How To Fight In the P-51D

[WING47]

Hi all, nice post here with some real good tips.

 

I'm eager to go try some of them, but unfortunately I don't have much time for practice because I tend to have the bandit at my six... :helpsmilie:

 

I'd really appreciate some tips for that moment when you can see the bandit is not only behind you but is also turning better than you, what evasive maneuver do you think is best?

 

I tend to go into an s-turn, but I just don't think it's the best unless you are planning to run like hell. Tuco mentioned at the beginning of the post climbing and cutting your throttle, is that a good choice?? The AI Dora does something similar from time to time, but as that is the moment I can get more hits, I don't feel comfortable doing it myself... :joystick:

 

I would recommend a hard turn into him. What I do on the defensive is simply turn with my lift vector pointed into him and hope for an overshoot.:D I find climbing and chopping throttle is not very effective and limits follow up maneuvers if he misses and overshoots, there's no energy left. The other thing I would like to mention is try not to think in terms of "moves", AC is fluid, utilize good BFM, there are plenty of good resources out there to help learn them.

 

http://scilib.narod.ru/Avia/Bonanni/bonanni.htm#01-01

http://www.demovfw.com/firstfighterwing/1stVFW/Fighter%20Combat-Tactics%20and%20Maneuvering.pdf

 

I would also recommend practicing tight, sustained turns at various speeds, flap settings, and altitudes, what I do is pull only to where I'm comfortable then ease into the buffet. Over time you get quicker at it.

 

I use one to two notches of flaps during maneuvering fights, sometimes three at the top of vertical maneuvers (if I really, really need to). Remember that the 51 is all about energy, try to keep vertical maneuvering speed and be disciplined. Turn smarter not harder:smartass:

Edited July 25, 2014 by WING47

[Manyoces]

Hi Wing47, thanks for the answer. :thumbup:

Never thought about my lift vector during a turn (that's my noob side), usually I've had enough just trying to keep a nice coordinated turn without bleeding away energy... Also, lots of people seem to use flaps, I will practice turns adding a notch or two of flaps, do flaps improve your turning rate? Always thought the speed lost didn't justify using flaps, but seems I am wrong.

 

Thanks for the links, I had one of the books, good to have another one, they are quite comprehensive documents!

[Sceptre]

Regarding gunnery: you need to lead quite a lot. A lot more than you might expect; give it a try in some turn fights against AI and see what I mean.

Also, it's a preference, but some people including myself do not bother using the gyro sight and just flick it back to fixed mode. You can see where the bullets go; that's why they're called tracers. The gyro is a bit to much fiddling for me in a heated fight anyway, but some people like it. As I said, it's a preference and in a thread like this, you will get a lot of valuable, but different opinions.