F-86F vs Hawk

[Darkwolf]

Folland Gnat

 

Bring it up so i can play some "Hotshot!" style game :P :thumbup:

[lunaticfringe]

Heaters are for cheaters!

 

Credibility (and your smoking carcass) "down". Kill ratio "up".

[lunaticfringe]

No one here read Scream of Eagle by Robert K Wilcox? Right there in the 1st chapter is an old and rusty F86 repeatedly spanked 2 latest and greatest F4 Skyray and F8 Crusader in a 1v1 fight. Really good book.

 

The F-86F was introduced in 1953, the Ford in 1951, and the F-8 in 1955. This is not some great disparity in aerodynamic design or age. The real difference is in power, not the design of the airfoil and frame. Power can be worked around. Double inferiority, not really.

 

Oh, and for experienced pilots in the F-86, we can count those on, what, four fingers these days?

[OutOnTheOP]

@leafer: Well, an experienced pilot and a forced style of combat (dogfight in this case) can do wonders.

An I-16 can beat a P-51 in a dogfight, but that doesn't say that the I-16 is the better plane.

 

It would require more than just an experienced pilot in the I-16; it would also require a fairly incompetent one in the Mustang, to give away all his energy and positional advantages.

[Aginor]

Yeah, maybe not the best example, I admit that.

What I was trying to say is that a clearly inferior plane can sometimes win, depending on the pilot.

Maybe I-16 vs. BF-109F would be the better example. The I-16 was almost on par with the A,B, and C models, but the E and F would kill it quite easily, at least with pilots of similar skill. But that doesn't say the I-16 can't win at all, that's correct.

 

So if someone beats the Hawk while flying the F-86 it doesn't necessarily say much.

If it happens regularly and with different pilots... well then maybe I'm wrong. But my money is on the Hawk.

Edited May 15, 2014 by Aginor

[howie87]

In a book I read recently a P-47 pilot recounts a mock dogfight with a late Mk Spitfire. The only advantages his aircraft had were roll rate and dive speed, so what does he do?

 

He rolls one way then reverses the roll and turns the other way. By the time the Spit has reversed his roll, the Jug is half way into the turn and gradually increasing his separation. After repeating this for a while, the Jug dives for the deck and pulls up into a hard climb. He's carrying more energy than the Spit now and goes all the way over the top and comes back down on the Spit's tail.

 

Superior knowledge of his aircraft's advantages enabled him to turn the situation around from an initially disadvantages position.

Edited May 15, 2014 by howie87