My learning curve

[Bomred]

This Topic is for those of us who are trying to improve our skills, but it semms nothing gets better.

 

Don´t give up, don´t quit, keep going!!!

 

For sure I´m not an ace, just a newbie that is begining to be able to fly in expert mode and that is shotting down more planes than in normal mode few weeks ago.

 

I´ll try to give a few humble hints for the very beginners, that may help them to improve faster.

 

- Don´t abuse playing normal mode, since you will get very bad habits that won´t let you improve your skills, specially situational awareness. This mode is good at the begining for target practise and control your plane movements. Once you get this, try playing expert mode!!

 

- For deflection shooting, record your flights and review them in slow motion outside the cockpit. Then you will assess better if your shots are short or long, since sometimes the foe is behind your cowl. Then correct your aim.

 

- It is crucial to set a sensitivity of at least 50-60% for the input response of plane controls, especilly for pitch and roll. This is for those who only can spread some lead around the foe when trying to do the final fine aim.... With this sensitivity, a gentle move of your joystick will put your cross at the point wished.

 

Sorry for my poor english an good luck!!

[Leaf]

Patience.

Don't jump onto every opportunity, and don't throw your joystick out of the window if it doesn't go your way. So be patient and have fun with the game.

[indiaciki]

Wise words. Don't ever play normal mode. I'd add something. Do patterns. Do them all the time and don't switch planes. Take care of your engine. Read the original manuals. Don't go into combat unless you can land your aircraft.

[GP*]

Lose sight, lose the fight!!!

 

Seriously.

 

But also...

 

Recognize when to sustain, ease, and tighten in a fight. By this, I mean:

• Sustain = an energy-sustaining maneuver (for example, a level turn where your airspeed remains the same)
• Ease = an energy-gaining maneuver (such as a loop where you "float" it over the top while at combat power)
• Tighten = an energy-depleting maneuver (such as a max-performance turn to achieve a shot)

Generally speaking, you should ease when you aren't threatened / aren't inside a gun WEZ. You should only ever tighten to 1) achieve a WEZ 2) deny a WEZ or 3) preserve or attain a 3/9 line advantage (by that I mean getting someone to overshoot or preventing an overshoot). At all other times in a fight, you should be sustaining.

 

I bring these points up because, no matter what server I fly on, most gents are flying "gunsight BFM." By this I mean that guys are pulling as hard as they can to get you into their gunsight to achieve a shot, regardless of how short of a time period that WEZ is sustainable, and regardless of how much deflection the shot will require (i.e. aspect angle). It's tempting, but it's not good BFM. Additionally, a lot of guys tighten down their turn (and bleed energy) in order to make the "picture" look as offensive as possible. While you can make things look great for you in the short-term by doing this, over time your energy deficiency will get you killed by anyone who's patient enough to fly control zone (i.e. "elbow") BFM.  

 

Many, however, are pretty good at "boom and zoom" tactics, which is good to see. However, gunsight BFM is still at play here -- guys dive down and just point right at their target the whole way down. Remember, pure pursuit builds aspect angle and increases closure, which leads to greater deflection required and less time to achieve a shot. It's often better to dive while in lag (and I don't mean while in LaGG, or while "lagging" in relation to ping ). Keep your nose at his deep 6, dive down, attack from their 6 and low so they don't see you. An understanding of pursuit curves isn't just for turn fighting, it works wonders for BnZ as well.

 

Anyways, I'm rambling. If you've read this far, congrats, you are not the norm. I just like talking about BFM more than I do about anything else in this game.

Oh yeah, and quit shooting over my shoulder, dudes! Separate from the fight, climb up, come back around the corner, and watch my 6 from up top.

[-TBC-AeroAce]

I wish I could fly hard more but with out a wing man every night its pointless. I only fly with a mate once or twice a week, so normal still has its place for me and I'm not ashamed

[GP*]

I wish I could fly hard more but with out a wing man every night its pointless. I only fly with a mate once or twice a week, so normal still has its place for me and I'm not ashamed

 

There is no problem flying on normal servers. I don't get why so many people look down on them.

 

Here's how I view it. Servers that emphasize realism are fun because of all the challenges they present you -- not only are you fighting, but you're also factoring in many things that matter in real life (situational awareness, fuel management, keeping the tally in a fight, etc). 

 

Normal servers get rid of most of that. That sounds bad initially, but it allows you something key -- it allows you to focus on just the fight. In "full real" servers, I find myself always trying to kill while remaining undetected. I find that I kill 3-4 bandits who are unaware before I run into a bandit that actually sees me. This is ultimately good, but doesn't allow one to develop their BFM skills much.

 

I see normal servers much like shooting free-throws outside of an actually game of basketball (or insert your sport of choice for the analogy). They allow you to practice key skills while stripping away everything else. 

 

You don't want to be the guy who is a full real buff, but has absolutely no idea what to do when taken outside of their "boom and zoom" world when a co-energy bandit shows up at the merge.

[ACG_Smokejumper]

Lose sight, lose the fight!!!

