What are your thoughts? - Potez 630

[tx141 815]

Good day all,

 

This week, I decided to follow-up on a number of requests and review the Potez 630 (Tier I; Battle Rating 1.7 Heavy Fighter). Below you will find both my video review (including the history behind the Potez 630) and a summary of my review in bullet-point form:

 

Potez 630 - A Rather Promising Sign

Summary:

 

• Hard-hitting - The offensive 20mm Cannon mounted in the nose can eliminate enemy Fighters/Heavy Fighters/Attackers with ease. Moreover, with 90 rounds per cannon; you can bring down multiple foes before needing a reload so long as you are accurate. Additionally, do not under-estimate the ability for your defensive 7.5mm Machine Gun (with its wide traverse arc) to damage the engines of the bi-planes/early monoplanes that try to pursue you.
• Highly-agile - For a plane of its size, you can take your monoplane opponents by surprise in the midst of a turn fight. Your turn circle (with Combat flaps deployed) is only slightly wider than a Spitfire Mk. Ia's meaning you can take on aircraft such as the C.R.714; He 100D-1 and P-36A Hawk with confidence. Just keep in mind your poor roll-rate which will be exposed if you foe tries to use rolling scissors to get on your six!
• Exposed Cockpit - Whilst the airframe of this plane can take the hits, the cockpit cannot if hit from most angles - particularly from directly above. Even if you invest some Skill Points in Pilot Vitality, do not be surprised if you lose your pilot when an opponent bounces you.
• Poor engine power - The Hispano-Suiza engines powering this aircraft are under-powered meaning that both your climb-rate and straight line speed are weak compared to your opposition. You will find that most lower Battle Rating aircraft can keep up with you if not out-run you. On the other hand, this does mean you can perform an incredibly tight hammerhead on your rudder which can take foes by surprise.
• Thin Profile - Looking at this plane head-on, you will note its airframe is rather thin (alike the BF 110 C-4). This makes the plane much more difficult to hit in a head-on pass; and can even frustrate the aim of those trying to pursue you with nose-mounted armament (as they need to bring it onto target rather than rely on convergence spread).

 

Final Thought:

 

With its sleek profile and surprising low speed manoeuvrability, the Potez 630 is an unassuming Heavy Fighter that has the potential to catch its opposition by surprise with its powerful offensive armament. The only downside is the lack of engine power which, according to history, will come in the up-engined Potez 631.

 

And now over to you: what are your thoughts on this Heavy Fighter?

 

Next time: the M.S.410.

 

Take care, and good luck in the skies!

 

Paul "tx141" Walsh 

[Tigerspook 315]

I agree completely with this.  This plane is a lot of fun and very effective if one stays out of the furball. Just nibble the edges off the furball and it's fine.

 

One thing I'll add, and Paul mentions it in the video if not the bullet points above, is that the Po-630 has an excellent dive speed.  At BR 1.7, it frequently flies against biplanes and other low BR opposition, AKA usually against less experienced players. I have found that their "radius of situational awareness" is exceeded by the dive speed of the Po-630. That is, they never see you coming; you might as well be teleporting into a firing position. #clubber

 

In Paul's video, you can see an A-35B (BR 3.3) at the beginning. That means this is at a minimum a BR 3.0 match. Paul has purposefully uptiered the -630, perhaps by adding to his lineup a 2.3 or pair of 2.0 aircraft. Be careful when flying against higher BR fighters as the Po-630 does not tolerate too many .50 cal or 20mm strikes. It's a mid-30s design after all.  That being said, this plane can kill anything it can point at, thanks to the 2x 20mm Hispanos. This is the same cannon that's in the P-400.  I found that the more uptiered it was, the more defensive I had to be. In the worst uptiers I hung back and defended ground targets against less maneuverable aircraft.

 

Edited November 26, 2017 by Tigerspook

[Light_Flight 269]

The fact it has two nose-mounted cannon, with a reasonable ammunition load, is what makes it for me. Literally, no messing around to get your kills!  

