AB Fighter Plane Reviews

[JA_37D 718]

Nothing wrong with pilot-kills......

[LupisVolk 488]

As an Australian I'd ask if you'd be able to do the wirraway and the boomerang.

[tx141 815]

As an Australian I'd ask if you'd be able to do the wirraway and the boomerang.

 

Although I enjoy playing this game very much. I do not intend to spend money on it.

 

I will save up what golden eagles I earn from events (etc.) and use those to purchase some premium planes which I can then review. Although this will take quite a while.

 

Thank you for your suggestion :)

[LupisVolk 488]

Although I enjoy playing this game very much. I do not intend to spend money on it.
 
I will save up what golden eagles I earn from events (etc.) and use those to purchase some premium planes which I can then review. Although this will take quite a while.
 
Thank you for your suggestion :)

Ah okay. Good luck and have fun.

[StasRaskolbas 8,397]

I have absolutely nothing against AB, I play AB 60% of the time but the FMs in the arcade are so wrong and similar to each that making a review seems a waste to me

 

I find this a bit of an exaggeration.  If people say "all FM's are the same" I would love you to take a FW 190 or Thunderbolt into a low-altitude, low-speed furball, start turnfighting, and tell me how well it works out for you. 

[Nudelblitz 22,006]

The dora's enter a deathspin so easily in arcade..
make a video of that!

[Budgie_ 1,742]

I find this a bit of an exaggeration.  If people say "all FM's are the same" I would love you to take a FW 190 or Thunderbolt into a low-altitude, low-speed furball, start turnfighting, and tell me how well it works out for you. 

 

Funny that the Thunderbolt turns quite well in arcade, and I've already used it in low altitudes dogfights, and I have a kd ratio of 4 with them, so....

[tx141 815]

Update 10.03.2014:

 

- The highly requested review of the P-51D Mustang has been added. Enjoy! :)

[Titan_Alpha 622]

Update 10.03.2014:

 

- The highly requested review of the P-51D Mustang has been added. Enjoy! :)

 

Well done sir!

 

That's a very good review of the P-51, some very important tips for flying it in there for pilots new to the P-51 platform.

 

Thank you for getting this review done so quickly after the request!

 

:salute:

[tx141 815]

Well done sir!

 

That's a very good review of the P-51, some very important tips for flying it in there for pilots new to the P-51 platform.

 

Thank you for getting this review done so quickly after the request!

 

:salute:

 

That is no problem, and thank you :)

 

If you have any more requests, please let me know.  :salute:

[fl2oxide 1,002]

That is no problem, and thank you :)

 

If you have any more requests, please let me know.  :salute:

 

Yes, very good. I think I just suck. :P

[Titan_Alpha 622]

Can you possibly review the F8F-1 Bearcat?

 

I haven't flown it yet but as soon as I ace out my 2 P-51's the Bearcat will be my next plane, an arcade review would be greatly beneficial !

[fl2oxide 1,002]

I tried your tactics but nobody ever came above 4k and if I went down then a Ta or Yak or 109 or whatever would just come by and eat me for lunch.

 

:(

[tx141 815]

Can you possibly review the F8F-1 Bearcat?

 

I haven't flown it yet but as Soon™™ as I ace out my 2 P-51's the Bearcat will be my next plane, an arcade review would be greatly beneficial !

 

I still need 100,000 RP to unlock the first iteration of the F8F-1, so unfortunately it will be a little while before I get a review together for that plane (give it a month or so). However, I will keep your request in mind. :)

 

I tried your tactics but nobody ever came above 4k and if I went down then a Ta or Yak or 109 or whatever would just come by and eat me for lunch.

 

:(

 

I can understand how you feel, a couple of weeks ago I had a series of games in my FW-190 D-9 where no-one came above 4500m, not even either team's bombers and it was absolutely infuriating.

 

You just have to go into a couple of games, gauge the mood of the players (i.e. flying high or low), and if everyone is flying low, either join them in a different plane, or you can try teasing your opponents by doing some feint passes (i.e. dives alike the one I performed on the P-63A in the video). 

 

Do not be disheartened, by being up high you are fulfilling the role of your plane, and you will always get someone who will eventually take the bait.

 

Additionally, if you point out to your team-mates that no-one is up high but you, some players will switch to their heavy bombers, it all works out in the end.  :)s

 

All the best!

