Arcade - Fighter Tutorial Videos

[UrbaniteNine 246]

Anyway, F4U 1A is up...

Nice... I'll try and fly this plane some time. "Ensign Killer" no more!  :good:

[Resonance84 28]

Thanks for doing the video on the F4U; it's a plane I've been struggling with (all variants) for some time.  I have been finding your videos quite helpful, especially since you seem willing to touch on mistakes as well as successes.  I did have a couple of questions though because my experience seems to be slightly different from yours and I was wondering if you had any ideas as to why.  First off, I use a joystick and fly without instructor so that might be the largest difference.

 

Mostly, you mention that it's low speed handling is very good, I found I have to fight it at anything under 300 kph IAS; it just wobbles all over the place unless you are carefully feathering the controls.  I find this especially true with regards to the elevator; the "bunny hop" might be how the instructor is trying to compensate for that behavior?  

 

You mentioned that it's high speed might be better with a joystick; my experience is that it is just as bad; it doesn't wobble but it is sluggish and does not respond well.  The net effect with the point above is that I feel like the plane really needs to kept between 300 kph and 550 kph IAS; once you leave that zone your just asking for trouble.  

 

I haven't find the elevator to be responsive at all but that might because I've been thinking that the plane was good for boom-and-zone and nothing else and I've been running into the stiffness issue without realizing it.  Or wasting too much energy in a vertical turnfight and losing responsiveness.  That narrow performance window plus the low acceleration seems to be what catches me every time.

 

Also, when you are energy fighting or trying to line up a rope-a-dope how much time do you find you spend "fishing"; or hanging up waiting for someones to "bite" by climbing up to you.  So far most of my attempts at energy fighting turn into flying around at mid-high to high altitude waiting for someone to make a move that never happens.

[long5hot 7,302]

Mostly, you mention that it's low speed handling is very good, I found I have to fight it at anything under 300 kph IAS; it just wobbles all over the place unless you are carefully feathering the controls.  I find this especially true with regards to the elevator; the "bunny hop" might be how the instructor is trying to compensate for that behavior?

I should have been clearer about this in the video. I was specifically referring to how stable the plane is coming out of stall hammerheads into dives on a rope-a-dope'd victim, in my experience its superior in this regard to many other fighters & this is crucial if you want to hit that target before he regains control and dives.

I wouldn't suggest taking it below 300 kph IAS in any other circumstance.
 

You mentioned that it's high speed might be better with a joystick; my experience is that it is just as bad; it doesn't wobble but it is sluggish and does not respond well.  The net effect with the point above is that I feel like the plane really needs to kept between 300 kph and 550 kph IAS; once you leave that zone your just asking for trouble.

Yes, I was surmising re joystick as you wouldn't be fighting the instructor, but obviously a locked up control surface is a locked up control surface no matter which input method you're using.
 

I haven't find the elevator to be responsive at all but that might because I've been thinking that the plane was good for boom-and-zone and nothing else and I've been running into the stiffness issue without realizing it.  Or wasting too much energy in a vertical turnfight and losing responsiveness.  That narrow performance window plus the low acceleration seems to be what catches me every time.

I use a lot of WEP during vertical dogfights to ensure it doesn't bleed too much speed and time climbing into the loop, and that stops me from losing energy & responsiveness. Obviously this method of dogfighting will only work against opponents who either are clueless & only turnfight horizontally, or are in planes that don't loop very well. I wouldn't try it against Zeros, no form of dogfighting is likely to work out very well ;)

I actually don't think the plane is a great BnZer at all, quite the opposite - it locks up so you can't aim and even if you could, you'd rarely have time to get guns on target for long enough.
 

Also, when you are energy fighting or trying to line up a rope-a-dope how much time do you find you spend "fishing"; or hanging up waiting for someones to "bite" by climbing up to you.  So far most of my attempts at energy fighting turn into flying around at mid-high to high altitude waiting for someone to make a move that never happens.

It varies. Referring to the video, the first examples I showed were people who'd seen me & immediately wanted to attack, and I could use superior height + speed to immediately climb & invite them to stall. As often happens, someone who's fallen for it once will often come seeking revenge & fall for it a second time (as again shown in the vid), so I make sure to keep an eye out for them & fly where they're likely to see me after they spawn.

