Istari6

Amen to the request for Normandy scenarios! Appreciate all those who put time into building these. I haven't yet learned the Mission Editor to make it "sing and dance" like others here, but looking forward to piloting a P-51 among the B-17 streams high over Caen...

I'm looking at Amazon for both books, nice that first one's on Kindle. I've also saved the link to the Top Gun article for later reading. Thank you both.

(I've searched the forum and came up blank. So if this has been answered previously, happy to be pointed to that thread) I've been having a great time learning the P-51 and F-86, now it's time to move up to the F-5. I've purchased the F-5 module and the NTTR pack. I've also purchased the Aggressors BFM campaign. Part of the enjoyment of learning the P-51 and F-86 has been finding great books about these aircraft. I travel cross-country regularly for business, thus finding some Kindle reading material is nice way to pass the time. Searching on Amazon, I only see a small number of books on the F-5, and only one of them for Kindle ("F-5 Tigers over Vietnam"). Any recommendations on good books for learning about the F-5 and Red Flag more generally? Ability to read on an iPad (PDFs or Kindle) would be a major bonus for those long flights. Thanks.

Sandman - appreciate the quick reply. I'll stay on this older version until the frame rate issues are addressed.

With the previous release, there was a significant drop in VR performance depending on the density of clouds. I reverted to the last version (now two releases ago) and performance was restored. I'd like to update to the latest code, but has there been any experience with frame rate performance under high density clouds with 1.5.6? For reference, I've been using the HTC Vive. Thanks.

No worries, and thanks for the response. That's useful info. Yes, I guess I was mixing up the Chandelle with a hammerhead stall. I was trying to figure out how to use the 190s greater abilities in the vertical to bring the nose around quickly without trying to do a conventional turn (where I fall behind the Mustang). Will give these techniques some practice...

Oh I agree. I know that pilot skill is the most important factor in aerial combat (at least prior to the ultra-modern era), but I'm trying to figure out HOW to improve my skills :). Just flying over and over again doesn't always lead to skill improvement when it's not clear what to do differently. These discussions are very helpful to help figure out what to focus on to improve the skills.

Swoop, that's a great response. Thanks for writing it up. Makes me feel better since I've been having the same experience. I don't mind losing if I'm getting better at BFM, but it gets frustrating when it's not clear what to do to improve. I've seen what you're describing, where the AI on Excellent can bring the aircraft to a complete stall, then pitch down in complete control. I suppose if I keep practicing slow speed control in the Dora, I might be able to accomplish a chandelle or some other way of whipping my nose around quickly as I fall, that might be another way to use height and cut across the circle. Very interesting to hear your experiences online against real opponents. Seems that Mustang is basically a match for the Dora, and the only real advantage it gives is an ability to escape if the fight is going against you. Certainly the climb rate, raw power and improved high altitude performance must have been a real boost to morale for pilots transitioning from the Fw 190A.

Thanks all for the responses. I've flown several missions against High AI instead of Excellent and it makes a big difference. Now the fight feels more the way I was expecting. I can't be sloppy, but the superior energy of the Sabre is easier to exploit. Definitely looking forward to further refinements to AI and damage model in the coming years.

Well, the one real pleasure of flying the Dora in combat is the power of the armament and the heavy warload carried. If I can get guns onto the Mustang, I've had no problems blowing it out of the air, a refreshing change from my time in the Mustang following enemies around pecking at them steadily :)

I understand the overall theory of BnZ and energy conservation. I'm trying to avoid getting into a turnfight with the superior wing loading of the Mustang. The challenge is how to convert superior energy into a killing shot against a superior turning enemy who's aware and tracking me. That's what I'm having trouble figuring out how to execute. To be concrete: 1. I can reach a position a few thousand feet over the Mustang, but I'm at 290 kph (best climb speed), and he's below me turning continuously. Now what do I do? 2. I can't turn my nose quickly at 290 kph to cut across the circle since the Dora turns very poorly at this speed. 3. I've tried slicing low and using my energy advantage to build up speed to get the Dora turning and cut across the circle as I come down (per BnZ theory), but the Mustang just keep turning and I can't gain any significant advantage in rate of turn. I end up shedding energy coming down, can't get my gunsights onto the Mustang, then need to do emergency climb before he can use sustained turn to get behind me. So just looking for how BnZers turn a "high perch" into a crossing attack on a turning enemy below when it's hard getting the nose around. I like the other idea in this thread of doing a split-S and using Dora's roll to "cut the circle", but is this the only realistic chance for Dora?

This makes a lot of sense. I've been trying to figure out how to use the Dora's superior roll rate to somehow even the odds. So the idea is to get sufficient vertical separation that I can basically do a Split-S downwards, then use roll halfway down to point myself "across the circle"?

I can see how the Fw 190D-9 could be a beast if operated in pairs against a lone "turnfighter". As you say, the power of the Dora gives it the ability to dive in, take a shot and zoom back up out of reach. Having a wingman means that when the enemy gets slow (or just distracted), can BnZ from another angle. I remember reading this was how US pilots in the Pacific were trained to deal with the Zero, particularly once the Hellcat and Corsair arrived. But it doesn't help in 1-v-1, since the AI Mustang is always tracking me and can choose to tighten turn and pull out of reach on any diving attack. Still trying to figure out if a single Dora can beat a Mustang flown with skill.