[fl2oxide 1,002]

I still need 100,000 RP to unlock the first iteration of the F8F-1, so unfortunately it will be a little while before I get a review together for that plane (give it a month or so). However, I will keep your request in mind. :)

 

 

I can understand how you feel, a couple of weeks ago I had a series of games in my FW-190 D-9 where no-one came above 4500m, not even either team's bombers and it was absolutely infuriating.

 

You just have to go into a couple of games, gauge the mood of the players (i.e. flying high or low), and if everyone is flying low, either join them in a different plane, or you can try teasing your opponents by doing some feint passes (i.e. dives alike the one I performed on the P-63A in the video). 

 

Do not be disheartened, by being up high you are fulfilling the role of your plane, and you will always get someone who will eventually take the bait.

 

Additionally, if you point out to your team-mates that no-one is up high but you, some players will switch to their heavy bombers, it all works out in the end.  :)s

 

All the best!

 

Alright, I'll try some of that later. Also, do you think we could squad up some time and you could give me pointers? Just PM me on the forums.

[tx141 815]

Alright, I'll try some of that later. Also, do you think we could squad up some time and you could give me pointers? Just PM me on the forums.

 

Sure thing, you only have to ask :)

[fl2oxide 1,002]

Sure thing, you only have to ask :)

 

Cool.

Edited March 10, 2014 by RocketTurtle

[Kocyra 5,742]

Do a MiG-9 arcade review? :P

[tx141 815]

Do a MiG-9 arcade review? :P

 

Once all the piston-engine fighters are done, I shall consider it :P

[JA_37D 718]

Well done sir!

 

That's a very good review of the P-51, some very important tips for flying it in there for pilots new to the P-51 platform.

 

Thank you for getting this review done so quickly after the request!

 

:salute:

 

Yepp, very good review. You manage to strike that perfect balance at not being too close to the bad guys but close enough to get into those good situations. I usually go a little too high and have to dive steeper, getting harder shots and so on. Need to learn the plane better I think.

Not really brave enough to go into those fainting head ons either.. It usually do not end well for me.. ;)s

 

Either I do not manage to avoid the fire or mess up afterwards and gets outmanouvred. Need to work on keeping the eye on where the enemy goes I guess..

 

Alsdo have problems going anywhere near enemy bombers even in fast, diving attacks from any direction. Seems like people at this level have good crew so they quite often get in some hits even in  text-book attacks. That is mainly how I have been shot down - a couple of hits from Soviet bombers, Wellingtons... I try to avoid US bombers but have managed to get a couple of B-17s when they catch fire in one pass. Ditto for B-25s - but it is very, very dangerous so I tro to leave it for thecannon-fighters or go in and help out when there are others around (dangerous in another way! :crazy: )

 

WHich planes do you feel is the biggest threat? Bf 109s and Fw 190s?

[tx141 815]

Yepp, very good review. You manage to strike that perfect balance at not being too close to the bad guys but close enough to get into those good situations. I usually go a little too high and have to dive steeper, getting harder shots and so on. Need to learn the plane better I think.

Not really brave enough to go into those fainting head ons either.. It usually do not end well for me.. ;)s

 

Either I do not manage to avoid the fire or mess up afterwards and gets outmanouvred. Need to work on keeping the eye on where the enemy goes I guess..

 

Alsdo have problems going anywhere near enemy bombers even in fast, diving attacks from any direction. Seems like people at this level have good crew so they quite often get in some hits even in  text-book attacks. That is mainly how I have been shot down - a couple of hits from Soviet bombers, Wellingtons... I try to avoid US bombers but have managed to get a couple of B-17s when they catch fire in one pass. Ditto for B-25s - but it is very, very dangerous so I tro to leave it for thecannon-fighters or go in and help out when there are others around (dangerous in another way! :crazy: )

 

WHich planes do you feel is the biggest threat? Bf 109s and Fw 190s?

 

Thank you as always :)

 

Going within 1km of a B17 will fully upgraded gunners is an absolute nightmare, especially if you cannot knock-out any of the gunners in your first pass.

 

Interesting question, it depends on the situation. From all of the planes I have played with, and encountered thus far, I would have to go with the Spitfire Mk. IX. I say this for three main reasons:

1. On the whole, the plane demonstrates above average characteristics in almost all areas (i.e. climb rate, turn circle, acceleration), meaning that the pilot can adapt his/her playstyle when facing any opponent.
2. The armament of two 20mm Cannons and four 7.7mm machine guns is sufficient for tackling any fighter, although it can be used rather effectively against bombers as well.
3. Consistency, no matter what altitude you take the plane to, it carries on performing nicely. While others may perform better within a given altitude range, the Mk. IX is the most consistent plane I have flown to date.

