn't.

i agree but i still have to say i do not exactly "FEAR" 6 50s in a fw190

sure ive been killed plenty of times by them but thats usually a luckshot to the pilot or controls, rarely have i ever lost a wing (dont remember that in the last year honestly), and usually it takes a nice long burst to kill with the 50s, while a single good deflection shot will at best explode to 50cal, and at worst shut off his engine (most often its either a wing lost or black smoke/fire from engine).

now 4 20s are a HUGE threat in anything you flyy be it a fw190 or a b17, that loadout just obliterates anything with a good deflection shot and bombers with a good 1 second burst to a vulnereable spot (or just dewings it)



and as for the p51 i think its a greatly misunderstood plane

most people who fly them casually are just plain terrible, as in riupping wings off at high speed, stalling at low, and trying to outturn a zero ect

the better pilots are more then a fight and often times i end up with a damaged plane heading home. still on most online servers these pilots camp altitude and are more of a nuissance that either bnz (easily countered when hes at 700+) or try to get you when you climb to attack him (countered by flying far enough he does not see you climbing or avoiding high altitude all together). they rarely kill you if you know what you are doing but still removing a good p51 pilot from the skys is a very tough job, as he can almost always run away from you.

in good hands the p51 is downright a very hard plane to kill, then again same can be said of anything which they just will not let you get anywhere near them without fertilizing the landscape with your wreckage

[T}{OR]

^^ Good post.

The biggest problem with .50s is to learn how to use them most effectively. What would undoubtedly make them more effective is if we had an option to set individual convergence (like in CloD). That would spread them out and more easily hurt anyone on the receiving end.

This is where I think, P-47 with its 8x.50 cals has an advantage. By pressing just your guns trigger you will fire only 2 pairs, to fire the other two you need to press your cannons trigger. Logic implies that different convergence for guns and cannons gives you different settings for each 2 pairs of .50. I need to test this in the game, but I am pretty sure this is the case.

Back to P-51. In order to maximize their efficiency you really need to fire in the ideal convergence range (as I demonstrated in the video). Best way of teaching yourself that is by just loading up QMB and trying to strafe soft targets on the ground. Soon you will learn not to fire too soon or too late.


Done a few sorties online lately and IIRC there was an P-51 FM change in one of the patches by TD? I had to change the way I fly to get the most out of the plane. Here is what I would recommend for 4.11.1, for COMBAT operations:

• Keep the radiator on AUTO, no need to touch it at all.
• Trim for +500 km/h IAS: RESET then apply 8 clicks of right rudder and 14 clicks of nose down elevators.
• Keep an eye on your manifold pressure, about 55" is just what is needed for COMBAT operations below 4000m. Above that you will need 100% power or more to maintain 55", especially in the range where the blower switches to high.
• Propeller pitch below 4000m is best set on 90-95. For steep climbing when speed drops below 400 km/h IAS use 100 PP.
• The same procedure goes if you're diving on someone or running away. Use 95-100 PP for the initial part of the dive while you reach 500 km/h IAS - then drop to 60-70 PP and observe Mustangs insane acceleration that no piston powered plane can match (apart from Dora if you started with same E levels).
• If running away / chasing a fast contact (e.g. Ar-234), after you level out at about +800 km/h IAS remove 4 clicks of rudder (for total 4 clicks of right rudder) to keep the ball centered. Use 70-80 PP to maintain E and speed.
• At +650 km/h IAS be very careful not to lose wings. Especially if using 100 across the whole range of your controller.

With the above combat settings you can easily keep the plane above 500 km/h IAS at all times. Cruise settings of 50" and 2700 RPM (~ 80 Power / 80 PP) will get you far whilst saving fuel. When you're done perfecting in the D model, grab Mustang III.



EDIT: And always remember that 50% fuel is sufficient for 2h flight on full power. Never ever take more than 20-30%. Save fuel by using cruise settings. Drop tanks are just for show. With 30% you only need to check your fuel tank behind your left shoulder (in reality IIRC this one was drained first as it changed P-51s CoG drastically, perhaps another thing for TD to fix...).

