04.08.2010, 07:03
This is a piece that I put together of what I think of the American Fighter Aircraft against Luftwaffe opponents such as the 109's and 190's. I don't fly anymore and haven't really been around in IL-2 for the past couple months, but I'll be back to flying very soon. Here's the post, and again this is just opinion of how the Aircraft perform in Combat. Please feel free to add your part on what you think or how you fly these fighters, because I wanted to see what my fellow aviators would think.
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Hey fellas, I've been a fairly bit busy the past few days and haven't gotten the chance to fly. And scrolling through some other website's I noticed that they have a break down on certain Aircraft broken down into how it performs and etc. And I thought we should have something like this on War Clouds. So this is my take of American Fighter Aircraft, the ones used in the server. And again this is just my opinion on them. And I'd like to see some of my fellow Allied Fighter Pilots opinions on the Aircraft they fly, and just maybe it'll do some good for each other. In conclusion I'm not saying that one Aircraft is better than the other because I am a great believer in a sense that it only needs to be better than the Enemy Aircraft. The photos were taken by me.
Curtis P-40M Warhawk
The Advantages:
The P-40 is actually a very nice and stable Aircraft as far as it goes when I fly it, like other tail dragger's it needs a little bit of Right Rudder to keep it level. The six .50 caliber Machine Guns are very nice with a high rate of fire, it will definitely bring do a great amount of damage to a 109 or Bf-110 and even a 190 if the rounds hit the vulnerable parts such as an elevator or hitting the coolant system. Another aspect that I have a lot of respect towards is the dogged toughness that the P-40 takes, the area around the cockpit takes quite a few holes, the wings can be shot like swiss cheese and it just keeps flying but not very well of course. Also considering the Warhawk dives very quickly, and even though it compresses it still is very controllable in a dive not like the P-51 but it will respond fairly good. Even though it doesn't turn like a Spitfire it isn't bad at all in a turn, depending on the speed it will out turn a 190 and the 109 with plenty of trim.
The Disadvantages:
Because the P-40 doesn't have a Supercharger it really starts to become a harder aircraft to fly above 15,000 feet which eliminates the P-40 as a High Altitude Fighter. At that altitude is where the Fw-190's and Bf-109's have a field day because they have a great edge over the Warhawk. It's a decent medium altitude and low altitude fighter that can definitely hold it's own where it's best at. The visibility is adequate except to the six o'clock position, however some of those problems are solved with the mirror on top of the Canopy Frame.
Overall Summary: I enjoy flying the P-40 against the 109 when it can certainly dance with them below 15,000 feet, but against the 190 it really struggles and it can only out turn the 190. When you have the altitude advantage, dive on your target, fire and then zoom back up. That's really the best way to use your Warhawk in combat from what I've come across.
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Lockheed P-38L Lightning
The Advantages:
The P-38 has an excellent climb and a good turn radius especially when the Airbrake is used, it has a great Concentration of Firepower with Four .50 caliber Machine Guns and a 20mm Cannon in the nose and can even carry two gun pods under the wings giving it eight .50 caliber MG's and that 20mm cannon. It can carry a good load-out, ten rockets and two 1,000 pound bombs or two 500 pound bombs. At high altitude above 15,000 feet the P-38 is excellent at making Slashing attacks, and also because it has two engines if one is shot out or damaged you can still keep on flying with the other one. From what I've noticed that span from the Cockpit to the Tail Boom makes it fairly difficult for Enemy Aircraft to hit the P-38 while firing on it from the Six O'Clock high and low.
The Disadvantages:
The P-38 is a huge target. So there's no beating around the bush, if it looses it's elevator you either have to bailout or fly with a lot of trim. The P-38 has two Liquid Cooled In-Line Engines meaning that if it get's hit to the coolant system you will have no longer than five to ten minutes before your engine seizes. The visibility out of the P-38 is pretty low as far as I'm concerned, thankfully the mirror in the P-38 really covers your Six O'clock pretty well. Because of the two engines part of your visibility to your Nine and Three O'Clock. And of course the Compressibility is the worse trait of for the P-38, even with the Air Brake the P-38 can only do shallow dives because of the shockwave created by the Engine nacelles and the Pilot nacelle in a dive. At low altitude the P-38 seems to preform pretty poorly at lower altitudes and I know some P-38 pilots disagree with me but again this is just my opinion.
