RedKestrel

I still get them but they are much reduced in most maps.

Agreed, I would much rather fight over land either way. Exploiting clouds is a dastardly thing to do and I 100% recommend it! Even if it doesn’t work out in the end lol.

Anyone know why the skin of the plane is corrugated like that? Seems like it would increase drag by quite a lot.

Yes, I answered the way I did to try and 'cover the bases'. It's not 100% clear from the OP that it was meant as IRL or for a hypothetical future pacific installment but I see your point. I think you and I made different assumptions about the original post. All they state is that you have a head on pass with a P-38, after the pass what will you do to win? So there is no scenario really, we don't know if both planes are alone or with a flight, if this is taking place in a historic context in terms of numbers or training, etc. We are presented, basically, with the opening phase of a duel with knowledge only of the individual combatants and their equipment - "a fleet-footed man with a spear attacks you and you only have a dagger and a gimp leg, how do you win?" Now, we may say "the man with the spear would always be part of a larger infantry formation and be in armor, while the man with the short sword is likely from an under-equipped peasant levy and has been separated from his comrades, his only hope is to flee, attacking would be suicide." And this would be perfectly good advice, but it assumes facts that we have not been provided with- even if they are reasonably guesses. Going on only the information provided to us, we can say that the man with the short blade may be able to gain victory by getting within the reach of his enemy's weapon and forcing a close-quarters fight. Of course this involves the extreme risk of coming within reach of his weapon, but running from a faster man with a long weapon carries the same risk as attacking him head on, provided he is of a mind to chase you. The question was "how would you proceed to victory" if the P-38 was flown to its strengths, and of course any answer must be "with great difficulty and risk" or "not at all, I'm GTFO" (the more prudent and realistic option, of course, but technically speaking a draw, and not without its own risks). The only way to win (i.e. shoot the P-38 down) would, IMO, be to take the head on shots you can get, since a P-38 flown to its strengths would not attempt to turn with you but would instead, as you say, BnZ you until you are done. You would never realistically get a rear-aspect shot or even a snap shot because he would maintain separation until he dove to attack... at which point you have to use your ridiculously small turn radius to get your guns on him if you want to hit him, as that will be the only chance you ever get. It may not be a good chance, it may be dumb, but it has a higher percentage of victory than not shooting at all. Now, as to the likely outcome - in an engagement with a well flown P-38, and with me in a zero, I would expect to be shot down. If we take an extreme assumption that the P-38 is perfectly flown and also has perfect gunnery and nerves of steel, then there is literally no way to win, as the P-38 would kill you in a head on 100% of the time. In fact you would be already dead on the first pass since he would open up at 1000 yards, hold down the trigger and shred you with cannon and .50 cal, so the point is moot. The duel only becomes interesting if the opponent is an imperfect human, and then you have options - you can frustrate them, you can scare them, you can draw them into a fight they don't want and then force them to panic and burn speed. And of course everything depends on you not losing your nerve and keeping a cool head as well.

There's so much good news I forgot about the Typhoon! Ach. For give me, Sidney Camm!

Just what it says, I really appreciate the new update, the increased engagement we are seeing from the developers and the peeks at what's coming this year. Between two dev diaries in as many weeks and Jason's new Briefing thread, so far 2020 we are spoiled a bit in terms of information flow! Posting as a Dev on a video game forum is often the equivalent of walking up to a pack of feral dogs wearing a meat-suit, so I understand it can be a little hazardous to one's sanity, not to mention time consuming. However, I hope the current trend continues. There are a lot of exciting things coming in 2020 but really the global improvements such as the work to reduce MP stutters are just as exciting for me as new planes, and this makes me appreciate the candor in response to the ongoing spotting debate and the talk of improving QA. In a constantly updated sim like we have these things are great to see, even more than new content. Though, saying that, the releases over the next little while seem tailor made for me - Hurricane, Yak-9T, and the P-47D Razorback in BoN are all on my list of favourite aircraft. Anyway, thank you Jason and the dev team for all your work, and I wish you luck in the coming year!

Do I know how to fight Focke Wulfs in a Hurricane? LOL No, I expect to be mincemeat. But going against me in a hurricane with you a Focke Wulf it will be like wrestling a pig - you'll get muddy even if you win and the pig will enjoy it regardless.