It does have one major weakness: that being its rather awful roll rate at speeds above 400 km/h, yet this can be overcome by forcing your opponent into a slow paced dogfight (i.e. when facing 109s, 190s, La-7s and P-51s - planes that rely heavily on speed).

 

I should be reviewing the first of the Mk. IX Spitfires within the next couple of weeks. :)

[JokerVictor 201]

Yepp, very good review. You manage to strike that perfect balance at not being too close to the bad guys but close enough to get into those good situations. I usually go a little too high and have to dive steeper, getting harder shots and so on. Need to learn the plane better I think.

Not really brave enough to go into those fainting head ons either.. It usually do not end well for me.. ;)s

 

Either I do not manage to avoid the fire or mess up afterwards and gets outmanouvred. Need to work on keeping the eye on where the enemy goes I guess..

 

Alsdo have problems going anywhere near enemy bombers even in fast, diving attacks from any direction. Seems like people at this level have good crew so they quite often get in some hits even in  text-book attacks. That is mainly how I have been shot down - a couple of hits from Soviet bombers, Wellingtons... I try to avoid US bombers but have managed to get a couple of B-17s when they catch fire in one pass. Ditto for B-25s - but it is very, very dangerous so I tro to leave it for thecannon-fighters or go in and help out when there are others around (dangerous in another way! :crazy: )

 

WHich planes do you feel is the biggest threat? Bf 109s and Fw 190s?

 

I'll throw my 2 cents on your question there.  I fly Germany and Britain and maintain a slightly over 3/1 K/d for both overall, just to get the credentials out there.

So, when facing P-51's as the Germans there are a few boxes I have to check before I engage.  The main one being a major energy advantage.  At equal levels the P-51 will be able to out maneuver me in a 1 on 1 situation (I fly 109's mainly, a few 190's as back up).  My main tactic when not going into a head on with one is to draw them into a terrible energy situation, generally by forcing you to stall to continue to keep guns on me.  When flying one of the 30mm equipped 109's, I will ALWAYS attempt a head on with a P-51, because I win that fight 9 out of 10 times, the firepower advantage is massively on my side.  Keep that in mind.  If you see a 109 going head on with you, your best bet is to pull straight left or right as soon as you close to gun range then pull a split S.  It's very difficult for the 109 to match that move if he's in a fast dive.  If the 109 pilot is stupid he will turn to engage you again, where you now have the advantage.

The exact opposite is true when facing the brits, the typhoon/tempest is going to be able to match all of your maneuvers below 4000m, and the spitfire is going to outright outmaneuver you everywhere.  You do have a speed advantage on most of the spitfires though, and they bleed energy very quickly when maneuvering, so do your best to maintain your speed and engage on your terms.  The second your energy drops to equal levels with a Brit you are completely toast.  The japs are exactly the same, except they're even better at turning and slower overall.

[JA_37D 718]

Thank you as always :)

 

Going within 1km of a B17 will fully upgraded gunners is an absolute nightmare, especially if you cannot knock-out any of the gunners in your first pass.

 

Interesting question, it depends on the situation. From all of the planes I have played with, and encountered thus far, I would have to go with the Spitfire Mk. IX. I say this for three main reasons:

1. On the whole, the plane demonstrates above average characteristics in almost all areas (i.e. climb rate, turn circle, acceleration), meaning that the pilot can adapt his/her playstyle when facing any opponent.
2. The armament of two 20mm Cannons and four 7.7mm machine guns is sufficient for tackling any fighter, although it can be used rather effectively against bombers as well.
3. Consistency, no matter what altitude you take the plane to, it carries on performing nicely. While others may perform better within a given altitude range, the Mk. IX is the most consistent plane I have flown to date.

It does have one major weakness: that being its rather awful roll rate at speeds above 400 km/h, yet this can be overcome by forcing your opponent into a slow paced dogfight (i.e. when facing 109s, 190s, La-7s and P-51s - planes that rely heavily on speed).