For background, I've been flying sims since Microsoft Flight Simulator on the original Mac. I have particularly fond memories of Chuck Yeager's Air Combat back in the early 1990s. One of my favorite challenges back then was setting up a bunch of Me-109s or Fw-190s and then practicing Boom-and-Zoom tactics in the F-86 Sabre. I've been looking forward to doing the same here in DCS in a much more realistically modeled simulator. Figured I'd start with just a single WWII warbird and learn how to defeat it using the superior technology of the swept-wing jet era. Having flown the three WWII planes in DCS prior to starting the F-86, I setup against what I've found to be the weakest of the three: the Fw 190D-9. Gave it an Excellent AI and set a head-on fight. To my surprise, I've now flown multiple battles and only defeated the Dora once. Most of the time, I run out of gas and have to disengage. Given the great advantages of the Sabre, this is not what I was expecting. Yes, it's clearly the pilot who's at fault, but I'm trying to figure out what I'm doing wrong. Here's what I do: 1. Head-on pass, go full power on the Sabre, jink a little to avoid lucky head-on shot from Dora 2. Pull back and zoom climb as we pass to get altitude and energy advantage. 3. Pull out several thousand feet above the D-9 4. Watch as the Dora struggles to climb up towards me, often shuddering near stall but never stalling out or falling back, always in control 5. At some point, I slice nose low and let speed build up to 300+ kts (knowing the Sabre 6-3 wing isn't good at low speed). My theory is to to use my superior energy to do a sustained high-G turn while the Dora is struggling at slow speeds and can't easily turn. So far so good in theory. What happens next is puzzling. The Excellent AI Dora somehow seems to recover energy quickly and begins turning across the circle as I come down to keep out of my gunsights. It then begins to do amazing zoom climbs that I can't follow, even though I've kept my airspeed above 300 kts. It reaches the top of its zooms, stalls out and then comes down cutting across my circle. Having flown the D-9 myself, I don't understand how it has such power or slow-speed maneuverability. My experience of getting the Dora high and slow was that it was very sluggish. When I've tried to follow superior energy fighters in WWII warbirds, I lose energy so I can't turn easily. SO... Is this just a property of the Excellent AI using the SFM? That it has excess energy or maneuverability that simply isn't historically accurate? If not, how do other Sabre pilots defeat these WWII warbirds once you've established a superior altitude/energy position?

First, sorry for taking so long to respond to the comments here. I had an life emergency that took me away from simming for a number of weeks. All's settled down now and I can return to flying again. OK, the simplest answer seems to be gavagai's advice: that it's near impossible to win 1-v-1 against an Excellent AI fighter if it can turn better. That the Fw 190D-9 is really only effective against an alert and aware Mustang -D if it can get the bounce on it, or work in pairs for B-n-Z. MAD-MM and DF are recommending that I get high, then use that energy advantage to outturn the Mustang. I understand the theory, but I can't seem to make it happen in practice. I come arcing down and keep my energy high (>300 kph) and try to do a sustained turn to get behind the Mustang, hoping that it will be low on energy from trying to follow me up and unable to maintain the same turn rate. Yet every time, the Mustang easily outurns me as I come down (even when I use flaps), then I find myself co-equal in energy (due to how the Dora bleeds energy) and having to MW-50 climb again to get back to safety before the Mustang can get guns on me. If I dive through to escape, I have an initial acceleration advantage, but then the Mustang catches me in a longer dive. If I scissor trying to use the superior roll rate to shake the Mustang, it's slower to follow through the rolls, but then quickly catches up in the turn, making it impossible to escape. At best, I can just roll rapidly with short pulls to make a difficult gun solution, but there's no way to actually shake the AI Mustang. Frustrating. I guess the basic question here is about Boom-and-Zoom tactics with a fighter that has inferior wing loading. I can get the Dora up high (theoretical energy advantage), but then the poor low-speed performance and inferior wing-loading mean that the nose is very slow to turn. If I slice low and build up energy to 300-400 kph, I still can't catch the Mustang because it can outturn me even at my best speed. I understand the idea of High Yo-Yos, Low Yo-Yos, etc. but is there any way for a fighter with superior energy but inferior turn to catch a fighter below if the enemy knows you're there and can turn to avoid the B-n-Z attack run? BTW - I'm particularly surprised at how the Dora handles in DCS, given that most historians believe it was the best prop fighter produced by the Luftwaffe in WWII. This is not my impression at all, since the Bf 109K-4 is an absolute monster in DCS. I can easily defeat Excellent AI Mustangs using the Messerschmitt. In the Kurfurst, I have the power to outclimb the Mustang, saddle up high, then arc in and use superior wing loading to get in behind for a close-range kill. The only thing that's harder in the K-4 is getting the kill with the fewest rounds, since the on-board ammunition load is so tiny.