 

Seriously.

 

But also...

 

Recognize when to sustain, ease, and tighten in a fight. By this, I mean:

• Sustain = an energy-sustaining maneuver (for example, a level turn where your airspeed remains the same)
• Ease = an energy-gaining maneuver (such as a loop where you "float" it over the top while at combat power)
• Tighten = an energy-depleting maneuver (such as a max-performance turn to achieve a shot)

Generally speaking, you should ease when you aren't threatened / aren't inside a gun WEZ. You should only ever tighten to 1) achieve a WEZ 2) deny a WEZ or 3) preserve or attain a 3/9 line advantage (by that I mean getting someone to overshoot or preventing an overshoot). At all other times in a fight, you should be sustaining.

 

I bring these points up because, no matter what server I fly on, most gents are flying "gunsight BFM." By this I mean that guys are pulling as hard as they can to get you into their gunsight to achieve a shot, regardless of how short of a time period that WEZ is sustainable, and regardless of how much deflection the shot will require (i.e. aspect angle). It's tempting, but it's not good BFM. Additionally, a lot of guys tighten down their turn (and bleed energy) in order to make the "picture" look as offensive as possible. While you can make things look great for you in the short-term by doing this, over time your energy deficiency will get you killed by anyone who's patient enough to fly control zone (i.e. "elbow") BFM.  

 

Many, however, are pretty good at "boom and zoom" tactics, which is good to see. However, gunsight BFM is still at play here -- guys dive down and just point right at their target the whole way down. Remember, pure pursuit builds aspect angle and increases closure, which leads to greater deflection required and less time to achieve a shot. It's often better to dive while in lag (and I don't mean while in LaGG, or while "lagging" in relation to ping ). Keep your nose at his deep 6, dive down, attack from their 6 and low so they don't see you. An understanding of pursuit curves isn't just for turn fighting, it works wonders for BnZ as well.

 

Anyways, I'm rambling. If you've read this far, congrats, you are not the norm. I just like talking about BFM more than I do about anything else in this game.

Oh yeah, and quit shooting over my shoulder, dudes! Separate from the fight, climb up, come back around the corner, and watch my 6 from up top.

 

 

 

What is,

 

BFM

 

gunsight BFM

 

elbow

 

Thanks!

[GP*]

Good questions, my post fell short in some areas.

 

BFM stands for Basic Fighter Maneuvers. Over the years, it has sometimes been interpreted literally as "maneuvers" that one might use when dogfighting. These (meaning maneuvers such as a loop or split S) are typically classified now as "advanced handling" maneuvers. BFM, in modern lingo, exclusively refers to dogfighting -- i.e. one versus one maneuvering.

 

"Gunsight BFM" is where one continuously points at their target. Jet jocks call this "HUD BFM" (HUD = Heads Up Display). It's simpy human nature -- you know you want to kill the bandit, and you know you need to either be pointing at him or pulling lead, so you try to get there as quickly as possible. However, this isn't alwalys the greatest move. In fact, it's almost always a bad thing.

 

Pursuit curves are classified into three types: lead, pure, and lag. Lead pursuit is when you're pointing (and by pointing, I technically mean where the vector/flight path of your aircraft is taking you) out in front of the bandit. The geometric consequences of this are two-fold: you decrease range more rapidly due to increased closure (Vc) and you increase the aspect angle (AA) between you and the bandit. AA is where you are in relation to directly behind the bandit (with at the tail being 0 degrees of aspect, line abreast being 90 degrees of aspect, and head-on being 180 degrees of aspect). More AA will continue to generate even greater Vc. What all this means is that when you arrive within firing range on the bandit (aka in a WEZ, weapons employment zone), it will be short-lived because of the closure. Additionally, pulling too much lead presents a great reversal opportunity for the bandit once you go blitzing through their flight path. That's why, despite the fact that lead is required for a gun shot, it's "bad BFM." Only pull lead to achieve a shot or if you consciously are trying to reduce range (and realize that it'll build AA along the way). I don't mean to say that lead pursuit is inherently bad, but it has consequences.

 

Pure pursuit, which is what "gunsight BFM" is, is similar to lead pursuit in some ways. It'll cause moderate closure, build AA initially, and then decrease AA once you arrive at the bandit's turn circle (TC). Pure pursuit really has no point. It always sets you up for a corner that you can't "square" because of the aspect that it builds, and typically doesn't allow for a shot due to no lead fire established. Pure pursuit is obviously necessary against non-maneuvering bandits whose 6 o'clock you're exactly on, however. You should typically spend your time either in lag or lead, and you should only be in lead with a good reason.