 

I should be reviewing the first of the Mk. IX Spitfires within the next couple of weeks. :)

 

No problem. :)

 

Yepp, been there, done that, got the black sooted t-shirt.. :crazy: 

 

Hmm, that makes sense. I avoid Spits like the plague unless I can dive on an unoccupied one and get away straight off. I have heard they climb like **** but I have not flown the higher tier ones much myself. I unlocked the F. Mk. IX during the Christmas x4 and just now have gotten to the last upgrades with the LF by doing the x2 every day with it. I should fly it more rugular - as in game after game and learn it I guess.. Planned to do that when I had all upgrades.. :lol:

I have killed off a couple of P-51s with my Spit Mk. IXs as well (got the US Premium one - which is the LF Mk. IXc) the other day when it was on sale for same reason. but they engaged me in dogfights and did not use their speed so it was hard to draw any conclusions from that other than those pilots did not use their aircraft to its best advantage....
 

 

I'll throw my 2 cents on your question there.  I fly Germany and Britain and maintain a slightly over 3/1 K/d for both overall, just to get the credentials out there.

So, when facing P-51's as the Germans there are a few boxes I have to check before I engage.  The main one being a major energy advantage.  At equal levels the P-51 will be able to out maneuver me in a 1 on 1 situation (I fly 109's mainly, a few 190's as back up).  My main tactic when not going into a head on with one is to draw them into a terrible energy situation, generally by forcing you to stall to continue to keep guns on me.  When flying one of the 30mm equipped 109's, I will ALWAYS attempt a head on with a P-51, because I win that fight 9 out of 10 times, the firepower advantage is massively on my side.  Keep that in mind.  If you see a 109 going head on with you, your best bet is to pull straight left or right as Soon™™ as you close to gun range then pull a split S.  It's very difficult for the 109 to match that move if he's in a fast dive.  If the 109 pilot is stupid he will turn to engage you again, where you now have the advantage.

The exact opposite is true when facing the brits, the typhoon/tempest is going to be able to match all of your maneuvers below 4000m, and the spitfire is going to outright outmaneuver you everywhere.  You do have a speed advantage on most of the spitfires though, and they bleed energy very quickly when maneuvering, so do your best to maintain your speed and engage on your terms.  The second your energy drops to equal levels with a Brit you are completely toast.  The japanese are exactly the same, except they're even better at turning and slower overall.

 

Great answer, thanks. :yes:

I avoid head ons almost always. Though it happens that i go for one... Never with my US aircraft though (nor the Brits actually) but thanks anyway. :)

The Bf 109 has it tough to track an enemy going sideways/turning left or right when you go for a head-on? I need to fly those more as well..

 

Well, that is part of the beauty of the game - learning them all (the planes). ;)s

[JokerVictor 201]

No problem. :)

 

Yepp, been there, done that, got the black sooted t-shirt.. :crazy:

 

Hmm, that makes sense. I avoid Spits like the plague unless I can dive on an unoccupied one and get away straight off. I have heard they climb like **** but I have not flown the higher tier ones much myself. I unlocked the F. Mk. IX during the Christmas x4 and just now have gotten to the last upgrades with the LF by doing the x2 every day with it. I should fly it more rugular - as in game after game and learn it I guess.. Planned to do that when I had all upgrades.. :lol:

I have killed off a couple of P-51s with my Spit Mk. IXs as well (got the US Premium one - which is the LF Mk. IXc) the other day when it was on sale for same reason. but they engaged me in dogfights and did not use their speed so it was hard to draw any conclusions from that other than those pilots did not use their aircraft to its best advantage....
 

Great answer, thanks. :yes:

I avoid head ons almost always. Though it happens that i go for one... Never with my US aircraft though (nor the Brits actually) but thanks anyway. :)

The Bf 109 has it tough to track an enemy going sideways/turning left or right when you go for a head-on? I need to fly those more as well..

 

Well, that is part of the beauty of the game - learning them all (the planes). ;)s

 

The 109 has a very hard time pulling up while rolling at high speed, watch a BnZ german pilot sometime when he's pulling around for a second pass out of a dive and you'll see what I mean.. the turn might be fast but it's enormous.  Careful to not do this at cruising speed, the elevator control is good enough between 350-450 kph to possibly track you through it.  The best advice I can give for fighting a good german pilot is keep the engagement range as close as possible.  You give him space and you're going to die. 

German fighters are very very good at pressing an energy advantage with their dive speed and firepower, but if you can learn to take that advantage away you'll win more often than not.  Skilled P-51 pilots are terrifying at altitude, it's nearly impossible to break their advantage without help. 

Edit: Yes, most of the lower tier spits are pretty bad at climbing, but the Mk XVI and onwards are excellent climbers (32 m/s fully upgraded) and extremely maneuverable.  Very dangerous planes, don't engage them 1 on 1 unless you're sure you can score a knock out or escape from them without taking fire.

