My little 109 v spit experiment

[pstyle]

Thanks to Lolsav, I decided to have a wee run in the 109, and makes some quick anecdotal comparisons to my usual crate.
OK first up; cards on the table:
I've typically only flown spits, but today was convinced to have a go in the 109, in an online map.

This is not a plea for balance. I'm not interested in "balance". If I wanted "balance" I'd play a game where everyone flew the same aircraft

I hope these points will also help other red-only guys see how some of their tactics might be playing into the 109's specific nature.

Some initial thoughts from the previously unfamiliar;
The 109 has some interesting differences;
1. the nose weapons configuration is great. they shoot where you point it! (unlike the wing-mounted only fighters) my confidence in the trajectory of the fire is much greater with the 109. This is historical, and reflects one of the real advantages the 109 had - its armament.
2. The visibility is excellent. Much better that you would imagine based on the external look of the 109. That extra little bit of over-the-shoulder window meant I could see aircraft behind/below (7, 5 o'clock) that you just don't see in the spits. This helps explain why I'm often spotted, when I think I'm concealed. You really have to be under the 109 to be invisible - which is not a safe place to be anyway!
3.The 109 engine sounds gave me a warning when the RPM was too high, and was about to overspeed/ blow! All I had to do was reduce rpm, and she went back to normal running. How I wish we had that kind of audible "warning" in the red fighters... which just suddenly blow the second they hit the modelled threshold!, and there's no way to anticipate/ recover in time without strict engine management procedures. I think the 109 engine setup is more forgiving.
4. Recovering from a flick-stall (but not in a spin) was marvellous. I took my hands and feet off and just waited about 3 to 5 seconds for the heavy nose to drop. she righted herself and I was power diving and under lift within a second or two more. really nice. really stable. I might try and put one in a spin soon too, to see how that experience compares.
5. Turning is not awful, but there is a slight pedestrian feel to it compared to the spit - which you can "yank" around for 180 degrees in a quick burst (provided you keep the nose relatively level!). The lack of turning speed (rotational velocity) in the 109 is, however made up for the fact that she will turn with the nose up a lot better than the spits. So, whilst the spit might turn inside the 109 will be gaining height. But this shouldn't be news to anyone who has seen this borne out time and time again online.

Defo a nice crate to fly. I might brave a few missions in the busier servers now too....
Does anyone know if point 4 is "historical"? Are the reasons why a 109 v spit will blow engines different, and thus the "sudden" nature of the spitfire breakdown is accruate? Should there be any kind of audible warning from the engine in either case that something is about to pop? Should it be avoidable to a point, even once the engine tone has changed to "abnormal"?

[ATAG_Snapper]

Interesting post from a "Spitfire pilot's" perspective. I flew a short time offline in an E4 a couple of days ago, but mainly as a "systems' check" to verify my HOTAS controls operated correctly in this fine machine. I didn't do any formal testing at all, but just to get "a feel" for it.

My initial impression: this is enough to drag me kicking and screaming over to the Dark Side! LOL. Seriously, it had a "good feel" to it (and I say this after flying the various Spit and Hurricane marks exclusively online). As you say, visibility was excellent which surprised me. No birdcage effect at all and no annoying horizontal canopy bar at eye level as in the Hurricane. Speed and climb was wonderful, workload virtually non-existent once your controls were set. Didn't have to constantly keep one eye on the temp gauges and risk losing SA. The eye-opener: bunting into a steep dive at 6000 meters where my view temporarily went red from neg -g but the engine kept purring, then quickly reaching 710 kmh IAS in the dive......AND PULLING OUT!!!! That's 447 mph IAS and I still had all ailerons, elevator, and rudder still attached! The only thing missing? The smoking hole in the ground if I had tried that in a Spitfire.

I didn't try any stalls or spins. I did find the prop pitch a little slow (in manual) to change from fine to coarse and back again compared to the Spit (I have prop pitch in the Spits assigned to an axis on my HOTAS, the E4 had pitch control assigned to a joystick hat). The auto pitch was a joy for just casual aerobatics, not sure if I would use it in a close-run dogfight.

My overall impression: the devs, from my perspective, have done a fine job on this model. Even the cockpit animations work!

[trademe900]

Interesting read from a 'red only' perspective.

Personally I can not understand why anyone would not fly all the aircraft in the game, it's interesting and you pay for them. The only reason I fly mainly red at the moment is because of the challenge with the gaps so far apart in current patch. That gets you concentrating really hard.

[ATAG_Snapper]

Originally Posted by trademe900

Interesting read from a 'red only' perspective.

Personally I can not understand why anyone would not fly all the aircraft in the game, it's interesting and you pay for them. The only reason I fly mainly red at the moment is because of the challenge with the gaps so far apart in current patch. That gets you concentrating really hard.

From a game perspective you're absolutely right, we should all be flying all the different aircraft. For some of us old farts, it's Spits and Hurries. That's it.

[Slipstream2012]

Originally Posted by trademe900

Interesting read from a 'red only' perspective.

Personally I can not understand why anyone would not fly all the aircraft in the game, it's interesting and you pay for them.

I totally agree!

[pstyle]

Originally Posted by trademe900

Personally I can not understand why anyone would not fly all the aircraft in the game, it's interesting and you pay for them. The only reason I fly mainly red at the moment is because of the challenge with the gaps so far apart in current patch. That gets you concentrating really hard.

Well, my love affair with the spitfire is what drives me to keep flying it. It's not a rational decision, it's an emotional one But I'm slowly geting around to looking at the others. Someone (Divitor) convinced me to go bombing in a blenheim the other day.

This is partly why I have little interest in RoF or the upcoming BoM. I just love the spit - even when if it is just a game.. and the modelling is suspect in places.

[Pitti]

Originally Posted by ATAG_Snapper

...then quickly reaching 710 kmh IAS in the dive......AND PULLING OUT!!!! That's 447 mph IAS and I still had all ailerons, elevator, and rudder still attached!

Go over 750 kmh and you will loose ailerons, elevators and so on.

[JG52Krupi]

Interestingly snapper I find the spit a joy to fly while the 109 is like a train (albeit a very fast one ) if you keep on the rails your good but if you try any kind of quick manoeuvre your in a spin WTF

[Toni74]

Originally Posted by Slipstream2012

I totally agree!

i don't. I'm totally all right with flying my favorite bf 110 only. that's i've bought this game. i dont interested in flying any other planes.

[TomcatViP]

yes the 110 is one of the most interesting plane to fly in CoD. I do agree.

Sadly it's too easy to fly. Devs have a lot of tweaking to make it less perfect