RCAF_FB_Under wrote:
Right on, and I do apologize for assuming the worst on Jollys post. ~S~ Jolly and I am sorry. You are right about that for sure, it would have been a lot closer if we had equal numbers, in fact you would probably have won with the superior aircraft.
~S~
S~
Well I wouldn't say we had superior aircraft. Both planesets had good aircraft, the trick was knowing how to exploit the advantages. It is fair to say that the Allies did have aircraft to match all altitudes though. The P47 and P51 are unrivaled boom and zooming aircraft and at altitude, the Me262 and Ta-152s are the only aircraft that can challenge them up there. Unless you are used to high altitude dogfighting, you were at an extreme disadvantage. A lot of pilots on our squad are used to high altitude operations and precise trim control is required for efficient energy management. The Spitfire is a very forgiving aircraft that retains its energy very well. Typically we kept the Spits at medium to low altitude where the thicker air enabled the elipitical wing to really work its magic while using the faster and sleeker P47s and P51s up high to drive high aircraft down. I noticed that some of your FW190 pilots came in at medium to high altitude, typically co-alt or higher than me. This is the way a FW190 wants to begin the engagement. The problem was, our Spit pilots were able to reverse because you would over commit in the first pass. The FW190 is more a boom and zoomer than a turn fighter and towards the end phase of the game, your pilots were exhibiting they had learned this fact. Hard breaks are not the way to defeat the Spitfire, instead it requires a considerable amount of patience. I think most of you are Spit pilots so you will know what I mean that the plane becomes very slugish in roll characteristics at high speed. The FW-190 however, excells in high speed. The way to throw off a pursuing Spit is a series of barrell rolls at high speed on the verge of blackout. The spit cannot match the roll and by the second turn, hes thrown to the outside of the turn and then you can zoom up. If the Spit tries to pursue, he will black out. This however requires altitude and in the beginning your pilots sacrificed it quickly. Your jets were shot down because of energy bleed, meaning you performed maneuvers that depleted the jets of energy. Jets require a long time to accelerate and lose a considerable amount in sharp turns. If the jets were flown in slicing passes, they were impossible to catch, if they got into the furball and started turning, a high Spit or P51 could get enough speed to take shots which usually resulted in a flamed engine.
In short, the Axis aircraft were ideally suited for medium to high altitude fighting or at least to being there. They lacked the speed or acceleration the P51 or Spitfire could achieve at lower levels. But I am not putting you guys down, by the end of the campaign you had good teamwork, rythm, and air supremacy. Your pilots became harder and harder to kill even in the Spits. What saved me a few times was I think you guys were taking minimum fuel. While this improves your manevuerability, it degrades your TOT (Time Over Target) and many of you had to bug out in long engagements. I look foward to our next tangle in the virtual skies.
Major SNA2007
Squadron Training Officer
1st Pursuit Squadron, =AVG=
10% of military aviation is knowing what to do, how to do it, and how to do it while flying. 90% is all about learning how to look cool.
A smoking hole in the ground is a small price to pay for a bitchin' maneuver. -Maj Otero, USMC C-130 Pilot