Also make sure that the Gyro switch is ON. I was flying Red Rover, Red Rover multiple times and wondering why the sight was so useless. Realized that the Gyro was OFF. Once I switched on, it became much more useful. As other have said, I've found the most useful combination in dogfighting to be the fixed + plus the active gyro sight. Since the gyro takes 1-1.5 sec to stabilize, you can often fire somewhere between the cross and the floating gyro sight and be reasonably assured of hits.

P.S. I know that theoretically the Dora has another advantage in superior SL speed, but I tried that one out and ended up a bullet riddled hulk. I was trying to escape a turnfight that was beginning to go against me, so did the Fw Split-S and dive to SL, thinking I'd outrun the Mustang. Well, he followed and even with me running flat out in full MW-50 and hitting the 620 kph max speed at SL, the Mustang overtook me from behind and shot me down. As near as I can tell, it seems that the Mustang's clean design allowed it to get faster in the dive and thus have residual speed to creep up on me and shoot me down before that advantage faded away. So right now, the only real advantages I seem to have over the Mustang are climb, acceleration and roll rate. Having a hard time converting these into consistent victories.

Of the three WWII warbirds, I'm finding the Fw 190D-9 the hardest to master. In many ways it's the easiest to fly, but in combat, I just can't seem to find a useful edge over the AI Mustang (flown at Excellent level). The problem is that the only advantage I seem to have is climb. I'm starting a head-on fight at 6200 ft, where the Fw 190D should have a power advantage. Sure enough, using MW 50 boost I can consistently climb above the Mustang, but I can't seem to convert that into an effective attack. I have my Dora at 290 kph (best climb) circling over the Mustang below me. The Mustang is continuously turning to stay below me. When I decide I'm ready to attack, the Dora is incredibly sluggish and shudders and stalls trying to bring the nose around. I can't seem to turn to get my nose on the Mustang even coming from a high perch. I've tried going straight up vertical, planning to chandelle or hammerhead and use the Dora's roll rate on the descent to cut across the circle. But Dora just wallows in the vertical stall, tending to spin (at least in my clumsy hands). I've tried using my energy advantage from above the Mustang to slice down at 400 kph+ and get a high turn rate, but the Excellent AI Mustang seems to be conserving energy just fine and is able to easily outturn me. I understand the theory of Boom & Zoom, and I'm trying to use my Dora's strengths to maneuver only in the vertical and avoid turnfighting. But I'm clearly missing something essential in turning a high slow perch into an effective attack when I have a high wing-loaded airplane that just won't turn and is mushing at <300 kph. When you're at the top at 280-290 kph and a Mustang is 500-1000 ft below but turning hard to stay beneath, how do you convert that into an effective attack that gets guns on target?!

My personal experience is that 1.5.6 is a step backwards for the Vive. There seems to be some kind of issue with the clouds that causes framerates to drop significantly. Apparently, you can manually edit missions to reduce cloud density, but I rolled back to 1.5.5 and the problem went away.

I tbink it's a bug. I've seen the same thing now in both the Bf 109K campaign and the Fw 190D-9 campaign. Like you, I've checked the frequencies and Krymsk is always silent. Fortunately, as long as you just fly in the same general direction, you can find it visually and overfly it for a success.

Yes, the high octane fuel allowing 75" MP should help considerably. The Bf 109K will still be a monster, but the gap will be narrowed. I'm certainly not asking for parity for parity's sake, but the ability to setup historically likely matchups where pilot skill can then "go to work". The Bf 109K didn't even appear until October 1944, by which point some 8th AF fighters were using high octane AN-F-33 fuel that allowed 75" MP. It can be an option in the Mission Editor which fuels are available, but both are entirely historical. The Bf 109K pilot will still have an advantage in a straight 1-v-1 dogfight, and it'll require greater skill by the Mustang pilot to win.

Thanks to Goblin for the pointer to that DCS Utility! Downloaded it tonight and rolled back to 1.5.5 and framerates are restored. Flew the exact same mission (2-v-1 Campaign) and it's a much smoother experience now.

Agree that something has changed with the 1.5.6 update. I'm not seeing the "grey flashes", but the framerates have taken a bad hit and it seems to correlate with the density of clouds in the sky. The problem in VR is that once framerates drop sufficiently, it becomes actively nauseating and unpleasant to fly :<. I'm trying to roll back multiple settings to restore framerates I had under 1.5.5, but it's frustrating. Still, I understand this is a very new technology and ED is feeling their way through it. Appreciate the efforts to get the tooltips and highlights working in VR.

Yes, there's something definitely wrong with how clouds are managed in the 1.5.6 update. Framerates have taken a major hit, and it correlates strongly with the density of clouds in the sky. Trying to work through the Fw 190D-9 Challenge Campaign, and the stuttering and low frames in the 2-v-1 mission nearly made me nauseous. For reference, this mission is flown right over dense clouds. I just flew this exact same mission in the Bf 109K-4 Challenge Campaign about a week ago, and had smooth framerates under 1.5.5. Hope this can get optimized soon!

AM - thanks for the JG51 Gunnery PDF. Some good stuff in there, and the screenshots of those old flight sims bring back memories. My first flight sim was Microsoft Flight Simulator on the original 1984 Mac.