fastfreddie

Most P-47 units were replaced by the P-51 in the European theater before the end of the war but I'll be just with which ever version of the P-47 is released even if its against the Dora/K4. Fly with a wingman at altitude and most decent pilots will be able to use it effectively.

It will definitely be the ground attack vehicle of choice until some of the 3rd party planes start hitting the air but I wouldn't totally discount it as a fighter either. If it has a decent dive speed and roll rate it should be able to hold its own in an energy fight but either way I'll find a way to use it's traits. Really looking forward to this and the Me262 whenever ED gets to it.

Any news at all on the P-47? Wish we could just skip the Spit and get to the real planes that are left but how is progress on our Jug? Seeing that the Bf109 got pushed back I expect something similar for the rest of the series so maybe May for the P47?

I don't know if it was reported but I figured it was since it was pretty common and had been around for quite awhile. Sometimes the tailwheel would go underground and you would hear the dragging sound. At times it would break the tail but others you could hit the throttle then the brakes to make the tail lift off the ground and your tail wheel would be still attached ... popping out of the ground.

Did the tail wheel landing bug for the Dora get fixed Yo-Yo? I haven't seen it in awhile and haven't had trouble landing in the last couple of updates ... couldn't figure out if it was that or the flaps got more lift.

I know alot of people were calling for the A8 version but I'd rather see the F8 or an older FW like the A-5 or earlier for better diversity.

Alot of those were FW190 A or F version weapon systems and were not used on the Dora. It would be nice to get the SC250, panzerblitz, and if modeled the AB bombs.

Just put a P51 as German and select it to fly on a straight flight path at whatever speed/alt that you would like to test at. Also select German Dora/K-4 for yourself with a similar route but set your aircraft behind it for whatever distance you'd like to. It won't deviate from the course because it observes you as a friendly unit.

I've pretty much given up any hope of this plane being made in a full scale flight model. It's just incredibly complex (4 engines, bombing station, DM, gun platforms) and maybe wish instead that they model in the gunners positions so some people could hop around in those slots. Ai controls the flight operations keeping everything in a tight formation and slot a B17 gunner slot kind of like they do the ground operations.

I quit using Diveplane's mods for pretty much that reason alone and it really is cheating to use them because it gives the one being hunted or attacked quite the unfair advantage. The gun sounds were awful from external planes(P-51) also so I've completely removed them. If the engine sounds were toned down slightly and all external sounds removed I'd start using them again. We've heard over and over from WWII pilots that they couldn't hear anything else and I asked my stepfather's dad who was a rear gunner in a B-24 who confirmed the same thing. Even though he was sitting in a position as far as you could get from the engines he couldn't hear anything outside the plane. Imagine practically sitting on the engine in a small fighter ... hopefully this gets addressed with Edge along with the gun smoke bugs.

I had a good time also and you'll be fine once you get some real practice in. I need the practice also ... been flying the Dora for so long which requires a different skill set than the Mustang that I've gotten rusty on some things. I'd suggest that all players that want to get better at dogfighting look at this page for a basic explanation of combat maneuvers. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basic_fighter_maneuvers Particularly hi yo-yo, flat/rolling scissors, barrel roll, and the Immelmann but all the info in the article will give a good basic understanding of combat maneuvers. It will also put a name on some of the things that you see online so you can read on how to counter them if you like. As you gain experience all these terms will fall into place and you will figure out that certain planes do certain things better than others. Situation awareness is probably as important as having good gunnery skills. Echo brought up a good point about recording your play. Look for things you can improve on and mistakes to be corrected. When you see someone that does a maneuver and you say how'd the f*** did that happen ... you can look back to figure it out.

I'm probably on the wrong side of the Atlantic for me to find those here. Check out the 3 Volume set by Eddie Creek and J. Smith that were also printed in the UK. 1000 pages of glorious FW190 print covering development of the 190 to the end of the war.

I'd suggest the opposite if you are wanting to learn to dogfight or the best way to engage in combat and some of my best lessons came from getting by ass stomped. You're probably not going to learn near as much from new pilots to DCS as you would from the more seasoned players or ones that have come over from BOS/COD. Don't be afraid of getting shot down or crashing ... its part of the learning curve and there are plenty of experienced players to help you out. I created this mission for just the practice sessions that you are probably looking for and anyone with a decent internet connection should be able to host it. http://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/1199463/

Everything I've read about the 190 pretty much lead to the 109 not being a great aircraft for attacking bombers or ground attack. They often flew escort for FW190's because they we're better suited for that role and they didn't fare very well when attacking bombers. One book I've got has a good drawing of how they flew cover with layers but did say that sometimes the close escort would go in for attack runs with the 190s. God help DCS because when the AI B17 comes out I can only imagine what we'll be crying about then. You may have to put another "Veteran of DM B-17 Crybabies Thread" in your sig.

There is big difference between being able to absorb a 30mm round or multiple 20mm rounds and still be combat effective versus limping home. I've seen too many planes flying around like nothing happened after being devastated in online play. I don't expect wings to come flying off every time a 30mm hits them but I do expect them to lose critical flight components some of the time. I'm sure ED will work on this in the future with WWII become such a big part.

I'd imagine the Me-163 would be fun to fly in DCS and I can't see it being that difficult to make compared to the other planes especially the Me-262. I also can't see landings/takeoffs being very fun or successful if the current group of online pilots are our test subjects. :music_whistling:

Second testing section video. I don't have much of a problem with the engine damage model on any of the planes outside the P-51 always getting the governor failure instead of say a coolant or oil leak. I've been shot down with very little damage to the engine in all of them ... 109 seems to get coolant leaks with little damage to the engine or wings and is probably the easiest to bring down in that regard. In fact probably over the 90% of the time I'm brought down is engine related but I'm pretty good as evasive flying so that may be part of it.