[ChuckYeahgurrr 68]

I went to the 631 asap and found better results. I tend to always get up tired when I play 1.3-2.0 and I do not have enough variance in planes to help make a win (most of the time).

[Kat0n 141]

It's quite maneuverable for a heavy fighter, has a fairly good armament but quickly loses its speed from what I've noticed, and climbs hardly. Problem is accentuated by the fact the 7mm turret is meh. Now all you need to do is to climb slightly and head-on what can't be dived on, its armament is one of the best of its tier for that. Careful with the LaGG tho. Nice analysis overall!

[PARAMI 478]

52 minutes ago, Kat0n said:

It's quite maneuverable for a heavy fighter, has a fairly good armament but quickly loses its speed from what I've noticed, and climbs hardly. Problem is accentuated by the fact the 7mm turret is meh. Now all you need to do is to climb slightly and head-on what can't be dived on, its armament is one of the best of its tier for that. Careful with the LaGG tho. Nice analysis overall!

It's more maneuverable than most single-engine turnfighters. A competent pilot could take on an average zero pilot and win. LaGGs should be absolutely no problem. Don't commit to the headon, commit to the turnfight. There's really no reason to ever use the turret--you'll outrun biplanes, and outturn anything else. 

[Kat0n 141]

21 hours ago, _A_m_e_r_i_c_a_ said:

It's more maneuverable than most single-engine turnfighters. A competent pilot could take on an average zero pilot and win. LaGGs should be absolutely no problem. Don't commit to the headon, commit to the turnfight. There's really no reason to ever use the turret--you'll outrun biplanes, and outturn anything else. 

I'm an average dogfighter and really can't see how it could outturn a LaGG to be honest, but you seem to be better than me according to your stats (that's not sarcasm). Mind sharing some tips?

[Tigerspook 315]

2 hours ago, Kat0n said:

I'm an average dogfighter and really can't see how it could outturn a LaGG to be honest, but you seem to be better than me according to your stats (that's not sarcasm). Mind sharing some tips?

 

Speed speed speed.  If you let any plane in WT get slow, it will become a brick.

 

I am assuming you're on a PC, and you know how to use the keyboard. The keyboard slams the plane's controls to the maximum. That's what you want.

 

Some LaGGs are markedly better than others. A LaGG-3-66 is a problem - it is a decent plane. The 3-8 however is underpowered and can wallow.

 

All that being said, if you let a LaGG get behind you, you have a problem. You could be Swiss cheese before you begin the fight.  Instead, when you see it coming, break into it and cut under. LaGGs have a motorcannon so head-on attacks can be pyrrhic. Gain altitude and abuse your rudder. Use your flaps. Lower your throttle to force an overshoot - then get that throttle fire-walled again!

 

[PARAMI 478]

On 11/27/2017 at 1:49 PM, Kat0n said:

I'm an average dogfighter and really can't see how it could outturn a LaGG to be honest, but you seem to be better than me according to your stats (that's not sarcasm). Mind sharing some tips?

Tiggerspooky gives some good tips. But I'm not really sure about the value of a full overshoot--the Potez isn't a small, snappy plane, so it could easily be hit as you try to jink around. I would risk a quick split S or something of that nature, maybe a partial reversal, to engage the turnfight as quickly as possible. 

 

Learn to use rudder--if you want some videos, check out long5hot, flip, and yolo_guk1 on youtube. 

Now, let's consider this particular matchup. 

The LaGG--decent armament, kind of slow, decent turner, good DM, fairly stable, bad climber, heavy, meh at lower speeds.

The Potez--decent armament, very slow, very good turner, decent DM, very stable, horrible climber, light, very effective at lower speeds, especially in stall loops. 

