HOW TO FLY AND FIGHT IN AIR WARRIOR, v3/21/1997 edited by Brooke P. Anderson (brooke@alumni.caltech.edu) OUTLINE 0.0 The purpose of this manual 0.1 List of contributors 1.0 Chapter 1 1.1 Basic aerodynamics 1.2 Aerodynamic controls and surfaces 1.3 Instruments 1.4 Basic maneuvers 1.5 Basic gunnery 1.6 Exercises 1.6.1 Takeoffs and landings 1.6.2 Basic aerobatics 1.6.3 Basic gunnery 1.6.4 View keys 2.0 Chapter 2 2.1 Radio 2.2 Navigation and use of radar 2.3 Spin recovery 2.4 Turning on edge of a stall 2.5 Turning on edge of a blackout 2.6 Exercises 2.6.1 Turning on the edge of a stall 2.6.2 Turning on the edge of a blackout 2.6.3 Spin recovery 2.6.4 Fight off-line 3.0 Chapter 3 3.1 Aerodynamics and flight dynamics 3.2 Gunnery 3.3 Basic ACM overview 3.4 Basic ACM specifics 3.5 Exercises 3.5.1 Max-g vs. 3 g turns 3.5.2 Zero-g vs. vertical dives 3.5.3 Max-g, low-g, and extended-climb Immelmans 3.5.4 Angles fights 3.5.5 B&Z fights 3.5.6 Energy fights 4.0 Chapter 4 4.1 Overview 4.1.1 Air Warrior II 4.1.2 Air Warrior for Windows and Mac 4.2 The F6F-3 Hellcat 4.3 The F4U-1D Corsair 4.4 The P-38J Lightning 4.5 The P-51D Mustang 4.6 The P-47D Thunderbolt 4.7 The F4F-3 Wildcat 4.8 The P-40E Kittyhawk 4.9 The Spitfire Mk IX E 4.10 The Spitfire Mk Vb 4.11 The Spitfire Mk Ia 4.12 The Hurricane I 4.13 The Hurricane IIb 4.14 The FW 190A-8 4.15 The FW 190D-9 Dora 4.16 The FW 190A-3 4.17 The FW 190A-4 4.18 The Bf 109F-4 Franz 4.19 The Bf 109K-4 4.20 The Bf 109G-2 Gustav 4.21 The Bf 109E-3 Emil 4.22 The Me 110C-4 Zerstorer 4.23 The Ki-84 Hayate 4.24 The A6M5 Zero 4.25 The N1K1-J Shiden 4.26 The Yak 9D 4.27 The LA-5FN 4.28 Exercises 4.28.1 Dives 4.28.2 High-speed turns 4.28.3 High-speed roll 4.28.4 Low-speed sustained turns 4.28.5 Low-speed roll 5.0 Chapter 5 5.1 Level bombing 5.2 Dive bombing 5.3 Dropping troops 5.4 Bombing tactics 5.5 Bomber escort 5.6 Bombing strategy 5.7 Exercises 5.7.1 Level bombing 5.7.2 Dive bombing 5.7.3 Bomber evasives 6.0 Chapter 6 6.1 Capturing airfields and other structures 6.2 Carrier operations 6.3 Vehicles 6.4 Gunning in bombers 6.5 Etiquette 6.6 Exercises 6.6.1 Carrier operations 6.6.2 Prepping airfields 6.6.3 Vehicles 6.6.4 Aggressive bomber flying 7.0 Chapter 7 7.1 Real-life tactics and Air Warrior 7.2 Flaps 7.2.1 Other flaps 7.3 Nose-low turns 7.4 Other nose-low turns 7.5 Split-S attack 7.6 Vertical yo-yo attack 7.7 Avoiding B&Z 7.8 Jinking 7.9 Extending 7.10 Avoiding wing failure 7.11 Furball tactics 7.12 Chopping throttle 7.13 Climbing turns 7.14 Other climbing turns 7.15 Immelman with turn at the top 7.16 Vertical rope a dope 7.17 Visual clues 7.18 Situational awareness 7.19 Very-basic multi-plane tactics 7.20 Exercises 7.20.1 Flap settings in stallfights 7.20.2 Chopping throttle in a high-speed split S 7.20.3 Chopping throttle in a high-speed turn 7.20.4 Compressibility and wing failure 7.20.5 General practice 8.0 Conclusion Appendix: Definitions Appendix: More on ACM Appendix: The Twist files Appendix: Historical scenarios Appendix: Recommended books and movies Appendix: The history of Air Warrior Appendix: Biographies of contributors Appendix: Previous introduction Appendix: Getting started in Air Warrior Appendix: Prices for on-line services 0.0 THE PURPOSE OF THIS MANUAL Air Warrior is a multiplayer combat flight simulator. For WWII aviation enthusiasts like me, it's a dream come true. For more information about what Air Warrior is, how to obtain the necessary software, and how to get on-line to play, read the "Getting Started in Air Warrior" appendix. The information included herein is applicable to all current Air-Warrior software: Air Warrior II, Air Warrior for Windows, Air Warrior for Windows 95, and Air Warrior for the Macintosh. This manual started out as a project for the Air-Warrior Training Academy back in the days when GEnie was the main place for Air Warrior. Since then, Air Warrior has expanded to many more on-line services, and it seems that there is a need for a manual on how "to fly and fight" not just for students of the Academy but for new pilots in general. This manual is a step in the right direction, although I suspect that it will be updated from time to time. The latest version and updates should be available on the Web at "http://www.alumni.caltech.edu/~brooke/", among other places. Air combat is a very complicated business, and since Air Warrior is quite realistic, there is a steep learning curve. The purpose of this manual is not to eliminate the need for lots of in-flight experience -- no manual can do that -- it's purpose is to speed your progress. Keep in mind that, even if you aren't in the Training Academy, doing the in-flight exercises at the end of each chapter is highly recommended. This manual starts out with some basic concepts, but it rapidly gets into the meat of Air Warrior, subjects such as air-combat maneuvering (ACM), the strong and weak points of the various aircraft, and fighting tips from some Air-Warrior veterans. The appendices give some auxiliary information on topics such as historical scenarios (which are, in my opinion, the greatest fun in Air Warrior) and recommended books and movies. Parts of this manual describe character sequences to hit on your keyboard. These sequences are correct as of the date this manual was written, but there is no guarantee that they won't change with updates to the Air-Warrior program. If you have problems with the commands, consult your manual or the help page in the program (by pressing the "F1" key). The general notation used in this manual is that the character sequence is given in quotes, and any special keys are given in angle brackets, such as "" for pressing the "Enter" key. For example, "'*go" would mean that you hit the "'" key (the apostrophe key), the "*" key (shift-8 or the asterisk), the "g" key, the "o" key, and finally the "Enter" key. There is an appendix that gives definitions of some of the common Air-Warrior terminology (the "Definitions" appendix). So, if you come across some unknown words or abbreviations, take a look there. Speeds listed in this manual are for indicated airspeed (as opposed to true airspeed) in knots unless otherwise noted. This manual was originally laid out so that, each week, Academy pilots could read a chapter, practice the exercises (flying off-line for an hour or two), and spend several hours on-line flying for a time commitment of about 5-10 hours per week. That should give you some estimate of the time requirement to get through the whole thing. This manual was also laid out for instruction in full realism (i.e., with stalls, blackouts, redouts, spins, etc. all turned on). Why set out to learn anything less? (Still, most of the information in this manual is applicable to arenas with less than full realism.) Like many things in Air Warrior, this manual is a collaborative effort of enthusiasts who put in the time because they love the game and want to see it thrive. Each contributor is listed by handle under the title of the section he wrote, and there is some biographical information in the "Biographies of Contributors" appendix, which includes e-mail addresses of contributors. If you have comments, suggestions for improvement, or errors to report, please feel free to contact me at the following e-mail address. -- Brooke P. Anderson, Editor e-mail: brooke@alumni.caltech.edu AW handle: Brooke (Yeah, it's an imaginative handle, but there's a history behind it.) 0.1 LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS Chapter 1, text: Eyeballs Chapter 4, F4U-1D, P-38J, FW 190A-8, Bf 109-F4: Twist Chapter 4, Ki-84 and Yak-9D: Specter Chapter 4, Spitfire: Chick Chapter 7, Flaps, Nose-low Turns, and Climbing Turns: Kato Chapter 7, Situational Awareness: Bug Appendix, More on ACM: JD, Killer, Rash, Holmes, Fool, Bug, Spellbound, and Twist Appendix, the Twist Files: Twist And the rest: Brooke 1.0 CHAPTER 1 by Eyeballs In order to fight, you must know how to fly. Flight simulations let you "drive" an aircraft around, pretending to be maneuvering and fighting. But to get the most out of your aircraft, you must fly it, and to fly it you must understand it. Experienced pilots may want to skim this discussion of basic concepts, but don't skip it entirely. There may be a nugget worth your time. This chapter covers basic aerodynamics (lift, weight, thrust, control surfaces, etc.), instruments, taking off, landing, basic maneuvers (including basic aerobatics), and basic gunnery. 1.1 BASIC AERODYNAMICS Four forces act on an airplane if flight: lift, thrust, weight, and drag. Lift is a force exerted by the wings. It is considered to be exerted perpendicular to the wingspan and the relative wind. The relative wind is the air moving in relation to the wing. Lift is generated by the interaction of the wing and the air. The end result is that air is displaced downward. Newton's 1st law says that for every action there is a reaction. So if the wing forces air downward, then the air forces the wing upward. The angle of attack is the angle between the relative wind and the anterior-posterior line of the airfoil. Since the wing is tilted slightly upward in relation to the relative wind, the lift vector is pointed slightly backward. Lift will increase as you increase the angle of attack but not forever. Eventually the angle of attack becomes so great that the air can no longer flow smoothly over the top surface of the wing. The loss of smooth flow of the wing causes a decrease in lift and an increase in drag. This is called the "stall." You have lost control of your aircraft. The stall will come at a certain angle of attack no matter where your nose is pointing. The only way to recover from a stall is to reduce the angle of attack. Increasing the angle of attack increases the lift for any given airspeed. So as an aircraft slows down, the angle of attack must be increased to maintain flight. Maneuvering requires increased lift so the angle of attack will be increased to create the force that causes the aircraft to change direction. Increasing the angle of attack to maneuver makes the pilot feel heavier and is called "pulling g's" since the maneuvering force feels like increased gravity. The most important message here is that you slow your aircraft down every time you maneuver. Thrust is furnished by a propeller or a jet. They take air and move it backward. This resultant force pushes the aircraft forward. Thrust is controlled with the throttle. Thrust decreases with altitude because the engine develops less power and the propeller is less efficient. Supercharging of the engine helps it maintain power at higher altitudes, but the propeller still suffers. Drag is produced whenever an object is moved through a fluid (such as air). Drag acts parallel to and in the same direction as the relative wind. The total drag is made up of two components: parasitic drag and induced drag. Parasitic drag is the drag created by the aircraft being pushed through the air. Parasitic drag increases with the square of the airspeed. Double the airspeed and the drag increases four times. Induced drag is created by the lift vector being tilted backwards. It is related to the angle of attack, so that the slower you fly or the more g's you pull, the more drag you induce. Gravity is a force acting downwards. It does not always act opposite to lift. 1.2 AERODYNAMIC CONTROLS AND SURFACES Aircraft have the freedom to move in all three axes. The axis that runs down the middle of the aircraft from nose to tail is called the roll axis. The line from wing-tip to wing-tip is the pitch axis. The line perpendicular to these other two is the yaw axis. Pilots control the aircraft around the roll axis with the ailerons, a set of movable panels set near the tips of the wings. Moving the stick to the side causes the panels to move up on that side and down on the other. When the aileron goes up, the wing is forced down. The opposite action occurs on the other wing. The resulting motion is called roll. The pitch axis is controlled with the elevators, a movable flap at the tail. Pulling the stick backwards raises the elevator. This forces the tail down and the nose up. Forward stick does the opposite, forcing the tail up and the nose down. Yaw is controlled with the rudder, a movable surface oriented perpendicularly to the elevators. Pushing the right rudder pedal cause the rudder to move to the right. This pushes the tail to the left and the nose to the right. The rudder pedals are also connected to the steerable nose or tail wheel on the aircraft and can be used to steer while taxiing. The rudder pedals are not used to steer the aircraft in the air. Turns are made by rolling the plane into a bank and using the lift vector to pull the plane around. Also note that the rudder pedals work exactly backwards when compared to the steering pedals on a sled or some childhood riding toys. Flaps are a set of movable surfaces on the bottom or rear edge of the wing that can move down or back to change the shape of the wing. They increase the lift of the wing. They are used primarily for taking off and landing. Some aircraft can use them for better slow-speed maneuvering. The use of flaps is directly related the type of flap and the type of installation on each aircraft. Some flaps produce nearly all drag and are used only for landing. Others have settings that produce more lift and are very valuable in a fight by lowering the stall speed and increasing your ability to turn at slow speeds. You need to study each type of aircraft you fly to determine the proper use of flaps for each one. 1.3 INSTRUMENTS Air Warrior uses English dimensions of feet, yards, miles, knots, etc. for measurements. Aircraft that had instruments calibrated in meters, kilometers, etc. will use the English units to avoid the confusion of trying to convert meters to feet, knots to kilometers per hour, etc. in your head while flying. The altimeter is an aneroid barometer calibrated in feet instead of inches of mercury. It tells you how high you are above sea level, not how high you are off the ground. Since the Air-Warrior world always has the same barometric pressure, temperature, and relative humidity, our altimeters need not be adjusted like real ones. It always measures a true altitude in feet. The airspeed indicator measures your speed through the air. It compares the pressure created by air rammed into a tube as the aircraft flies forward with the ambient pressure. This is converted on a dial to speed in nautical miles per hour (knots). This system works just fine at sea level. But as the air density decreases with increasing altitude, the ram pressure will be lower and the airspeed will appear lower. This lower air speed is called "indicated airspeed" (IAS) and it is always less than true air speed (TAS). Just as the ram pressure decreases for the airspeed indicator, the dynamic pressures on the wing decrease. IAS then becomes an accurate measure of how fast the wing is "flying." Stall speeds stay approximately the same at all altitudes with IAS, but decrease as altitude increases with TAS. Air Warrior lets you chose to use IAS or TAS in your aircraft. Except for some testing conditions, you should use IAS. The rate-of-climb or vertical-speed indicator measures your rate of climb or descent. It maxes out at about 4000 feet per minute climb or descent. It does not have any of the errors inherent in the real instrument. The compass is a magnet attached to a display with directions from 0 to 359. As the airplane turns, the magnet stays oriented to the North pole exposing a different part of the display. This indicates the true magnetic heading of the aircraft. Air-Warrior compasses suffer from none of the errors of real aircraft compasses and always indicate true heading. Air Warrior gives you a choice of having an attitude indicator (artificial horizon) or a control position indicator. The second is a hangover from the days when pilots flew with mice instead of joysticks. A pilot could see what type of control input he was using by looking at the position indicator. Nowadays almost every one uses a joystick and the artificial horizon. The artificial horizon shows a circle with blue on top (sky) and brown on bottom (ground). The line between them (horizon) will always stay parallel with the real horizon. A quick glance at the artificial horizon will help you orient yourself during maneuvers when you literally don't quite know which direction you are pointing. There is a rudder position indicator for nearly the same reason as the control position indicator. If you do not have rudder pedals, you will be using a mouse or keyboard to control the rudder. You then need the rudder position indicator to tell you what you are doing with the rudders. There are also fuel and oil-pressure gauges. The fuel gauge needs no explanation. The oil-pressure gauge can be important because certain maneuvers can cause loss of oil pressure. If you continue in the maneuver too long, your engine will be damaged. Also, combat damage can cause you to lose fuel or oil. So keep an eye on these gauges if you have been hit. When either gauge reads zero, the engine stops running. The landing gear and flaps have indicators on the panel to show their positions. Trying to lower either of them at too high a speed can damage them so that they cannot be raised or lowered from an intermediate position. 1.4 BASIC MANEUVERS Flying an aircraft in Air Warrior is easier than flying the real thing. The computer provides stability that many of these aircraft lacked. In addition, many tasks required of real pilots are handled by the computer. You do not need to monitor the temperature of the engine and operate the systems used to control that temperature. You do not need to watch fuel gauges for many tanks and switch tanks during flight. The power settings are handled with one control, not two or three. Real aircraft require the coordinated use of rudder and aileron in banking. At different speeds and engine power settings, rudder is used to counteract yaw produced by the ailerons or engine. This coordination is automatically done by an experienced pilot without a thought. His clue to the need for coordinating rudder is a pressure on his body. Literally the real pilot uses coordinated rudder by using the "seat of his pants." The Air-Warrior program does it for us. Aircraft change speed by changing their pitch attitude. They go faster when the nose is lowered. This takes constant pressure on the stick. Real aircraft have a control that allows the pilot to substitute for this steady pressure. By adjusting this control, called "trim," the pilot can adjust his aircraft to fly in a constant state without applying pressure to the controls. This state can be a climb, descent, or level flight. The Air-Warrior program automatically trims for you. Whenever you move the controls and adjust the pitch and roll of an aircraft, it will stay there when you release that pressure. So flying straight either level, climbing, or descending requires no input. Climb (or descent) rate is governed by the throttle setting. Turning an aircraft requires banking in the direction of the turn and then applying back stick to turn. The amount of back stick varies with the angle of bank. More bank requires more stick. Too much or too little stick will cause the aircraft to climb or descend. It takes a lot of practice to be able to turn tightly and maintain altitude. This becomes real important when you are fighting someone at low altitude! Basic aerobatic maneuvers are rarely used in combat but can help you learn to control your aircraft when it is no longer in a normal flight attitude. The loop is an exception. It is regularly used in combat. The maneuver takes the nose of the aircraft through a full circle vertically. The advantage over turning horizontally is that the loss of speed due to gravity on the up side is paid back on the down side. A horizontal turn has gravity taking from you all the way around. Combat pilots do not turn in the horizontal unless their speed is too low for the vertical. You must have sufficient speed at the beginning of the loop to get the nose all the way up and over. You will lose speed until you have achieved inverted flight and have the nose pointed down again. During the downward half of the loop, you will gain speed. Making loops round takes a constantly different amount of back stick throughout the loop. Combat pilots don't worry about that. You need to know the minimum speed required to loop. If you are just a little too slow as you reach the top of a loop, you can use flaps in some aircraft to get you over the top. As you dive down the back side of the loop, you may get going too fast to pull the nose onto your target. Decreasing the throttle can help there. Half a loop can be done going up or down. Both can be used to change direction. Going up in a half loop with a roll to upright at the top is an Immelmann. It is better than just turning around because as you slow down, you turn faster. The speed you lost going up is gained as you dive back down. Doing the roll first and then diving through the second half of a loop is a split S, named for the fact that it could be seen as the bottom half of an S. This maneuver is not so good a way to reverse direction because the speed gain in the dive slows the turn rate and the extra speed produces more drag. The extra speed therefore can not be used to get back as much of the altitude loss. The split S is good for avoiding pilots in faster planes who cannot follow you in this maneuver because they speed up more than you in the dive. Rolls come in different varieties: barrel, aileron, and snap. The barrel roll is done by applying some back and side stick at the same time. This causes the aircraft to roll and pitch and follow a corkscrew path. It is said that you roll around the outside of a barrel. At all times the wings are parallel with outside circumference of the barrel. This maneuver is valuable in combat to keep your aircraft from being shot by one that is right behind it. A secondary gain from this maneuver is that it slows you down and it takes longer to fly around the barrel than straight through it. Cutting your throttle and barrel rolling can make an enemy overshoot. When he gets in front of you, then you are no longer defending. Be warned though, keeping track of just where the enemy is while you are barrel rolling is not easy. Aileron rolls are performed with all the controls constantly changing to make the aircraft roll around the roll axis which continues to point in the same direction. This maneuver is used for victory rolls over your home field and has no other use in combat. Snap rolls are performed with full back stick, aileron, and rudder. The aircraft stalls and rotates violently, making this a good evasive maneuver. But since it slows you down, it probably only postpones your death if you were in enough trouble to try it in the first place. Taking off is usually easily accomplished by applying 100% throttle and allowing the aircraft to accelerate to flying speed. Aircraft with tail wheels will fly off on their own. Tricycle landing-gear aircraft will require back stick to rotate the nose to takeoff attitude. Takeoff speed is about 130% of the stall speed. You can look this up for each aircraft in the flight manual. Remember this is for the aircraft at maximum gross weight. If you do not have full fuel and bombs, you will be lighter than this. In any case, flaps are not normally required (except on takeoffs from short fields or aircraft carriers). If you find that you cannot get a particular aircraft to take off from a given field, probably because it is too short, then up to half flaps can allow the aircraft to take off at a lower speed and therefore shorten the takeoff run. The ultimate example of this is taking off from an aircraft carrier in some aircraft with heavy fuel and bomb loads, but that is an advanced subject. Landing aircraft is much easier in Air Warrior than many other simulations, but you still must keep the airspeed, rate of descent, and attitude of the aircraft within reasonable limits. But then Air Warrior gives you so many visual clues that an experienced pilot can easily make landings using those clues alone, without needing to rely on instruments at all, just like flying for real. The first consideration in landing is to determine the final approach speed. There are two types of approaches to landing in Air Warrior. The first is landing with enemy on your tail. This is not a basic technique. It will be covered later. The second landing is the routine return to base in a secure environment. The speed for this approach should be about 130% of the stall speed at your current weight. 130% of the stall speed in the manual is OK but not ideal. You might want to practice stalling different aircraft to figure out what the stall speed of each is at a light weight. As you approach the landing field you should be descending. A simple technique is to just aim at the end of the runway. If your airspeed gets too high (over 300 knots in a fighter or 250 knots in a bomber), you can reduce throttle. When you are about as far away from the runway as the runway is long, you can reduce the throttle to idle. When your airspeed drops below 200 knots, lower your landing gear. Keep the nose pointed at the end of the runway. If the airspeed starts to drop below the approach speed, add throttle to keep the speed up. As you descend through 50 feet, level the nose and chop the throttle. You should be striving to keep the aircraft straight down the runway, the wings level, and the nose level or slightly high. You should settle on gently. Hit the brakes and stop. You may exit the aircraft when the plane comes to a complete stop. If you find that the aircraft will not slow down with the throttle reduced to idle and the nose of the aircraft pointed at the runway, you are too high. You can make a 360 degree turn while descending to correct that. If really high, do two or more. You can also try turning 90 degrees to one side and then turning back toward the runway. If you pull back hard on the stick and pull high g's, you will slow down very fast! If you cannot get stopped on the runway, you are landing too fast. Slow down. You can try aiming at a point in front of the runway, so that you perform the slowing down as you settle in a level attitude maneuver before you get to the runway. If the screen goes red and if you get the crashed message, you either touched down too fast, in a non-landing attitude, or tried to turn after touchdown. If you touch down and if you crash but not right away, you were probably going too fast. If you think the speed was OK and if you were not turning, then your attitude at touchdown was bad. Flaps are not necessary for most landings, but they are a help getting the speed down on landing. So if you have trouble with running off the end of the runway, try flaps. 