Otherwise yes it can be an unrewarding task. Some games no-one wants to climb, they all want to dive to ground zero from spawn asap & it seems no-one even glances upwards. I've often resorted to flying aerobatic smoke and making shallow dives right in front of the queue of red planes heading for the central perma-furball. Sometimes it works and you get bites, sometimes not.

In the good ol' days of 1.35 and earlier, back when altitude was contested not just at the start of the battle but throughout, this was never a problem. I can only hope the Arcade bombing-rush meta is fixed soon, so that battles last longer & fighter pilots no longer feel like they need to rush into the furball simply in order to get a few kills before the game's ended.

[long5hot 7,302]

The Ki-45, the first plane in the series that IMHO actually deserves its "neglected" status. In its current form anyway.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUCnzT5NlCQ

Fw190 A-1 will be next. I actually have all the video I need for both the A-1 and the He51 already, I just need time for the editing & commentary.

Edit: Also thanks to the kind people who suggested/voted for the He51. I'd never have gone back and flown it otherwise, and those games have been amongst the most enjoyable I've experienced in WT.

Edited May 22, 2014 by long5hot

[Freeborn 12,815]

In the good ol' days of 1.35 and earlier, back when altitude was contested not just at the start of the battle but throughout, this was never a problem. I can only hope the Arcade bombing-rush meta is fixed Soon™™, so that battles last longer & fighter pilots no longer feel like they need to rush into the furball simply in order to get a few kills before the game's ended.

 

which is really funny as bombers used to fly lower back than...

[long5hot 7,302]

which is really funny as bombers used to fly lower back than...

They spawn now at the same height as they did back then. In 1.37 it was raised as was the fighters, but all that did was allow bombers to dive from spawn at the bases & fighters to repeated dive from spawn into the mid map furball, so after a month or so it was reverted back.

[Freeborn 12,815]

They spawn now at the same height as they did back then. In 1.37 it was raised as was the fighters, but all that did was allow bombers to dive from spawn at the bases & fighters to repeated dive from spawn into the mid map furball, so after a month or so it was reverted back.

 

True what I meant though was that back than bombers were diving because they needed to be close to the ground to strike their targets which many are not doing anymore.

So despite the changes that one would have expected to increase the number of high flying targets, the amount of high flying fighters has dropped.

Thats the funny part. 

[long5hot 7,302]

True what I meant though was that back than bombers were diving because they needed to be close to the ground to strike their targets which many are not doing anymore.
So despite the changes that one would have expected to increase the number of high flying targets, the amount of high flying fighters has dropped.
Thats the funny part.

Yes, well back then bases weren't a "thing" (apart from the airfield) and ground targets could still be killed by bombs, so many bombers did fast low level raids on tank columns. Many did it in a suicide run, but if you were a skilled bomber pilot you could choose your moment & get in & out again for multiple reloads.

You'd think that'd result in less fighters at altitude, as there weren't nearly as many bombers there to hunt, but my own experience flying altitude was that it was much more hotly contested than it is now, at least in the low to mid tiers. Having said that, I've played a few games today where there were a lot of climbers :)

[HochgeborenKlown 1,276]

Just started flying the MiG 3-15, I love flying this plane...2 burst climbs and I am at bomber height, I have to watch what I am doing because it seems to climb by itself...While I was circling waiting for more bombers I found my self passing thru 20,000 ft...The 1 x 12.7 and 2 x 7.62 is kinda light, but this still kills bombers pretty easy, and watching reds trying to climb to my level and then BnZ'ing them over and over passes the time while I wait for the next bomber...Can't wait to get the BK (Burger King???) version...Cheers from a Klown, when there's no one around...

[long5hot 7,302]

Just started flying the MiG 3-15, I love flying this plane...

Heh, just wait till you reach the 3-34. That thing is seriously insane, basically an La-5 clone, and the tactics from my 3-15-BK vid suit it perfectly. Make the most of it while its at 2.3BR with a low purchase/repair cost :) Edited May 23, 2014 by long5hot

[AIM_120_AMRAAM 234]

Since long5hot added the Thunderbolt to the list of planes to talk about and I basically love that one, he outsourced all the work and gave me the option to have a go at it.

