Tactics

[mondo]

Years of playing IL2 tells me the best tactic is to fly with a good partner. Two well flown planes working as a team can defeat any single opponent or multiple opponents if they are not working together. Its how they flew and it worked and it also works for sims. To lone wolf it you need to be either an excellent pilot or extremely disciplined.

Basic tactics for fighters is keep your speed, keep your altitude and fly in the planes best performance envelope i.e. look at the peak power outputs of the engine, roll rates at different speed etc.

Flying WW2 combat aircraft is not just knowing how to do a split S or keeping your energy state, its about knowing your own plane and opponents plane and there limits. Say you are in a 190A6 and your being followed by a Spitfire IX at 25,000ft. At that height the Spit IX will catch the 190A6 so as the A6 driver you need to loose some altitude, which is handy as the 190A6 is better in a dive and head towards a lower altitude where the A6 can produce its full power at which point its vastly quicker than the Spit IX. Head right to the deck and the Spitfire is in real trouble as its quite a slow aircraft compared with the equivilent 190 and 109's of a similar era.