1.5 BASIC GUNNERY The object of fighter combat is to shoot the enemy with your guns. You get into a position to do so by maneuvering your aircraft. But just pointing your guns at him might not be enough. Air Warrior models the flight of the bullets, and you must make them collide with the enemy aircraft. If you are shooting at a target from the side, you must lead the enemy aircraft like leading a quail with a shotgun. You must also take into account the effect of gravity on the path of the bullets. The bullets drop as they travel away from your guns. When you are pulling g's (back stick), the bullets seem to fall below the nose of your aircraft. In fact they are flying straight, but you are moving your nose up away from the bullet stream. So if you are pulling g's you must increase the amount of lead to compensate. Or you can pull the nose ahead of the target, release back stick and let the enemy fly through the bullet stream. Obviously, if you get behind your target so that the angle between his flight path and yours is small, there is little need to lead. It is easier to get more hits. In addition, as you get closer your bullets will not spread out so much. The bullet density will be higher and more will hit the target. Air Warrior models these effects, so being on your enemy's tail and up close will result in more damage per second. You will hear pilots speaking of lethality, which is the term used to quantify the killing effect of your guns. Aircraft with guns in the nose have different gunnery characteristics from the planes with guns in the wings. Wing-mounted guns were not set to fire straight ahead. This would have produced a very low bullet density. They were instead aimed to converge at a point several hundred yards ahead of the plane. This convergence is modeled in Air Warrior so that wing-mounted guns have good lethality up close, more at the point of convergence, with a rapid drop off beyond that range. Nose-mounted guns have a very high lethality up close, dropping off gradually to maximum range. Their relative lethality is better than that of wing-mounted guns except at the convergence range. Cannons have much greater lethality than machine guns, especially for big, tough targets like bombers. Lastly, each gun has a specific load of ammunition and firing rate. You will see that some aircraft have more ammo for some guns than others. As guns run out of ammo, the lethality drops off. In some aircraft, the effect is so pronounced that you might as well return to base for ammo after shooting 50% of your ammo. 1.6 CHAPTER 1 EXERCISES by Brooke 1.6.1 TAKEOFFS AND LANDINGS Taking off is easy. Practice enough landings so that you can land without crashing or running of the end of the runway. 1.6.2 BASIC AEROBATICS Practice doing loops, rolls, Immelmans, and split s's. You should be able to do all of these maneuvers without stalling, spinning, or blacking out. Practice continuous looping, many loops in a row. You should be able to do this without losing much altitude from the bottom of one loop to the bottom of the next. 1.6.3 BASIC GUNNERY Take up a fighter and shoot at the corners of the roof tops of buildings. Pick one corner, shoot at it for a couple of seconds, then switch as quickly as possible to another corner, and so on, until you have to pull out. Do many passes on buildings. 1.6.4 VIEW KEYS Effortless use of the view keys is essential to effective fighting in AW. If you can't use the view keys as easily and naturally as you would look around in real life, you WILL get shot down by enemies whom you lose sight of in combat. To get initial practice with view keys, do continuous loops over the top of a building and keep it in sight whenever possible as you loop the plane. You will look forward, then as you go into your loop, look back until the building comes into view, then look back and up, then up, then forward and up, then forward, etc. Do many loops in a row. Then fly over the building and do a roll, again keeping the building in sight whenever possible (e.g., looking left, then left and up, then up, then right and up, then right, etc.). 2.0 CHAPTER 2 by Brooke This chapter talks about using the radio, navigation, and using the radar (which are useful in the regular arenas and vital in historical scenarios -- see the appendices for details on his historical scenarios) and spin recovery, turning on the edge of a stall, and turning on the edge of a blackout (which are important in dogfights). 2.1 RADIO The radio in Air-Warrior planes has 999 channels and one intercom channel. To change channels, type "t", then the channel number, then the "Enter" key. For example, to tune to channel 69, you'd type "t69". To send a message on one of the normal channels, hit the "/" key, type your message, and then hit the "Enter" key. To send a message on the intercom channel, hit the "`" key (the one under the tilde or "~" key), type your message, and then hit the "Enter" key. To send a message on channel 2 regardless of which channel you are tuned to, hit the "'" key (apostrophe key), type your message, and then hit the "Enter" key. Channels 1 and 2 have special functions. Channel 1 will broadcast a message to everyone in the game who is tuned to channel 1, even to people in other countries who are tuned to channel 1. Obviously, it's a bad choice for a message like "OK, I'm trying to sneak my B-17 past the C's to cream C1. Wish me luck." (Unless you are trying purposefully to mislead the C landers.) Channel 2 will broadcast a message to everyone in your country regardless of which channels they are tuned to. Messages that come over channel 2 have an asterisk in front of the sender's name. For example, "*Brook: Hello, folks!" means that Brooke sent the message on channel 2. In historical scenarios, channel 2 is used by the command staff and for important reports of enemy positions. On channels 3-999, only those fellow countrymen who are tuned to the same channel you are will be able to hear your messages. These channels are usually used for private conversations. In historical scenarios, each squadron or flight generally has its own frequency. The intercom channel broadcasts only to those people in your aircraft or vehicle (i.e., to the pilot and gunners). In the Air-Warrior arenas, pilots generally remain tuned to channel 1 so that they can hear messages from and use "/" to send messages to people in other countries; but they use "'" to send confidential messages to all of their fellow countrymen, such as to report enemy positions, to form up bomber escort, and to form missions. People in bombers or ground vehicles also use "`" to talk only to the people (such as gunners) in their bomber or vehicle. Channel 2 is also used to call for help in a shorthand way -- in an emergency when you can't afford to type anything complicated. It's the "3 clicks" signal. You hit type "'" (i.e., the apostrophe key and then the "Enter" key) three times in quick succession. On America Online, your fellow countrymen listening to channel 2 would see something like: *Brook: *Brook: *Brook: which means that Brooke is in deep trouble and is yelling for help. Another custom on the radio is to reply with "cc" to indicate to a message sender that you have received and understood the message. For example, I might radio to you, "2 b FW 190s coming s from a2," and you would reply with "cc" to tell me that you now understand that two B-land FW 190's are headed south from over airfield A:2. Without the "cc," the message sender doesn't know whether or not you saw the message he sent. You might have been looking at something else and missed it in you message window. Use "cc" to avoid such uncertainty. 2.2 NAVIGATION AND USE OF RADAR Press the "F10" key to turn on radar. You can zoom in and out on the radar screen with the "[" and "]" keys. When you pop on your radar, you will see a grid. North is always at the top, and your plane is always in the center. The grid lines form squares that represent sectors that are 12 miles on a side (10 nautical miles). These sectors are numbered in (x, y) or (column, row) coordinates. For example, if you are in sector (4, 7) and you fly into the sector east of that, you'd be in sector (5, 7). The sector north of (4, 7) is (4, 8) -- and so on. To find out where you are, type "w" (i.e., where am I?). This lets you refer to positions in two ways. You might say "I'm 6 miles south of A1" if you are half a sector length south of airfield A1. Or you might say "I'm in (6, 5) ne" -- i.e., the northeast part of sector (6, 5). Being able to determine your location and the location of others by use of sector numbers and other references is essential for participation in historical scenarios and mighty useful in general. In addition to navigation, the radar screen is used to locate aircraft around yours. If you are close enough to another air craft, if both your aircraft and the other aircraft are within range of one of your country's radar installations, if the other aircraft is not too low, and if the installation is operating (and not destroyed by an enemy bomb, say), you will see the other aircraft on your radar screen. These settings can be varied by Kesmai personnel, but generally, you need to be about 5000-8000 yards from the enemy plane and both you and the enemy need to be about 1.5-2 sectors from your radar installation in order for your to see an enemy on your radar. Using the radar screen, you can also tell how many friendly and enemy planes there are in a given sector. Usually each sector has colored counters for enemy and friendly planes, so you can see where the action is, where friendly forces are outnumbered, and where enemy forces are outnumbered. You can stay off radar screens by flying very low to the ground -- usually under 200 feet altitude. However, you will still usually generate a counter in a sector. So, let's say that you are in a sector that shows only one enemy counter. Let's say you are sure you'd spot an enemy on the radar if he were not below 200 ft. Now you know he's under 200 ft. In that case, he might be flying a bomber. If you are in a sector that is on the way to a strategic target, it might be that an enemy bomber is trying to skirt trouble by flying low, under radar, through a sector without a lot of enemies in it, trying to sneak through. Knowing this, you can go down and look around for such an enemy, just to make sure. Or, you can employ such tactics yourself when planning out a bomb run on an enemy target. Radar -- AND out-of-cockpit views -- are limited in that you can see only a limited number of aircraft at once, even if there are more aircraft in the area. At one point, the limit was somewhere around 12 aircraft at a time, but that will change as Kesmai's computer programs are updated. At any rate, you can guess that it might be a problem if you see lots of friendly aircraft and then are shot down by an unseen enemy or if you are shooting at a seen enemy and shoot down an unseen ally who was on its tail. To get around such difficulties (which crop up mostly only in historical scenarios), there are "bias modes." You can set your bias so that, if you hit the limit, enemy planes are shown in preference to friendlies, friendly planes have preference, the closest planes have preference (which is the default), or bombers have preference. You don't have to mess with this much unless you are playing in large historical scenarios. The enemy bias is "'*re"; friendly bias is "'*rf"; closest bias (or unbiased) is "'*ru"; and bomber bias is "'*rb". 2.3 SPIN RECOVERY An aircraft spins when one wing stalls and the other doesn't. In Air Warrior, this happens when you stall while still holding in some aileron or rudder (instead of having your stick centered left to right and having your rudder centered). It sometimes happens if you stall while in a steep bank and slide to the down side. Spinning can be used as a defensive tactic (as you'll read about), but in your Air-Warrior career, there will be plenty of times when you'll spin unintentionally -- while trying to pull just that LITTLE extra bit of g's to get on someone's tail, while not paying attention, whatever. To recover from a spin, apply full rudder opposite to the spin, use your ailerons to level your wings and to keep them level, and push forward on the stick. As soon as you recover (your stall light goes out), center your rudder and commence a pull out. If before recovery you find that your plane is in a steep nose-down attitude, apply ailerons opposite to the direction of the spin, too (in addition to the rudder). Quick recoveries require quick, correct action. The two most common mistakes I see in spin recovery are (1) not applying the action soon enough and (2) not recognizing the direction of the spin and applying rudder in the wrong direction. If you worsen the spin by applying rudder in the wrong direction or by waiting too long to apply correct action, the plane can get into a nose-down attitude where it seems to be rolling as well as spinning. That's when you'll need to apply aileron as well as rudder to come out quickly. 2.4 TURNING ON THE EDGE OF A STALL Often in Air Warrior, dogfights degenerate into stall-speed turning fights. In this situation, the plane that has the best low-speed turning performance has the edge. The pilot who can wring the best turn rate out of his plane also has the edge. It is very important to be able to turn well at near stall speeds. In these conditions, you will be at full throttle (and often full war-emergency power, if you have any left) while the plane is buffeting (screen shake) and the stall light is flashing. What you want to do is to pull as far back on the stick as you can and still not stall the plane. There are three indications of stalling: the stall light going on (obviously), an abrupt decrease in the reading on the g meter (as your wings lose lift when they stall, resulting in your plane not pulling g's), and an abrupt decrease in your turn rate (again because of the loss of lift). So, (1) if you see the stall light go on solidly (instead of flashing), (2) if you notice the g's drop quickly from about 3 g's despite the fact that you haven't released back pressure on the stick, or (3) if you notice that your turn rate as decreased rapidly (this you judge visually as the terrain stops moving by as rapidly) -- then immediately release some back pressure on the stick, enough so that the stall light goes out or starts flashing again. In a real fight, once you have the experience, you will find yourself flying the edge of the flight envelope, perhaps occasionally crossing the edge but immediately recovering. You will be able to fly at the edge of a stall without losing altitude (in fact, this style of fighting is prevalent on the deck). If your opponent can't do this, you have a very big edge in a stallfight. He might stall, spin, and crash; or he you might out-turn him and then shoot him down. If he can't do this and you can, he needs a vastly superior low-speed plane just to be even with you in this situation. 2.5 TURNING ON THE EDGE OF A BLACKOUT In the previous section, I talked about turning on the edge of a stall. That's the low-speed end of the turning envelope. At the high-speed end is turning on the edge of a blackout. This is where you will be if you are in a high-speed turning fight. Each plane wants the highest turn rate, and if you have enough speed, that rate is limited by how many g's you can pull. Here, you want to hold about 6 g's. Any more and you will black out. If you do black out, your opponent can more easily maneuver onto your tail and shoot you down (as you won't be pulling many g's when you are blacked out). If you don't pull many g's (trying to stay away from blacking out), your opponent can out turn you. So, you want to keep an eye on the g meter and try to stay at about 6 g's. If you cross over 6 g's, back off immediately, and then pull back on the stick again to establish 6 g's. 2.6 CHAPTER 2 EXERCISES 2.6.1 TURNING ON THE EDGE OF A STALL To get practice with low-speed turns, take your favorite plane up to about 7k and then keep a level turn, pulling as many g's as you can without stalling. Fly close to the stall though, with the stall light flashing and with the plane buffeting. Do many, many turns to practice your ability to turn on the edge of the stall. 2.6.2 TURNING ON THE EDGE OF A BLACKOUT To practice avoidance of blackouts, climb up to 15k and then enter a diving turn (a spiral descent at full throttle). Make the spiral steep enough to keep your speed up to about 225 knots or more. Pull a continuous 5.5-6 g's. You will black out if you pull more than 6 g's for any length of time. Practice flying at the edge of the blackout (about 5.5-6 g's). 2.6.3 SPIN RECOVERY To get practice with spins, do the low-speed turning practice for a couple of revolutions, then pull back on the stick to get into a stall. When you are stalled, roll the plane. That should quickly initiate a spin. Recover as quickly as possible. Also, practice spin recovery from the top of an Immelman. Pull up into an Immelman starting at about 160 knots. At the top of the loop (when you are fully inverted), pull back all the way on the stick and roll the plane. You should get into a nasty spin. (You can add some rudder if rolling alone doesn't do the trick quickly enough.) To recover, roll so that the plane is right-side up, then recover as before. 2.6.4 FIGHT OFF-LINE If your program has off-line missions, take up your favorite fighter and have some fights. 3.0 CHAPTER 3 by Brooke This chapter discusses more about aerodynamics and flight dynamics, more about gunnery, and basic ACM (air-combat maneuvering). ACM is also covered in the "More ACM" Appendix -- I suggest that you look through that appendix after reading this chapter and again after reading Chapter 7. 3.1 AERODYNAMICS AND FLIGHT DYNAMICS Chapter 1 talked about induced drag. Induced drag is the part of drag that is a result of the lift generated by the wings -- the greater the lift generated, the greater the induced drag. Induced drag acts in a direction to slow down your plane. This is important to keep in mind and has many applications to ACM (air-combat maneuvering). There are times when you'd like to slow down as quickly as possible (for example, if you want to make a high-speed enemy overshoot you). Obvious ways to do this include chopping the throttle, deploying a speed brake (if your plane has one), and deploying flaps. A less obvious way is to pull a lot of g's -- more g's means more lift which means more induced drag. Induced drag gets quite large when you pull 6 g's. There are also times when you'd like to keep your speed or to gain more speed. In that case, keep in mind that you don't want to pull g's if you don't have to -- fewer g's means less drag. So, when you are running away from an enemy, don't be ham fisted -- don't pull more than about 3 g's unless it's necessary. Another aspect of aerodynamics that is useful to keep in mind applies to flaps. The deployment of flaps results in increased drag and in a nose-down pitch moment. For low-wing planes (most of the planes in Air Warrior), drag on the wing (being below the level of thrust and below the center of gravity of the plane) adds to the pitch moment, and so when flaps are deployed, the plane will pitch nose-down, and you have to correct for it. There are two situations where this is dangerous. First, if you are flying low to the ground, be careful when you deploy flaps. That nose-down pitch can be enough to nose you into the ground if you aren't paying attention. Second, be careful of deploying flaps at high speed in planes that weren't built for it. The P-51 and P-38 have high-speed flaps, for example, but the bombers and the C-47 definitely do not. You can get into severe trouble if the flaps are deployed and you subsequently get to high speed. The higher the speed, the greater the aerodynamic affects and the greater the pitch moment. In some planes, the pitch moment can be so great that you won't be able to keep the plane from nosing down even with full elevator. These planes won't let you deploy the flaps at high speed, but they will let you deploy the flaps at lower speeds and then get up to a high speed (by deploying the flaps at low speed and then diving, for example) where you will have this problem. Be careful in bombers and C-47's -- retract flaps before diving. (For those who know more about aerodynamic theory, it should be stated that Air Warrior does not model the drastically increased drag due to flow separation off the top of the wing as would occur during the buffeting effect. Therefore, while in real planes it is not always best to pull all the way into the buffet during turns because of the greatly increased drag, in Air Warrior there is no increase beyond what one would get from induced drag. I hope that they add this extra bit of realism in future versions.) Obviously, changing direction is an important part of aerial combat, and every change of direction involves a turn of some sort. (A loop is just a turn in a vertical plane.) There are two measures of a turn that are important in combat: turn radius and turn rate. A small turn radius makes it harder for an enemy to bring his guns to bear on you, and he will need more lead. A large turn rate is good as that means you can change directions more quickly, coming around on an enemy's tail or getting the hell out of the way. As a general rule for the planes represented in Air Warrior, the radius of a plane's turn is smaller the slower it is flying, all the way down to near stall speeds. (The same holds true for cars: you can turn more tightly while driving slowly than you can while driving at 60 mph.) The rate of a plane's turn increases with decreasing airspeed until you reach a speed at which you can no longer pull 6 g's (200-250 knots or so for most of the WWII planes). Then the turn rate decreases. So, turn rate and turn radius are better the slower you go, down to about 200-250 knots (depending on the airplane) -- slower than that, you trade off a worse turn rate for a better turn radius. Managing turn rate and turn radius is thus a matter of managing speed. Speed management is a part of energy management. Energy for an aircraft is the sum of its kinetic energy (due to speed) and its potential energy (due to altitude). You can trade speed for altitude by climbing, and you can trade altitude for speed by diving, both without losing total energy assuming that you don't pull a lot of g's. Energy is used up by drag and replenished by the thrust of your engine. Induced drag (discussed in Chapter 1) increases with pulling g's, and thus so does energy loss. Overall then, you can trade energy freely between speed and altitude (not wasting it in the trade); you can spend energy by pulling g's (turning); and you can gain energy back by letting the thrust of your engine add it back gradually over time. Let's say that you are flying rapidly along and want to do a 180 degree turn quickly. What's a good method? You could just crank your plane into a hard, flat turn. In that case, you would have used up a lot of energy by pulling a lot of g's, and you would have had a poor turn radius and turn rate because at least the start of your turn was entered at high speed. Instead, you could zoom climb, converting speed into altitude. Now your speed is lower, and you can turn rapidly and tightly. Then, once you have turned, you can dive back down to your original altitude, and you will have more speed than you did at the end of the flat turn. This is an example of wise energy management and is the key to one style of fighting -- energy fighting -- which we will discuss later in the chapter. 3.2 GUNNERY Chapter 1 also talked about gunnery and leading the target. Air-Warrior planes have lead-computing gunsights -- they give you an idea of how much lead you need (i.e., how much in front of the target you need to aim) if you have the range set right and assuming that you and the enemy continue to turn at the same rate. You put the lead-computing sight on the target and try to hold it on the target -- that shows you the right amount of lead to be pulling at the moment. Many pilots prefer to aim by looking at the tracers alone and not by using the lead-computing sight. If you do use the lead-computing sight, the best range to set it for, in my opinion, is 400 yards. At ranges longer than that, you shouldn't really be shooting (unless the target is not maneuvering much); and at ranges shorter than that, you can aim easily enough without the help of the lead-computing sight. The maximum effective range on most guns in Air Warrior is about 600 yards -- beyond that, you're usually wasting your ammunition. I pay attention to the lead-computing sight only at 300-500 yards in order to see how much lead I should pull. At ranges shorter than that, I pay more attention to the tracers and mostly ignore the sight. It's just a matter of preference -- you'll develop your own style with experience. In Air Warrior, the tracers travel the same path as the non- tracer ammunition (unlike in real life where there is sometimes a significant difference) -- so your bullets are definitely going where you see the tracers go. Yet sometimes in Air Warrior, it looks like you should have hit an enemy and yet you will see no damage to his plane. This situation is called "blanks" by players and is due to to network effects, such as packet delays. Sometimes the enemy plane will jump around erratically (called "warping"), making it hard for you to line up a shot. These are also due to packet delays. In my experience, for most people, these problems are infrequent and not severe -- but tell the network people if the problems become frequent or severe so that the problems can be fixed. Also sometimes you might find yourself taking hits when it looks like an enemy plane is too far behind you to hit you. The planes you see are typically delayed about one second from where they really are due to the transmission times inherent in the network. If a plane is traveling at 300 knots, it travels about 175 yards in a second. So, if you and your pursuer are going 300 knots, the actual distance to the pursuer is about 175 yards less than what you see on your readout. If the delay is 2 seconds, it's 350 yards less, and so on. Generally, you aren't safe from taking hits until the enemy is more than about 1500-1600 yards back -- that is good enough to account even for pretty severe transient delays in the system. 