Why Can't I Keep Up?

[IceFire]

Originally Posted by martinistripes

Is it only me or is this normal? It doesn't matter what aircraft I fly, I can't keep up with the formation. I've tried playing with prop pitch and supercharger settings but I always end up behind, especially when in a bomber climbing to altitude. It feels like I'm on full engine management but the AI is on no overheat. To make things worse I keep getting all the 'What the hell! Stay with your leader...", messages. I would if I could!

Second question: When I fly a bomber, can the AI in my aircraft drop the bombs (like they fire the guns)? Or do I have to faff about jumping seats?

Thirdly: A request to the dev team. Can we have the gunners in bomber aircraft shoot at ground targets when at low altitude? The other day I dropped my bombs and missed. It was a transport column with no air defences so I flew low over it. By using the level stabiliser and quickly jumping to the belly gunner I was able to complete the mission after several passes. Would have been nice if the AI was switched on enough to engage the targets for me.

Very much looking forward to 4.12!

Do you have 4.11? If so.. the AI suffers from overheat now too. This was actually a bit of an issue in the beta for 4.11 as the AI was sometimes overheating their engine and ruining it... they didn't used to really contend with that kind of problem.

The way you fly is very important. A lot of people try and "follow" the aircraft ahead but what they are really doing is putting their nose higher, reducing their speed AND sinking below their best climb speed at which point the AI looks faster and faster. You can do this with humans too... formation flying between a couple of experienced pilots and some newer ones will show huge differences even when the aircraft types and fuel loads are identical.

There was no better highlight for me in this area than when I did a few for fun air races. Everyone in the same plane. Same fuel load. Same start time and yet some guys managed to complete the course significantly faster than the others. You can watch them pull away. It's all in their technique... sure it's engine management and keeping the engine as cool as possible while getting the most power. But it's also in how they angle their turns and what their inputs are on the stick. Smooth and steady inputs cause less drag than drastic and dramatic snap movements.

It's not really a secret but if you fly better then you will be faster. The AI is naturally gifted at this in some respects so they will climb at close to the ideal speed and angle and they will use the precise inputs (in most cases) to achieve the move they are programmed to perform. The AI does cheat... but with the changes in 4.11... it's more about the information they are armed with and the technique they use rather than any actual advantage over humans.

You can keep up with them