long5hot's beginner's guide series

[long5hot 7,302]

Well, the fact that I & others can perform the spiral climb using mouse/keyboard does show its possible - its just not easy ;)

 

The "gradual climbing turn" is in fact easier, and its not an evasion so much as a means of deliberately luring an enemy into thinking they have a shot at you and in the process stalling their plane.  Watch how I perform it in the video - its not a continual turn but rather a series of small course adjustments using the mouse interspersed with close observations of the opponent.

[Resonance84 28]

@kamuka & Resonance: that's some great feedback and also thanks for sharing some excellent information as well. Yes the video could have been called BnZ + Stall Fighting instead of Attacking Energy Maneuvers - or perhaps I could have spent more time on it, though my family & my boss might have objected if I had ;)


Also Resonance, my way of thinking is that if you're incorporating use of energy management into a dogfight then its energy fighting. I guess the distinctions between it & angle fighting can be blurred sometimes, you're right, but for me its easier to describe angle fighting as what I see so many Arcade fighters doing, which can best be described as bank and yank.

 

I think you named the video right.  It's easy for some of us to forget that this is intended for new players and just the idea of managing your airspeed is a totally new concept.  Keeping those maneuvers in their own separate category makes it easier to understand.

 

I've come to think of energy as an all encompassing aspect rather than a tactic itself.  Yank and bank is a pretty good description of how many of us start and I stress that teaching people to use tactics that don't involve turns will do much to improve their gameplay.  It certainly did for me.

 

Edit: I think your A6M2-N, Spit Mk I, Gladiator, and Wildcat vids might have some good footage in them for defensive flying.

Edited August 24, 2014 by Resonance84

[long5hot 7,302]

Edit: I think your A6M2-N, Spit Mk I, Gladiator, and Wildcat vids might have some good footage in them for defensive flying.

 

The He-51 might as well - thanks I'll go looking.  The versus duels might have some too, especially various forms of scissors.  If I can't find examples of some of the maneuvers I'd like to include I'll find a willing participant & see if I can demonstrate them in a duel setting (hopefully without being shot down too often).

Edited August 25, 2014 by long5hot

[Mystar 25]

I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for making those tutorial vids. I was at best a mediocre flyer when I started watching your series on underrated and misused fighter planes. Simply by adapting an early climb my K/D ratio increased enormously and spurred on by this sucess I resolved to learn energy fighting. Thus my Bf 109 e1 managed to go from 19 kills and 28 deaths to 62 kills w ith only 6 more deaths and i could cite numerous other examples from my hangar.

 

The only planes I still struggle with are higher tier ones and even there I manage better than 1:1 most of the time although I tink BR 5 upwards pilots on average have much better situational awareness and are also more often versed in basic aircombat maneuvers.

 

Still I sometimes wish your videos would also incorporate some higher tier fighters since combat on the whole just is much more deadly on these tiers and I would like to see how you would cope with these circumstances.

 

Many thanks,

An old Austrian bloke with horrible aiming skills.

[long5hot 7,302]

Mystar, thanks for posting & its great the vids have help you improve so much (they've helped me improve too btw - there's nothing like knowing the world will see your flying to focus your attention).

 

I do own a few fighters in the 5 BR range, have never flown them.  I've vidded a couple of 4.7 planes, and have been trying to fly the tiffy 1B/late and the Ki-84 Ko (both 4.7) but honestly the games are just so short on average.  Occasionally there's one that goes for a decent length of time, but so often its just bomber spam & game end, or in Domination a rapid cap rush then one team swarms the other & there's no comeback on those horrible single-base maps.  I think I've played Korsun about 30 times now and have never been on the winning team once, with every game ending within 5 minutes (or seeming to).

 

So I think what I'm saying is I'd gladly produce videos at higher battle ratings, if only the gameplay produced battles that went for a decent timelength.  As it is now its just frustrating to be a part of them & I have to quickly scurry back into the BR 1s, 2s and low 3s to start enjoying the game again.

[Housecat14105 45]

Hi Longshot.

 

I was a horrible pilot until i came across your guides. As you say applying energy tactics to get a kill is more rewarding than pointing the aim reticle around. The added benefit of not getting shot down easily is for me the biggest plus.

 

Stuff I've learned from you and txt141 includes situational awareness, keyboard control, energy state, firing range, getting high, boom and zoom, high/low yoyo, rudder turns, when to engage, plane characteristics etc and the hillarious rope-a-dope. 

