Airplanes comparisons

[Sybreed]

Is there any guide on the internet that compares the planes between them? Say, I want to use a K-4 and know I'll face tempests and p-51s. Is there a page that says what are my advantages and disadvantages vs said planes?

 

I know people on the internet often talk about "use the strength of your plane", but if I don't know what said strengths are, how can I use them?

[SCG_ErwinP]

I believe that isn't the right approach.
IMO you need to fly with others players, in common VoIP such Discord or TeamSpeak and learn how to do the Mission's objectives.

If you wanna fly K4, try to cover ground attackers or bombers and when faced by a P51, do a combat as a team trying to take enemy out of combat.
English isn't my primary language and I still learning it, so sorry about potencial errors.

All planes has positives and negatives characteristics, so don't try to fit it into your preference but learn about airplanes engine management and their limits.

Regards, SCG_ErwinP.

Edited October 10, 2019 by 3./JG15_Eich_1

[[DBS]Browning]

Something like the old IL2 Compare would be nice.

[69TD_Hajo_Garlic]

Climbing and diving on unsuspecting targets and filling the engine(s), tail, and cockpit with projectiles works well in every plane. Really you should probably pick a plane (109, yak, spitfire, etc) or a few and really learn them inside out.  Different opponents will require you to react and fight accordingly depending on your ride and their ride.

 

there is the spec sheets but I don’t find the turn rates to be an accurate representation of how planes maneuver in comparison to each other

Edited October 10, 2019 by Hajo_Garlic

[RedKestrel]

2 minutes ago, Sybreed said:

Is there any guide on the internet that compares the planes between them? Say, I want to use a K-4 and know I'll face tempests and p-51s. Is there a page that says what are my advantages and disadvantages vs said planes?

 

I know people on the internet often talk about "use the strength of your plane", but if I don't know what said strengths are, how can I use them?

@77.CountZero has plugged some plane numbers he's tested into an old application from Il-2 1946 that let you compare plane performance over various altitudes. That should be helpful.

The tech specs in the in-game tab offer hints. Better climbers accelerate better, the turn time shows which planes have better sustained turn rates, etc. It doesn't really tell you about things like roll rate (super important IMO), instantaneous turn rate, high speed maneuverability, low speed maneuverability, etc.)

Some general thoughts of mine about a few of the planes - these are my own observations and may not be super correct with the new planes, that I have not flown much yet:

Bf-109 - the king of climb against every one of its contemporaries except in early versions against the I-16, or against the Spit IX (especially the 25 lbs boost version we have now). Accelerates very well as well, so its a great energy fighter. You can regain altitude and speed quickly and wear down a pursuing opponent with long shallow climbs and beat them in a turn fight using high yoyos that utilize your climb ability. Has good terminal dive speed though it has a tendency to lock up controls at high speed. A P-51 and Tempest both have pretty good high speed maneuverability but I believe both have lower climb rates. The 109K-4, P-51 and Tempest all have similar sustained turn rates. Engage your enemies in vertical scissors to bring climb into the equation and negate horizontal turning ability from the equation. Against a P-47 just don't rely on outdiving it or trying to beat it at extremely high altitude - in all other factors you beat it handily.

FW-190 - Excellent roll rate, excellent dive, good low-to-mid alt performance at a cost of climb rate and horizontal maneuverability. Sustained horizontal turning is 100% not your friend, even without using flaps I have outmaneuvered and shot down 190s in the horizontal with a P-47. Use your roll rate and good high speed instantaneous turn to rapidly change directions and force an overshoot, or simply run away from your enemies in a long, shallow dive and zoom back up when you're safe (your zoom climb is pretty good in this plane). Your armament is nearly the best in the game, you hit really hard, so make one pass and fly away. Don't try to stick on an opponents tail and lose your speed.

P-51 - Very fast at high altitudes, especially with the higher boost. Turn roughly comparable to the K4, but does not climb as well. Keep your speed up and use it! 