Edited March 11, 2014 by JokerVictor

[Taranok 3,920]

So, after watching the P-51 review, I noticed you play the P-51 almost identically as to I do with one minor exception.  I tend to chase and not hold a strict altitude policy, which I then applied and took into my first game of a couple weeks to a paltry but acceptable 3:0 kill/loss ratio, taking down a 190 that I was above, an HE-111 that I 1-passed (fire is awesome when it works) and a 109.  This was a game with F8F-1s and Ta 152s that were lawnmowing, I don't even :crazy:

Needless to say, your video inspired me to try it again and, well...I performed well, but only because my competition was being rather foolish.  If any of the 109s/190s decided to turn in on me or actually climb and play the same way as I did, I doubt my performance would have been half as amazing.  And I still got forced down because I dove on a spitfire that just didn't stall when he turned straight up at me... :facepalm:

 

But, I survived, landed at base and....won from a ground victory.  Couldn't repair, but landed all the same.  Not a bad game all in all after a couple weeks off and being so heavily outclassed, I'm impressed at how bad my competition was.

 

 

I don't mean to rain on your parade or video of the P-51, so I'll leave it at that to which I have a question:  Why do you run true airspeed?

 

True airspeed tells you how fast you're actually going, but the performance of a plane, such as how it rolls or turns, is exclusively determined by indicated airspeed.  Your lift value, pitch yaw and roll, acceleration rates (to degrees) and so forth are all determined by your indicated speed.  You recommend to stay above 400kph, which is good...if it were indicated.  You say the sweet spot is 500kph, but the P-51 can't maintain 500 indicated out of a dive since maneuvering at all will leach all of that speed almost instantly.

 

For instance, at 3.8km, the difference between indicated and true airspeed is 71 kilometers per hour, between 300 and 371.  That's the difference between thinking you're past the maneuver envelope of the P-51 and you can do some light aggressive maneuvering, and knowing you're not and that you should avoid aggressive maneuvering.  At 5000m altitude, 450kph TAS is about 345 indicated.  This difference becomes more and more pronounced as the altitude increases.

 

The problem is that, you may think you're going fast and have your maneuver, but at these speeds you'd still be 25 below what you need.  In this matter, the question was why do you use TAS when it's more a statement of you really should be using indicated.  Test it at any altitude.  The performance of the plane is almost identical at low or high altitudes when its indicated airspeed is identical.

 

A curiosity more to do with your statement on WEP, as well.  No matter what plane I've used, no matter how much the engine overheats, I have never been able to get a plane to blow out an engine unless it was already damaged to begin with.  Just to confirm this again, I took the Japanese FW 190 into test and ran its WEP until  it overheated by lawnmowing and just holding WEP down (for the short bursts it was active).  My oil temp peaked at about 122C (well above red), the engine was also at about 122C, also in the red.  It hit engine red at about 13 minutes fuel and I was able to fly around, hold WEP down, and maintain full engine health from 13 minutes fuel to empty.  My point about this is that stating to not use WEP because of engine temperatures is misleading, much like giving speeds to fly at in true airspeed instead of indicated.  Unless people.  Disclaimer, I might be wrong and the test flight mode doesn't model engine breaking properly in arcade (but it works just fine in RB :dntknw:) so I can't say with certainty if this is true in an actual game, but 7 minutes (of fuel, WEP burns more fuel than just standard flying) of holding down WEP before the engine overheats while flying at sea level isn't time to sneeze at, and it's bad advice to tell people to worry about temperature when temperature in arcade doesn't affect plane performance.  I pulled screenshots of this test I just did, and can post them if you wish.

 

Aside from those 2 observations, was a pretty solid video.  I still say the P-51 is pretty badly outclassed for its tier especially when you consider its primary opponents all can outclimb it heavily as long as they don't get greedy and chase after targets that don't need chasing, but I enjoy that you kept the politics of balance out of the video and showed just what it did well and mentioned what it did poorly.

 

Keep the videos up, while they're sometimes misinformitive (the P-51 was not designed as a high altitude escort, it was designed as a replacement for the P-40, a low altitude fighter, based on criteria set forth by the British, whereupon it was so well liked that it was upgraded to high altitude capabilities and then given long range capabilities without heavily hampering its performance from the initial versions) they rarely get anything wrong gameplay wise in terms of how to use a plane.

Edited March 11, 2014 by Taranok