3.3 BASIC ACM OVERVIEW Chapter 1 talked a about some of the basic aerobatic maneuvers such as loops, Immelmans, split S's, and rolls. Add these to climbs, dives, and regular turns and to high and low yo yo's (which I'll discuss soon), and you have a basic set of air-combat maneuvers that you'll string together as appropriate -- an air-combat vocabulary. A high yo yo is like a normal turn except that it isn't a flat turn. Consider your flight path during a flat turn as the outside rim of a paper plate: a regular circle. If you take a portion of the paper plate and fold it so that one part sticks up into the air at an angle, you have the type of flight path you'd take during a high yo yo. For a high yo yo, you go into the turn as usual, then pull back more on the stick so that the plane goes into a climb, then roll into the turn much more steeply (perhaps going to a vertical bank or even going slightly inverted) while continuing to pull back on the stick so that you dive back down, then rolling back to a more shallow bank to pull out of the dive to go back into a normal flat turn. It's a normal turn with, in the middle of it, a climb up and then a dive back down. A low yo yo is similar except it's like folding the paper plate so that one part sticks down at an angle -- it's a turn with a dip in the middle of it. You go into a turn, let the plane dive a bit, and then pull back up to the altitude at which you started, all while turning. Now, what use are these maneuvers, anyway? Once you master the maneuvers, how do you string them together in order to kill your aerial opponents? This is the meat of ACM, and we'll cover a bit of it here and then a lot more in Chapter 7. Your choices for maneuvers depend upon the style of fighting you use (which depends upon how many friends and enemies are around, what types of planes are around, what type of plane you are in, the energy states of the planes, the fighting style of your opponents and allies, and your preferences in fighting -- no small list of variables, which is why humans are still better than computers at ACM). Let's talk about styles -- there are three basic styles: angles fighting, energy fighting, and boom-and-zoom (B&Z) fighting. (Sort of like in kung fu movies: "Ah, I see that you use angles style. I studied energy style under master Ling Cho. Prepare to die.") Angles fighting is the most common in Air Warrior. Here, you spend your energy (early in the fight) on getting a good shot at your enemy, hoping to shoot him down early, before all of your energy is used up. It's the most common style in Air Warrior as it results in the quickest action and requires little patience. Most angles fights involve a quick high-G lead turn in some plane (it might be a lead Immelman or a lead high yo yo or whatever). A lead turn is a turn done so that you get within firing range of an enemy and have enough lead so that you can get the shot -- like cutting him off at the pass. You are going for the best angle, whatever that happens to be at the time. An angles fight, if no one is shot down early, often degenerates into a low-altitude stall fight, where both planes are chugging around at stall speed and 200 ft. altitude. At that stage, low-speed turning rate (and the pilot's ability to turn on the edge of a stall -- see Chapter 2) is very important. Energy fighting takes more patience and forethought. It involves being very careful on how you spend your energy, trying to trick your enemy into wasting more energy than you do. You pull g's only when you have to do so or when it results in little loss to your energy (such as by pulling few g's or pulling g's only when you are slow). If you are successful in holding onto more energy than does your enemy, when you are at a clear energy advantage, you spend your energy on getting into a good position (usually onto the enemy's tail). Energy fighting is safer than angles fighting because (until you spend your energy near the end on saddling up, and you generally don't do that until you are fairly sure that it will work) you have a decent amount of energy to spend in an evasive maneuver or in running away. Energy fights have angles fights as the end game -- you can always start an angles fight if the energy fight isn't going well. B&Z fighting takes the most patience and forethought, is the safest form of fighting, and results in the lowest rate of killing. In B&Z fighting, you find an enemy at a lower altitude (or really a lower energy state); you close on him at high speed (usually trying to set it up so that you are closing on his tail or at least the rear quarter) -- this is the "bounce"; you take a shot; and you "zoom" off to safety. Repeat as necessary. If it looks like someone can get into a B&Z position on you, you run away (unless you want to convert to a different style of fighting). I like angles fighting when I'm just horsing around, looking for quick action, or when I'm fighting an opponent who isn't too skilled. I like energy fighting when I'm looking for quick action but am fighting a skilled opponent. I like B&Z fighting when I'm flying planes that don't turn well at low speed compared to the opposition or when I want to see how many kills I can get before dying. 3.4 BASIC ACM SPECIFICS OK, so I've blabbed on about generalities. Now, how about some specifics? Let's start by discussing some basic situations and then move on to a few more involved ones. In WWII, a lot of air-to-air kills came from situations where the enemy was flying straight and where the victorious pilot flew up behind him without him noticing and shot him down, usually by diving from a higher altitude (classic B&Z). In Air Warrior, because there is radar and very good visibility, it's much harder to sneak up on someone without him noticing, but it does happen -- especially in target-rich environments where a person can get fixated on a target or two and forget to watch his tail. So, rule #1 is "watch your tail." Obviously, you can't watch your tail at all times, but it's easy to look back in Air Warrior -- make sure that you do it as often as the situation demands. If you are fighting one enemy and if there's no one else around, you don't have to check your tail much. If you are fighting in a huge dogfight involving many enemy planes (a "furball"), you have to check your tail a lot -- every few seconds or so to make sure that no one is saddling up on you. Remember to look back when you stop turning hard, perhaps in order to get a shot. Look back before or as you slack off on the turn. Actually, just watching your tail isn't good enough. Before you get into a fight (i.e., get engaged), you should be looking around a lot, including checking your blind spots, such as underneath your plane. Look all around, and occasionally do a roll or a steep bank to the left and then to the right so that you can look for enemies coming from underneath you. Then, once you get into a fight, you need to watch your opponent as much as possible. It is a common axiom in ACM that "if you lose sight of your opponent, you will soon be dead." That's why it's so important to learn to use the view keys so well that they are second nature. If you do lose sight of an enemy in a dogfight and don't know where he's gone, look first behind you then check other views -- and do not stop turning or maneuvering. I have fought many, many inexperienced pilots who slack off on their turns or other maneuvers (sometimes they even fly straight) after losing sight of me in a fight. They generally live for only a handful of seconds after that. So, assuming that you see the enemy coming, what do you do if he is diving on you? If you have lots of time to prepare, do a gentle turn toward the enemy. That way, you don't waste your energy in pulling high G's, and the enemy is now approaching you from the front, making the closure speed higher and the probability of hitting lower. Now you just have to avoid the head-on shot, a subject discussed in Chapter 7. What if you don't have lots of time to prepare, and an enemy is closing on your tail for a shot? A hard turn or hard loop is the answer -- you have to get out of the way. (By hard, I'm talking about pulling 5-6 g's or as many as you can manage.) I have three favorites, depending on the situation. First, if I don't think that the enemy has such a huge speed differential on me and if I have a decent amount of speed, I like a hard climbing turn or an Immelman that is slightly off to one side or the other rather than executed purely in the vertical plane. It's harder for an enemy to track you if you are turning in other than purely horizontal or vertical directions; and the climb converts speed into altitude so that I don't just waste all my energy in the turning part of the maneuver. Second, if I don't have much speed so that I can't do a hard climbing turn without ending up at stall speed (and thus not being able to generate a good turn rate), I do a hard nose-low turn (usually very nose low in order to get quickly the speed needed to pull some decent g's). It's hard for an enemy to get a shot on you under these circumstances. It's especially effective at low altitudes, where the enemy can't concentrate as well on shooting you if he also has to worry about hitting the ground. Third, if the enemy has a huge speed differential on me (i.e., such a huge energy differential that gaining just a little energy on him won't matter), I chop my throttle and do a hard split S. A plane that's going much faster than you are can't match your maneuver in these circumstances because of the turn-rate and turn-radius explanations give above. If he tries to follow (and doesn't chop throttle and apply speed brakes or high-speed flaps or both), he will end up at a much lower altitude than you. If not, if he almost manages to stay on you somehow (speed brakes, chopping throttle, whatever), you can do a second split S. The goal is for you to have him end up way underneath you. Then, despite his greater speed, you have an altitude advantage. Because he was probably pulling very high G's at high speed and because you might have been pulling only moderate G's, you might have been able to eat into his initial energy advantage this way -- you try to trick him into wasting huge amounts of energy. (It's an especially funny trick when you can do a split S and miss the ground but he can't because his speed is too high. Yuk, yuk, yuk.) Make sure you only do this if when the enemy has a lot of speed on you and is really hauling. Otherwise, a hard split S really wastes a lot of energy -- it's only good in the case where the enemy will waste a lot more than you do. Let's say you are the one who has done the pass on the enemy, and because he is evading, you are going to overshoot. What should you do? If the enemy doesn't turn hard enough or if your speed is not that much greater than his, there are techniques you can use to keep from overshooting. If he does a flat turn, you can do a high yo yo. You trade some speed for altitude, turn with the enemy (now that your speed is lower), then spend the altitude part of your energy in holding a higher-G turn (and higher turn rate) than your enemy can perhaps muster. If he flies mostly straight and you still are overshooting, you can climb up, flip inverted, and then pull back down onto his tail (sort of like a high yo yo without turning). Or you can do a big barrel roll, eating up some speed by pulling g's. Or you can chop throttle, apply speed brakes (if you have them), or deploy flaps (if you have high-speed flaps), or any combination thereof. If your speed is very much greater than his, you can just pull up, get to altitude, and come back for another pass (B&Z fighting). Or, you can do several B&Z passes, getting the enemy to use energy in high-G evasive maneuvers while you convert to energy fighting. By the way, how do you convert energy into a good angle assuming you have an energy advantage on your enemy? The key is in making the enemy get slow so that his turn rate is poor. Then you use your energy (usually in the form of altitude over the enemy) to generate enough speed so that you can out-turn the enemy. If you are turning over an enemy, and the enemy is chugging around in turns at 130 knots and 3 g's, you can go into a diving turn and pull 4-6 g's for a little while (until your initial energy advantage is used up by the extra induced drag). You spend that energy on extra turning rate when you think that you are close enough to the enemy's tail so that a burst of extra turning rate is all you need to get onto his tail for a shot. Another way to temporarily boost turning rate at low speeds is to use war-emergency power (WEP), which lasts up to about 10 minutes in a lot of planes. It boosts turning rate because it boosts your speed. You can also deploy flaps. Some planes allow you to deploy 10-20 degrees of flaps that will increase turning rate. The disadvantage is that they will also drop your speed, so you won't be as able to split S and to run away or to follow an enemy who does a high yo yo. I don't use flaps much unless I'm in trouble in a stallfight, then I give them a try. As for angles tactics, the simplest attempt is to point your lift vector at the enemy and pull as many g's as you can until you have enough lead for the shot ("point your lift vector at the enemy and pull" as it was explained to me by "Sheik," a former F-16 pilot, when I asked him how F-16 combat compared to prop-plane combat). The lift vector is the direction of lift from the wings. Imagine yourself sitting in an airplane in flight. Imagine an arrow drawn from your ass to the top of your head -- that's the lift vector, more or less. This strategy is the equivalent of the strategy a computer chess program uses when it looks zero steps ahead in order to figure out its move, but it's better than trying to predict ahead with an undeveloped set of prediction rules. It's the same as just trying (for as many g's as you can manage) to get your nose around onto the enemy for a shot. It doesn't really matter what the enemy is doing -- you follow him wherever he goes and are just trying to get enough lead on him for a shot. This isn't such a horrible thing -- it's simple; it's common among the newer pilots; and it's a natural tactic to use when you first start dogfighting. Another common situation in Air Warrior is the head-to-head pass. Here, if I want to engage, I prefer energy tactics. After I pass the enemy (and avoid the head-on shot with a jink, as discussed in Chapter 7), I go into about a 40-45 degree climb, converting speed into altitude. When I'm at about 150 knots, I pull back over in an Immelman. If the enemy wasted energy, I now have an altitude advantage on him, and I can do passes on him from higher altitude until I get into a good position to use my energy in a high-G turn onto his tail (G's that he can't match if he is out of energy). The danger is in getting shot during the low-speed-Immelman part of the maneuver. If you see the enemy getting closer than, say, 1200-1300 yards or so during your climb, pull into a hard Immelman right away -- don't wait for 150 knots. Another danger is that the enemy goes into a dive before you merge, then pulls up hard, coming up under you for a belly shot. To defeat this, if the enemy dives as you approach head to head, dive at him -- deny him the belly shot. Do you want to try for the belly shot? The previous paragraph is an energy-fighting approach. The belly shot is an angle-fighting approach. To do it, when you get to within about 2500-3000 yards of the enemy, go into a steep dive. As the enemy approaches to within about 1500-2000 yards, pull up into a lead climb toward his belly. You want to get the right amount of lead on him so that, as he flies past, you can fill his belly full of lead. Some people do very steep high yo yo's at the merge (the "merge" is when the two planes pass each other in close proximity). This is an energy-fighting approach, too, and is probably about as good as an Immelman. It might be safer, but I still like the Immelman a bit better for energy reasons. What if you are in a fight, it is going badly, and you want to get out of it? How do you disengage (or, in the vernacular, "bug out")? This is perhaps more tricky than winning the fight in the first place. Having a plane that is faster than your opponent's helps a lot, as does having a plane that can withstand some hits in the process. There are a couple of techniques that I like, both involving jinking. Jinking is flying erratically, unpredictably, in an effort to throw off the enemy's shot. First, there is the spiral escape. It relies on the fact that it's hard to shoot someone when you're both close to blacking out. Here, you keep turning (so as not to present a good target) and go very nose low. Soon, as you accelerate, you can pull 6 g's even if you couldn't before. Erratically change the angle of your bank, but keep pulling lots of g's, and keep increasing your dive. Don't pull more than 6 g's, though, or you'll black out. You will rapidly accelerate, and it will be hard for the enemy to get a good shot on you as he is pulling 6 g's to stay on you and as you wiggle around. Second, there is the vertical escape. It relies on getting as much speed as quickly as possible. Here, you roll inverted and pull quickly into a vertical dive (like executing half of a split S). As you dive vertically, barrel roll your plane (which works great all by itself as a defensive if you have a roll-rate advantage on the enemy -- see Chapter 4 and Chapter 7), apply 2-3 g's of positive and negative elevator at random, roll left and right at random, or any mixture of the above. Unless you have a good roll-rate advantage, the more erratically you fly, the better. Be careful not to apply more than 3 g's of negative elevator or you will red out, which is just as bad as blacking out. This maneuver works best if you can start the split-S portion when the enemy isn't right on your tail. The maneuver is best commenced by shouting "Screw this!" as you dive out of the fight. There are more suggestions in Chapter 7, but this is plenty for now. There is a great deal more to ACM than can be taught in a book -- you will have to fight a lot in order to learn. The main point of reading all of this is to speed your progress, not to eliminate the need for in-flight experience. 3.5 CHAPTER 3 EXERCISES 3.5.1 MAX-G VS. 3 G TURNS Get your plane up to 275 knots or more and try some 180 degree turns at various g's. Does pulling max g's (i.e., the most you can pull without blacking out or stalling) instead of 3 g's really make that much of a difference in deceleration? How about for a 360 degree turn? 3.5.2 ZERO G DIVES VS. VERTICAL DIVES Climb to 7k and compare two techniques of diving away: the zero-g extension and the vertical dive. For the zero-g extension, push forward on the stick and maintain zero g's until you need to start a pull out. You might need to maintain just a little above zero g's in order to keep your oil pump happy -- some planes can't take zero g's for too long. Aim for pulling out so that you end up right on the deck. For the vertical dive, roll inverted and pull max g's until you are vertical. Again, hold the vertical dive as long as possible and aim for pulling out so that you end up right on the deck. When you are on the deck, which maneuver resulted in the highest speed? Which maneuver would give you the most separation from an enemy, and which would give you the quickest separation? 3.5.3 MAX-G, LOW-G, AND EXTENDED-CLIMB IMMELMANS Try various ways of doing Immelmans. Get up to 275 or more knots and try a max-g Immelman. Note the speed and altitude at the top. Then try one starting at the same speed and altitude as before, but pull less g's. Note the speed and alt at the top, then do a zero-g extension back down to the alt at which you completed the max-g Immelman. How does your speed compare now with that at the completion of the max-g Immelman? Finally, get up to the same starting speed and alt as before, and pull up gently into a steep zoom climb (45-60 degrees). Stay in the climb until the plane reaches about 150 knots, then pull over into an Immelman. Again, note the speed and altitude at the completion, then zero-g extend back down to the alt of the completion of the max-g Immelman and note the speed there. Of these three maneuvers, which seems to use energy most efficiently? Which would you use in a one-on-one fight against an identical aircraft at the same speed and alt and if the fight starts with a head-on pass? What do you think of pulling max g's up into a vertical zoom climb, holding it until you nearly reach stall speed, then pulling back down into a vertical dive? Under what conditions would that be a good maneuver? 3.5.4 ANGLES FIGHTS If your Air-Warrior program supports off-line missions, take your favorite angles fighter up (Spitfire, Ki-84, Zero, whatever) and have a one-on-one fight. Use angles tactics only. 3.5.5 B&Z FIGHTS If your Air-Warrior program supports off-line missions, take your favorite B&Z fighter up and have a one-on-one fight. Use B&Z tactics only. Pick a plane that climbs well (Spitfire Mk IX, N1K1, Bf 109F-4, or F4U-1D) and, if you can, have the computer-controlled opponent in a plane that doesn't climb well (P-40E or P-47D). 3.5.6 ENERGY FIGHTS If your Air-Warrior program supports off-line missions, take your favorite fighter up and have a one-on-one fight. Use energy tactics only. If you can, have the enemy in the same type of plane that you are flying. 4.0 CHAPTER 4 4.1 OVERVIEW by Brooke This chapter is about the various propeller-driven WWII fighter planes and especially about the differences among them. With the introduction of Air Warrior II, there are now two plane sets. Air Warrior for Windows and the beta version of Air Warrior for the Macintosh have available one set of aircraft, and Air Warrior II has available an expanded set. Before we get into a lot of detail on each plane, let me give a brief overview. (By the way, for those of you who like Twist's excellent descriptions of aircraft, there are more of his descriptions in the appendix called "The Twist Files." It never hurts to get more than one opinion about the capabilities of an aircraft. Also, Air Warrior II has excellent information on the various aircraft -- I highly recommend reading it. Click on "fly a mission," click on "change theater of operations" to choose a theater, then click on "aircraft information/check ride.") For dogfighting, the most important characteristics to keep in mind for each type of plane are: turning performance, top speed, climb rate, and roll rate, and to a lesser extent firepower and durability. You don't have to know exact numbers for each plane, but it helps immensely to know how the plane you are flying compares to the planes you are fighting. Should you mix it up in a low-speed dogfight with a Spitfire IX if you are flying a P-51D Mustang? If you are in a Ki-84 Hayate, can you run away from a P-38J Lightning? Should you trade head-on shots with an F4U-1D Corsair if you are in an A6M5 Zero? If you are in an N1K1-J, can you climb away from an F6F-3? If you are in a FW 190A-3, can you out-scissor a Yak 9D? These are the types of decisions you will be making in the game. In the following two sections, I give approximate orderings for each of the above characteristics. The values quoted are for planes with 100% fuel loaded, at sea level, and with WEP on. The orderings do change at different altitudes (for example, there are altitudes at which the P-47D climbs faster than a lot of the other aircraft). However, if you have the orderings in mind at sea level, that is generally good enough for normal arena play where the altitudes of combats tend to be low. It would take an impractical amount of information here in this manual to go into the changes with altitude. You will aquire a feel for that, anyway, as you become familiar with a small set of favorite planes. Also, you don't have to memorize the complete lists -- but, when you are fighting in a particular arena with a particular group of planes available, you should know how those particular planes relate. There are two sections below because there are some differences in the performance of some aircraft between Air Warrior II and the other versions. 4.1.1 AIR WARRIOR II Air Warrior II has available the following propeller-driven WWII fighter aircraft. From the United States: P-51D Mustang, F4U-1D Corsair, F6F-3 Hellcat, P-38J Lightning, P-47D Thunderbolt, F4F-3 Wildcat, and P-40E Kittyhawk. From Great Britain: Spitfire Mk. IX, Spitfire Mk. Vb, Spitfire Mk. Ia, Hurricane IIb, and Hurricane I. From Germany: FW 190D-9 Dora, FW 190A-8, FW 190A-4, FW 190A-3, Bf 109K-4, Bf 109G-2 Gustav, Bf 109F-4 Franz, Bf 109E-3 Emil, and Me 110C-4 Zerstorer. From Japan: A6M5 Zero, Ki-84 Hayate, and N1K1-J Shiden. From Russia: Yak 9D and LA-5FN. Maximum sustained turn rate (degrees/sec, courtesy of Blue Baron at Kesmai): A6M5 (28), Spit IX (28), P-38J (27.2), Bf 109F-4 (25.5), Ki-84 (25.4), Spit Ia (24.2), Spit Vb (24.2), N1K1-J (24), Hurri I (24), F4F-3 (23.8), Hurri IIb (23.3), Bf 109E-3 (23.2), Bf 109G-2 (23.2), Yak 9D (22.5), Me 110C-4 (22.3), LA-5FN (21.8), FW 190A-4 (21.4), Bf 109K-4 (21.4), FW 190A-3 (21.3), F6F-3 (21), F4U-1D (20.5), P-51D (20.3), FW 190A-8 (19.3), FW 190D-9 (19.1), P-40E (18.1), P-47D (15.6). This statistic is not exactly the same as turn rate in a stallfight. In a stallfight, the Spit IX cannot match an A6M5, even though their max. sustained rates are even; the F6F-3 turns about as well as the Ki-84 and a little better than the N1K1-J; and the P-40E seems to turn better relatively. Top speed (knots, courtesy of Blue Baron at Kesmai): P-51D (314), Ki-84 (309), N1K1-J (305), Bf 109K-4 (304), FW 190A-8 (302), FW 190D-9 (299), F4U-1D (294), P-38J (290), FW 190A-4 (290), LA5-FN (288), Spit IX (287), P-47D (286), FW 190A-3 (281), Bf 109F-4 (281), P-40E (279), Bf 109G-2 (273), F6F-3 (272), Spit Vb (250), A6M5a (250), Yak 9D (245), Bf 109E-3 (241), Spit Ia (240), Me 110C-4 (238), Hurri I (238), F4F-3 (236), Hurri IIb (220). Climb rate (ft/min, courtesy of Blue Baron at Kesmai): Spit IX (4500), Bf 109F-4 (4402), P-38J (4194), N1K1-J (4100), LA-5FN (3873), FW 190A-4 (3868), F4U-1D (3863), Bf 109G-2 (3853), Ki-84 (3790), FW 190A-3 (3769), Yak 9D (3651), Bf 109K-4 (3620), P-51D (3453), FW 190A-8 (3400), F6F-3 (3141), Spit Vb (3112), FW 190D-9 (3084), Bf 109E-3 (3061), Spit Ia (2963), F4F-3 (2900), Hurri IIb (2867), A6M5 (2830), P-47D (2749), Hurri I (2680), Me 110C-4 (2657), P-40E (2500). Some planes more quickly lose climb performance as altitude increases (FW 190 A series, A6M5, Yak 9D, LA5-FN, and to a lesser extent the Ki-84), so this order changes at higher altitudes -- these planes move down the list, although not below the last three in the list (which climb very poorly at all altitudes). Roll rate at 150 knots (seconds/roll, Brooke's off-line testing, +- 0.5 seconds): FW 190A-3, A-4, A-8, and D-9 (3.5), A6M5 (3.5), F4U-1D (4), Spit Ia, Vb, and IX (4), N1K1 (4), Ki-84 (4.5), Bf 109E-3 and F-4 (4.5), Yak 9D (4.5), LA-5FN (5), Bf 109G-2 and K-4 (5.5), Hurri I and IIb (5.5), F6F-3 (6), P-47D (6), P-38J (6), P-40E (6.5), F4F-3 (6.5), P-51D (7.5), Me 110C-4 (8). Roll rate at 300 knots (seconds/roll, Brooke's off-line testing, +- 0.5 seconds): FW 190A-3, A-4, A-8, and D-9 (2.5), LA5-FN (3.5), Hurri I and IIb (3.5), F4F-3 (4.5), P-40E (4.5), P-51D (4.5), F4U-1D (5.5), P-38J (6), Ki-84 (7.5), N1K1-J (7.5), F6F-3 (8), P-47D (8.5), Spit Ia, Vb, and IX (8.5), Bf 109E-3 and F-4 (9.5), A6M5 (12), Bf 109G-2 and K-4 (12), Yak 9D (12.5), Me 100C-4 (13). Durability (Air-Warrior hardness rating, courtesy of Twist's Web page and some educated guesses): P-47D (4.3), F4U-1D (4.2), F6F-3 (and F4F-3?) (4.2), Me 110C-4 (?), P-38J (4.1), FW 190's (all about 4.0), Bf 109's (all about 3.8, although the K-4 version might be tougher), Yak 9D (and LA-5FN?) (3.6), P-51D (and P-40E?) (3.5), N1K1 (?), Ki-84 (3.3), Spitfires (and Hurricanes?) (all about 3.2), A6M5 (2.4). The following planes will suffer wing failure if you spike the g meter coming out of compressibility: A6M5, N1K1-J, Ki-84, and Yak 9D. See Chapter 7 for tips on how to avoid wing failure. In addition, the Spitfires will rip their wings off if you go faster than about 480 knots. Lethality at 100% ammo (energy/sec, courtesy Kesmai and some educated guesses, where brackets indicate planes are close in performance): FW 190A-8 (14000), FW 190A-3 and A-4 (?), N1K1 (?), {Me 110C-4 (?), Spit Vb (?), Bf 109E-3 (?), Spit IX (8000)}, P-38J (6000), Hurri IIb (?), P-47D (5800), {Spit Ia, Hurri I (?)