Your favourite WW2 guns

[SleepTrgt]

Yea im interested to see the yak-3 aswell, it sounds like thats gonna be the perfect plane for me.

[Soviet Ace]

Originally Posted by SleepTrgt

Yea im interested to see the yak-3 aswell, it sounds like thats gonna be the perfect plane for me.

It's the best plane for anyone interested in light aircraft as well. Easy handling, quick maneuverability, and good guns. It's the best Soviet fighter made. That is, the La-5F is second in my book.

[David603]

Originally Posted by Soviet Ace

Having 4 Hispanos would put a serious damper on your planes speed and maneuverability. I mean if you've ever held a real 20mm round, it's not light. So going up against a Me-109G-2 or maybe a FW-190A-5 would be dangerous, unless you were good enough to get on their tales first. And basically do some hit and run attacks.

But nothing can beat the maneuverability/handling of my Yak-3

I did say the Spitfire XIV, the Griffon engined version, which has enough speed and climb performance not to need to get into a turning fight, and even then it is a pretty good turner. Anyway a Hispano 20mm cannon is only 10 pounds heavier than a .50cal M2(same amount for a pair of .303s too), and the 20mm ammo is heavier but this is balanced by not carrying as many rounds (20mm=120 rpg vs .50cal=250rpg) so the overall weight gain is not that much. At a guess (I'm not working out how much each ammo and gun option weighs in my head), an XIV with 4 Hispanos would be around 20-30 pounds heavier unloaded and about 50-60 pounds heavier with ammunition than one with 2 Hispanos and 2 .50cals, which seems worthwhile to me considering the firepower.

When flying the Spitfire XIV, I will mostly just rely on BnZing my enemies because the combination of a 448mph top speed and an instantaneous climb rate of more than 5000ft per min (4580ft per min sustained climb at sea level) is just about unbeatable, but if engaged at a disadvantage the XIV is still a good enough turner to beat out the Fw190 and Bf109 (same goes for any American fighter with comparable straight line performance) with little difficulty, and there isn't a prop engined fighter around that can follow the XIV in a steep, climbing turn.

Anyway, like you said, hit and run is the way to go. Erich Hartmann got 352 victories that way, and I have probably got even more using similar tactics in Il2, though I have definitely "died" a lot more times than he did

[SleepTrgt]

Originally Posted by Soviet Ace

It's the best plane for anyone interested in light aircraft as well. Easy handling, quick maneuverability, and good guns. It's the best Soviet fighter made. That is, the La-5F is second in my book.

Yea, im more of an all round pilot, Can see the good things about BnZ but it really isnt for me.
I also like that the guns are more in the center!

[David603]

Originally Posted by Soviet Ace

It's the best plane for anyone interested in light aircraft as well. Easy handling, quick maneuverability, and good guns. It's the best Soviet fighter made. That is, the La-5F is second in my book.

I like the Yak 3 when it comes to getting into a real dogfight, its a very nimble plane that can more than hold its own against my usual favourite TnB fighter, the Spitfire IX, but its doesn't suit my style of flying as well as the Bf109G does. The Fw190A8 is also pretty effective against it, because one burst from 4 20mm cannon plus 2 13mm MGs has a nasty habit of ripping wings and tails off planes or just blowing them up.

[Soviet Ace]

I wish they would have had a FW-190A3, rather an A5. I think considering the gun armaments and weight, both the Yak-3 and FW-190A3 would be a good turn and burn dogfight match. The A5 would be OK, but it does have a bit more weight than the A3.

I prefer to turn and burn with my enemies, rather than hit and run since you don't loose sight of your enemy as easy, and can calculate his moves fairly well.

[SleepTrgt]

Yea same reason i dont do well in BnZ aswell, lose sight of enemy too fast.

[The_Goalie_94]

Originally Posted by haitch40

ww2 aircraft guns only

Way to ruin the fun...

[thundermuffin]

Originally Posted by SleepTrgt

Yea same reason i dont do well in BnZ aswell, lose sight of enemy too fast.

thirded. I honestly have very little clue how the vets of IL-2 are so good at that. ONLY using sight on what is nothing close to the resolution of the real-world is mind-bending. Honestly, those IL-2 Aces should be in the sky right now, defending their countries

[SleepTrgt]

I dont think they see their enemy, they feel them.
Or like some guy in "dogfights" said: I can smell them.