Did another round of testing ... its taking right at 3 separately detected hits to take off wings on any of the planes (P-51, 109, Dora). I've done over 40 different rounds of testing now and I've only seen the wing pop once (109) so far with one registered hit. Some planes have had visual strikes of over 7 before going down on one wing. I'm starting to think the 30 is probably well under strength in the damage model since this was true on all planes. P51 Testing 2 Separate hits of 6,6 3 Separate hits of 8,6,8 3 Separate hits of 6,2,2 3 Separate hits of 12,8,10 2 Separate hits of 4,2 2 Separate hits of 10,6 Fuselage 2 Separate hits of 4,2 ... after first hit started engine shutdown 3 Separate hits of 4,4,4 ... after first hit started engine shutdown 3 Separate hits of 12,10,10 3 Separate hits of 8,4,8 Dora 3 Separate hits of 6,4,4 3 Separate hits of 6,6,6 3 Separate hits of 6,8,8 Fuselage 2 Separate hits of 4,4 1 Separate hit of (2) Bf109 3 Separate hits of 8,6,2 3 Separate hits of 2,4,4 3 Separate hits of 6,4,4 Fuselage 3 Separate hits of 8,4,6 1 Separate hit of 4 for engine shutdown with the pilot killed on the second hit

Yeah it would be nice to have flashes from all non explosive rounds so we can see the hit. I don't think the other 30mm rounds are giving a visual clue only the explosive types.

Well you could have the damage power bumped until the damage models are thoroughly examined but until they are updated it will be difficult to determine how powerful the 30mm needs to be in a final version. I'll probably run another set of test for you because they go pretty quick and here is some of the first test footage. Notice that not all hits are registered visually ... when the smoke appears is usually another sign of a strike so the true number of strikes are difficult to determine. I agree with what you have said in other threads that the stats you see after the match are not the true number of hits. From what I can tell it appears one 30mm round has a value of (2) to (4) depending on what it strikes. The Minengeschoss rounds register visually but not the other types of rounds. I also used the tracer mod for testing and the 109 is a pain to test with because it like to pitch up all the time lol.

That is more of what I expected with the 30mm cannon ... 1 round or 2 should bring down any of these fighters. One round around the wing root seemed to kill the Dora but it could take shots in the middle to edge just like the Mustang if they weren't tightly concentrated. I'd expect the Dora or Mustang to take those hits from the .50 or 13mm if they weren't concentrated but not the 30mm. My stepdad's father was a rear gunner in a B-24 and his plane was brought down from one round of a 25mm Japanese light AA gun in the wing. I know that DCS said they would be examining the damage model later on but if one 30/20mm round hits any of these planes in the wings or tail if should cause major flight altering damage (ailerons/flaps/landing gear/rudder/elevator) if it doesn't take them off. I've had the flaps damaged in the Dora and it made landing ... quite interesting but the Mustang always seems to fly like nothing has happened even against humans.

Mustang Test 1 Hits (3) Separate registered values of 8,4,2 Test 2 Hits (3) Values of 6,6,2 Test 3 Hits (2) Values of 2,2 Test 4 Hits (3) Values of 4,2,2 Test 5 Hits (2) Values of 4,2 109 Test 1 Hits 2 Values of 6,2 Test 2 Hits 3 Values of 6,2,2 Test 3 Hits 1 Value of 4 Test 4 Hits 3 Value of 4,2,2 Test 5 Hits 3 Value of 10,8,2 190 Test 1 Hits 3 Value of 4,6,2 Test 2 Hits 3 Value of 8,4,2 Test 3 Hits 2 Value of 4,2 Dora's wings pop of pretty easy at the wing root but were as tough as the Mustangs in the middle to the edge. K-4 seemed much easier to break the wings in half. I'll add in a video of some of the testing when its loaded.

We will have the 262 so that can take on the Mosquito I think VEAO is developing. Not sure any of the other German fighters could seriously catch it at altitude. Spotting is pretty hard in DCS and even night fighter groups in real life with extensive training had a hard time spotting/attacking Mosquito recon planes and such. Ground radar could get you in the area but you still would have to locate the plane. British heavy bomber groups would probably be a more realistic night time target for DCS.

I'd like to see an AI B-24 and B-26. Flyable B-25, Me-410, JU-88 or JU-188, or early-mid war fighters (Spit V, BF-109F4 or G2, one earlier FW-190 A-5 to A-2, and the P38). Plenty for them to add to the European Theater but we'll have to see if DCS approaches any 2 engine bombers or early-mid war fighters. Map extended to cover most of France, Belgium, Germany Etc would be great.

I threw together a dog fighting practice mission for the K-4, D-9, and P-51 with all client slots in different positions. 1v1, 2v2, 1v2, etc. Anybody should be able to host it depending on internet connections. Host should pause server till everyone is in the cockpit and ready. Normal Positions are 8000ft,270 kts with Axis/Allies facing each other at the 11 o'clock to 1 o'clock position with a distance around 1.5nm. Medium altitude starting points are 16000ft/270kts with a similar scenario. Also included disadvantage slots for all sides to simulate one player/pair starting at a lower/slower position for defensive flying practice(getting jumped). I'll probably throw in another high altitude level around 22000ft depending on feedback. Notg and I ran it last night so it seemed to go over pretty well. 109 vs Dora anyone ... just set one in the disadvantage slot so that you head towards each other. I uploaded it onto the DCS website under: WWII Dogfighting Practice Mission