}, {Ki-84, Bf 109F-4, Bf 109G-2, Bf 109K-4, F4U-1D, P-51D, F6F-3, P-40E, Yak 9D, A6M5, LA-5FN? -- all at about 4500}, and F4F-3 (?). In my opinion, good choices in the late-war Pacific arena for typical pilots are the Ki-84, NIK1-J, F6F-3, and P-38J (and the Spit IX, if it's available). They work well for a variety of fighting styles, including angles fighting, have few disadvantages, and so are the least tricky to do well in. They are not as good at angles fighting as the A6M5, but they are faster and can use energy and B&Z tactics against it. In the late-war European arena, for similar reasons, I recommend the Spit IX, Bf 109F-4, and P-38J. In the early-war Pacific arena, I recommend the A6M5. In the early-war European arena, I recommend the Bf 109F-4. However, keep in mind that just about any plane -- if flown in a manner that takes advantage of its good traits -- is deadly. Some planes are just easier to be deadly in than others. 4.1.2 AIR WARRIOR FOR WINDOWS AND MAC These versions of Air Warrior have available the following propeller-driven WWII fighter aircraft. From the United States: P-51D Mustang, F4U-1D Corsair, F6F-3 Hellcat, P-38J Lightning, and P-47D Thunderbolt. From Great Britain: Spitfire Mk. IX E. From Germany: FW 190A-8 and Bf 109F-4 Franz. From Japan: A6M5a Zero, Ki-84 Hayate, and N1K1 Shiden. From Russia: Yak 9D. Maximum sustained turn rate (degrees/sec, from Kesmai): A6M5a (27.8), Spitfire IX (27.5), Bf 109-F4 (25.5), Ki-84 (25.4), N1K1 (24), Yak 9D (22.8), F6F-3 (21.3), P-38J (21.1), F4U-1D (20.5), P-51D (20.3), FW 190A-8 (19.3), P-47D (15.6). This statistic is not exactly the same as turn rate in a stallfight. In a stallfight, the Spit IX cannot match an A6M5a, even though their max. sustained rates are close; the F6F-3 turns about as well as the Ki-84; and the N1K1 turns a little worse than the F6F-3. Other than that, the orderings stay about the same. Top speed (knots, from Kesmai): P-51D (320), Ki-84 (316), FW 190A-8 (309), N1K1 (305), F4U-1D (300), P-38J (300), Spitfire IX E (293), P-47D (292), Bf 109-F4 (287), F6F-3 (272), Yak 9D (270), A6M5a (254). Climb rate (ft/min, from Kesmai): Spitfire IX E (4516), Bf 109-F4 (4402), N1K1 (4100), P-38J (3922), F4U-1D (3863), Ki-84 (3790), Yak 9D (3651), P-51D (3453), FW 190A-8 (3400), F6F-3 (3141), A6M5a (2836), P-47D (2749). Some planes more quickly lose climb performance as altitude increases (FW 190A-8, A6M5a, Yak 9D, and to a lesser extent the Ki-84), so this order changes at higher altitudes -- these planes move down the list. Roll rate at 150 knots (seconds/roll, Brooke's off-line testing, +- 0.5 seconds): FW 190A-8 (3), A6M5a (3), F4U-1D (3.5), Spit IX (3.5), N1K1 (4), Ki-84 (4), Bf 109F-4 (4), Yak 9D (4), F6F-3 (5.5), P-47D (5.5), P-38J (6), P-51D (7). Roll rate at 300 knots (seconds/roll, Brooke's off-line testing, +- 0.5 seconds): FW 190A-8 (4), P-51D (4.5), F4U-1D (5), Spit IX (6), P-38J (6.5), Ki-84 (6.5), N1K1 (6.5), F6F-3 (7.5), P-47D (7.5), Bf 109F-4 (9.5), A6M5a (10.5), Yak 9D (12). Durability (Air-Warrior hardness rating, courtesy of Twist's Web page): P-47D (4.3), F4U-1D (4.2), F6F-3 (4.2), P-38J (4.1), FW 190A-8 (4.0), Bf 109-F4 (3.8), Yak 9D (3.6), P-51D (3.5), N1K1 (?), Ki-84 (3.3), Spitfire IX (3.2), A6M5a (2.4). The following planes will suffer wing failure if you pull too many g's at very high speeds: N1K1, Ki-84, Spitfire IX, Yak 9D, and A6M5a. The Spit IX doesn't have problems until you are over 480 knots; there, the Spit IX suffers wing failure. The others, though, have problems at lower speeds. In these planes, be careful when coming out of compressibility so that you don't rip the wings off. Lethality at 100% ammo (energy/sec, from Kesmai): FW 190A-8 (14000), N1K1 (?), Spitfire IX E (8000), P-38J (6000), P-47D (5800), {Ki-84, Bf 109-F4, F4U-1D, P-51D, F6F-3, Yak 9D, A6M5a -- all at about 4500}. In my opinion, good choices in the Pacific arena for typical pilots are the Ki-84, NIK1-J, and F6F-3. They work well for a variety of fighting styles, including angles fighting, have few disadvantages, and so are the least tricky to do well in. They are not as good at angles fighting as the A6M5, but they are faster and can use energy and B&Z tactics against it. In the European arena, for similar reasons, I recommend the Spitfire Mk IX and Bf 109F-4. However, keep in mind that just about any plane -- if flown in a manner that takes advantage of its good traits -- is deadly. Some planes are just easier to be deadly in than others. 4.2 THE F6F-3 HELLCAT by Brooke The Hellcat was designed by the Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation to be the successor to its Wildcat as the US Navy's main fighter. The Hellcat, with its Pratt and Whitney Double Wasp engine (a 2000 HP, air-cooled radial), was to be faster than the Wildcat and to have a better rate of climb, more firepower, and better armor -- yet still be easy to fly and to maintain, rugged, reliable, and simple to build. The Hellcat met all of these requirements well. Having first entered combat in 1943, the Hellcat was widely used until the end of the war, where it finished with the best combat record of any fighter: an impressive 19:1 kill ratio. It had a top true airspeed of 330 knots at 22,000 ft. and armament consisting of six 50-caliber machine guns. In Air Warrior, the F6F-3 is not best at any one thing -- but it is good at almost everything. Its worst trait is its lack of speed -- it is one of the slower late-war planes in the game (which tells you how slow the Wildcat was) -- so you can't often run away if a fight turns against you. It also hits compressibility rather early. It is decent to good at everything else, though. Its most outstanding traits are its turning performance, ruggedness, and ammo load. In the Pacific theater, assuming that Spitfires are not available, the F6F-3 can at stall speeds turn as well as or better than every plane except the A6M5, and it can outrun, outclimb, and outgun the A6M5. The Ki-84 can rival the F6F-3 at stall-speed turning, and is a lot faster, which is why the Ki-84 is more popular. The P-38J also turns well at low speeds, but it is trickier to coax full turn performance out of at low speeds. The Hellcat is one of the most rugged planes in the game. It can usually withstand several good hits (except as delivered by a FW 190 A series or N1K1, perhaps) before going down. Also, you need not fear ripping your wings off coming out of compressibility or in a high-speed dive. The F6F-3's lethality is mediocre for the same reasons that the P-51D's and F4U-1D's lethalities are (six 50-caliber machine guns -- see the write-up on the P-51D). However, the F6F-3 holds a very large amount of ammunition, as much as the F4U-1D, and it holds 100% lethality for the whole load. The F6F-3 doesn't have maneuvering flaps (as do the P-51D and P-38J). In fact, the F6F-3's flaps are not very useful in combat; but it does have a speed brake, which can be useful in reducing a large airspeed in order to turn more tightly. Ki-84's do not have speed brakes, so if one is following at high speed, you can sometimes use the speed brake to out-turn him. The Ki-84, not being as rugged, must worry about tearing off wings when coming out of compressibility and in very high-speed dives. When I'm in an angles-fighting mood in the Pacific theater, the F6F-3 is usually my choice. 4.3 THE F4U-1D CORSAIR by Twist The Corsair, like the Marines it often served, was lucky to survive its way into the second World War. (In the period before WWII, the Marines were almost dissolved; luckily for the Americans, this never came to pass). Built primarily for Navy operations and worked on as early as 1938, the Corsair had a rocky start when it was initially deemed unsuitable for carrier operations. Pilots had problems with the long nose giving poor takeoff visibility, as well as the landing gear assembly causing some difficulties. An additional problem existed that stayed with the plane throughout it's history -- the huge R2800 engine the F4U carried generated significant torque effects at low airspeeds, and early on the Corsair earned the title "Ensign Eliminator" to describe its behavior. Pilots unfamiliar with the plane might wall the throttle at low speeds, at which point it would quickly flip on its back and plow into the turf. All of the problems aside from the torque were dealt with in short order, but the Navy was still wary of the plane and didn't implement it particularly quickly. The Marines on the other hand were very happy with it, and it became standard fare for their Air division. After pilots became familiar with it and after some slight modifications were made, it was evident that the F4U was a superior aircraft; it is without doubt only rivaled by the F6F Hellcat as a carrier-based fighter in WWII. Like the Hellcat, the F4U was an extremely dangerous plane to Japanese pilots increasingly dependent on the Zero design as the war moved on. Its inverted gull wing produced a low-drag profile, and the Pratt and Whitney R2800 delivered as always massive horsepower at altitudes most other planes couldn't reach. [The F4U-1D had a top true airspeed of 361 knots at 24,000 ft.] A Zero pilot faced in the F4U a plane that was considerably faster, had twice the horsepower, could climb much better, was much better armored, and featured the by then staple American gun configuration of multiple [six] .50's with lots of ammo. Not surprisingly, the F4U generated a massive (11:1) kill ratio rivaled only by it's R2800 cousin the F6F. The Corsair was such a solid design that it was used well after the war into the 1950's in a variety of roles. For a plane type that is assumed to make some concessions to its carrier-based operation, the F4U proved to be an outstanding design. If it weren't slightly range limited compared to the P-51, P-38, or P-47, it could have easily filled any of the roles they were used for as well in the Pacific. The F4U in Air Warrior Strengths: Lethality -- Good lethality, and like the F6F, huge ammo supply. Roll rate -- [One of the] Best roll rate[s] available in the Pacific. Tough -- As with most American designs, a heavily armored fighter. Climb -- Excellent climb rates that only an F6F [and N1K1] can match, but the F4U is faster than the F6F at any given climb rate. Weaknesses: Poor sustained turn ability -- Compared to the F6F, Ki, or of course Zero. Take off checklist: Where: Any Pacific aircraft field. Field: The F4U isn't the best choice for a capped or immediate-action field. Although it climbs well, it can't steadily out turn anything in the Pacific except a P-51; so give yourself a sector or so to climb in where you can better use it's airbrakes and flaps from alt. Fuel: Corsairs are decent in fuel endurance, but super-light loads don't help them much. Might as well take 50% or more if you're going particularly far. Bombs: Two bombs; the F4U is a good dive bomber. One way of getting a handle on the F4U is to think of it as "the FW of the Pacific." If you're familiar with both planes, this may seem a little deceptive, since the F4U has two strengths the FW does not: it can turn passably well [compared to the FW], and it has a great climb rate. But the turn ability comes in an environment filled with such turn wonders as the Zeke and the F6F; depending heavily on an F4U's turn ability will get you killed more often than not, since it can't tangle with these planes at low or medium alts. Similarly, there are other planes (notably the F6F [and the N1K1]) which can climb much like the F4U, so you have to be careful when applying that as well. What makes the F4U like the FW is (a) speed and (b) roll rate. These two components combined are all you need to go on multi-kill mission sprees providing you take the time to set up a situation properly and work from alt on your opponent. The decent high-speed characteristics of the F4U let you dive in, take your shot, and climb back out again quickly. Remember to keep your e-state [energy state] high however, as Ki's and P-51's [and N1K1's] both have speed advantage on you at most alts. This is not to say you can't ever use the turn ability of the F4U, however, just that as a design all of its strengths are particularly suited to B&Z or energy fighting methods. The F4U has multistage flaps and the all important airbrakes, so it can perform tricks similar to those of the P-38 or F6F by coming at high speed, then chopping throttle and slamming the brakes to come around quickly on the opponent. It can pull some interesting tricks with nose-down, flapped turns against the likes of Ki's -- although this requires a fine edge of control on the brakes and speed to work correctly. Try speeds of 210-225 with 1 click of flaps, tapping the airbrakes on and off as you go around, and keeping the nose down to hold a steady speed. If you've got an opponent roped in and have even a slight e-advantage over him, [other than the N1K1] the F4U is the king of the spiral climb in the Pacific. Even F6F's can be had with this maneuver because of their slower speeds. And one thing to remember about the F4U is that it really comes into its own at high altitudes; above 26K you can not only out turn the likes of a Ki using flaps, but you can also out RUN them. P51s are fun to start turning at this alt as well. The only plane to beware of at nosebleed alts is the P-38, a shock to most players who haven't flown it that high. [Watch out for the N1K1, too.] Regardless of the fact I despise the Pacific arena in AW, the F4U is my favorite plane to fly, rivaled only by the FW. Both are purebred killing machines and exhibit everything that made for an excellent WWII fighter. 4.4 THE P-38J LIGHTNING by Twist The P-38 has probably the most convoluted and interesting histories of any major WWII fighter. To begin with, the specifications it was created for were widely regarded as a pipe dream; unheard of requirements for top end speeds of 360 mph along with high altitude and massive payload requirements made many experienced aircraft manufacturers shy away from the submission process. At the time this design document was circulating, top speeds of 300 mph were unusual, and no fighters were designed to operate consistently above 20,000 feet. But the (then) small-time company Lockheed had an idea that they could make an airplane that delivered. Using the brilliant and unconventional ideas of their designer, Kelly Johnson (who later went on to help design the SR-71 Blackbird among others), Lockheed came up with a plane that was totally unique for the time: two engined, using liquid-cooled inlines instead of radials, tricycle landing gear, staggering operating ranges and payloads, yet able to maneuver capably with single-engined fighters. Had the P-38 been focused on early and more exclusively by the US war industry, it almost certainly would have become the dominant fighter of the war. The test models of the P-38 made more "firsts" than any other plane type; in paper and in the air, it met and exceeded almost everything asked of it. It's long-range potential was immediately evident to people like Doolittle and Hap Arnold (prodded successfully by Lt. Ben Kelsey, an early supporter of the P-38 and one of the main reasons it survived to production), since it could deliver payloads of up to 4,000 lbs and had potential ranges of 2200 miles even early in its development, later reaching more than 3,000 miles. But Lockheed as a company was unused to playing the political games required to bring a major production fighter through its infancy, and other unique problems plagued the Lightning as it was developed. It was fast -- too fast, as it become the first fighter to suffer heavily from compression (until then a largely misunderstood aerodynamic effect) with deadly results. The inline V12 engines could be married to a supercharger system that delivered high horsepower, but the entire system was unreasonably finicky compared to the much sturdier radials popular in other designs. Eventually difficulties with the Lightning reached almost bizarre proportions -- for example a C-47 carrying equipment to correct compression on many of the operational P-38's in the 8th Army Air Force was accidentally shot down over the Atlantic by a British pilot, a setback that cost the P-38 months of good use in Europe. These events conspired to put the Lightning in a difficult situation: in the early part of the European bombing campaign, it was the only fighter with range to fly into Germany and back, but it was also basically an incomplete design, and Lockheed was having a very difficult time meeting production demands that required both new fighters and retro fittings for older units at the same time. At just about exactly the time the P-38 had started into its true potential as a fighter/interceptor, it was pulled from front-line service by the 8th AAF in Europe and supplanted by the P-51 with Merlin engines. It was still used in the Pacific afterwards and was in fact in great demand there, much more so than it's P-51 or P-47 siblings. At the end of the war, with the cumulative tuning of several years of operation, the P-38 was an amazing fighter by any consideration. It could fly farther, at a greater height, and carry much more payload than any other fighter. [The P-38J had a top true speed of 363 knots at 32,000 ft. Armament consisted of four 50-caliber machine guns and one 20 mm cannon.] The Lightning in Air Warrior Strengths: Turns -- Surprisingly to some players, the P-38 can perform an excellent turn. The trick to it is to get the nose down 20 degrees or so with at least one click of flaps, and possibly riding the airbrakes. In this configuration you can regularly confound Spits and Bf 109's that try to follow suit. Flaps -- The P-38 has the most responsive multi-position flap arrangement in the game, with some strange characteristics due to modeling. For instance, letting out a click of flaps causes the nose to leap up several degrees, very useful when doing vertical loops (called "walking the flaps" or "pumping the flaps"). Guns -- Good ammo load, and at the very beginning, carries the extra punch of cannon rounds, the only US fighter so equipped. Weaknesses: E-loss -- The Lightning is a bad plane for E-loss [energy loss]. In dives, it compresses fairly easily, which can be recovered with airbrakes, but that means lost speed and energy. In turns, it can manage itself well PROVIDING it has some alt to work with. Once on the floor, it's not very good. Climb -- [In Air Warrior for Windows and Mac,] Similar to the P-51 or FW, the P-38 does not climb particularly well. In particular, it cannot play climbing-spiral games with Spit's or Bf 109's. [In Air Warrior II, it climbs well.] Big ass -- Simply put, the Lightning is a big damn target. AW has to make concessions to the way bullet hits are computed, and that concession is to create a circle around the plane called a "hit bubble" based on its wingspan. The P-38 has a huge wingspan. In real life, this wasn't such an issue because the PROFILE of the plane is very slim, but this benefit isn't delivered in Air Warrior. The Lightning is much like the Hellcat in AW: a jack of all trades but master of none. It's a capable stallfighter, used correctly. It can B&Z, although almost nobody flies it this way (takes too long to climb out and come back). It's the best of the dive bombers, providing a stable platform, two bombs, and dive brakes to control descent. But a lot of the things the Lightning was designed for don't come through well in AW, or can't because of design considerations. For instance, as mentioned above, the P-38 has the greatest hit area of any fighter, even though in real life it had a small profile. It featured a nose mounted gun set that didn't have to be tuned for convergence like wing guns, and therefore were extremely accurate even to great distances, but AW [might not model this with as much contrast as was evident in real life]. One thing does come through well: the P-38 is the best all-around fighter at "nosebleed" alts, an important thing to consider in scenarios. It can easily climb into the 40K+ range, is maneuverable at that alt, and keeps its speed well. It was designed as an interceptor, and it does that, very well. 4.5 THE P-51D MUSTANG by Brooke I love the P-51D Mustang. When I was a kid, I read about the exploits of American aces who flew this sleek, beautiful plane. I still think it's one of the most beautiful airplanes ever made. The P-51 was originally designed by North American Aviation Company in response to a purchase request by Britain for more P-40's. (North American thought it could design something better than the P-40 and got the go ahead.) The first P-51 was -- from scratch -- designed and built in the amazingly small span of only 90 days. The innovative airframe was to prove itself in the years to come, but the P-51 was originally equipped with an Allison engine, which wasn't worth a damn at high altitude. So, the P-51 was initially used as a ground-attack airplane because the Allison worked well at low altitude. The British seemed happy with the P-51 as a ground-attack plane, but some bright guy had the idea that the P-51 would be a hell of a fighter at altitude if only it had a Rolls-Royce Merlin in it. The Merlin was a V-12 liquid-cooled engine of about 1500 HP at takeoff. Eventually, a Merlin was slapped in, and the result was one of the most highly regarded fighters of WWII. (The British were also the ones who gave it the name "Mustang.") The Merlin-equipped P-51 was excellent at high altitudes, was agile, had a very long range (long enough to escort bombers all the way from England to Germany and back), and was very, very fast (one of the fastest WWII fighters). The P-51D had a top true airspeed of 373 knots at 24,000 ft. In Air Warrior, the P-51D is the fastest prop plane at altitudes below about 30,000 ft. (Above that, it becomes the second-fastest -- the P-47D, with its enormous washing-machine-sized turbocharger, is faster). The P-51D is a fast-rolling prop plane at high speeds (above about 275 knots) and can go faster than most other prop planes before hitting compressibility. Overall, the P-51D handles very well at speed and picks up speed well in dives. It can also deploy a notch of flaps at speeds up to about 300 knots, which can give it extraordinary maneuverability in the 275-300 knot range. As for lethality, the P-51D's six 50-caliber machine guns are mediocre. Air Warrior models the boost in lethality due to explosive cannon rounds (which the P-51D doesn't have) but does not model the effect of armor-piercing and incendiary ammo, which is what the P-51D used. It is quite difficult to model the effect of these things compared to explosive rounds. At any rate, even though as modeled in Air Warrior the P-51D's lethality is mediocre, it does have a large ammo supply, and the lethality stays high almost all the way to the end of the ammo load (unlike most of the cannon-equipped planes whose lethality drops drastically when the cannon rounds run out, which is generally somewhere around the 50%-ammo mark). The P-51D is a fairly robust plane, too. It will not experience wing failure at high speeds or coming out of compressibility. Even though the P-51D has a liquid-cooled engine (making its cooling system vulnerable to damage from gunfire, unlike the air-cooled engines of planes like the P-47D, F4U-1D, and F6F-3), it can take a fair amount of damage and still fly. It is definitely a more sturdy plane than the Spitfires and Ki-84. The P-51D does not turn well at low speeds. At near stall speeds, it will get out-turned by most fighters in the game, with the P-47D and FW 190's being notable exceptions. Unless you are fighting one of those or another P-51D, do not allow yourself to get sucked into a low-speed fight. And against the FW 190's, you have to be very careful at low speeds because they can outroll a P-51D by a wide margin. As for time aloft, the P-51D with 100% fuel can stay aloft longer than any other fighter in the game except perhaps the A6M5. For arena fighting, you generally won't need 100% fuel. Take only as much fuel as you typically use (plus some safety margin) -- the more fuel you load, the heavier your plane, and the more poorly it will turn and climb. 