It's really not all that different from engaging a 109F4 or G in an I-16. You have a faster-climbing, higher speed enemy with an inferior turn rate who is able at all times to dictate the terms of the fight, should they wish to. In real life, if my orders permitted it, I would do as you say. There's little profit in engaging an enemy who is untouchable unless he is stupid. IRL vs. in-game, I find that you are more likely to be chased for extended periods on the deck after diving away than in real life. This goes for human pilots as well as the AI. It's a frequent occurrence on fighter-bomber sorties that I am chased all the way back to my territory and shot down by a pair (or even three or four) enemy fighters after already dropping my bombs and getting the hell out of dodge at nearly 500 mph. Most online fighter pilots want to kill you more than they want to 'follow orders'. It's why for the most part, even though I am shot down on a huge number of sorties, on something like 95% of them I have made it to my target, dropped all my ordnance, and my damage is already done. Shooting me down only counts for points for the most part, but I still get chased, which leaves the target open for follow up attacks. So in the sim, I find that running away usually only works if you have a sustained top speed advantage in level flight, because that's probably what its going to boil down to. If I meet a 109F4 in a merge in an I-16 and try and dive away, as long as he keeps me in sight, I will never escape because he will likely turn around, get on my six and stick to my tail and stay with me as long as he needs to to kill me. Also, in the sim, I find spotting is almost as easy or possibly easier at ranges past 3 or 4 km than it is at closer ranges, where it seems that its easier to lose contacts, especially in a fast-moving dogfight, so staying close may paradoxically make me harder to follow. So when I have a match-up like this, I will try and force close combat and attempt to sustain that combat for as long as possible. I'll do this for a few reasons: 1. I consider disengagement to be nearly as fatal as continued engagement - at least in a fight I can maneuver for advantage, in a tail chase they will catch me and I will be in a positional AND performance disadvantage. 2. Strategically, if I am in a fighter craft, my job is to provide cover for attackers. Even if I am unable to shoot down an enemy fighter, keeping them occupied means they are attacking me and not friendly attackers. If I can occupy enemy fighters for even a few minutes, my attackers may get in, make their attack, and get out without being engaged. 3. The longer the combat goes on, the more likely it is that it will become a mid-to low-speed turn-fight at low altitude, or the enemy will prudently disengage. I-16s, Zeros, and fighters like them are knife fighters, so get them in knife range and don't let them go. So what I would do is immediately after the pass, make a hard nose low turn into his turn and try and stay in his rear quarter as much as possible, and failing that, force a series of head-on passes that are just as risky for him as for me. The name of the game would be to stay around my best turning speed as much as possible to maximize my turning advantage and try and trap him in a lower speed turn fight.

Combat Box is located in Canada, anyone in North America should have decent ping to it. It gets most populated weekend evenings but north america evenings from like 5:00 EST on are usually pretty well attended. Hell, its hard to get on the server on the weekends sometimes, I mostly play weeknights now because of that. The other most popular servers are hosted in Germany (TAW), Russia (Wings of Liberty and Berloga) and Hungary I think (Knights of the Air). I think Coconut's server might be coming back or is back, can't remember, and that one is I believe in the UK.

You know the old song? You wanna be happy for the rest of the game, get an ugly hurricane as your plane

With the Normandy map, earlier scenarios for 1942-43 are possible, and I believe the intent is/was to produce a pre-invasion and post-invasion map in part to facilitate the cross channel battles of the mid-war period. With a Spit VB and a Hurricane Mk. II and a few of the light and medium bombers we should have available, we should be able to simulate Rhubarbs and the like.

Players, holding their caps in their hands: "Please, sir, wot modifications of the Hurricane will we be gettin'? Developers, arms filled with almost a half dozen gloriously hunchbacked fighters "ALL OF THEM!!!"

I guess something like this?!?

*laughs in P-47*

I'm looking forward to it! It adds a lot of potential especially in MP and SP. An MP mission where Tempests and Mk XIV Spits have to defend targets in the rear from incoming VI bombs and 262s, while other attackers try and destroy the launch sites with the Axis defending. It would be a great change up to a standard MP mission.