Dogfighting Tips

[Stormtropper]

Well, here is where everyone can share effective dogfighting tatics that they discovered.

Well, I'm gonna start off, heres to things that might or might not know

1. On a "Head On" against an opponent, if you do an aleron roll, you would probably not gonna get hit, and if you can keep your gunsite in the same place during the roll, hes gonna get hammered.

2. Same topic, head on, sometimes if you yank the rudder in one direction, them yank it back, if you time it right, you end up on the guy's 3 or 9 o clock positions and can shoot him down the side of his fuelslodge.

3. this one is really simple, but effective for me. If your taking on more than 5 AIs at the same time, and they are set to ACE, if they are set to anything lower, don't even bother, cuz its not going to be worth the trouble. Do what I call "Hit and Run", basically you get on the guy's six, blow few pieces of lead into his bird, and get out really fast, like in 2 seconds, this way, you would always be on the move and the other AIs can't get a lock on you, and they don't shoot until they have a sure shot. Do that to all of them. After all of them suffered some damage, then go back to finish them. But does not always work, see my "A word of warning............" Thread in the Edited screen shots forum.

[ozzy72]

Get in within 200 yards of the guys tail before opening up, otherwise you're just wasting ammo.
Also remember the art of deflective shooting. Lead your target!

Ozzy (slayer of Me-109s)

[Woodlouse2002]

Forget deflective shooting, get on his arse and fire. Get within 100yards before shooting. Remember, wait intill he fills your gunsight. If you plane has more power the ideal time to line up for a shot is in a steep climb. You can zoom up behind him and stay on his tail for aslong as you need.

When fighting one on one latch onto his tail and follow his every move. That way he's not going to get a shot on you and eventually he'll make a big enough mistake for you to ruin his day.

I find that reorganising the buttons on your joystick helps too. At its current set up the trigger is set to release ordanance. I find this helps in the accuracy of bombing. Button 2 is select ordanance. Button 3 is cannon and button 4 is guns. (This is on a M$ sidewinder.) All this helps you accidentally wasting ammo, allows you to sight with guns before firing with cannon and makes ground attack more efficient.

When you've run out of ammo try ramming your enemy. Open you canopy and follow him into a climb. Turn on WEP to give you the power to climb faster. Aim your plane for his and keep it on course. Bail out at the last possible second. If your lucky your aircraft will plough into the back of his destroying him.

Finally, when in doubt, use a Tempest.

[HawkerTempest5]

I love close in tight turning dogfights. Always pick a plane with plenty of power and a good turn rate (stock Tempest or AvHistory Spitfire XIV) and get in close (100 yards or less.) Use short bursts of fire, never squeeze and hold the trigger or you will run out of ammo. Learn the art of deflection shooting as this will greatly improve your kill ratio.

[farmerdave]

I have my stick buttons set with the trigger for guns, button 2 for cannons, and 3+4 for select and release ordnance.  Also, whenever possible I never follow a bandit into a steep climb,  just stay below and nail him when he comes back down, unless you have a considerable "e" advantage.