30-40% fuel is probably more than enough for most arena play (where staying in one plane for more than an hour is not too common). With this combination of attributes, the P-51D is an excellent plane for scenarios, where time aloft, ammo load, performance at altitude, roll response, and speed are much more important than low-speed turning performance. In regular arena battles, it is a much more tricky plane to use. You can outrun everything that can out-turn you, but if you get caught by a better-turning plane at lower altitudes (which are common in arena play), you are in trouble. Effective use of the P-51D in the arena thus requires planning and finesse. The key is, if you are fighting a plane that turns better at low speed, disengage before you get too slow in the fight. If you have misjudged that point and are already slow by the time the better-turning plane is coming around on your tail, dive out if you can, barrel rolling and jinking on the way down. Or try a very steep, diving spiral. The P-51D picks up speed rapidly and (in all but a couple of cases) is sturdy enough to take a hit or two as you outrun your opponent. The earlier you recognize your trouble, the easier will be your disengagement. Some specific recommendations for various planes follow. Do not try to dive away from FW 190's or N1K1's in situations where they can get some good shots at your tail unless you are very desperate. The FW 190's and perhaps N1K1's can kill you with one good burst. Be wary of Spitfires and F4U-1D's. Both of them are fast planes that handle well at high speed but that can out-turn you at low speed. Because they are fast, they are more difficult to disengage from. The Ki-84 and N1K1 are even more formidable in that regard as they are nearly as fast as the P-51 at some altitudes and yet can turn extremely well at low speed. Fortunately, the Ki-84 and N1K1 do not roll well at high speed, are not very sturdy (and can rip their wings off coming out of compressibility if its pilot isn't careful), and hit compressibility earlier than the P-51. Be careful about getting slow around Ki-84's and N1K1's, especially if you don't have a good altitude cushion for diving out. N1K1's can out climb the P-51, too. N1K1's even have a notch of flaps that can be deployed at high speed. Fortunately, the P-51D can out roll the N1K1 at high speeds. The following two maneuvers are not the safest of maneuvers, and I rarely use them; but I thought I'd mention them anyway. If you can get an enemy to follow you into compressibility, you can crank your P-51D into a 6-g loop and see if your opponent rips his wings off coming out of compressibility while trying to follow you. (The A6M5, N1K1, and Ki-84 are susceptible to ripping their wings off -- American and German fighters are not.) Or you can try chopping throttle briefly, deploying a notch of flaps at 300 knots, and looping hard on your opponent, coming around for a shot on him as both of you loop hard, rapidly losing speed. Do not try this against planes with speed brakes or the ability to deploy flaps at speed (F4U-1D's, P-38J's, F6F-3's, N1K1's, and of course other P-51D's). Another variation on the latter maneuver is a split S close enough to the ground and at a high enough speed so that you, with throttle chopped and a notch of flaps deployed, can make it whereas your opponent (in a Spitfire, say, which is a plane that does not bleed off speed well and that has no significant ability to slow down other than by chopping throttle) cannot. This maneuver obviously requires good judgment on your part if you are to keep from digging a nice ditch in the ground with your airplane, but it's a good maneuver to try when you are at low altitude and a more maneuverable opponent is running you down. In the arena, the P-51D is a good plane for B&Z fighting and, because of its sleek shape and ability to hold onto its energy, can fight well in the vertical, such as vertical dives onto an enemy followed by a pull out and then a vertical climb, repeated until you run out of an altitude advantage on the enemy. The P-51D can be a very deadly plane if flown correctly, but it is not as easy to get kills with one as it is in the more popular Spitfire IX and Ki-84. Against other P-51D's, FW 190's, and P-47D's, you can fly however you like, using angles tactics if you so choose. Against other planes, you will need to use B&Z and energy tactics. Against Spitfires, N1K1's, and Ki-84's especially, effective use of the P-51D means that you use whatever energy advantage you have and then disengage if you lose that energy advantage. When you have mastered the P-51D, you will know it, as you will get kills and then get yelled at on the radio -- there is no other plane in the game that, when flown well, generates as much frustration in its opponents. 4.6 THE P-47D THUNDERBOLT by Brooke Thunderbolt was built by the Republic Aviation Corporation as a high-speed, high-altitude interceptor for the US Army Air Force. Originally, it was to be lightweight and have a liquid-cooled Allison engine. But there were problems obtaining the Allisons, so the plane was redesigned around a combination of the most powerful US-built engine (the Pratt and Whitney Double Wasp -- a 2000 HP, radial air-cooled engine) and an enormous washing-machine-sized turbocharger. The engine and a large fuel tank were in the fuselage in front of the cockpit, and the turbocharger was behind the cockpit. The Thunderbolt (also called the "Juggernaut" and the "Jug") was a huge plane yet, despite its size and the aerodynamic drag of a huge radial up front, was extremely fast at high altitudes. The P-47D had a top true airspeed of 369 knots at 25,000 ft. Overall, US fighters were rugged, but the Thunderbolt was probably the most rugged. Thunderbolts have returned to base with cylinders shot off their engines and after having flown through trees, not to mention with large amounts of damage from enemy gunfire. The Thunderbolt was our main US fighter used against the Germans until well into the war. Eventually, most air combat duty was flown by Mustangs, as Thunderbolts didn't have the range to escort bombers from England to Germany and back. Then many Thunderbolts, thanks to their great ruggedness and ability to carry heavy loads, were assigned to ground attack. It is ironic that the plane first used for high-altitude interception (the Thunderbolt) and the plane first used for ground attack (the Mustang) switched roles in the later stages of the war. In Air Warrior, the P-47D makes a good scenario plane but a poor arena plane. The reason it is a poor arena plane is that it is the worst fighter in the game for angles fighting, low-altitude dogfights, and low-speed dogfights. It turns abysmally at low speeds, bleeds off speed quickly during hard maneuvering, and can barely get out of its own way at speeds under 225 knots. You are limited to B&Z fighting except against other P-47D's (which are almost always rare) and against unwary FW 190 pilots (the Thunderbolt is worse than FW 190's at low-speed turning, but not by as huge an amount compared to other aircraft). However, in scenarios, low-speed agility isn't as important as the other things -- and the P-47D is good at most of the other things. Although it's climb rate isn't spectacular at low altitudes, it holds a fairly steady rate of climb all the way up to 30,000 feet or more, so it gets to very high altitudes nicely. You can climb a P-47D to 40,000 feet or more, which most planes in Air Warrior cannot reach. Up at 30,000 feet and above, the P-47D is the fastest propeller-driven plane in the game. There are a few disadvantages that do affect scenario use. The P-47D hits compressibility at lower speeds than most aircraft in the game (which can cause problems while pursuing a diving, fleeing enemy), and bleeding off energy quickly during hard maneuvers is a problem because you don't get all that many B&Z passes before you have to move off for more altitude. Also, the P-47D has a short firing duration, for while it has a large ammo load, its 8 50-caliber machine guns go through that ammo quickly. On the positive side, though, the 8 machine guns provide very good lethality; and the P-47D is the most rugged fighter in the game, able usually to withstand a huge amount of damage before going down. In conclusion, for arena play, the P-47D is harder to be effective in. It is so ponderous at low speeds. Still, I like occasionally to fly the P-47D because I enjoyed reading about its role in history. Also, in a scenario where there are high-altitude patrols or tough ground-attack missions, I like the P-47D. For ground attack, it is rugged enough to withstand lots of damage from AAA and still get to the target. For high-altitude patrols, it gets up there nicely and is so very fast. Way up there, in your Thunderbolt, you get to call the shots -- and that's what the Thunderbolt was made for, after all. 4.7 THE F4F-3 WILDCAT by Brooke The F4F Wildcat was built by the Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation and was the main naval fighter for the US until its decendent the Hellcat came along. Its main opponent was the Zero, and like the other early-war US fighters, the P-40 and P-39, it was outclassed by the Zero most respects except sturdiness. It had a Pratt and Whitney Twin Wasp air-cooled radial engine, which delivered 1200 HP at takeoff and a top true speed of 273 knots at 16,000 ft. (slower than the Zero). Armament consisted of four 50-caliber machine guns. In Air Warrior, the F4F-3 has poor lethality, is not fast nor a good climber, but it is sturdy, and it does turn well -- well enough to outturn the P-38J, for example, at low speeds. It is an agile plane that's fun to fly -- sort of like a sturdier (but more ponderous) A6M5. Also, it rolls surprisingly well at high speeds. 4.8 THE P-40E KITTYHAWK by Brooke The P-40 was built by the Curtiss-Wright Corporation, first going into production in the summer of 1939. It was built until December, 1994, and was used in all theaters of WWII on the side of the US and by the allies of the US. More than 15,000 of these aircraft were built during WWII. The P-40 (up to and including the E model) had a liquid-cooled turbocharged Allison engine of about 1300 HP at takeoff. The P-40F model had a Packard-built Merlin engine and a top true airspeed of 320 knots at 20,000 ft., which was faster than the A6M5. The P-40E and later models had six 50-caliber machine guns, three in each wing. The P-40 is most famous for its role as the primary fighter of the volunteers who flew for the Flying Tigers and who fought against the Japanese in China. Early models were outclassed by the Zero, which was faster, could climb better, could get to a higher altitude, and which was more maneuverable. The P-40 was, however, faster in a dive and more sturdy; and the P-40F was actually faster than the A6M5 overall. In Air Warrior, the P-40E is not as bad a choice as you might think if, like me, you've heard a lot about how it wasn't as good a plane as the Zero. The top true airspeed of the P-40E in Air Warrior is the same as that quoted above for the P-40F. The P-40E has very poor climb performance and a poor maximum sustained turning rate. But despite a low maximum sustained turning rate, it can turn pretty well at near stall speeds. Also, it is quite fast for an early-war aircraft and is fairly sturdy. It rolls well -- surprisingly well at high speeds -- accelerates well, and can get up to some pretty astonishing speeds in dives. 4.9 THE SPITFIRE MK IX E by Chick Gather around, gentleman -- let me introduce you to Reginald Mitchell's Spitfire. Mr. Mitchell based this plane on his Schneider Trophy winner, the Supermarine S6. The plane had planform elliptical wings and a powerful engine, which gave it excellent speed and handling, making it one of the best fighters in Europe. The version we use in Air Warrior is the MK IX. This plane has the following characteristics. It can out turn all of the other fighters except the Zero and possibly the P-38 (and there is much discussion of this). [Actually, the Spitfire, the Hellcat, and the Ki-84 are all close in low-speed sustained turning and all are better than the P-38 and worse than the Zero, but the P-38 can generate a large turning rate in a nose-low turn with 1 notch of flaps, which is probably what Chick is referring to. With the introduction of Air Warrior II, there are also some planes that turn very well at low speeds, such as the F4F-3, other versions of the Spitfire, Hurricanes, and even the Me 110C-4. -- Brooke] The top true airspeed is fair [345 knots at 20,000 ft.], but acceleration is good. It dives well, but wings can be ripped off. The Spit has a very good lethality but looses it quickly. The ammo load is very light. [The Spit IX had two 50-caliber machine guns and two 20 mm cannon.] Only the Me 109 can out-climb the Spit in Europe. [Actually, the Bf 109F-4 is comparable in climb rate, and the other models don't climb as well. -- Brooke] The Spit can retain energy so well that it is hard to fly. At over 300 IAS, you start to lose full controls. The Spit will only take a few hits, so it is not a plane you can afford to give up hits in. The flaps on the Spit are 3-position: off, half, and full. Generally a new pilot in Air Warrior will gravitate to the Spit because it is a joy to fly and, after one masters the throttle, it is a proven killer. A moderately well flown Spit is more than a match for a FW 190 or P-51 caught at the same energy state. Now that you think the Spit is the best plane in Europe, you jump in and take off, see an enemy, and pull guns on him. I know that the blackout is not that long, but it seems you could go get a drink by the time you can see again. How do you fly this thing? Well, the secret is the throttle. You have to control your speed with the throttle -- remember I said that the Spit retained energy well? In other chapters, you will read about energy and turn radius, but let us think about this: if you were in a car turning in a circle at 5 mph could you turn tighter (less diameter) than if you were driving at 30 mph? I think we all agree that you could. The Spit holds energy so well that it does not slow down in the hard turns, forcing the pilot to pull more elevator to turn, causing more G force to be applied to the pilot, causing a blackout. So, in our fight we have pulled into a turn with an enemy, and his plane loses energy faster than the Spit, so he slows down and as a result turns tighter. We have to cut inside his turn to get a lead shot (shoot in front) on him. CUT THE THROTTLE. At 150 indicated air speed and pulling 5 g's, the Spit will out turn everything in the ETO, with the possible exception of the P-38. I am often asked how to get kills or how to maneuver to keep from getting killed. There is no secret move or place to fly. However there is this: keep the enemy in your up front view and always pull up into him. I recommend that the new pilot practice off line flying at just under 150 IAS. Keep the stall light flickering and do not use flaps. Now start turning in flat turns, getting into 180 degree turns. Drop the flaps one notch; now fly at 75 IAS. Next start looping -- the Spit can loop at 150 IAS all day long. Use the first notch of flaps to help you get over the top of the loop. You should be able to do several loops without losing altitude, all at 150 IAS. Now that you have mastered the Spit in slow flight and in vertical (looping) flight, the next important thing to remember is: keep the fight in the vertical and keep it going up. The fuel load for a Spit varies due to missions. Flying 1 to 2 sectors and fighting requires 15% to 30% fuel; longer missions take 50%. The additional fuel load reduces the maneuverability of the plane, so do not take more than you need. The Spit only carries one bomb, but is a good dive bomber. Spitfires carry a very light ammo load. The cannon runs out at 50% indicated ammo load resulting in a lethality drop of approximately 80%. The best I have ever done is 5 kills with a Spit. Strings of 3 kills are rare, so do not despair if it seems that you only land one or two. Practice, practice, practice. You have to exploit the strengths of your plane and the weakness of the enemy planes, so it is important to learn to fly all the planes. After the Spit, I always recommend the P-51. Only by mastering the flight and fight characteristics of a plane can you know how to put it into unmanageable positions. 4.10 THE SPITFIRE MK VB by Brooke This was a variant of the Spitfire first appearing in March, 1941. It had a Rolls-Royce Merlin 45 or 46 series engine (liquid-cooled, V-12, producing 1400-1500 HP at takeoff). Armament consisted of four .303 inch caliber machine guns and two 20 mm cannon. Top true airspeed was 317 knots at 20,000 ft. In Air Warrior, it's like the Spit IX with less HP and little more firepower. So, while it handles roughtly the same, it has a lower top speed, lower climb rate, and lower low-speed turn rate. 4.11 THE SPITFIRE MK IA by Brooke This was the earliest version of the Spitfire, first appearing in the 1938. It had a Rolls-Royce Merlin III engine, a liquid-cooled V-12 that developed 1400 HP at takeoff. Armament consisted of two 50-caliber machine guns and two 20 mm cannon. Top true airspeed was 300 knots at 20,000 ft. In Air Warrior, it's like the Spit Vb with less HP and little less firepower. So, while it handles roughtly the same, it has a lower top speed, lower climb rate, and lower low-speed turn rate. 4.12 THE HURRICANE I by Brooke The Hurricane was produced by Hawker Aircraft, Ltd., which produced 15,000 of the aircraft (of all models) during the course of WWII. The Hurricane was used initially by the British as a fighter and later as a ground-attack aircraft, fitted with devastating firepower and rockets. The British used it in all theaters of the war. The Hurricane I first flew in October, 1937. It had a Rolls-Royce Merlin II or III engine (a liquid-cooled V-12 producing 1400 HP at takeoff). In the Battle of Britain, it accounted for more Luftwaffe planes destroyed than any other plane. Armament consisted of eight .303 inch caliber machine guns, four in each wing. It had a top true airspeed of 276 knots at 18,000 ft., slower than the Spitfire Mk Ia and Mk Vb, but the Hurricane I supposedly turned at least as well if not better. In Air Warrior, this plane turns well and rolls astonishingly well at high speed; but it is very slow. 4.13 THE HURRICANE IIB by Brooke The Hurricane IIb is the same as the Hurricane I but with a Merlin XX engine installed and four more .303 inch caliber machine guns -- giving it a total armament of 12 machine guns, six in each wing! It first saw service in November, 1941. The Merlin XX was a liquid-cooled V-12 producing 1500 HP at takeoff. The Hurricane IIb was bit better at altitude and had better firepower than the Hurricane I, althought the Hurricane I is faster on the deck than the IIb. Top true airpseed was 277 knots at 20,000 ft. 4.14 THE FW 190A-8 by Twist The FW 190 is much less recognized than the Bf 109, the fighter plane typically associated with the Luftwaffe, but it served Germany well and in many ways was a better plane than the more famous Messerschmitt. First appearing in 1941, the capabilities of this plane were a rude shock to the British, who worked quickly to bring the Spitfire in line with the FW 190's performance. FW 190's were made in large quantities until the end of the war and served a variety of roles from pure fighter/interceptor to fighter/bomber. The principle advantages that made the FW so deadly in real life are preserved well in it's simulated counterpart; the weapons of the FW pilot are speed and amazing firepower. At the time of it's introduction, the FW was both faster and MUCH more-heavily armed than any comparable allied plane. [Top true airspeed for the FW 190A-8 was 345 knots at 19,000 ft. Armament consisted of two 13 mm machine guns and four(!) 20 mm cannon.] The FW 190A-8 in Air Warrior Strengths: Speed -- Top-end speed second only to the P-51 [in the European theater], but only average acceleration. Lethality -- Most powerful gun set of any plane. Roll rate -- Best roll rate available. Tough -- The FW can not only deal it out, but also can take substantial punishment. Weaknesses: Poor sustained turn ability -- The FW is a terrible close-quarters turn fighter. Climb rate -- Can be easily out climbed by most stallfighters. High-alt performance -- Although it can climb to 38K, the FW [A series] is very poor above 25K. Take off checklist: Where: The FW is available from any plane field in Europe. Field: Due to it's mediocre climb and poor turning ability, the FW [A series] is not well suited to low-alt engagements, especially when outnumbered. Typically the FW pilot should look around before taking off to make sure there is about a sector worth of clear air to climb in. Fuel: The FW has excellent fuel endurance, but doesn't benefit substantially from lower fuel loads to increase maneuverability. Taking 30% will get you several sectors to a fight and back, but taking 50% or even a little more will give plenty of time to climb to alt, fly for long periods picking fights, and bring you home. Bombs: Only one bomb allowed. The FW is a difficult plane to master, especially for newcomers, because it is weak in the areas that are intuitive about air combat. Simply put, it doesn't turn well, and most sim pilots -- especially those used to unrealistic sims -- expect the hard turn to be the crucial maneuver of any engagement. The key to flying the FW successfully is to become practiced at energy fighting, or boom-and-zoom tactics. Given it's capabilities, it's obvious that the FW is not a stellar stallfighter -- sustained turns against Spit's or Bf 109's in a FW are suicide. But there are plenty of ways using it's speed and roll ability to bring those massive guns to bear on opponents -- and with the gun set it has, even the briefest guns solution can be deadly. Boom-and-zoom/energy fighting are beyond the scope of a simple plane discussion and will be covered in another page. We'll assume a general familiarity with the concept and proceed to the specifics of the FW. When I was learning the FW initially, I came up with a simple set of rules that allowed me to use it effectively. They were as follows: Twist's FW engagement list: 8K is "hard deck" -- when forced below this, switch to egress tactics. 2K alt advantage preferable over highest opponent, ESPECIALLY when alone. Ideal firing pass speed is about 300 kts. Use shallow attack angles less than 20 degrees -- don't dive in from straight above. NEVER dive below opponents current alt. Avoid fixation -- scan after every pass. If new entry is higher threat than previous opponent, then ignore previous until new threat is dealt with. Remember that the purpose of this rule set is to get you familiar with the attack style and the plane, and after you are, it's very possible to bend one or several of these parameters. (I particularly will deliberately dive below the current fight plateau against groups of opponents -- but only when I am sure my speed is much higher to make up for the alt disadvantage.) It's crucial with these tactics to become adept at assessing threats against you, a subset of what is known as "situational awareness." In a stallfighting situation, you are often very focused on a single or perhaps a few opponents, all of which you are basically trying to out turn. As an energy fighter, you have to be aware of EVERYBODY within your visibility range, and not only that, you must be able to quickly and accurately determine their energy state relative to you. Are they lower or higher? Faster or slower? An opponent who is lower but considerably faster than you is probably even more dangerous than a co-alt but much-slower enemy -- because you might ignore the lower one out of hand. The FW is a powerful energy fighter and is best used when following energy tactics. 4.15 THE FW 190D-9 DORA by Brooke The original A series of FW 190's were excellent planes but did not perform well at high altitudes. The intent with the D series was to produce fighters with better altitude performance by taking the very successful airframe of the A series and fitting a different engine. The engine chosen for the D-9 was Jumo 213 A-1, a liquid-cooled inverted V-12 that could produce 1800 HP at takeoff and an amazing 2200 HP at takeoff with water and methanol injection. With this engine, the FW 190D-9 had a top true airspeed of 364 knots at 18,000 ft. altitude -- a very grave concern for P-51 pilots. This plane first entered service in the summer of 1944. Armament consisted of two 13 mm machine guns and two 20 mm cannon. In Air Warrior, the FW 190D-9 has the same excellent roll response and sturdieness of the FW 190A-8 and is better at altitude. It does have less firepower (two less 20 mm cannon), but that still gives it excellent firepower compared to other aircraft in the game. It is a very formidable plane. 