[Jumoschwanz]

Is that video of Thor's up on youtube? I am not a member of M4T. Always fun to watch tracks of our glory days.

I remember that Ultima Latet was about the best Mustang pilot online, he could just about kick anyone's ass by managing his energy very well mine included. I gave him fits while flying a D-9 though and he just brought up how the d9 was better than it should be, but every RED pilot says that.

The boys in Mustangs on WarClouds used to do very well with them, but that was because they flew as a team in numbers like they should have and they flew very safely with very little dogfighting, whenever I got any of them alone whether I was in a 190A,D or 109 they usually came up the loser because they grew dependent on team tactics and maybe did not spend the time lone-wolfing it like I always did.

In 2008 for an experiment I purposely flew on Spits vs. 109s every day for a month, as they used to reset their stats every month, just to see how good a record I could rack up. I flew mostly the FW190, maybe 20% in a 109 and some in allied aircraft including a sorty in a p51d where I got two kills and got back home. I got by far the best record in the stats that month for a fighter pilot, flying a large number of missions vs. Late allied aircraft, P51,p47 and of course Spits. Warbirds of Prey's solution was to delete the fw190 aircraft I had been flying from their maps for the next month.

In the end I remember the high-flying Mustangs being the most trouble for the FW190 because they were the fastest and best diving just as has been pointed out in this thread.

And as Chuck Yeager pointed out in his book, the pilot with the most experience will always come out ahead no matter what he is flying. Which always seemed to hold true. I think most of the best pilots in WWII or in IL2 are those that fly with their heads and have the best tactics and experience and know their aircraft.

If the starter of this thread, Ultima and Thor did better than most others in their Mustangs I am sure it is more what they have upstairs than whatever virtual cockpit they are in.

[T}{OR]

I only remember =AFJ=GoodKnight and his "SIX-FIFTIES" video. Never flown with him, just Kling on a couple occasions. I rarely flew with a wingman, and did just fine solo. Although having one helps a lot, especially since from my experience every Fw driver nowadays has a wingman lol.

The video is only available from M4T. I didn't want to upload it on YT as back then the quality was poor and it would have been muted / deprived of one channel soon after upload.

However, seeing the interest in the video has again risen you can now download it off my squadrons FTP: DOWNLOAD LINK

[panzer1b]

as for shooting at convergeance its not often so easy, as ur often too far or too close to the target

also what do u 51 pros use for convergeance?

i tend to usee 200m for every plane as it s a balanced number wheer both wing guns work and centerline are quite good (+ i rarely shoot at anything past 300m)

i used to have 100 so as to get easy point blank shots but all it does is limit me to close up ONLY.....sortof bad if for some reason you need to snipe at range...

[T}{OR]

I use 200/220m guns/cannons. 300/330m when I am going strafing.

A note when using K-14: its default range is 150m, and the increments in distance you can input are in 25m.

[JtD]

I'm using 200, too. I tended to use less, but nowadays I fire at longer distances then I used to.

Got another tip for flying the P-51 more successfully: Stay away from exploding opponents!

[majorfailure]

Originally Posted by JtD

Got another tip for flying the P-51 more successfully: Stay away from exploding opponents!

Second paragraph here:
http://www.spitfireperformance.com/m...-18march44.jpg

[K_Freddie]

I always use 150m, which essentially gives me 300m effective firing range.

I'm not going to fire at larger distances.. unless I'm in an IL2 or similar then ranges are set to 400 (MGs) and 300 (cannons)

[Erkki]

Long time ago, must have been 2008, me and my friend tried P-51s on WarClouds, in an attempt to survive as long as possible.

Not counting those hit enemies that landed, I had a pretty good tally of 57 when I finally died. Could have survived longer but in the end was killed by the usual thing: greed. 2 minutes of mission time left I dived to deck to save a friendly only to end up below 5 or 6 Doras from a Czech squad and ended up killed in the cockpit by Werner.

Needed hell of a patience to get that far, but I believe the relatively weak firepower that made one pass kills difficult was less restrictive than the ability to outrun every enemy plane was helpful.