What are your thoughts? - D.371 H.S.9

[tx141 815]

Hi All!

 

It has been a good few months since I last posted one of these topics, but I'm back!

 

Let's kick-start this weekend with a double-billing; commencing with the Rank I, Battle Rating 1.3 Premium Fighter known as the D.371 H.S.9. Below you will find both my video review (including the history behind the aircraft) and a summary of my review in bullet-point form:

 

D.371 H.S.9 - The Cannon Conundrum

Summary:

• Extremely manoeuvrable - With its tight turn circle and highly responsive control surfaces (barring the rudder), you will be able to take on any other monoplane Fighter (e.g. Ki-27 Otsu; P-26A Peashooter etc.) in a turn fight without hesitation. If you are feeling bold, you can even give some bi-planes (e.g. He 51) a run for their money!
• Consistent climb-rate - For the opponents you will be meeting at your Battle Rating, you will have no issue in being "out-climbed" at the start of a given match. If your opponent does have a slight altitude advantage over you (e.g. He 100 D-1), you have a very low stall speed (~107km/h) which will enable to you to continue your climb far longer than they can.
• Brutal firepower - To have access to 2x20mm H.S.9 cannon at your battle rating makes this aircraft unique. If you score one of two hits on most of your Fighter opponents, you will swat them out of the sky very quickly. However, this comes at the cost of low ammo capacity (30 rounds per cannon) and high recoil; making sustained bursts quite dangerous to your combat capabilities in the midst of a furball or when pursuing enemy bombers (i.e. through fear of a 25+ second reload).
• Poor durability - Your light airframe is very fragile; particularly the engine which seems to only ever be in one of three states: Working (i.e. not hit); Broken (i.e. when hit); or Burning (i.e. when hit). You only need to be grazed by small arms fire to have engine issues.
• Short range Boom and Zoom capability - Your control surfaces are quite receptive to speeds of up to 500km/h; and with your dive acceleration dropping severely at this speed threshold (I.e. getting to your dive max of 677km/h takes a very long period of time, even in a 90 degree dive), you can afford to commit to Boom and Zoom passes over small distances.

 

Final Thought (a new little addition, for those looking for a summary of my personal opinion):

 

A dangerous little fighter whose weaponry seems to pose just as much of a danger to the aircraft's combat capabilities as it does to its opponents. It makes for a worthy investment; especially if you want to learn how to control your trigger finger!

 

And now over to you, what are your thoughts on this aircraft?

 

Take care and good luck in the skies!

 

Paul "tx141" Walsh 

[Dodo_Dud 5,074]

That thing sucks! It is an entry ticket whith limited curiosity. Any french reserve plane will outperform it atm. Spend 80GE on a talisman and you have way more income than through this crate.

 

[Kat0n 141]

It's surprisingly weak, these Hispano cannons it has are extremely inaccurate, doesn't do a lot of damage when they hit and quickly run out of ammo. It's not very solid and as maneuverable as the stock D371 so I largely prefer this one.

[tx141 815]

On 12/11/2017 at 11:37 AM, Dodo_Dud said:

That thing sucks! It is an entry ticket whith limited curiosity. Any french reserve plane will outperform it atm. Spend 80GE on a talisman and you have way more income than through this crate.

 

 

I may review the standard D.371 and D.373 in the near future to do a full comparison; but I can see this plane being the community's marmite (i.e. either love it or hate it).

 

On 13/11/2017 at 4:19 PM, Kat0n said:

It's surprisingly weak, these Hispano cannons it has are extremely inaccurate, doesn't do a lot of damage when they hit and quickly run out of ammo. It's not very solid and as maneuverable as the stock D371 so I largely prefer this one.

 

It's interesting that you have said it's not as manoeuvrable as the basic D.371; now I will have to do a follow up review to show the comparison!

[Light_Flight 269]

13 hours ago, tx141 said:

 

I may review the standard D.371 and D.373 in the near future to do a full comparison; but I can see this plane being the community's marmite (i.e. either love it or hate it).

 

 

It's interesting that you have said it's not as manoeuvrable as the basic D.371; now I will have to do a follow up review to show the comparison!

 

An interesting comparison would be with Pallier's D.510, another Premium at 1.3 but with both cannon and MGs.

[Dodo_Dud 5,074]

7 minutes ago, Light_Flight said:

 

An interesting comparison would be with Pallier's D.510, another Premium at 1.3 but with both cannon and MGs.

 

There is no point in buying that one, unless you are a collector.

A talisman on the 501 costs less and gives you more RP. And RP is all we want, right? You don't get the 510 to farm silver lions, do you?

Edited November 16, 2017 by Dodo_Dud

[Light_Flight 269]

@Dodo_Dud: Some players are interested in the actual planes themselves, into which, after all, the developers put a lot of effort.

[Dodo_Dud 5,074]

1 hour ago, Light_Flight said:

@Dodo_Dud: Some players are interested in the actual planes themselves, into which, after all, the developers put a lot of effort.

 

You read my first sentence, did you not? As a player, I will not use that plane atm, as it accomplishes too little. Any french reserve plane will outperform it in current combat.

[Kat0n 141]

On 15/11/2017 at 9:00 PM, tx141 said:

 

I may review the standard D.371 and D.373 in the near future to do a full comparison; but I can see this plane being the community's marmite (i.e. either love it or hate it).

 

 

It's interesting that you have said it's not as manoeuvrable as the basic D.371; now I will have to do a follow up review to show the comparison!

Well it looks slightly worse than the basic one, but that's based on my feeling and it's not a big difference. Thanks for spending some time making reviews though!

[Yuri_2000 0]

I got this plane in the last event, can be fun to mess around with tanks in ground RB.

[Kosher_Locust 120]

I have it as a novelty plane in a super low BR French line up.  Wait until near the end of the match when nearly everyone is on reserve planes and your worst concern is a P.26.  Bring it out, you get 2-3 short bursts but at close range a kill every time.  Fly away for the interminable reload.  It takes some practice as it is such an odd combo and it's easy to run out of ammo and get zapped, but that's part of the fun.  Wait, what year is it?