 

[media]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_muqz1SAJ0

[/media]

 

I'm always grateful for any feedback I can get.

 

Thread was successfully hijacked.

[long5hot 7,302]

Excellent vid, thanks AIM :D

[UrbaniteNine 246]

Thread was successfully hijacked.

Hahahaha! LOL! Nice and very informative video!  :good:

[long5hot 7,302]

AIM, just realized you stole my patented "Greetings War Thunderers". I expect a royalty cheque in the mail :learn:

[Guest]

Nice review of P-47D.

 

I would swap your speed indicator to IAS and use that speed for climbing up instead of angle. :)

 

Longshot is turning his neglected fighter serie into franchise? Interesting... ;)

[Blastmaster1972 1,235]

Nice videos. Thanks for taking the time to make them!

 

Kind regards,

 

Jos

[Cenric 28]

Now that you have the He 51 video collected, maybe you can swap out its poll entry for the P-36 line or Spitfire 1b. I would be interested to see those reviewed for arcade.

Edited May 23, 2014 by Cenric

[long5hot 7,302]

Sure, any particular P-36?

[Cenric 28]

Sure, any particular P-36?

 

I would think any of them. They all seem to fly the same? Maybe the C model as the G seems to be in a different league due to weapons and the A would be the same as the C?

 

And like in my edited post above, maybe some of the Spitfires.

[long5hot 7,302]

I would think any of them. They all seem to fly the same? Maybe the C model as the G seems to be in a different league due to weapons and the A would be the same as the C?

 

And like in my edited post above, maybe some of the Spitfires.

 

The C it is then.  The Spit Ib?  Is there such a model?  Do you mean the Ia or the IIa perhaps?  The IIb is all kinds of awesome, so I don't imagine that's what you're referring to?

[Cenric 28]

The C it is then.  The Spit Ib?  Is there such a model?  Do you mean the Ia or the IIa perhaps?  The IIb is all kinds of awesome, so I don't imagine that's what you're referring to?

 

The 1a is what I was thinking but couldn't remember. I'm still in era 1 for British... I find the BR gaps in British to be rather large.

[long5hot 7,302]

OK, done.

[AIM_120_AMRAAM 234]

 

Excellent vid, thanks AIM :D

 

 

Hahahaha! LOL! Nice and very informative video!   :good:

 

 

Nice review of P-47D.

 

 

I aim to please (that pun, duh!).

 

 

 

I would swap your speed indicator to IAS and use that speed for climbing up instead of angle. :)

 

I never actually changed much in the way of the interface (I didn't even use key-bound elevator and rudder until some weeks back).

 

I guess that IAS would be preferable in the P-47 due to the high altitudes it plays in. Thanks for the tip.

 

Edit:

 

 

AIM, just realized you stole my patented "Greetings War Thunderers". I expect a royalty cheque in the mail  :learn:

 

 

Nuuuuu, don't take my monies! Q_Q

Edited May 23, 2014 by AIM_120_AMRAAM

[starkwolf 609]

I think a vast majority of the IJN planes are vastly underestimated. IDK if it is cause they are coming from the Russian or US trees or what, but many players seem to prefer a fighting style where they get hit first and then figure out how to handle the guy on your six, which obviously won't work very well for IJN. The key is not to get hit, and everything else will work. 

[long5hot 7,302]

I think a vast majority of the IJN planes are vastly underestimated. IDK if it is cause they are coming from the Russian or US trees or what, but many players seem to prefer a fighting style where they get hit first and then figure out how to handle the guy on your six, which obviously won't work very well for IJN. The key is not to get hit, and everything else will work.

 
Yes, if this thread is anything to go off you're definitely right. I'd extend that behaviour to other nations as well - once you reach tier 3 with fast planes & lots of cannons, doesn't matter what you're flying you're highly likely to die when you're hit, and the higher the tiers the more true this becomes.

I also think that many players, new pilots especially, are reactive (flying into bad situations and then trying to "wing it" from there using FPS twitch skills) rather than proactive (positioning their plane ahead of time, practicing awareness of everything around them, attacking only when they know exactly what they're doing and how they'll exit the attack). I believe that's why the vast majority of planes requested for this series have been energy fighters which absolutely need that level of forethought, planning and discipline in order to succeed.