Overall Summary: I'm not a P-38 fan at all quite frankly, I think it's an excellent Aircraft in the Pacific Theater but is outclassed by the Luftwaffe Fighters in the European Theater. When I fly the P-38 it is only for Ground attack missions mainly, so my advice for Aerial Combat isn't that great but I can say that at higher altitudes the P-38 is quite good at Slashing Attacks.
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Republic P-47D-10/D-22/D-27 Thunderbolt
Advantages:
The P-47 is a superb high altitude Fighter with it's Turbo Supercharged R-2800 Engine, give it great performance well above 20,000 feet and the higher it goes the better it gets. The P-47 was the most heavily armed U.S. Fighter of WWII with Eight .50 Caliber machine Guns which produce 13 1/2 pounds of lead on a target. You can set your convergence settings for your four inner guns and your four outer guns, and you have the ability to take Extra Ammunition. The Jug can hold a total of 2,500 pounds of bombs and six rockets which is more than adequate for Ground Attack Missions. It's an incredibly tough aircraft that can sustain a lot of damage from Ground Fire and Enemy Aircraft fire, giving you a great deal of confidence of taking damage and still being able to keep on flying. The Bubble Canopy in the Straight Back P-47's give the pilot 360 degrees of visibility and also includes a mirror on the canopy frame to see behind that large armor plate behind the pilot's head. The P-47 will also dive faster than any other German Aircraft, giving it tremendous speed in the descent due to the heavy weight of the Aircraft.
Disadvantages:
The P-47 cannot turn as well as other American Fighters such as the P-38 and the P-51, it seems to loose a considerable amount of speed. The large nose on the P-47 makes dive bombing a little hard compared to the P-38 and the P-51's noses. The Razorback P-47's with the "Birdcage" Canopy has very poor visibility to the Six O'Clock Position and can be hard to spot Aircraft with the Canopy bars surrounding the Cockpit.
Overall Summary: I mainly fly the P-47 for Ground Attack and once in awhile for High Altitude Bar Cap sorties, I like the P-47 above 15,000 feet and try not to fight anywhere below that except for Ground Attack Missions.
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North American P-51B/C/D/Mustang Mk. III
Advantages:
The Mustang is an excellent Fighter at any altitude as far as I'm concerned, the best would be above 10,000 feet. The P-51D has Six .50 caliber Machine Guns, with 1,880 rounds. It's bubble canopy gives it superb visibility and some models also have a Mirror on top of the Canopy Frame. The Mustangs legendary long range let's it roam the skies for quite a long time depending on the fuel capacity. This is from what I've gathered from flying the Mustang for three years in IL-2. The P-51 has an excellent turn radius above 280mph and will out turn any Enemy Aircraft at High Speeds. P-51's also dive quickly without gaining a high amount of compressibility like the P-38 or the P-47. The P-51 can take a decent amount of damage, especially the wings and fuselage along with the armor plate behind the pilot. When your in a stall it's pretty easy to get out of, hit full opposite rudder and it'll pull out.
[Without External Fuel Tanks]
25%-30 minutes
50%-1 Hour Ten Minutes
75%-1 Hour forty minutes
100%-2 hours fifteen minutes
Disadvantages:
The very Vulnerable Liquid Cooled In-Line Engine on the Mustang is the worst on the Mustang as the Coolant System can be taken out by small Caliber fire. The Mustang also has stall problem at high and low speeds, if you yank back on the stick you'll go into a stall.
Overall Summary: The Mustang is my personal favorite and I love flying it in combat, maintain Energy and speed. Try to fly above 10,000 feet where the Mustang performs quite well against the Luftwaffe Aircraft.