4.16 THE FW 190A-3 by Brooke This was one of the early variants of the FW 190A line, appearing initially in 1941. It had a BMW 801 D engine, which was an air-cooled radial producing 1700 HP at takeoff. It shares the exellent traits of the A-8 model but has a lower top speed and a slightly higher rate of climb. Armament consisted of two 7.9 mm machine guns and four 20 mm cannon. This plane was considered to be superior to its main counterpart, the Spitfire Mk V. It is truly an excellent aircraft, even by late-war standards. Top true airspeed was 331 knots at 18,000 ft. 4.17 THE FW 190A-4 by Brooke This version of the FW 190 was the same as the A-3 but with a methanol-water power-boost system giving more horsepower (and thus higher top speed and climb rate) with WEP. The A-3 first appeared in the spring of 1942 and, as with the A-3, was considered to be superior to the Spitfire Mk V. Top true airspeed was 351 knots at 22,000 ft. 4.18 THE Bf 109-F4 FRANZ by Twist The Bf 109 was, along with the FW 190, one of the two backbone fighters of the Luftwaffe for the Second World War. Early on, however, it was entirely Bf 109's that took to the skies for the Reich; and the Bf 109 found its reputation as a solid fighter during the early European campaigns and the Battle of Britain. It's probable that the British seriously underestimated this fighter early on, considering their Hurricanes and especially Spitfires to be superior, a viewpoint that remains entirely debatable especially for early-war models. The Bf 109 had been used quite well in the Spanish Civil War, and the German pilots flying them had a solid understanding of what the aircraft was capable of, plus they had the benefit of combat experience in fast prop-driven fighters that lead to superior tactics. In retrospect, it was probably a very good thing that the Bf 109 limited Luftwaffe pilots to only a few minutes of combat over England, because if this "inferior" fighter had been better equipped for long-range sorties, it would have given the Allies even more trouble. Of all the planes in WWII, the Bf 109 probably has the most interesting history; flown well before the War, it lasted all the way until the bitter end, undergoing continuous modifications and refinements. That it was able to cope at all was a testament to a solid design, but by the end of the war, the technology in the Bf 109 was more of a liability than a benefit to its designers -- it was being used in roles never envisioned for it and subsequently didn't fill them as well as newer designs might have. Total output for Bf 109's approached 35,000, and variants were produced as late as 1956, a more-than-20-year history of manufacture. [The Bf 109F-4 had a top true airspeed is 337 knots at 19,000 ft. and an armament of two 13 mm machine guns and one 20 mm cannon.] The Bf 109 in Air Warrior Strengths: Turns -- Bf 109F-4's can turn with just about anything except Spitfires [and, in Air Warrior II, Me 110C-4's and Hurricanes], and even then a well-driven Bf 109F-4 will match most Spit pilots, especially at the 10-12K range where the Bf 109F-4 actually has a slight turn advantage. Roll -- The Bf 109F-4 features a crisp roll even at low speeds and, at higher speeds, is a little less mushy than the Spit, although it's no FW in this regard. Climb -- The single biggest advantage of this fighter, the Bf 109F-4 can climb better or equal to anything in the Euro plane set and can achieve some real nosebleed alts, particularly useful in scenarios. Target -- Although the Bf 109F-4 is of average toughness, it offers a difficult target due to its small wing span and quick roll ability. Weaknesses: Lethality -- The Bf 109F-4 has terrible lethality, mostly because it's difficult for AW to model the benefit of its prop-centered cannon which required no convergence. Also, it has a very short ammo duration. Fuel -- 7-11 sells Big Gulps with better capacity than the Bf 109F-4 fuel tank. At 88 gallons, it's by far the smallest, and it's not astoundingly fuel efficient, which compounds the problem. Speed -- Unfortunately the Bf 109F-4 is just a little shy in this area. Spit IX's will out accelerate or level speed it, and P-51D's, P-47D's, and FW 190's of course easily out pace it. Take off checklist: Where: The Bf 109F-4 is European only, capable of lifting off any plane field. Field: Bf 109F-4's make good scramble fighters, and when completely tanked up, they can also take off from a rear field and reach mind-boggling alts before entering the fray. Fuel: Take lots. Twice as much as you would in a Spitfire, which means 60% for just average sorties, and 100% if you think you're going to be flying anywhere extended. You'll use it up fast enough -- trust me. Bombs: 1 bomb. One of the problems with the Bf 109 is that, as the war progressed, it became less and less of a "dog fighter" and more of an interceptor. The model used now in AW, the 109-F4, was probably the best all around fighter of the entire line, and it was a fairly early production. The core of the problem with this plane in AW is that it has to deal with a Spitfire IX which is of later design and, lets face it, a much better plane. If AW were all about taking off, climbing hard, jumping a formation of bombers or fighters, and B&Z'ing them briefly, then going home, the Bf 109F-4 would probably be seen in a much more favorable light. Unfortunately, AW doesn't always mirror the way the real war was fought, which in some ways is just as well (in the real war most pilots never saw combat). Many players take the Bf 109F-4 up just to make a point about not taking the Spitfire IX. The important thing to note about this is that, while the Spit IX is a better plane in almost every respect, the differences are often so marginal as to be almost inconsequential. The only thing a Bf 109F-4 fighter has to truly fear against a Spit IX is being sucked into extended, minimum-radius flat turns -- where the Spitfire IX has enough of an advantage to work a Bf 109F-4 over pretty well. The answer to this is to make a deliberate effort to stay away from these types of turns -- a Bf 109F-4 should almost always favor a yo-yo, or Immelman -- something that maximizes the Bf 109F-4's climb ability and multistage flaps versus the Spit IX. Against most other planes, the Bf 109F-4 has a long list of tricks to pull. It's possibly the best fighter at rope-a-dope maneuvers, considering its low stall speed, "rocket assist" zoom climb, and snappy roll even at low speeds. As mentioned, it has two-stage flaps that allow for interesting split-s and nose-low turning capabilities, and it features 10 minutes of WEP unlike most fighters than can deliver 5 minutes (although, at WEP settings, it uses a percentage point of fuel every 11 seconds!). Almost every experienced 109F-4 flyer in the arena can be seen using these in combination against Spits and the like -- dive in with a decent speed, hook the other fighter into following, pull what looks like a yo-yo into a hard zoom at an angle, and just at the point of stalling roll over, drop flaps and come down on top of the opponent. This works great unless the Spit behind you is hoarding speed, in which case it gets you into trouble fast. Another aspect of the Bf 109F-4 that's appealing is it is less "twitchy" than the Spit and in most respects easier to control. That is, in turn fights, it tends to black you out less, and it responds fairly predictably to various turn speeds and flap settings. I usually tell players just beginning to try the 109F-4 over the Spit initially, as the Spit is a little more demanding of attention for a newer player. Some players never get used to the high instantaneous turn rate of the Spit or P-38J that results in so many blackouts, and for these pilots, the Bf 109F-4 is a more stable fighter capable of holding its own in most circumstances. 4.19 THE BF 109K-4 by Brooke The Bf 109K-4 was a further refinement of the G series. It had a Daimler-Benz DB 605 engine (liquid-cooled, inverted V-12) that produced an impressive 2000 HP at takeoff. It was faster and had better high-altitude performance than preceeding series of 109's, but it was yet heavier and less maneuverable. Armament consisted of two 15 mm machine guns and one 30 mm cannon. Top true airspeed was 369 knots at 25,000 ft. 4.20 THE BF 109G-2 GUSTAV by Brooke The G-series Bf 109's were designed for more speed and better high-altitude performance at the cost of a heavier, less maneuverable plane compared to the F series. The Bf 109G-2 had a Daimler-Benz DB 605 A engine, a liquid-cooled, inverted V-12 that developed 1500 HP at takeoff. Armament consisted of two 13 mm machine guns and one 20 mm cannon. Top true airspeed was 329 knots at 25,000 ft. 4.21 THE BF 109E-3 EMIL by Brooke This was an early version of the Bf 109 that first appeared in late 1939. It had the Daimler-Benz DB 601Aa, liquid-cooled, inverted V-12 engine, which delivered 1200 HP at takeoff. It had lower horsepower and higher drag than the Bf 109F-4 and thus a lower top speed and climb rate and slightly lower maximum sustained turn rate. It is similar in other respects. Armament consisted of two 7.9 mm machine guns and two 20 mm cannon. Top true airspeed was 295 knots at 18,000 ft. 4.22 THE ME 110C-4 ZERSTORER by Brooke The Me 110 was the first twin-engined military aircraft designed by Professor Willy Messerschmitt. It first went into production in 1938 and was used throughout WWII as a light bomber, attack aircraft, and night fighter. It had two Daimler-Benz liquid-cooled engines of 1500 HP each at takeoff and a top true airspeed of 303 knots at 16,000 ft. Armament consisted of two 20 mm cannon and four 7.9 mm machine guns for forward firing and one 7.9 mm machine gun for the rear gunner. In Air Warrior, like most early-war planes, compared to late-war planes, the Me 100C-4 is slow and climbs poorly. The Me 110C-4 also has relatively poor roll performance, but it does turn quite well, has very good lethality, and a large ammo supply. Unlike other bomber/attack aircraft, its wings do not suffer structural failure above 6 g's, and it has no problems coming out of compressibility. 4.23 THE Ki-84 HAYATE by Specter The Ki-84 is one of the best stall fighters in the game, has very good speed, is a fairly decent during the climb, and if energy is managed carefully, does a better than average service as a B&Z platform. The Ki-84 turns on a dime (second best sustained turn radius -- only the Zero is capable of out-turning it). In a very slow stall fight, adjusting flaps improves turning performance. The armament consists of machine guns and cannon. The Ki-84 is hard hitting through approximately the first 35% or so of it's ammo load, pitiful as it may be. Contrary to anecdotal evidence, one can perform high-G maneuvers even at speeds in excess of 350 kts. Wing failure generally occurs because of transitions from moderate altitudes (18,000 ft. or so) to lower altitudes (less than 10,000 ft.) at high speed. When you observe high-speed buffeting, you must ease off the throttle and be careful when pulling out of the dive. If you fail to heed this very sound advice, you and your wings will part company. Despite rumors to the contrary, the AW Ki-84 has been observed running away from F4U's at 450 kts in a dive and living to re-enter the battle on more favorable terms. The key to flying this aircraft successfully is patience (waiting for the close-in shot), experience, timing, and a gentle touch. [Top true airspeed was 363 knots at 20,000 ft. Armament consisted of two 12.7 mm machine guns and two 20 mm cannon.] 4.24 THE A6M5 ZERO by Brooke Manufactured by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd., the Zero (also called the "Zeke" by US forces) was one of the oldest designs for a fighter plane still in use at the end of WWII. The A6M2 Zero fighter first used in combat in 1940, and except for increased horsepower and some minor modifications, the same design was fighting at the war's end -- still as the main Japanese fighter for both the Army and Navy. While by the war's end, the Zero's shortcomings compared to more modern fighters were apparent, its longevity is a tribute to a design that was brilliant and very effective for its time. The A6M5 had a radial air-cooled engine of about 1000 HP at takeoff and armament consisting of two 7.7 mm machine guns and two 20 mm cannon. Top true airspeed for the A6M5 was 284 knots at 20,000 ft. At the time of its introduction, the Zero was faster, climbed better, flew higher, and flew much, much farther than the fighters it fought against (like the early P-40 Warhawks, the F4F Wildcat, and the P-39 Airacobra), which gave the Japanese a large advantage in the air. Later, the US produced more powerful, faster fighters: the Hellcat, the Lightning, the Mustang, and the Thunderbolt, all of which fought against the Zero. They flew faster, flew higher, climbed faster, had more firepower, and were more sturdy than the Zero (which had no armor and no self-sealing fuel tanks), but the Zero was still by far the most maneuverable in a close-in fight. In Air Warrior, the A6M5 is, without argument, the best stallfighter in the game. If you get slow around an A6M5, you are in big trouble unless you are in another A6M5. Even diving away from a low-speed fight with one is dangerous because the A6M5 is a very clean plane that accelerates well even though it has a low top speed when flying level. It has an excellent time aloft, so you won't need 100% fuel. Even 40% is probably more than you'll need in most jaunts in the normal Air-Warrior arenas. It is an excellent early-war fighter. However, in most other respects compared to late-war fighters, the A6M5 has problems. It is the least sturdy plane; it is a very slow fighter; it has mediocre lethality (as its cannon and machine guns did not have very high rates of fire) and low ammo load; it climbs poorly; and it handles poorly at high speed. To fly an A6M5 successfully in Air Warrior in late-war arenas, you must know how to avoid B&Z attacks (1) as no other plane (with a pilot in his right mind) will want to mix it up in a tight angles fight and (2) as you are a sitting duck for any plane with altitude on you (they all can catch you). You must avoid the B&Z while trying to draw the enemy into an angles fight. A good B&Z attacker will cause you a lot of trouble and will not get slow around you, but some careless people will, and other somewhat-careless people can be tempted to turn with you if you give them a little view of the tail of your plane while you do a lazy turn, tempting them to follow. Of course, if they do follow, you can tighten the turn beyond what they will be able to follow -- keep looking back. So, in late-war arenas, flying an A6M5 and fighting anything but an A6M5 is mostly a matter of surviving enough gunnery passes until the enemy gets sucked into a low-speed fight. Keep in mind that the A6M5 holds its energy very well and turns so well that it pays to do less than full-G turns unless you need to or unless the fight is now an angles fight. In between passes by the enemy, you can pull some gentle turns that don't waste as much energy yet that are still very tight compared to what the enemy plane can do. That keeps your speed up and your energy up, and an A6M5 with some energy is very, very dangerous. If you can catch an enemy and get him to turn hard, he will usually be yours unless he is very good at disengaging. In high-speed fights, such as diving after a fleeing enemy, you should keep in mind that the A6M5's controls -- especially roll -- get very sluggish at high speeds, say, over about 300 knots. Watch out for following a plane that can slow down quickly and loop tightly on you (any of the planes with speed brakes or high-speed flaps). The A6M5 can go very fast before hitting compressibility -- faster than even some fast planes, like the P-47D. Once in compressibility, though, beware how you pull out of it. The A6M5 is a fragile plane, and you can rip the wings off if you pull too many g's at high speed. Overall, the A6M5 is a joy to fly. It turns on a dime, loops on a dime, and gets out of a spin with just a tap of the rudder. Despite having a low top level speed, it is surprisingly fast in dives. Just be careful not to rip the wings off, and avoid taking hits at all costs because the A6M5 is one of the most fragile fighters in the game. It is popular for field defense when you have little time to climb or to get up to speed before you will be set upon by higher-energy enemy planes. It's maneuverability makes it one of the harder planes to hit. It is also quite fun to dive into a furball with an A6M5 and to mix it up, killing one hapless low-speed enemy after another, until you finally are shot down (which is the typical fate, because you can't run away from much in an A6M5). 4.25 THE N1K1-J SHIDEN by Brooke The N1K1 Shiden (or "George," as it was called by US forces) was built by the Kawasaki Aircraft Engineering Company, Ltd. (Actually, according to JANE'S FIGHTING AIRCRAFT OF WORLD WAR II, the N1K1 was the float-plane version while N1K2-J was the Shiden, but I'll use N1K1-J as that's what Air Warrior uses.) It was a fast, maneuverable plane with great firepower -- definitely in the same league as the late-war fighters produced by the US. It had an air-cooled radial engine that produced 2000 HP at takeoff and a top true airspeed of over 350 knots at 20,000 ft. Its armament consisted of two 7.7 mm machine guns -- and four 20 mm cannon! I doubt that American fighter pilots were too fond of the Shiden. In Air Warrior, the N1K1-J is an impressive plane. It is one of the fastest planes in the game -- faster than the F4U-1D Corsair on the deck! -- which is fast enough to cause problems even for the speedy P-51D. It turns well at low speeds (about the same as the Bf 109-F4, which is definitely no slouch at low-speed turning). So, in the Pacific theater, you need to beware low-speed turning fights only with F6F-3's, F4F-3's, Ki-84's, and of course A6M5's (and Spitfires, if they are in the arena). It has enormous firepower, as already mentioned, being second in lethality only to the mighty FW 190's. It has a very long firing duration (being able to fire its guns for as long as the F6F-3 and F4U-1D). It has one of the best climb rates of any prop-driven plane in the game. It is easy to get the N1K1-J out of a spin. It even has a notch of maneuvering flaps that can be deployed at high speeds, like the P-51D and P-38J. Impressive indeed. The only traits that are mediocre for the N1K1-J are roll rate and sturdiness (it does suffer wing failure if you pull lots of g's at very high speeds, such as coming out of compressibility). It does have a good time aloft (more than an hour at 100% fuel and full throttle). As good a plane as the N1K1-J is, I suspect that it won't be as popular as the Ki-84 due mainly to the fact that it isn't quite as fast or as good at low-speed turning as the Ki-84 (although it is close). Still, it has a lot better firepower and a better climb rate than the Ki-84 and in fact than almost every other fighter in the game. It is an excellent plane. 4.26 THE YAK 9D by Specter The Yak 9D is a viable option in full realism, but not very popular. Ammo load is fairly light, much like the Bf-109F-4. The fuel load is also anemic. This plane is perfect for the "bounce" with a bit of altitude. The aircraft handles and performs very well at speeds under 350 kts. The controls get a bit stiff at around 350 kts. The Yak 9D will sustain a climb rate of approximately 3500 fpm through 10,000 ft. altitude. It is a poor performer at higher altitudes. Acceleration is nothing to write home about. [Top true airspeed was 311 knots at 18,000 ft. Armament consisted of two 13 mm machine guns and one 20 mm cannon.] This aircraft will not lend itself to prolonged B&Z passes, as it doesn't hold it's energy all that well. If your speed is below 150 kts in a stallfight, there is not anything (save for the Spit) that will out turn you in the short term. [In Air Warrior II, there are some other planes that turn well at low speeds, such as the Me 110C-4 and Hurricanes.] One notch of flaps is all you have, which is helpful when you are almost in the "saddle." The flaps have a tendency to really kill your energy. If you don't get the kill soon after dropping them, you are "in" very deep. It is imperative that you be familiar with all of the strengths and weaknesses of this plane if you plan on flying it seriously. You've got to know the split-S performance by heart because you are will be using it a lot. Generally, the plane is fun to fly, and in the right hands, it is deadly. 4.27 THE LAVOCHKIN LA-5FN by Brooke The Lavochkin LA-5 was a Russian fighter. It had an air-cooled radial engine that produced 1600 HP at takeoff and a top speed of 308 knots. Armament consisted of two 20 mm cannon mounted in the engine cowling. This plane is not fast, but it rolls extremely well and seems to turn well at low speed. Top true airspeed was 325 knots at 16,000 ft. 4.28 CHAPTER 4 EXERCISES by Brooke 4.28.1 DIVES Take a Yak-9D up to 12,000 ft. altitude. As you near 12,000 ft., adjust your climb so that you are climbing at 150 knots. When you reach 12k, roll inverted and pull into a vertical dive. Time how long it takes (starting from being inverted) for the plane to get to 350 knots. Do the same test for the P-51D. Which plane accelerates faster in a vertical dive? Do the test with one or two other planes of your choice. Do a similar test by climbing up to 4000 ft. altitude and 150 knots. When you reach 4k ft., dive vertically and pull out on the deck. See how fast you are going on the deck. Do this test for a few planes of your choice. 4.28.2 HIGH-SPEED TURNS Take up a Spitfire IX. Get to 5000 ft. alt. Get up to speed and then dive enough so that you are going more than 300 knots. Level off, and let your speed decrease to 300 knots. Now do a 6 g turn for 180 degrees (i.e., half a full circle). Note you speed at the completion of the turn. Do the same with a P-47D. Which plane holds onto energy better? Do the same for a 360 degree turn. Try one or two more planes of your choice. 4.28.3 HIGH-SPEED ROLL Take up a Yak-9D. Get to 15k ft. altitude. Get up some speed, turn on WEP, and go into a 45-60 degree dive. When your speed is 350 knots, do a full-aileron-deflection roll. Notice about how long it takes -- what the roll response is like. Do the same test for a P-51D. Which plane rolls faster at 350 knots? Do this test for one or two other planes of your choice. 4.28.4 LOW-SPEED SUSTAINED TURNS This exercise requires a watch -- a digital watch with a stopwatch function is best. Take up an A6M5 to 1000 ft. alt. Use full throttle, and begin turning as hard as you can, staying at all times near 1000 ft. alt. Do enough revolutions so that your airspeed is steady in the turn -- i.e., go into a stallfight turn. Now pick out a terrain feature that you can recognize easily (a control tower, a mountain, whatever) and start your stopwatch when your nose passes it. Let your nose pass it two more times, and on the third time, stop your stopwatch. Now you can find out your turn period (seconds per revolution) by dividing the time by 3 (you did 3 revolutions). Repeat the test with a FW 190A-8. Note the difference in turning rates. Repeat the test with one or two other planes of your choice. 4.28.5 LOW-SPEED ROLL Take a FW 190A-8 up. Get to 130 knots. Do some rolling. Roll one way and then the other. Note how quickly the plane rolls. Do the same with a P-38J. Do the same with one or two other planes of your choice. 5.0 CHAPTER 5 by Brooke This chapter explains bombing and dropping troops. The most difficult part of bombing is getting to and from the target without getting shot down. Techniques for doing that are discussed in the "Bombing Tactics" section. The other sections explain level bombing, dive bombing, dropping troops, tactics for bomber escort, and bombing strategy. 5.1 LEVEL BOMBING Level bombing is just what it sounds like: flying along level in your bomber and then dropping bombs. The most difficult part of this is lining up correctly on the target. Because your bombs, in addition to falling, have a substantial horizontal speed, you have to anticipate where the bombs will hit, a task with which your bombsight helps immensely. If you are flying at high altitude and at high speed, you will have to line up on your target well in advance, perhaps by as much as 5 miles (1/2 a sector width). Use your radar to line up on target ahead of time. Your bombs will lay down a line of craters, and you want that line to do as much damage as possible. If you are targeting a runway or a carrier, you want your string of craters to run down the middle of it. If you are targeting a cluster of buildings, you'd like to plan your approach so that the line falls across as much of the buildings as possible. Plan your flight path far enough in advance of the target so that you don't blow your approach. About half a sector from the target (or a bit less, if you are at lower altitudes), turn toward your target and line up your flight path. Once you are lined up on radar, go into the bombardier's position and use the bombsight to fine tune your line up. You can zoom the view in and out to get as much detail as possible and still see the target. I like to use my rudder to line up as opposed to the stick -- it skids me left or right until I'm lined up. Keep in mind that, if you are approaching at an angle instead of down the center of your target, you will have to swing the nose of the plane past the target, fly for a little while, then swing it back on target in order to correct your flight path. You also need to open the bay doors -- don't forget to open the bay doors. If you are having trouble lining up, give yourself more than 1/2 a sector to line up. Giving yourself enough room to line up is essential in level bombing. The better you are at it, the closer to the target you can go before starting your line up. The point at which you turn toward the target is called the "initial point" or "IP." As you get closer to the target, zoom in the bombsight view. For runways and large ships, you want to drop your bombs just after the bombsight crosshairs cross the threshold of the runway or the deck of the ship. For small objects, drop your bombs just before the crosshairs cross onto the object. Remember that you have two batches of bombs (called "sticks" of bombs). You can drop one and save one for another target (which is useful when you are bombing small objects -- only one stick would hit it anyway), or you can drop both (which is useful for runways, carriers, and other large ships -- you drop one stick, wait a second, then drop the other stick). After your bombs are away, it's time to close the bay doors and to jump back to the pilot's position. Now it's time either to head for the second target (if you only dropped one stick), head back to base, go shoot up some enemies (if you have a gunner), do a bomb-damage assessment (BDA), or a combination of these. BDA consists of verifying what your bombs did to the target -- for example, seeing if all of your bombs hit a runway or not by looking at the craters. You get to the bombardier's station by typing "z"; and getting back to the pilot's position is "jp". Opening bay doors is "a". Sometimes, you might want to slow down before dropping your bombs so that your line of craters will be closer together. I don't find that this is usually necessary in order to get all bombs on a target. If you do, though, make sure that you don't get so slow that you stall while you're at the bombardier's station. 