 

Lag pursuit is a tool that few use, but it can solve all of your BFM "problems" that bandit maneuvers present to you. It decreases AA (which leads to shots that require less deflection), decreases closure, and leads to far more controllable gun shots. Additionally, if you miss, you still maintain the offensive. I'm starting to get into the idea of the "elbow" here. If you picture two fighters as your hands, the elbow is the area behind the fighter where you want to envision, and fly your aircraft there. Aspect is controllable and you're clearly offensive -- this is why it is technically called the Control Zone (CZ). The front edge is the reaction limit -- you don't want to be so close that you don't have time to follow bandit maneuvers. The aft edge is the pressure limit -- if you're too far away, and out of gun range, you aren't pressuring the bandit, and you're far less of a threat. Think of the CZ like a parachute that the bandit is dragging behind them, and that's where you want to go. And even if you aren't there, that's where you always want to "pull" to -- for example, in a rolling scissors fight.

 

CZ BFM is best fought with similar performing fighters, though. I don't fly CZ BFM when I'm in a Fw-190 and fighting a Yak -- I simply can't stay with their turns. But I still think of where their CZ is and fly in relation to that. What I didn't mention previously is that pulling lead early allows you to cut across a bandit's turn circle, effectively countering their ability to out-rate you in a turn. Again, as previously mentioned, the consequence is increased AA, which means a fleeting gunshot requiring much more deflection. Additionally, if you're too greedy and go from lag to lead too early, you can build so much aspect that, once you overshoot the turn circle, the bandit can easily reverse on you and go offensive. And yes, this doesn't matter quite as much when you're going 700 KPH and they're going 300, but it's still a consideration. In modern jets, an overshoot is a huge deal because of all the missile WEZ's that you're exposed to.

 

I hope this helps. I really want to make a BFM video series like Requiem has for flying, but I'm typing this right now at work and it's 2330 (if that tells you anything). Either way, I'll be flying MP at some point this weekend .

[kiershar]

I personally think that normal is way harder than expert. At least people defend properly on normal and they don't let themselves get shot on every pass. The large map expert server is basically just looking for someone for 30min and then shooting him down without a fight, kinda boring in my opinion. When fighting outnumbered on normal the enemies are able to group together and prevent you from doing all the maneuvering you want; on expert they all fumble around, chasing each other and making bad turns until you kill them.

[CaK_Rumcajs]

I personally think that normal is way harder than expert. At least people defend properly on normal and they don't let themselves get shot on every pass. The large map expert server is basically just looking for someone for 30min and then shooting him down without a fight, kinda boring in my opinion. When fighting outnumbered on normal the enemies are able to group together and prevent you from doing all the maneuvering you want; on expert they all fumble around, chasing each other and making bad turns until you kill them.

Normal servers present a totally different game.

 

1) You can't surprise anyone because of icons.

2) You can't take advantage of the sun to hide.

3) You can't take advantage of clouds to hide.

4) You can't leave the fight in a direction of a forest in an atempt to confuse your opponent so he loses sight of you.

5) You can't damage the engine by running it at emergency settings for too long.

6) Saying "lose sight, lose the fight" doesn't apply to normal mode.

 

Flying in normal mode is probably harder from the perspective of aerobatic performance, but has so little to do with simulated air battle. It's a different game with the same name.

[FlatSpinMan]

Interesting posts and insights. Thanks.

Keep fighting the good fight, Bomred.

[kiershar]

Normal servers present a totally different game.

 

1) You can't surprise anyone because of icons.

2) You can't take advantage of the sun to hide.

3) You can't take advantage of clouds to hide.

4) You can't leave the fight in a direction of a forest in an atempt to confuse your opponent so he loses sight of you.

5) You can't damage the engine by running it at emergency settings for too long.

6) Saying "lose sight, lose the fight" doesn't apply to normal mode.

 

Flying in normal mode is probably harder from the perspective of aerobatic performance, but has so little to do with simulated air battle. It's a different game with the same name.

 

I'd say that this is not completely true. Even if there is an icon and distance indicator, you don't know the exact aspect of the target plane unless you look at it. To be successful you will still need to keep sight of your target's aspect to be able to do productive maneuvering and anticipating.

 

The sun can be taken advantage of when extending away because it's pretty hard to shoot someone who is flying straight into the sun. Also hard to see the aspect of a plane flying with the sun behind it. 

[Bomred]

Another important point is to know whether the plane is friend or foe. It is not easy, al least from some perspectives.

 

I have let go by many chances of shotting a plane, because I was not 100% sure about his nationality...

 

I completely agree with Rumcajs, it´s a different game with the same name.

Let´s hope the expert MP servers get crowded, so you easily get involved in a multiple dogfight.

[ACG_Smokejumper]

Prefontaine, great post thanks very much.

 

 

All that should get amalgamated and stickied.

Edited December 21, 2014 by CDN-SMOKEJUMPER

[GP*]

Another important point is to know whether the plane is friend or foe. It is not easy, al least from some perspectives.

 

I have let go by many chances of shotting a plane, because I was not 100% sure about his nationality...

 

I completely agree with Rumcajs, it´s a different game with the same name.

Let´s hope the expert MP servers get crowded, so you easily get involved in a multiple dogfight.

 

You're doing the right thing .

 

Fratricide is taken very seriously by combat air forces around the world. Remember, every shot you take is a shot you own. Be sure who you're shooting every single time.