[WouterWunsche 20]

I can completely concurr with the chaps above, both your and tx141's videos helped me a lot. I still suck at some games, but sometimes I have my moments...flying the lower tiered planes sure is a lot more fun.  Although my highest tiered plane is a Ta152 which I recently got, I set my German and other nations' tiers to I, II and III: much more enjoyable and longer games.

Heck, I got my most successes in FW 190 A1, even tried that one in RB. Fellas playing with me in a RB game were mocking me because I played in the FW A1, I managed to get two kills and ranked on top of the list (they were lucky shots to be honest, but a kill is a kill :D) and laughing ended. I was more often killed in my planes than I managed to get kills, my A1 has more kills than deaths now so heading in the right direction.

 

As you explain some of those fighting manoeuvres are quite hard indeed, I still need to practice automation and such but these videos sure help a lot, so again, many thanks for that!

 

Cheers

[*konate95 8]

This 3rd video is what I have been looking for and not been able to find.

Lots of talk about this stuff on the net , but no specifics, until now.

[Dreaded_Candiru 154]

If you're still making these would it be out of line to make a request/suggestion?

 

With all the recent discussion of climb rates perhaps you'd care to cover that in a future video?  How to climb efficiently both sustained and in a burst climb?  Through trial and error I've begun to pick up on some of the nuances in getting to altitude as fast as I can, but that only makes me wonder what I don't know.  It might also be a good answer to all the folks either lamenting how no one climbs or complaining that it's impossible to get up to altitude.

[long5hot 7,302]

Good idea. I'm actually partway through a FW190 A-4 video that covers (among many other things) how to climb in that particular plane, but that doesn't explain how to work it out for other planes. I'll definitely give that thought.

Regarding this series, I've been stuck for a quite a while. The next vid was to be on defensive maneuvers, but its something I rarely have to worry about that much and I've been unable to work out how to approach it. I mean, I know the ACMs - scissors horizontal & rolling, barrel rolls, breaks, split S's, jinking aka the "spastic flail" and so forth, its putting them into context that makes sense to a new pilot is what's difficult. When to use scissors and when not to, what to use when my plane is this and his plane is that, etc. Suddenly there's a ton of stuff to explain.

[Renegade61 651]

Don't think Long5hot will mind this, but tx141 has recently done a good video on climbing techniques:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-cSsUWRXBE&list=PLRcJhS6QEj4v-ol4J-J1Dxefna0BBFqPn

May help, and saves Long5hot some work lol.   :)s


Edit - Ohh,my 1000th post. Yay me! lol.   :Ds


 

Edited October 13, 2014 by Renegade61

[Dreaded_Candiru 154]

That's a nice video, and it's gratifying because that's largely how I climb already--in a plane that climbs well.  But is it the best tactic with weak, heavy planes that can't just throttle up and head to the sky?  In the last few days I've been trying to mod out several heavy fighters (the Beaufighter 21, the Do 217 J) and at least unupgraded I just can't get them to altitude in any decent amount of time, nor can I head into battle at their starting altitude without dying quickly and horribly (now that HE works these planes don't seem nearly as resilient as they used to).  Is finding a sustainable angle and just creeping up still the best way for them?  I feel like there's more that can be explored here.

[Renegade61 651]

I rarely take heavy fighters up high. Takes way too long and the moment you miss the head-on with a fighter up there he's behind you and it's game over!

On spawning, turn left and climb. Stay over your base or spawn point. Once your WEP is done (if applicable) and you level out and pick up speed...turn left again and repeat. Do this until you reach a height you're happy with, THEN head out into the fray!

Takes time and patience and some games can be over before you get as high as you'd like....but that's heavies for ya lol!   ;)s

[Mauser151 506]

I rarely take heavy fighters up high. Takes way too long and the moment you miss the head-on with a fighter up there he's behind you and it's game over!

On spawning, turn left and climb. Stay over your base or spawn point. Once your WEP is done (if applicable) and you level out and pick up speed...turn left again and repeat. Do this until you reach a height you're happy with, THEN head out into the fray!

Takes time and patience and some games can be over before you get as high as you'd like....but that's heavies for ya lol!   ;)s

 

 

Fully upgraded Me 410's seem to climb fairly well using the method you described here. I try to keep them at a climbing angle where I can maintain a speed arround 300kph without WEP and usually get to intercept altitude just in time to give the first bombers a little surprise welcome. Once I'm up there keeping up my speed  as high as possible is key to have a chance to dodge enemy fighters.

 

I use the same method for my Bf 109's too, with a speed of arround 250-280kph without WEP, since after the 1.43 patch you have to be careful not to overheat.