 

The trick to beating LaGGs in most planes is to just starve them of energy--this doesn't really work in the conventional sense in the Potez (unless you have a sizable altitude advantage; then, you can lay some hard stall traps by making heavy spiraling turns that drain the LaGG of energy and make it stall--a hammerhead rope-a-dope might be dangerous, as you really can't climb), as it's an even slower plane than the LaGG. Therefore, your best option is to turn, and starve the LaGG of energy that way over time. The Potez turns insanely well when you hammerhead vertically--when the plane gets slow, it just drops out of the turn immediately. You want to loop with the LaGG, and get the LaGG slow as you work your way up. If you're using rudder, this should be very easy. Once both of you get slow, there's no reason to ever lose. Oh, and don't hold the headon. It's not worth it--I would reserve committing to biplanes, reserves, and planes with bad guns. If you're confident, just come in at high speed and end the engagement in the first turn--that's usually what happens when I fly the Potez against heavier monoplanes. 

Ugh, it's hard to explain what I do instinctually these days. I dictate a lot of engagements situationally, and on how I feel--I'm far from the most defensively-minded pilot, and I love to turn, so that leads to a lot of deaths :P 

 

But seriously, watch those videos. You can halve your turntime by using proper technique and rudder, and not many people will threaten you in a turnfight, especially those in LaGGs--they tend to be pretty bad lol

 

Hope this helped

Edited November 28, 2017 by _A_m_e_r_i_c_a_

[_Gertrude 2,050]

Great work tx141.  Love your vids, keep up the good work!

[Kat0n 141]

Thanks for sharing some additional knowledge guys

[cashmeowsidehbd 1,269]

They have neat camouflage.

[tx141 815]

On 26/11/2017 at 2:44 PM, Tigerspook said:

I agree completely with this.  This plane is a lot of fun and very effective if one stays out of the furball. Just nibble the edges off the furball and it's fine.

 

One thing I'll add, and Paul mentions it in the video if not the bullet points above, is that the Po-630 has an excellent dive speed.  At BR 1.7, it frequently flies against biplanes and other low BR opposition, AKA usually against less experienced players. I have found that their "radius of situational awareness" is exceeded by the dive speed of the Po-630. That is, they never see you coming; you might as well be teleporting into a firing position. #clubber

 

In Paul's video, you can see an A-35B (BR 3.3) at the beginning. That means this is at a minimum a BR 3.0 match. Paul has purposefully uptiered the -630, perhaps by adding to his lineup a 2.3 or pair of 2.0 aircraft. Be careful when flying against higher BR fighters as the Po-630 does not tolerate too many .50 cal or 20mm strikes. It's a mid-30s design after all.  That being said, this plane can kill anything it can point at, thanks to the 2x 20mm Hispanos. This is the same cannon that's in the P-400.  I found that the more uptiered it was, the more defensive I had to be. In the worst uptiers I hung back and defended ground targets against less maneuverable aircraft.

 

 

Very good point you've raised concerning the plane's dive speed in relation to the overall "awareness radius" of its like-for-like Battle Rating opposition.

 

I appreciate that you have highlighted that I purposefully up-BR'ed the plane for the review. I was getting caught in a lot of Battle Rating 1.7 max games which were ending too quickly for me to put the Potez to work; hence I decided to arrange a Battle Rating 2.3 line-up to try and experience some longer matches as depicted in the review. Your assessment of the need to go more on the defensive in such matches is correct in my experience.

 

On 26/11/2017 at 2:59 PM, Light_Flight said:

The fact it has two nose-mounted cannon, with a reasonable ammunition load, is what makes it for me. Literally, no messing around to get your kills!  

 

"Pew Pew Pew my credits and experience are due!" one could say.

 

On 26/11/2017 at 7:26 PM, ChuckYeahgurrr said:

I went to the 631 asap and found better results. I tend to always get up tired when I play 1.3-2.0 and I do not have enough variance in planes to help make a win (most of the time).

 

I shall be reviewing the Potez 631 on December 17th. I am quite excited to see how the two compare.

 

On 26/11/2017 at 7:56 PM, Kat0n said:

It's quite maneuverable for a heavy fighter, has a fairly good armament but quickly loses its speed from what I've noticed, and climbs hardly. Problem is accentuated by the fact the 7mm turret is meh. Now all you need to do is to climb slightly and head-on what can't be dived on, its armament is one of the best of its tier for that. Careful with the LaGG tho. Nice analysis overall!

 

Thank you.