5.2 DIVE-BOMBING There are two approaches to dive-bombing: high and low. High dive-bombing is like what you see in WWII footage: you fly directly over the target and dive on it vertically. In order to know whether or not you are over the target, you can use radar to line up approximately. Arm your bombs and enable your dive-bomb sight when before you are too close to the target -- I like to do this about 1/2 a sector from target. As you get close, you can fly to one side of the target and occasionally dip your wing and look out the side of your plane to see the target. When you are over the target, roll inverted, chop throttle, and pull down so that your sights are on the target. Adjust your flight path so that your dive-bomb sight is right on the target, and then trigger off one or both of your bombs. You don't want to be pulling many g's at all when you drop your bombs -- the key is in lining up well during the vertical (or very steep) dive. After you drop your bombs, commence a pullout and go back to full throttle. After you have pulled out, switch to your normal gunsight. You arm the bombs with "a"; switching to the dive-bomb sight is "sd"; and switching back to the gunsight is "sg". Once you are more proficient at dive-bombing, you might want to keep full throttle during the dive-bomb run -- especially if an enemy is chasing you. At full throttle, you don't have much time to line up before you hit compressibility or the ground, but it can be done with practice. Low dive-bombing is much different than high dive-bombing. Low dive-bombing involves flying at the target at very high speed and at very low altitude (200 ft.). You need to fly fast enough so that the dive-bomb sight is visible out in front of your plane -- you generally have to be going about 300 knots or more. Once the dive-bomb sight just touches the outer edge of whatever your target is, drop a bomb, and immediately pull up into a 6 g (or even higher, as you can stand even 8 g's for a brief time) steeply climbing turn. You have to get your plane 500 ft. away from the blast or the explosion will destroy your plane. Low dive-bombing is easier to set up than high dive-bombing. Lining up is easier, and you don't need to get to altitude. However, split-second timing is required: you have to trigger off your bomb right as the crosshairs touch the target, and you have to pull up and away at 6 g's as soon as the bomb is away. 5.3 DROPPING TROOPS The C-47 Skytrain drops troops instead of bombs, which is one necessary element to capturing airfields. To drop troops, you don't need to line up, but you do have to lay the troops down within about 1500 yards of the airfield. You have to open the doors (the same command as arming bombs and opening bay doors in bombers), and type "'*go" for each paratrooper that you want to jump out of the plane -- that's a big load of "go"'s. I keep typing it until the messages stop saying that a paratrooper jumped -- just to make sure all of the paratroopers are out. Some people set keyboard macros so that they have only to hit one key to do it. One thing to keep in mind is that the paratroopers won't jump out unless your C-47 is at 500 ft. altitude or higher. So, even if you approach the airfield down low, say at less than 200 ft., you have to pull up to above 500 ft. before you start kicking the paratroopers out of the plane. 5.4 BOMBING TACTICS Dive-bombers are (so far in Air Warrior) fighter planes. You don't need much extra in the way of tactics to get to your target. For bombers, it's different. Bombers are easier to hit. You generally don't want to tangle with fighters -- at least until after you have destroyed the target. You want to get to the target unmolested. There are several ways work toward this. (1) You can fly at extremely high altitude, past where people normally fly because it takes to long to climb up there. That used to be about 25k ft., but might be 30k ft. these days now that Air Warrior is less expensive to play. It works well, but is very time consuming. (2) You can fly an out-of-the-way path to the target, staying away from the hot spots. You can tell by looking at the counters in the various sectors or by getting reports from other players on which sectors are clear. (3) You can pick a target that is out of the way. (4) You can fly under radar. This one is most popular, as it's quick. Keep in mind, though, that you have to pop up to over 500 ft. before the target, or you will get caught in your bomb blast. (5) You can have an escort that will attack any enemies that come for you. (6) You can have your fellow countrymen clear out a path for you (sort of like an escort but on a much larger scale). This works well but requires a lot of coordination and manpower. Sometimes you can get the same effect naturally by waiting for an area to clear and getting an "all clear" message from fellow countrymen. Then you can head toward the target and, on channel 2, keep every appraised of your situation so that they can help clear a path if there's trouble. (7) You can employ a combination of these approaches. However, what if, despite everyone's best efforts, enemies do find you? Bombers can't out-dogfight fighters (with the possible exception of the A-26). It's nice to have gunners, of course, and with gunners you can give fighters a very hard time, but regardless it's best to call for help on the radio early on. Say what you're flying, where you are (both location and altitude), what's about to attack you, and ask for escort help. As for evasive maneuvers, by far the best -- the most tried and true -- is the hard nose-low turn into the attacking enemy. If you are going fast, chop your throttle and do the hard nose-low turn. Hold about 5 g's -- keep in mind that all bombers suffer wing failure at more than 6 g's. Don't rip your wings off -- be careful of your g's. If you aren't going more than about 200-225 knots, keep full throttle in the turn. You want to start turning when the enemy is 2000-2500 yards from you, and you want to keep the nose of your bomber well below the horizon during the turn (unless you are at low altitude and would thereby crash). Doing this for each pass an enemy makes on you will usually buy you some time. Hopefully some help will arrive or your gunner will get the enemy. Another useful tactic is to get very close to the ground -- 100 ft. or less. As the enemy comes in for a shot, do a hard turn. The enemy might crash while trying for the shot, not noticing just how low you are. Or you might try turning toward the enemy so that he has to do a front-quarter gunning pass and then get down to about 10 ft. of altitude, again in an attempt to get the enemy to crash while trying for a difficult off-angle shot. Being evasive at a very low altitude has saved me more times than I remember. 5.5 BOMBER ESCORT Although it is very difficult to protect bombers from determined fighters, there are several techniques that seem to work best for escorting bombers. The best is to clear a path for the bomber. You need to know the target and the bomber's flight path. Then you fly along it (with as many allies as you can muster) and clear the area out of enemy planes. If that isn't possible, then you should either fly above the bomber (going after any plane that seems to be heading in for an attack on it) or fly above and behind the bomber (going after any plane that closes on the rear of the bomber -- you dive down onto his tail). 5.6 BOMBING STRATEGY Now that you know how to bomb things, how do you decide which targets to hit? That depends entirely on your objectives. Here are some of the things that you can do. (Keep in mind that the settings -- how many bombs it takes to destroy a particular target -- are configurable by Kesmai and might change from time to time. That's why I use the word "usually" a lot in the following information.) If you want to take away the anti-aircraft cover some enemies are using near an airfield, you obviously just go in and destroy the ack batteries (the little dots that show up on the ground as you get close and that then shoot at you). It usually takes one bomb to destroy an ack. You can also kill them with gunfire, but the acks are sometimes quite difficult to kill that way. They can be tough. If you want to degrade the quality of an airfield, you can do a few other things. First, you can bomb fuel tanks (the clustered, round structrues). That reduces the quality of fuel at an airfield, which then reduces the performance of planes taking off from the field (except for the Bf 109's, which can run on lower-octane fuel). It usually takes two bombs to destroy a fuel tank, but an exploding fuel tank can damage the tanks next to it, so with practice and skill you can take out more than one fuel tank for every two bombs. Once fuel tanks are damaged, nearby oil refineries (and depots in Air Warrior II) send trucks or planes to resupply the field with high-octane fuel; but the field is hampered until the resupply arrives (and the resupply convoy might get shot up on the way there, eh?). Second, you can bomb the ammo dumps (the small, solitary buildings). That reduces the ammount of ammo (especailly cannon rounds) loaded into each aircraft at the field. It usually takes four bombs to destroy an ammo dump. Like with the fuel, once a field's ammo dumps are damaged, nearby ammo factories (and depots in Air Warrior II) send out trucks or planes to resupply the field. Third, you can destroy the aircraft hangers (the buildings with sloped roofs). That causes the aircaft at a field to be more fragile and less able to withstand damage in combat. It usually takes three bombs to destroy a hangar. Nearby spare-parts factories (and depots in Air Warrior II) send out trucks or planes to resupply the field. If you want to bomb strategic targets, you can go after oil refineries, ammo factories, aircraft factories, spare-parts factories, and (in Air Warrior II) various depots. Oil refineries are recognizable by the tall cracking towers. Aircraft factories have aircraft near them on the ground. Destroying oil refineries, ammo factories, spare parts factories, and the corresponding depots ends their ability to resupply damaged fields. If you are going to destroy a strategic target AND damage an airfield, it is best to destroy the strategic target first. If you do it the other way around, the strategic target can get out a resupply convoy before you get around to destroying it. If you destroy a country's aircraft factory and then destroy the hangars at an airfield, that airfield will lose the availability of a particular type of aircraft (such as Spitfires or FW 190's). If you want to destroy an aircraft carrier, it usually takes 6 bombs. If you want to destroy an airfield, in Air Warrior for Windows and the Mac, it usually takes 8 bombs dropped on the runway. In Air Warrior II, to destroy an airfield, you need to destroy a certain percentage (usually more than 50%) of each of the following: fuel tanks, ammo dumps, hangars, and control towers. Oddly, bombing the runway apparently isn't the way to close the airfield. If you want to prepare an airfield (or a factory, refinery, or depot in Air Warrior II) for capture, see chapter 6. So, now that you know what you want to destroy, how do you find it? To get a map of an area, you can use the map available when you click on the "choose an airfield" button before you take off. That brings up a map that you can look around on (using the "east," "west," etc. buttons) and zoom in on to get a level of detail that shows individual structures. In Air Warrior II, there are some facilities (factories, refineries, and depots) that are not shown on the map, giving people some targets that must be found the old-fashioned way. Air Warrior has a rich environemnt of ground targets. 5.7 CHAPTER 5 EXERCISES 5.7.1 LEVEL BOMBING Take up an A-26 and do some simulated bombing runs on an airfield. Make sure that you can line up correctly so that you are flying right down the center of the runway on your pass. 5.7.2 DIVE-BOMBING Take up a Corsair and do some dive bombing runs on an ack battery or, if the version of the software you have has no ack batteries for off-line play, on a small structure such as the corner of a runway. If your software has no off-line bombing capability, do simulated dive bombing runs (i.e, no bombs, but you can still use the dive bombing sight and go through all of the motions). Try both low-level and vertical dive bombing runs -- do them both until you think you have them down. You can also try other approaches, such as steep but not vertical dives, to see which methods you prefer. 5.7.3 BOMBER EVASIVES Take up an A-26 and get to 4000 ft. altitude. Practice 5 g nose-low turns. When you get to low altitude, go down to 100 ft. and practice hard turns at that altitude. Practice flying at 10-50 ft. altitude. Fly at 10-50 ft., pop up to 100 ft., do a hard 180 degree turn, and go back down to 10-50 ft. 6.0 CHAPTER 6 by Brooke This chapter explains how to capture airfields and other structures, carrier operations, the use of vehicles, and gunning in bombers. It also explains Air-Warrior etiquette (i.e., how not to piss people off too much -- or, looked at from another point of view, how to piss people off greatly). 6.1 CAPTURING AIRFIELDS AND OTHER STRUCTURES If you want to capture an airfield, it works differently between Air Warrior II and the other versions of Air Warrior. In Air Warrior for Windows and the Mac, one needs to destroy the control tower (the tallest building) and all ack and then drop a C-47's worth of paratroopers (eight) on the airfield. The field becomes available immediately upon capture. You can destroy all airfields, but you can capture only neutral ones. In Air Warrior II, you need to destroy the airfield first (see section 5.6) and then to drop a C-47's worth of paratroopers (eight) on it. You won't be able to use the field after capture for about an hour, while it is repaired. You can destroy and capture all airfields except the main airfield for a country. In Air Warrior II, you can also capture some factories, refineries, and depots just as you can capture airfields (i.e., by destroying it and then by dropping troops on it). If you capture such a thing, after about an hour-long repair process, it helps the resupply of nearby captured airfields. 6.2 CARRIER OPERATIONS Carriers (sometimes called "CV's") can be difficult to take off from, especially in a fully fueled, fully bomb-laiden F4U Corsair. In that plane, you should use full flaps for takeoff, WEP (war-emergency power), and don't raise the tail of the plane during your takeoff run -- keep it down so that the nose of your plane will be angled up as you leave the deck of the carrier. Handle the controls very lightly after takeoff -- you will be right on the edge of stalling. Raise the gear after you are airborne, and raise the flaps little by little as you gain airspeed. If you can take a fully loaded Corsair off a CV, you can take off in anything. Landing is even more challenging. You need land within the white stripes at the end of the CV in order to catch the arrester cables. Practicing landings on CV's will make you much better at landing in general. Any plane can be landed on a CV and in any direction, as long as you hit the white stripes. This presents interesting possibilities if you are near one and in big trouble. Even if you're in a bomber, coming in sideways to the CV, you can land if you hit the stripes. I've used this on occasion to land while being shot at. CV's have a nice ack, too. 6.3 VEHICLES Tanks and jeeps aren't used much outside of historical scenarios. Flakpanzers (FP's) are, though. They can be quite deadly to airplanes. Tanks are occasionally used to kill FP's or to shut down an airfield by coming close enough to shoot airplanes that take off. Tanks are difficult to kill except with other tanks. Vehicles aren't all that complicated. To use one, you start the engine and put it at full throttle, just like you do in a plane. Then you use the "a," "s," and "d" keys to shift -- "d" upshifts, "s" puts the vehicle in neutral, and "a" downshifts. You steer it with the stick. To get from the driver's seat to a gunnery position, you type "jg"; to get back to the driver's seat, type "jd". Be careful when cornering at high speeds -- you can roll some of the vehicles. In vehicles, some guns rotate and change elevation by using the stick only. In others, you need to use the "a" key to rotate a turret to the left, "d" to rotate to the right, "e" to elevate the gun, and "c" to decline the gun -- then you use the stick for the fine movement of the gun. To use a vehicle for airfield defense, it's best to move away from the runway and buildings because, if the runway or buildings get bombed and if your vehicle is nearby, you will get blown up. If you can manage to have a driver and a gunner, you can keep the vehicle moving and shooting at the same time, and it is thus much harder to hit (especially by dive-bombing). FP's are best for airfield defense from aircraft. Tanks are best for airfield defense against other vehicles. 6.4 GUNNING IN BOMBERS If you have a choice on which position to take for gunning, the tail or upper ball turrets are, in my opinion, the best positions. From there, you can fire on any plane that is coming up from behind for a shot on the bomber. Also, if you are flying in a bomber that can also be used offensively air to air (like the A-26), you can have fun in dogfights hitting fighters that are trying to stay with the bomber in a turn. The commands to move around among the various gunnery positions are "jt" (to jump to the tail-gunner position), "ju" (to jump to the upper turret), "jljt" (tail), "jl" (left waist), "jr" (right waist), "ju" (upper), "jb" (lower ball turret), "jn" (navigator's gun), and "jc" (chin). You can get back to the pilot's position with "jp". Sometimes, your joystick (or mouse) will swivel the turret as well as move the gun up and down. Other times, you have to use the "a" (left), "d" (right), "e" (up), and "c" (down) keys to swivel the gun, just like in vehicles. Check this out right after you take off so that you know how to move the gun once you get into combat. As gunner, your job is also to watch for enemies approaching. The visibility in bombers is often very bad, so your input helps the pilot -- on the intercom (the "`" key), let him know what's up. Rear visibility for pilots is especially bad in bombers. 6.5 ETIQUETTE I know what you are saying: "Emily Post was no Air-Warrior pilot." So what's this section on etiquette, anyway? Well, there are some things that you can do in Air Warrior that will really piss people off. I figure that I should explain them -- not so that you won't piss people off (that's your choice to make) but so that you at least won't piss people off unintentionally. Also, practicing Air-Warrior etiquette will usually cause you to be considered a real stand-up kind of guy, a true man's man of Air Warrior (even if you happen to be a woman), and some people like being thusly considered. So, with the reasons out of the way, what are the big gaffs one can make in Air Warrior? During a battle, bailing out of a plane that can still fight. This is the mark of a true sissy. The Air-Warrior credo (heretofore and henceforth unstated) stipulates that a pilot should, if possible, hold on to the bitter end. Now, if your plane gets shot up and loses an engine, ailerons, or elevator, or if you have run completely out of ammo, bailing out is OK because your plane can't fight anymore. Actually, in the case of an engine failure or running out of ammo, a true pilot's pilot would still stay in the fight, diving for speed when needed, possibly going for a forced landing while under attack when completely out of altitude, or trying to get the enemy to crash, trying to get into a situation where it is possible to disengage, or holding on for help to arrive. However, bailing out in these cases at least won't qualify you as (too much of) a sissy. Bailing out is even OK if your plane is fine, but no enemy is engaging you or chasing you. Most importantly, though, if your plane is shot up but still flyable (even if it is losing fuel or oil) or if an enemy is still chasing you (whether or not he has yet caught you), you should stay in the plane, even if you are vastly outnumbered. One of the most loathsome acts in Air Warrior is to run away from an enemy for a long period of time and a great distance only to bail out when the enemy finally closes to firing range. Bombing the crap out of the enemy when he is heavily outnumbered. Let's say that there are 4 A-landers up and 16 C-landers. With such lopsided odds, the C-landers should not be bombing A-land airfields. Why not? Isn't this war? Yes, but with such odds, there is little the A-landers can do to stop the bombing onslaught, and when enough A-land airfields are disabled, the outnumbered A-landers are likely simply to log off, leaving the C-landers with no opponents. Not much fun, eh? If you're so eager to bomb that you don't mind that there isn't enough opposition to make it challenging, you might as well go bomb some neutral fields or targets that don't matter to the A-landers' choice of planes or airfields. A better choice is to switch countries so that you can help even up the odds. Sometimes, there are only a few people up. In such circumstances, it's not couth to jump an enemy right after he takes off. If it's only 1-on-1 with no one else around -- let the guy get at least a little altitude and airspeed before you jump him. A truly chivalrous pilot will adjust the circumstances so that he and the enemy engage at the same altitude and similar airspeed. If it's 2-on-1 with no one else around -- you should definitely let the enemy get up to your altitude and airspeed. Let him know on the radio that you're giving him some time to do so. He might say that he doesn't care and that you can come attack him at any time. In that case, as you dive in on him to deliver his certain doom, you should note to yourself how truly manly and virile he is. Diving into a 2-on-1 fight, making it a 3-on-1 fight. This is more of a fine point. Most pilots accept 2-on-1 odds (even against them), but 3-on-1 is usually overkill -- 4-on-1 is definitely overkill. Your time is better spent covering your comrades in the fight by keeping a watch for other enemies showing up. Your comrades in the fight generally won't be in good position to deal with another enemy diving into the action -- but you can be. You can also call out warnings that more enemies are showing up, and you can engage a newly arriving enemy before he has a chance to dive into the action, spoiling his attempt to assist his hapless buddy. If the fight becomes a 1-on-1 while you are keeping watch, feel free to dive in; or if one of your countrymen in the fight calls for help, you should dive in regardless of how lopsided the odds are in his favor. 6.6 CHAPTER 6 EXERCISES 6.6.1 CARRIER OPERATIONS Practice landings and takeoffs from a CV (carrier) using an F4U Corsair with 100% fuel and 2 bombs loaded (if your Air-Warrior program supports bombs). 6.6.2 PREPPING AIRFIELDS Take up an A-26 and practice prepping an airfield for capture. In Air Warrior for the Windows and the Mac, practice bombing the ack and then the tower, all with one A-26 mission. If you can't find an airfield with an ack, let a corner of the runway be your simulated ack target. In Air Warrior II, take up an A-26 and go bomb acks, towers, fuel tanks, etc. 6.6.3 VEHICLES Drive around all of the vehicles, seeing which ones you can roll by going at top speed and turning hard. Jump to the gunnery positions and practice firing at things. 6.6.4 AGGRESSIVE BOMBER FLYING Take up an A-26 and fly it as you would a fighter. If your Air-Warrior program supports off-line missions, go up and have some fights. Get a feel for how careful you have to be in order to keep from ripping the wings off of your A-26. (Remember that the wings come off if you pull more than 6 g's.) If your program doesn't have off-line missions, practice some of the ACM exercises in the A-26. 7.0 CHAPTER 7 This chapter is a collection of maneuvers and techniques as described by some of the instructors in the Air-Warrior Training Academy. 