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Hopefully this helps some people, I'd love to see other pilots take on the Aircraft they fly for the Allies Team. Again, please keep it to your opinion and please keep from saying somebody's wrong and etc. Let's try to keep clear of that in this thread.
Blue Skies,
-Doodle
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Hey fellas, I've been a fairly bit busy the past few days and haven't gotten the chance to fly. And scrolling through some other website's I noticed that they have a break down on certain Aircraft broken down into how it performs and etc. And I thought we should have something like this on War Clouds. So this is my take of American Fighter Aircraft, the ones used in the server. And again this is just my opinion on them. And I'd like to see some of my fellow Allied Fighter Pilots opinions on the Aircraft they fly, and just maybe it'll do some good for each other. In conclusion I'm not saying that one Aircraft is better than the other because I am a great believer in a sense that it only needs to be better than the Enemy Aircraft. The photos were taken by me.
Curtis P-40M Warhawk
The Advantages:
The P-40 is actually a very nice and stable Aircraft as far as it goes when I fly it, like other tail dragger's it needs a little bit of Right Rudder to keep it level. The six .50 caliber Machine Guns are very nice with a high rate of fire, it will definitely bring do a great amount of damage to a 109 or Bf-110 and even a 190 if the rounds hit the vulnerable parts such as an elevator or hitting the coolant system. Another aspect that I have a lot of respect towards is the dogged toughness that the P-40 takes, the area around the cockpit takes quite a few holes, the wings can be shot like swiss cheese and it just keeps flying but not very well of course. Also considering the Warhawk dives very quickly, and even though it compresses it still is very controllable in a dive not like the P-51 but it will respond fairly good. Even though it doesn't turn like a Spitfire it isn't bad at all in a turn, depending on the speed it will out turn a 190 and the 109 with plenty of trim.
The Disadvantages:
Because the P-40 doesn't have a Supercharger it really starts to become a harder aircraft to fly above 15,000 feet which eliminates the P-40 as a High Altitude Fighter. At that altitude is where the Fw-190's and Bf-109's have a field day because they have a great edge over the Warhawk. It's a decent medium altitude and low altitude fighter that can definitely hold it's own where it's best at. The visibility is adequate except to the six o'clock position, however some of those problems are solved with the mirror on top of the Canopy Frame.
Overall Summary: I enjoy flying the P-40 against the 109 when it can certainly dance with them below 15,000 feet, but against the 190 it really struggles and it can only out turn the 190. When you have the altitude advantage, dive on your target, fire and then zoom back up. That's really the best way to use your Warhawk in combat from what I've come across.
____________________________________________________________________
Lockheed P-38L Lightning
The Advantages:
The P-38 has an excellent climb and a good turn radius especially when the Airbrake is used, it has a great Concentration of Firepower with Four .50 caliber Machine Guns and a 20mm Cannon in the nose and can even carry two gun pods under the wings giving it eight .50 caliber MG's and that 20mm cannon. It can carry a good load-out, ten rockets and two 1,000 pound bombs or two 500 pound bombs. At high altitude above 15,000 feet the P-38 is excellent at making Slashing attacks, and also because it has two engines if one is shot out or damaged you can still keep on flying with the other one. From what I've noticed that span from the Cockpit to the Tail Boom makes it fairly difficult for Enemy Aircraft to hit the P-38 while firing on it from the Six O'Clock high and low.
The Disadvantages:
The P-38 is a huge target. So there's no beating around the bush, if it looses it's elevator you either have to bailout or fly with a lot of trim. The P-38 has two Liquid Cooled In-Line Engines meaning that if it get's hit to the coolant system you will have no longer than five to ten minutes before your engine seizes. The visibility out of the P-38 is pretty low as far as I'm concerned, thankfully the mirror in the P-38 really covers your Six O'clock pretty well. Because of the two engines part of your visibility to your Nine and Three O'Clock. And of course the Compressibility is the worse trait of for the P-38, even with the Air Brake the P-38 can only do shallow dives because of the shockwave created by the Engine nacelles and the Pilot nacelle in a dive. At low altitude the P-38 seems to preform pretty poorly at lower altitudes and I know some P-38 pilots disagree with me but again this is just my opinion.