 

On 26/11/2017 at 8:50 PM, _A_m_e_r_i_c_a_ said:

It's more maneuverable than most single-engine turnfighters. A competent pilot could take on an average zero pilot and win. LaGGs should be absolutely no problem. Don't commit to the headon, commit to the turnfight. There's really no reason to ever use the turret--you'll outrun biplanes, and outturn anything else. 

 

I personally would not extend your assessment to an engagement against a Zero (especially if we are referring to either the A5M4 or A6M2-N which this plane can potentially face). The reason being that the turn circle of these planes with their flaps in the Raised position is tighter than that of the Potez when its flaps are fully lowered. Beyond that, I concur with your thoughts.

 

On 28/11/2017 at 12:49 AM, _Gertrude said:

Great work tx141.  Love your vids, keep up the good work!

 

Thank you good sir. I shall do my best! 

 

On 28/11/2017 at 8:33 PM, cashmeowsidehbd said:

They have neat camouflage.

 

Very true. I have thus far found French aircraft to be the most pleasing aesthetically.

 

[PARAMI 478]

49 minutes ago, tx141 said:

 

I personally would not extend your assessment to an engagement against a Zero (especially if we are referring to either the A5M4 or A6M2-N which this plane can potentially face). The reason being that the turn circle of these planes with their flaps in the Raised position is tighter than that of the Potez when its flaps are fully lowered. Beyond that, I concur with your thoughts.

And that's why I said that I (in a Potez) could go against an AVERAGE zero pilot. Yup, if that zero pilot used rudder or was experienced in cutting turns, there would be no contest. But against the average mouse-aimer, I would easily keep up. I've kept up with P26s, so it's really not a stretch. Against the A5M, I would definitely be stretched thin--I doubt I could even take on a rookie pilot in that thing. 

 

I don't know if you are aware, but a turning circle alone cannot dictate a turnfight. Of course I would lose if I just turned flat with the zero--it's the art of not being sucked into such a situation. For example, by keeping my enemy close and cut into their turns, and never letting them dictate a long, sweeping turn, I can outturn rudder-using 109 F4s with a 190 A1/4 in a protracted turning engagement. With the Potez, it's actually pretty easy to do just that if you know what you're looking for. Furthermore, the Potez's low-speed handling is even more impressive than a zero's, as long as it's not in an energy engagement where the fight is constantly spiralling up. I've noticed that French fighters tend to hold great poise even sub 150 kmph, and the Potez is no exception. With a series of stall hammerheads, I can definitely put any zero but the A5M on the ropes. 

[tx141 815]

57 minutes ago, _A_m_e_r_i_c_a_ said:

And that's why I said that I (in a Potez) could go against an AVERAGE zero pilot. Yup, if that zero pilot used rudder or was experienced in cutting turns, there would be no contest. But against the average mouse-aimer, I would easily keep up. I've kept up with P26s, so it's really not a stretch. Against the A5M, I would definitely be stretched thin--I doubt I could even take on a rookie pilot in that thing. 

 

I don't know if you are aware, but a turning circle alone cannot dictate a turnfight. Of course I would lose if I just turned flat with the zero--it's the art of not being sucked into such a situation. For example, by keeping my enemy close and cut into their turns, and never letting them dictate a long, sweeping turn, I can outturn rudder-using 109 F4s with a 190 A1/4 in a protracted turning engagement. With the Potez, it's actually pretty easy to do just that if you know what you're looking for. Furthermore, the Potez's low-speed handling is even more impressive than a zero's, as long as it's not in an energy engagement where the fight is constantly spiralling up. I've noticed that French fighters tend to hold great poise even sub 150 kmph, and the Potez is no exception. With a series of stall hammerheads, I can definitely put any zero but the A5M on the ropes. 

 

Apologies, I initially did not read into your comment as much as I perhaps should have.

 

Now that you have further defined the term "average pilot"; I completely agree with you. I appreciate that turning circle alone cannot dictate a turnfight and I do think one of the first things that newer players who wish to turn-fight need to learn is how to add rudder to their turn to cut their turn circle significantly.

 

Again, I am sorry for my mistake.