tips for russian fighters against german fighters?

[Loonsy]

so first off sorry if this has been addressed before (which it probably has) but i really really want to fly russian aircraft but time and time again i'll come back to them and they let me down. and no im not going to screech about bias or anything, i just want to know what to do against german fighters. it doesn't even feel like a matter of skill and technique, i've been doing dogfighting and wwii sims for a while so i have an idea of what im doing, but the russian fighters just lag behind in every single aspect, in speed retainment, in climbing, in diving, in turning, in maintaining energy, every single thing it feels like the 109 can do better.

so to make sure i wasn't just bad at the sim, i did a test. i went up against a novice level 109-E7 in both the yak and la-5 and i simply couldn't keep up at all, i could sort of keep up in a turn but that didn't last long considering how poorly russian fighters bleed off speed. now to remove all doubts i went up against the highest level ai 109-G in my own 109-G, evenly matched against the top ai skill level and guess what? with very little experience with the 109 i dominated the fight in every and all aspects, i could climb and keep my speed up like a homesick angel, turn on a dime and reach cruising speeds that even a la-5 would struggle to obtain in a dive.

so i ask, is there any advice that can be given for a disgruntled pilot who so dearly wants to fly as the russians? (also no i don't have BoM and i doubt i'll get it unless the mig can actually hold its own, so im stuck with the la-5 and the yak essentially)

[216th_Lucas_From_Hell]

I've written a lot on this and there is a lot of valuable information in these boards, but here is a short version of it:

 

1. Learn your aircraft's strengths and exploit them

2. Secure an altitude advantage

3. Move faster than your opponent can react, and don't fly predictably

 

To expand on 1:

 

For Stalingrad

LaGG-3 - roll rate, instant turn performance, firepower

Yak-1 - acceleration, turn rate, stability

La-5 - low altitude performance (best in game), roll-rate, firepower

 

For Moscow

I-16 - acceleration, roll rate (best in game), manoeuvrability

MiG-3 - acceleration, manoeuvrability, high-altitude performance

P-40 - roll rate, dive speed (best in game), firepower

 

The Soviet fighters truly shine when flown in a group though, since that's what they were designed for. Check out this thread if you're interested in a group of regulars to fly with, it makes you life much easier: http://forum.il2sturmovik.com/topic/21643-fly-216th-mixed-aviation-division/

[Loonsy]

I've written a lot on this and there is a lot of valuable information in these boards, but here is a short version of it:

 

1. Learn your aircraft's strengths and exploit them

2. Secure an altitude advantage

3. Move faster than your opponent can react, and don't fly predictably

 

To expand on 1:

 

For Stalingrad

LaGG-3 - roll rate, instant turn performance, firepower

Yak-1 - acceleration, turn rate, stability

La-5 - low altitude performance (best in game), roll-rate, firepower

 

For Moscow

I-16 - acceleration, roll rate (best in game), manoeuvrability

MiG-3 - acceleration, manoeuvrability, high-altitude performance

P-40 - roll rate, dive speed (best in game), firepower

 

The Soviet fighters truly shine when flown in a group though, since that's what they were designed for. Check out this thread if you're interested in a group of regulars to fly with, it makes you life much easier: http://forum.il2sturmovik.com/topic/21643-fly-216th-mixed-aviation-division/

thank you for the advice! i look forward to trying it out, also your mulder avatar is A+

[Lusekofte]

I am a bad fighter pilot, I am inpatient and never take time to get advantage before attacking. So I learned I am best flying LA 5 , at high speed. And just take advantage when it appear. If a LW pilot come from altitude I dodge his attack and try to place myself on his belly while he is gaining altitude and momentum for a new attack. Making it as hard as I can do it for them keeping me in sight. This have 100% of the time worked for me. I haven't been shot down for a long time. But I haven't shot down many either. 

I fly mostly bombers when I fly this game, then I do not have to wait for something to happen, then I know what and where I am going

[216th_Lucas_From_Hell]

When attacked from above, Lusekofte's 'move out of the way and attack from behind' is an excellent technique. It works particularly well with the LaGG-3, La-5 and I-16 because with them so long as you know where the enemy is coming from you can always roll and pull the other way.

 

The best way to do it is to fly above them yourself, and then dive for the kill. The Bf-109 has a better top speed over 3000m, but that means nothing if you're attacking them at 3000m from 5000m for example

[=LG=Wicher]

Yak-1 - acceleration, turn rate, stability

 

What? Well I have much diffrent feeling while flying yak.

[216th_Lucas_From_Hell]

I find it very hard to stall, and extremely responsive to all inputs. The roll rate is lacking but you can kick the rudder and change directions fast that way. It also handles nicely between 180 and 700 km/h, but beyond that it falls apart.

[=LG=Wicher]

I think you have diffrent definition for stability than me For me plane is stable when i can easily aim with it (sorry but my english knowlege don't allow me to precisely write what I mean), but for me the stable plane is Lagg-3, and Yak-1 is awful. I understand what u mean by Yak stability and you are right, but I wouldn't call it stability, rather maybe maneuverability idk.

[216th_Lucas_From_Hell]

We're both right in that way - mine is in-flight stability, yours is being a stable gun platform.

 

In that respect the LaGG-3 is indeed the best out there - you point the nose, the enemy enters your sight, one second squeezing the trigger and that's it.

[Scarecrow]

Just to add to the good advice already given, this is a simulator and the performance of the Russian aircraft being inferior to their German opponents is historically correct. The real Russian pilots fought at a technological disadvantage but used teamwork and tactics to overcome the odds. It's not the plane that wins the fight it's the pilot   

[Aap]

 

 

The real Russian pilots fought at a technological disadvantage but used teamwork and tactics to overcome the odds.

 

I actually think that in early war the Russian disadvantage in teamwork and tactics was far greater than the technological disadvantages.

When the Germans used the experience from Spanish Civil War to update and develop their tactics and put successful pilots like Günther Lützow and Werner Mölders behinds desks to write new tactics manuals and started training based on that, USSR concentrated on enforcing old and outdated tactics and started purges in VVS. It certainly does not create an innovative atmosphere, if there is a risk of getting shot for it, like it happened even to the highest commanders of Soviet Air Force in succession - Yakov Alksnis, Aleksandr Loktinov, Yakov Smushkevich and Pavel Rychagov before Operation Barbarossa.

[Scarecrow]

I actually think that in early war the Russian disadvantage in teamwork and tactics was far greater than the technological disadvantages.

 

 

Quite right. I'm no historian and can't offer any examples but it's my opinion that early war Germany held the advantage in technology and tactics both in the air and on the ground on every front. Infact it's true to say that Germany developed the basis of how all modern wars are now fought. Just my opinion and as I say WWII flight sim forums are the basis of all my history knowledge