Tempest - A total beast. At low to mid altitudes it is excellent and with an armament to match the FW-190s. Turns reasonably well, good top speed. Nevertheless don't get too slow in this thing, and I believe contemporary 109s will outclimb it, though maybe not at the higher boost settings.

 

P-47 - Good armament, excellent roll rate, crappy climb and acceleration, good dive. You can turn with 190s and with your boost activated you can outclimb and outaccelerate them, and in turning ability there's not much difference. Try this with 109s and you're dead. Sustained maneuvers of any kind are not great in this plane, 109s will outturn you and eat you for breakfast. Against 109s keep your speed up and use your weight and speed from a dive to zoom away. Stay high and stay fast - above 20000 feet it starts to come into its own. Some guys use the flaps on this plane as it grants it some pretty stellar turning ability, but the flaps were not really used this way IRL because they tended to deploy assymmetrically, and even in-game it burns a lot of speed. Once you get slow in a P-47 it takes a looooooonnnnggg time to get it back. Fly it like a curvier, high altitude FW-190.





 

 

[flugkapitan]

Hardball's Aircraft Viewer is what it was called. I still have IL2 1946 installed on my secondary computer, so I still use it the viewer. It would be nice if  someone came up with a version for  IL-2  Great Battles.

 

Regards,

Scott

[JimTM]

32 minutes ago, RedKestrel said:

@77.CountZero has plugged some plane numbers he's tested into an old application from Il-2 1946 that let you compare plane performance over various altitudes. That should be helpful.

The tech specs in the in-game tab offer hints. Better climbers accelerate better, the turn time shows which planes have better sustained turn rates, etc. It doesn't really tell you about things like roll rate (super important IMO), instantaneous turn rate, high speed maneuverability, low speed maneuverability, etc.)
...

 

77.CountZero's post is here.

 

Also, see the following:

• IL-2 Plane Reference (Sortable Tables) (by [Pb]Vapor)
  See this forum post re. the table.
   
• Multiplayer Aircraft Guide — Flying Circus Edition (by Bender & Trupo)

Edited October 10, 2019 by JimTM

[PatrickAWlson]

One issue is that it is hard to speak in absolutes. 

Statement: A climbs better than B.  

Sustained or zoom?

At what angle?

What speed?

What altitude?

 

Statement: A turns better than B

Sustained or instantaneous?

At what speed?

 

Statement: A is faster than than B

What altitude?

What engine settings?

 

You get the idea.  The number of variables approaches infinity as there are any number of laws of physics coming into play at any given time.  You can generalize and that is helpful to some degree, but in the end you need a good understanding of your plane throughout its flight envelope and at least some understanding of the other guy's flight envelope ... or you just wing it.

[RedKestrel]

40 minutes ago, PatrickAWlson said:

or you just wing it.

 

[-SF-Disarray]

In my experience, admittedly mostly from the other side of the fight from the OP's perspective, the performance gap between the K4 and the late war Allied rides is very narrow overall. The major departure from this statement is in sustained climb rate, the K4 is better there by a comfortable margin, unless you are involved with a Spit 9. This narrow performance gap means a few things for the fight but mostly it means it is down to player skill with their plane and tactical choices. Personally, I like this kind of fight. It isn't a mirror match but one side can't just do X and know the outcome from the outset, very much different than fighting against Soviet rides.

 

This being the case I'd advise two things. First know the limits of your plane. Get a good feel for how fast it will go around a corner under various conditions. Know how hard you can turn at speed and not pass out. Know where you are comfortable shooting. Know all the things, in short. This will allow you to make proper decisions in the moment. This is, I think, the easy part. You can learn this with a little flying around and pushing the plane to the limits. The hard part is learning how to read your opponent. If you can figure out what they are doing you can react to it quickly and correctly. You can even start getting inside their decision making and start to force them to react to you. With the narrow performance gap there aren't go to tricks, or at least fewer of them, to fall back on. If you can read the situation better than the other guy you can win the fight, unless you get unlucky that is.