Tips from Maddog

I have, for various reasons, spent more time flying in this game then most of you. As such you learn rules to staying alive and killing which make you a bigger threat to the enemy, and thus increases your enjoyment as you survive more . Someone asked me a question the other day and when I explained how he should do it he was delighted as he never thought of that before . In any case I have listed general guidelines below which seem to work 80% of the time for me .. Hopefully someone can gain a small pearl from these tips I'm no expert and I hope others like Mak, Sour Mr.Him etc. can contribute more tips . I especially need GV tips from ForHim .. And I suck at the P47 . But I can kill a VH 85% of the time . Anyway some of the younger of us hopefully will see that the apparent randomness of a dogfight or furball takes a lot of planning . As the saying goes

If you find yourself in a fair fight you have already made a mistake ..

Speed is life . Altitude is life insurance .. Go into a fight high as you can, I try to get to 10 K before getting to target fields.

I like to fly to the far side of the enemy field and when I attack I like to attack toward a friendly base or planes that can help just in case I get jumped by more or faster planes then I can handle. Always attack toward help if possible. Don't engage in a turn fight your first pass as you be too fast and you will overshoot and be killed . First pass is always a boom and zoom regardless of the plane you are flying .

Work the edges .. If you find an excessive amount of enemy aircraft go for the ones on the edge of the furball Less chance of being surprised from behind.

Try to anticipate what the enemy will do A spit will turn a 109 and 190 will dive and run..

I like tracers off because if you miss shooting at someone he doesn't automatically evade when seeing your tracers . Your next shot might get him . Having said that I have been flying with them on as to discourage HOs but have to fire early (out of range) to give opponent something to think about also with tracers on in a flak its easier to attract targets.

Also with tracers on you can get a con off a freindlys tail even if you have no chance of hitting him you can scare him off by putting some tracers past him This happens a lot to me I find this a lot easier to kill a con whose concentrating on someone else then on you. Plus everyone thanks you.

Don't dump a lot of altitude to help someone with three or more cons on them . He will die and they will turn on you Unless their strung out and you can get behind last one Can get two or three kills this way.

Avoid high spits and nikkis at all costs . These planes are fast in dive and waiting to long to run will void your insurance coverage. If you are stuck fighting one try to get an HO and fire lots of tracers at them starting at 2k . After the HO run straight . He will turn and in so doing will lose speed and give you a chance to escape.

After each engagement check map position, fuel, and ammo How many times have you got back to home base with no ammo or fuel to find an enemy con there and yes he is there waiting for just YOU .

If you are going to vulch a field pick a plane with a lot of cannon rounds as cannons can give you the greatest chance of a kill as opposed to an assist Someone else will finish him off if your 50cal only wound him Still approach the vulched field at high altitude so your first pass will be down the runway and fast if there are GVs or ack up you will have a better chance of survival at speed. Also avoid exiting the field over the town as that's the last place the ack is killed in general.

Picking an historic plane may be fun but it is just fodder for a good stick Pick the best plane for you circumstance and let them call you a dweeb as you kill them . Which is your job! Pick the most effective weapon (plane) for killing not historical correctness. If you can't hit anything in an LA7 or yak you can fly with forhim or myself and see how its done . Once you can kill in these planes you will find it much easier to kill when in other planes due to your keenly developed targeting skill.

Take short bursts to conserve ammo unless your behind the only con in the area and he's chuckin and jiven . Then I just hold the trigger down and let him fly into my spray bullits .

Lead shots are easier because you have a greater surface area of the con to hit . I find it easier to be a bit below the con on a lead shot as the visability is better If you are level with him the dash obstructs your vis of the con .. If your slightly below him you can view both your shot stream and the con thru the canopy . In a sweeping turn chasing a con I try to get lower so I am in a good position to have this shot if it presents itself.