Have to say after playing for a while, the simulation of the Aircraft and their performance on here are pretty accurate. With the exception of rudder/yaw control, it's among some of the best I've seen. It really pays off to study up on air combat tactics and aircraft performance of the period. Simple things such as trading altitude for airspeed can pay off in a fight. Manuevers like the simple Immelmann can pay off with a faster aircraft in your six. Take a little time, do a little research and above all, enjoy your game! See you in the skies!!

Well, that would explain why I suck at turn-fighting then...

For those of you wanting to learn more about dogfighting theory, tips & tricks read this:

navyflightmanuals.tpub.com/P-1210/index.htm Air Combat Manuevers

It's the first thing I read when I wanted to become a better dogfighter.. it's not the easiest or best one for some of you to learn & understand the theory & practical side of dogfighting from, but it is pretty dang good.

I have others as well, but I only share those with members of £afayette

Next stop, Lafayette Escadrille squadron thread!

That's pretty cool Zebra. I'll heave to check this out a little more when I'm not stuck at work.

Another quick move to help shake a fighter off you tail is the classic stop and go. Developed in the Spur of the moment by Randy " Duke" Cunningham in his F-4 during a dogfight over the skies of Viet Nam and immortalized in the classic Top Gun. Pull the nose up and cut throttle, " slam on the brakes and they fly right by. Just time it so you can recover in time to get a shot or two off . Or bank hard and catch them on the turn around.

skyripper [BB] wrote: Another quick move to help shake a fighter off you tail is the classic stop and go. Developed in the Spur of the moment by Randy " Duke" Cunningham in his F-4 during a dogfight over the skies of Viet Nam and immortalized in the classic Top Gun. Pull the nose up and cut throttle, " slam on the brakes and they fly right by. Just time it so you can recover in time to get a shot or two off . Or bank hard and catch them on the turn around.

Thats a rather risky (and gutsy) move IMO. If you don't time it right or the fellow on your six is a good shot, you're pretty much toast. Besides, methinks there's a large percentage of players here who won't by shy about pulling the trigger once they have a bogey in their sights making the stop and go a bit more dangerous to execute...

Agreed! It's risky and timing is everything. If you do get whacked, now and then the pursuing pilot suddenly has a pile of scrap parts in his path. Works about 50-50 . Again, like you said, timing is key!

The best bet to use the stop and go would be if you mix it in with some evasive rolling maneuvers. I usually do scissors , a mix of flat and vertical, to throw my opponent off... Of course, since we're talking about the big boy servers, its literally impossible for me to pull off the stop and go.

Another reason why the stop and go is very risky is because you give up a lot of airspeed in the process. Assuming you succeed in the maneuver, a smart, alert and savvy pilot can easily roll away to avoid your guns while your plane is just gathering the required airspeed to maneuver or aim properly... And if there's another bogey nearby...

Its more of a last ditch maneuver for me IMO... sorry bro, i've had my share of trying to pull-off that maneuver before and its pretty much like asking for it...

That's pretty well said. Definitely a last resort effort for the unshakable opponent. Like your mention of the scissors. Another great move to keep yourself flying. Biggest problem I encounter is pilots with higher tier aircraft that just flat out perform the lower tier planes. That's when you have to be inventive and start grabbing whatever tricks you packed in you bag!