 

Edit: Just ran a Testflight with my G2 using WEP continuously while climbing and couldn't damage the Engine altough the Watertemperature stayed in the red the whole time. So I guess an intact Engine can't be damaged by continuous WEP use.

Edited October 17, 2014 by ThomasFranz67

[Dreaded_Candiru 154]

I rarely take heavy fighters up high. Takes way too long and the moment you miss the head-on with a fighter up there he's behind you and it's game over!

On spawning, turn left and climb. Stay over your base or spawn point. Once your WEP is done (if applicable) and you level out and pick up speed...turn left again and repeat. Do this until you reach a height you're happy with, THEN head out into the fray!

Takes time and patience and some games can be over before you get as high as you'd like....but that's heavies for ya lol!   ;)s

 

Yes that's the method I use, though I often pull a split-S coming out of the climb in order to regain the speed (and so that I can patrol over the bases while I work my way up).  I find I gain almost all of my speed back without losing much altitude.  However, I don't know that these are the best ways of doing it.

 

And that's my point.  The video is nice but it only applies if you have a plane that has a good and easy time climbing in the first place (he even lists several planes that his technique applies to).  It's not about climbing in general, it's about how to wring the absolute last meter in the least amount of time in planes that are already climbing well.  While that's certainly a thing I am interested in, it's not general a comprehensive review of what's a really important topic.  At least at lower tiers there are lots of planes that have difficulty maintaining that sort of sustained 20+ degree climb, and as I understand it with the patch there are now even more.

Edited October 18, 2014 by Dreaded_Candiru

[Bahnzo2020 7]

Just another thanks for the instruction. 

 

I'm an old flight simmer and I'd like to think I know all this already....but I don't. I mean I know it, but I've really forgotten how to carry it out in a practical sense and both vids so far have been great refreshers. 

 

Thanks, and I'm looking forward to your 4th vid on evasive maneuvers. 

[long5hot 7,302]

Ok, finally got this done...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqTjap5ptMI

[long5hot 7,302]

Also a subscriber provided this link to an EXCELLENT book about online air combat, its definitely worth reading: http://www.virtualpilots.fi/feature/lento_ohjeet/inpursuit/inpursuit.pdf

[long5hot 7,302]

Here's a quick follow-up to the defensive maneuvers guide posted above...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aIfwD6ltdI

[long5hot 7,302]

Finally got this done - its been quite a lot of work, took much longer than expected...

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_SUfkmGYu0

[Maj_Fox@psn 522]

Hi long5hot.

 

Firstly, thanks for the time and effort you put into these videos. I really appreciate it. I'm currently developing a test flight plan to help me learn and understand how fighters handle and I keep coming back to your tutorials to re-watch and learn. They seem simple compared to what I have so far. I think Keep It Simple is the answer here.

 

If I may raise the question of the spiral climb.

 

I can perform the maneouver with mouse aim and a touch of A or D when required but lose the situation awareness because I'm using the mouse to fly and not look around.

 

Using keyboard only I can spiral climb the P-36 Hawks, (Q & S held with a touch of A), but not the Hurricane Mk I or the Spitfire Mk I or II. I just end up vertical and stalled. I'm assuming the rudder is not strong enough but I don't know how to compensate. I tried tapping the the S key instead of holding it a few times without success. Is it a case of more practice or am I going down the wrong path?

 

Any advise would be helpful.

 

Thanks, JTF

[long5hot 7,302]

Hi JTF, I'll see if I can make a short video illustrating it with one of those planes (will be in about 12 hours time though, can't do it right now) and I'll post it here - stay tuned :)

[Maj_Fox@psn 522]

More than I was hoping for.

 

Thanks JTF

[long5hot 7,302]

Here you go, hope it helps.  I used the Hurricane Mk IIb instead of the Mk I but there's really no difference in how they perform the maneuver.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ra2v1efcwbE

[kamuka 511]

Here you go, hope it helps.  I used the Hurricane Mk IIb instead of the Mk I but there's really no difference in how they perform the maneuver.

 

Let me add the following:

 

-The ailerons control how steep you climb.

-If your nose gets to high, don't use the ailerons for a while so your plane leans over and the nose gets down.

-The slower you go, the closer to parallel to the ground the wings have to be for you to continue climbing

 

And there's also another way to do a (less tight) climbing spiral. Don't do that when someone has guns on you, you will die.

 

1. put nose above horizon into desired climbing angle by using the mouse

2. hit rudder key

3. use ailerons to counter roll from the rudder

 

Practice makes perfect ... obviously ;)

Edited February 27, 2015 by kamuka