Overall Summary: I'm not a P-38 fan at all quite frankly, I think it's an excellent Aircraft in the Pacific Theater but is outclassed by the Luftwaffe Fighters in the European Theater. When I fly the P-38 it is only for Ground attack missions mainly, so my advice for Aerial Combat isn't that great but I can say that at higher altitudes the P-38 is quite good at Slashing Attacks.
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Republic P-47D-10/D-22/D-27 Thunderbolt
Advantages:
The P-47 is a superb high altitude Fighter with it's Turbo Supercharged R-2800 Engine, give it great performance well above 20,000 feet and the higher it goes the better it gets. The P-47 was the most heavily armed U.S. Fighter of WWII with Eight .50 Caliber machine Guns which produce 13 1/2 pounds of lead on a target. You can set your convergence settings for your four inner guns and your four outer guns, and you have the ability to take Extra Ammunition. The Jug can hold a total of 2,500 pounds of bombs and six rockets which is more than adequate for Ground Attack Missions. It's an incredibly tough aircraft that can sustain a lot of damage from Ground Fire and Enemy Aircraft fire, giving you a great deal of confidence of taking damage and still being able to keep on flying. The Bubble Canopy in the Straight Back P-47's give the pilot 360 degrees of visibility and also includes a mirror on the canopy frame to see behind that large armor plate behind the pilot's head. The P-47 will also dive faster than any other German Aircraft, giving it tremendous speed in the descent due to the heavy weight of the Aircraft.
Disadvantages:
The P-47 cannot turn as well as other American Fighters such as the P-38 and the P-51, it seems to loose a considerable amount of speed. The large nose on the P-47 makes dive bombing a little hard compared to the P-38 and the P-51's noses. The Razorback P-47's with the "Birdcage" Canopy has very poor visibility to the Six O'Clock Position and can be hard to spot Aircraft with the Canopy bars surrounding the Cockpit.
Overall Summary: I mainly fly the P-47 for Ground Attack and once in awhile for High Altitude Bar Cap sorties, I like the P-47 above 15,000 feet and try not to fight anywhere below that except for Ground Attack Missions.
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North American P-51B/C/D/Mustang Mk. III
Advantages:
The Mustang is an excellent Fighter at any altitude as far as I'm concerned, the best would be above 10,000 feet. The P-51D has Six .50 caliber Machine Guns, with 1,880 rounds. It's bubble canopy gives it superb visibility and some models also have a Mirror on top of the Canopy Frame. The Mustangs legendary long range let's it roam the skies for quite a long time depending on the fuel capacity. This is from what I've gathered from flying the Mustang for three years in IL-2. The P-51 has an excellent turn radius above 280mph and will out turn any Enemy Aircraft at High Speeds. P-51's also dive quickly without gaining a high amount of compressibility like the P-38 or the P-47. The P-51 can take a decent amount of damage, especially the wings and fuselage along with the armor plate behind the pilot. When your in a stall it's pretty easy to get out of, hit full opposite rudder and it'll pull out.
[Without External Fuel Tanks]
25%-30 minutes
50%-1 Hour Ten Minutes
75%-1 Hour forty minutes
100%-2 hours fifteen minutes
Disadvantages:
The very Vulnerable Liquid Cooled In-Line Engine on the Mustang is the worst on the Mustang as the Coolant System can be taken out by small Caliber fire. The Mustang also has stall problem at high and low speeds, if you yank back on the stick you'll go into a stall.
Overall Summary: The Mustang is my personal favorite and I love flying it in combat, maintain Energy and speed. Try to fly above 10,000 feet where the Mustang performs quite well against the Luftwaffe Aircraft.
___________________________________________________________________
Hopefully this helps some people, I'd love to see other pilots take on the Aircraft they fly for the Allies Team. Again, please keep it to your opinion and please keep from saying somebody's wrong and etc. Let's try to keep clear of that in this thread.
Blue Skies,
-Doodle