7.1 REAL-LIFE TACTICS AND AIR WARRIOR by Brooke Air Warrior is a pretty realistic simulation. Most of the things that work in real-life air combat work also in Air Warrior. That's why, if you want to learn more about air combat, you should read "the Bible" of ACM: FIGHTER COMBAT, by Shaw (see the "Recommended Books and Movies" appendix). However, there are some maneuvers that don't work in Air Warrior very well, at least not without a little modification, because planes in Air Warrior have a "hit bubble." Because of communication delays, bandwidth limitations, and the associated slight amount of jitteryness of planes in Air Warrior (try flying in formation to see what I mean), for playability reasons, each plane in Air Warrior has a hit bubble around it that is larger than the plane itself. If you fire at a plane, even if your bullets don't hit the body of the plane, if they connect with the plane's hit bubble, you score hits, and the enemy takes damage. So, if there's a hit bubble around your plane that is two wingspans in diameter, you can imagine that some maneuvers won't work. Consider a very tight barrel roll. In real life, maybe that would keep you away from a pursuer's gunfire if the pursuer is just flying straight and level behind you. However, the hit bubble might not be out of the line of fire, not unless you have a larger barrel on your barrel roll. For example, you don't want to just slow down, trying to get an enemy to overshoot. He might overshoot, sure, but unless you get well out of the way in addition to slowing down, he'll put some lead into you as he goes by. 7.2 FLAPS by Kato "Flaps are funny things...." -- opening words used in all the best lectures on how to use flaps during air combat. Indiscriminate use of flaps during air combat is the surest way to get yourself killed, short of flying straight and level with your gear down. Having said that, there is an observation that needs to be made: of the three ACM fighting styles (angles fighting, energy fighting, and boom-and-zooming) only the angles fighters have any business at all employing flaps. If your intent is to use energy tactics or to boom-and-zoom your opponent, you need to maintain your energy state -- lowering your flaps can only hurt your cause. Flaps can be used in both offensive and defensive situations. Either way, using your flaps makes a statement that has no exceptions. In the defense, your statement is: "I have really screwed the pooch on this one. I have given my enemy the dominant position in this fight, and I am now ready to employ any means available to survive." Make no mistake -- used defensively, flaps are purely a desperation measure. You've foolishly let some slavering killer onto your six. You can't outrun him, and you either have to out-scissor him or hope he just loses interest and flies away (not freaking likely!). If your position is untenable and if you must resort to flaps to save your bacon, the important things to remember are: (1) flaps are only going to help you in a defensive spiral, a rolling scissors, or a bleeding-edge chandelle, and (2) you are pretty much a dead man whatever you do; that is a fitting fate for the pilot who places his plane in front of an enemy's guns. The Defensive Spiral. This is a frantic play for a few more seconds of life before you get shot to doll rags and can be executed in two basic ways. The first -- where you're going nose down in a spiral in an attempt to gain some separation and perhaps get the enemy on your tail to black out trying to follow you -- has nothing to do with the use of flaps. The other defensive spiral is an attempt to get an attacking pilot to overshoot your plane so you can either kill him or take advantage of a brief escape window. The intent is to roll your aircraft into a dive and to follow a tightly turning, corkscrew path without accelerating. Chopping your throttle, dropping your flaps (and perhaps even your gear) will all help you in your effort to turn hard and to stay slow even though you are pointed at the earth. If you are lucky, and if your enemy is stupid, he may either overshoot you or break off, at which point you need to trim for speed and run for as much separation as you can get. The Rolling Scissors. Used defensively, the intent behind drawing your enemy into a rolling scissors is much the same as a defensive spiral. You are either trying to force the attacker on your rear quarter to overshoot or to break off his attack because he's too close to track your evasions. The difference between the two stratagems is that during a rolling scissors you are attempting to combine lift and roll rate to turn energy into angle. You should only use flaps to do this during the high-yo-yo portions for short periods of time -- just until you get the nose of your plane below the horizon again. You must time the "flapping" of your flaps with your plane's aspect to the horizon, while simultaneously remaining careful not to bleed off too much airspeed, lest you lose your ability to maneuver at all. Attempt to keep your aircraft right at its cornering velocity. The "Bleeding-edge" Chandelle. This is the most risky use of flaps in the defense. For you to have any hope of success at all, you must have correctly judged the enemy on your six to have less energy than you, a poorer sustained climbing ability, and (hopefully) less ability to fly at the ragged edge of the envelope without departing from controlled flight. This maneuver is the exact opposite of the defensive spiral. You've sucked the enemy in very close and are now attempting to stay out from in front of his guns while hanging on your prop in a climbing spiral. If your judgments are correct and if you are better at flying on the extreme edge of the envelope than he is, he will stall and spin back toward earth while you climb away to safety. Quite simply, flaps may increase your lift and lower your stall speed enough to pull this off. Just as in the defense, when you consider use of flaps in the offense, you are making a statement to yourself. That statement is: "My intent is to decisively engage my prey. I have decided that I will NOT be leaving this fight until my opponent is a cloud of smoking debris. It is my intent to stick to my enemy like glue until he is dead, and I am confident enough in my flying and gunnery skills that this event will transpire forth with, because if it doesn't, verily I will be low, slow, and dead shortly thereafter." If you aren't prepared to adopt the attitude described above, you have no business using your flaps. If you do have this pit-fighter mentality, read on, grasshopper! Obviously, studied use of flaps has no part in the boom-and-zoomer's or the energy fighter's bag of tricks. This is pure stall-fighting, angles-fighting, magic. When, as an angles fighter, a pilot employs his flaps, his intent is first to increase lift at the cost of airspeed (due to increased drag), and by doing so convert that airspeed to angle. It is imperative that a pilot not bleed away so much energy that he loses maneuver options. The technique used by many of Air Warrior's hottest pilots is to use flaps at the top of a combat loop, following the merge. The intent is to go immediately vertical and use flaps (and brakes, if the plane has them) to bleed energy while increasing lift, thus slowing the aircraft, reducing turn radius and increasing turn rate. The end result is immediate gun angle -- in effect compounding the lead turn on each successive firing pass until reaching a position on the enemy's rear quarter. At near-stall speeds, flaps can make the difference between hanging inverted at the top of a loop and being able to pull your plane's nose back down below the horizon. When employed in this manner, keep in mind that some planes -- most notably the F6F -- are difficult to pull out of the bottom of a loop if you have your flaps lowered. This can quickly lose a dogfight for you or, at low altitudes, result in your attempting to fly your plane below ground level -- not recommended for your aircraft's structural integrity. Some planes benefit more from use of flaps than others, and those that have incremental flaps usually benefit the most. A rule of thumb which holds true for most planes with low wing loading is that if it has incremental flaps (flaps which can be locked in an intermediate position), then angles fighting should be done with at least 1/4 to 1/3 flaps. In planes with low wing loading and only two flap positions (up or down), this becomes problematic. The solution -- only available with significant practice -- is to attempt to keep your flaps at partial extension through constant switching between flap extension and retraction -- flapping your flaps, if you will. Remember: Flaps are funny things; handle with care. 7.2.1 OTHER FLAPS by Brooke The use of flaps is important. Since it often helps to get more than one point of view, I decided to add the following, even though there is substantial overlap with what Kato wrote. Here are the situations I have in mind when I'm deciding how to use flaps. The desperation move in a slow, flat turn. Here, you are chugging along at low speed in a turn, without many options, and the enemy is closing on your tail. Maybe you don't even have much altitude. Basically, you have blown the fight so far. Now what do you do? Well, in this situation, while it is true that flaps won't always increase your steady-state turn rate (it depends on the plane), flaps will descrease the radius of your steady-state turn. Also, dropping flaps will MOMENTARILY increase your turn rate (until your plane slows down) -- perhaps enough to get you out of your enemy's sights for part of a turn and to buy you some more seconds of life. The closing move in an angles fight. Here, the situation is actually similar to the one described in the previous paragraph except that you are the one in the good position, almost ready to bring guns to bear on the enemy's plane. Here, you can drop a notch of flaps to generate that little bit of extra turning rate you need to get the angle on the enemy, to bring your guns to bear for the kill. It's better to get the kill without deploying flaps (it's safer, since you don't waste any energy), but if you feel that you are safe in dropping some flaps and if you are pretty sure it will give you the angle you need for a good shot, you might want to go for it. Getting the nose down at the top of a loop, top of a high yo yo, or top part of rolling scissors. Here, at the top of the loop, high yo yo, or rolling scissors, if you are near stall speed and if you want to get your nose down quickly (perhaps for a shot, perhaps to keep from getting shot), you can drop flaps. This increases your lift -- and your drag, but you don't care about that too much since you'll soon be accelerating rapidly as the nose comes down -- and allows you to pull the nose down through the top of the loop more quickly. You retract flaps once your nose comes down, once you are diving and picking up speed. Generating maximum turn rate in a spiral dive or diving barrel roll. Some planes, like the P-38, P-51, and N1K1, can drop one notch of flaps -- often called "maneuvering flaps." In a nose-low turn (i.e., a descending spiral), the fact that you are diving allows you to keep your speed up. Then, if you have a notch of flaps deployed, you can adjust your dive and thus your speed so that you are generating a maximum turn rate for the plane. For some planes, like the P-38, this nose-low turn with a notch of flaps results in excellent turn rates that few planes can match. (The defense, of course, is not to follow the P-38 into a nose-low turn for extended periods of time.) You can also use this tactic in a diving barrel roll to increase the pitch of your flight path, which is like a corkscrew, and to keep your speed down closer to the 225-250 knot range talked about in the next paragraph. Keeping your speed low. In some situations, you want to keep your plane from accelerating. Why? Well, it is true that scrubbing away speed on purpose means that you are lowering the energy state of your plane, which can be bad, of course. However, down to a point (about 225-250 knots or so, depeding on the plane), lower speeds mean better turning rates AND better turning radii. If your opponent has a lot more speed than you do, you can do things like go into a nose-low turn or split S -- with flaps deployed, throttle chopped, or speed brakes deployed (in planes that have speed brakes), or a combination of all of these things. If you maintain a speed closer to that 225-250 knot range while your opponent is well above that speed and still trying to maneuver with you, he can have a problem. He might overshoot while trying to get his guns to bear, and you can maneuver onto his tail as he overshoots. Keeping your speed low, part 2. Let's say that you're in a plane (like the P-51, P-38, or N1K1) that can drop a notch of flaps at high speed (300 knots or more). Let's say that you are tooling along at 300 knots, and you are in a fight with a plane that can't deploy flaps or speed brakes at that speed. You can drop a notch of flaps and loop hard on the opponent, who (without chopping throttle, and perhaps not even then) cannot follow your maneuver. You might be able to loop around onto his tail and get a quick shot. It sometimes works with P-51's being followed by Spitfires, which are notoriously bad at bleeding off speed. 7.3 NOSE-LOW TURNS by Kato When speaking of nose-low turns in the context of air combat maneuvering, pilots aren't generally speaking of gentle thirty-degree bank coordinated turns where your cowling happens to be slightly beneath the horizon. In the context of ACM, the aircraft is usually describing a hard turn with the wings close to -- or even beyond -- the 90-degree point, with the pilot pulling positive G's even while inverted. These diving spirals have both offensive and defensive applications, although execution of the maneuver -- and the caveats thereof -- remain similar. Anytime the nose of your aircraft is significantly below the horizon -- even when the drag of high G forces are bleeding away your energy -- expect the aircraft to gain speed as it converts the potential energy of altitude to kinetic energy (airspeed). This conversion brings with it several dangers. The primary one is that as airspeed rises, so does turn radius, which may give an enemy the ability to cut inside your turn for an easy deflection shot. This is basic physics. It is obvious to even inexperienced pilots. And everyday it trips up pilots who know better. To defend against this, watch your airspeed as hard as you watch your six. In a steep dive, only moments separate controllable airspeed from an uncontrolled compressibility lockup. When flying defensively, avoid turning your plane into a bullet magnet by never cutting a predictable path through the air until you are well clear of any enemy. If your intent is not to disengage from an enemy, chopping or cutting back throttle will help you avoid unwanted airspeed. This, along with cunning use of flaps or landing gear may even force an unwary enemy plane to overshoot -- although this defensive spiral is strictly a desperation ploy and is unlikely to pull your bacon out of the fire against any but the most inexperienced enemy. 7.4 OTHER NOSE-LOW TURNS by Brooke Some planes can generate a huge turn rate under the appropriate circumstances (like the P-38 with a notch of flaps). In a nose-low turning fight for this situation, you want full power (and WEP if you have it) and a notch of flaps if you have them. Then you go into as much of a dive in your turn (a descending spiral) as you need to generate 6 g's and a flashing stall light. You want only as much speed as is necessary to stay out of the stall at 6 g's. You are flying two edges: the edge of blacking out and the edge of the stall. You want to use high-speed flaps (if your plane has them) because this edge of the flight envelope will occur at a lower speed (and thus a smaller turning radius) by using 10-15 degrees of flaps. So, you use this to generate a larger turn rate than your enemy (so that you can come around on his tail and shoot him) and simultaneously to generate a smaller turn radius than the enemy (so that he has an even tougher time getting a shot on you). The problem is that the enemy can refuse to go into a descending spiral with you, and then you will end up lower than he is, and you can be in trouble. The best results are for tempting him into it: do a turn or two flat with him gaining on you a little, and then ease into the descending spiral. If he follows you, he might stay in it until it's too late for him. This maneuver is best used when the following conditions are met. First, your plane turns better than the enemy plane at some speed above stall speed. Second, your plane turns worse than the enemy plane near stall speeds. In other words, you can out-turn him in a spiral descent but can't out-turn him in flat turns. It is a good way (if you can sucker the enemy into it) to eat up an enemy's initial large energy advantage as, after the two of you have done several revolutions, you will both be at about the same energy. This maneuver is risky, though. Eventually you do run out of altitude, right? -- and you will most likely run out before a pursuing enemy if you weren't able to come around on him. I don't recommend this maneuver highly, but it does have its moments, and it's one of the few angles tactics you can use when the enemy plane holds most of the cards. I think that energy tactics or running are wiser, but they aren't as action packed. You can turn this maneuver into a spiral escape or a vertical escape (see Chapter 3) if you get desperate. 7.5 SPLIT-S ATTACK by Brooke This attack is a B&Z tactic. You overfly the enemy, heading in a direction generally opposite to the direction he is going. When you are near the enemy, roll inverted and watch him in your forward-up view. When he is near the limit of your forward-up view, ready to go into the up view (i.e., he's starting to go directly under you), go into a split S. You might need to chop your throttle to keep out of compressibility or to keep from dropping too far below him in the split S -- it requires good timing that you will get with practice. If you do it right, though, you will pull out of the split S as you are entering range for a shot on his tail. If he didn't see you and hasn't evaded, start shooting at 600 yards. If he has evaded hard, you might have to forgo the shot altogether -- don't waste your ammo on a shot that won't hit. Either way, go into a very gentle climbing turn once you pass him (assuming that you are blowing by him at high speed). If you don't have speed on him, you might want to dive out and get some distance. Once you have your distance (1600 yards or more), you can climb back up to altitude and come back for another run on the enemy. To combat this when it is used on you, see the "Avoiding B&Z" section. 7.6 VERTICAL YO-YO ATTACK by Brooke This is a B&Z tactic. You dive vertically upon the enemy, firing when you are within 500-600 yards. It will be difficult for the enemy to evade well unless he has some speed, and this is mighty fun when the enemy has a better dogfighting plane but no speed. It's like doing a tap-dance on his head. After you pass him, pull up hard into a vertical climb. Hold the vertical climb until you near stall speed, then pull over the top. Now fly over the enemy again, and repeat the process until you run out of an altitude advantage. To combat this when it is used on you, see the "Avoiding B&Z" section. 7.7 AVOIDING B&Z by Brooke So, some guy with a load of altitude on you is bouncing you repeatedly. What do you do? Well, obviously, when he is close to you, you want to evade, but what's the overall strategy? There are two techniques that I like: going high and going low. Going high involves eating into the enemy's altitude advantage. So, whenever the enemy is jockeying around above you, out of guns range, you should be climbing. However, keep your airspeed up so that you can evade when he makes his pass. You should have enough airspeed in order to pull 5-6 g's in your plane (175-225 knots depending on the plane). Or you can be more daring, do a harder climb at a lower speed, and do a nose-low turn as your evasive when the enemy does his gunnery pass. Go back into your climb in the direction of the enemy as soon as he is past you. You want to climb toward the enemy -- you want him to have to maneuver to get anything better than a head-to-head shot. At some point, especially if your plane climbs better than his, you will get to his altitude, and then you can press the fight instead of being on the defensive. Going low involves going right to the deck. Do this when the enemy's plane climbs better than yours or when you don't think you can eat into his altitude advantage. Diving on someone when that someone is on the deck is very dicey (due to speed and angle) -- the enemy will have to dive down, level out, and approach you levelly. After the enemy does his pass, turn gently (not to waste energy) toward him so that his next pass will have to be head-to-head (and you can jink to avoid). Try for 50 ft. if you can -- that leaves the enemy with very little room for any pullout if he's not careful how he approaches. If the enemy wastes a lot of energy in going after you while you are low and if you judge that now you can eat into his altitude advantage, you can switch to the "going high" approach now. 7.8 JINKING by Brooke Much reference has been made to jinking. Jinking is used mainly in two situations: to avoid a head-on shot or to avoid getting shot while you run away. Jinking is flying erratically, with little unpredictable deviations added to your flight path but not significantly affecting the direction you are headed. To avoid a head-on shot (where you and an enemy are approaching nose to nose), first you should veer gently away a bit, so that your nose is not pointed right at the enemy. That generates some angle so that you are harder to track. Second, as the enemy gets within guns range (1000 yards or so), pull a few g's in a direction of your choice or do a few-g barrel roll. Don't pull lots of g's, or you will waste energy; and don't veer too far away from your enemy, or you will generate enough separation (distance between the two of you) that your enemy will be able to go for an angles shot on you. I like to turn slightly away from the enemy at about 2000 yards. Then at 1000 yards, I turn gently toward him, but still with my nose pointed slightly above or below him. This way, as he closes to within gunnery range, I am turning but am not headed right at him. Turning toward him denies a good angles shot. To avoid getting shot while you run away, you can do one of two things. If your plane has a large roll-rate advantage over the enemy plane (e.g., you are in a FW 190 and the enemy is in a Yak 9D, and both of you are going 300 knots), you can do barrel rolls or parts of barrel rolls at random. Make sure they are barrel rolls and not just aileron rolls (as described in Chapter 1) so that you get out of the line of fire. If you don't have such a roll-rate advantage, roll to a direction picked at random, pull a few g's, roll to a new direction at random, pull a few g's, and so on. Push some negative g's once in a while at random, too. Pick new directions quickly -- don't hold your few g's until you are turning away much from your intended flight path (namely, directly away from pursuit). You don't want something as drastic as an S curve, for example. Just a few g's, pulled for a second or two at a time, then roll to the next position. You an also roll while pulling some g's, or pushing g's. The whole point is to fly erratically, to try to stay out of the enemy's stream of bullets, but not to deviate too far from flying directly away from the enemy. This will usually work only if your plane is faster than the enemy's, of course, this method of running away. 7.9 EXTENDING by Brooke Extending is the process of putting more distance between you and your enemy. This is commonly done when B&Z attacking a plane that can beat you in a low-speed fight. At some point, as your energy advantage decreases, you might find that you'd like a bit more separation so that you can move off to get more altitude or to re-evaluate the energy state of the enemy. If you are going quite fast compared to the enemy, you can simply continue flying mostly level, perhaps with a very slight turn to throw off the chance that the enemy can get a good shot as you go by. If you don't have a substantial amount of speed on the enemy and if he's in a position as you pass to get a shot on your tail as you extend, you might want to hold a dive as you pass him. In the dive, you will pick up speed and distance more quickly. Again, be turning gently in the dive, or, if you judged that you needed a very steep dive, even a vertical dive, in order to get the separation you need quickly enough, you can barrel roll or jink or both until you are out of range. One thing to keep in mind if you are diving away from an enemy, extending, is that reducing the g's your plane is pulling will help you to accelerate faster. This is because lift causes induced drag, as discussed before. You can "unweight" -- push forward slightly on the stick until your g-meter reads just more than 0 g's. 0 g's would be best (for getting rid of induced drag), but your engine needs some g's to keep its oil pump happy. Unweighting will help you to accelerate faster, but beware that jinking might be more important than unweighting if the enemy is in range of a shot. 7.10 AVOIDING WING FAILURE by Brooke The N1K1, Ki-84, Spitfires, Yak 9D, and A6M5 are all susceptible under certain conditions to wing failure. The Spitfires suffer wing failure above about 480 knots IAS, whether or not they are pulling lots of g's. The others suffer wing failure at lower speeds but at high g's (more than 6-8 g's). This generally is not a problem. You just have to be careful of the 500 knot range in the Spitfires; and for the other planes, since you usually don't want to pull more than 6 g's anyway, you don't get into trouble -- unless you hit compressibility. Compressibility (or "compression") happens when the air over the top of the wing hits supersonic velocities. This can happen when an aircraft is traveling less than the speed of sound because wings displace air, and air has to move more quickly than if it didn't have to travel the longer path across the surface of the wing. When the air over the surface hits Mach 1, strong shock waves form that sweep back from the wing and interfere with the control surfaces. The controls can be effectively rendered immovable. Since the speed of sound increases at higher densities and thus at lower altitudes, compression is more of a problem at high altitudes than low. All of the planes in Air Warrior will hit compressibility if you dive them from a high enough altitude. Now, this wouldn't be such a big problem except for the transition from compressibility to normal flight. Here's how the problem happens. A pilot hits compressibility (where the screen is shaking to indicate buffeting of the aircraft and where the controls are mostly ineffective) in a high-speed dive, possibly while trying to fire upon a fleeing enemy. He tries to pull out (either because he wants to stop the dive or because the enemy is pulling up), but because the controls are ineffective, even though he pulls all the way back on the stick, he is only pulling 3 g's or less. So, he keeps pulling and eventually gets the nose up, whereupon the speed comes down, or he chops his throttle, or both. The speed comes down, the plane comes out of compressibility. The problem is that, immediately upon coming out of compressibility, the control surfaces have their usual effectiveness. If the stick is all the way back when the plane comes out of compressibility at, say, 350 knots, the plane immediately pulls much more than 6-8 g's. That's when the wings on some planes have structural failure. The solution is to watch the transition out of compressibility. If you are in compressibility, don't pull back more than what you need to generate 2-3 g's or so. Pulling back more won't help your pullout but might cause wing failure as soon as compressibility ends. Pull back gingerly only -- only enough for those 2-3 g's -- and as soon as the plane comes out of compressibility, immediately release enough back pressure on your stick so that you are pulling only 6 g's or less. 7.11 FURBALL TACTICS by Brooke A furball is a large dogfight, involving many allies and enemies. The safest way to attack in a furball is with B&Z tactics; the second safest is with energy tactics; and the most unsafe is angles tactics (but, hey, it's fun). I'll start with angles tactics first. With angles tactics, you are in the furball -- you are one of the pieces of hair that makes up the fur -- and it's difficult to employ the neat set of strategies that are useful in a one-on-one fight. The most important difference is that you have to VERY frequently check your six. Check every few seconds. Check before or as you slack off on the g's you are pulling. Check before or as you reverse the direction of your turn. If someone is coming in for the shot, you have to pull g's to evade, even if it means you have to abandon a shot on the guy you're following. If one enemy is too difficult to kill, go for someone else (who might be giving you a nice shot as he goes after somebody). Be careful when you change targets, though -- the guy you were after (if he is any good) will keep an eye on you and perhaps come around on your tail as you go after another target. If you get in trouble, pull some g's. Nose-low turns are good if you don't have much energy. Split S's are useful. Anything that allows you to pull lots of g's to get the hell out of the way is useful. Don't get very slow in a furball (like at or below stall speed), as you won't be able to get out of the way if you have to. Of course, if you are in a stallfight next to the ground, you have no choice but to keep turning at stall speed (until you are dead, someone bails you out, you kill your opponent, or your opponent breaks off). If you are in deep trouble, head for friendlies. Head for a crowd. Furballs are confusing places, and whoever is on you hard might lose sight of you or find an easier target. If you do get way too slow and if someone is coming in for the shot, go into a spin (if you have the altitude) -- it's better than just hanging there. For energy tactics, you can circle around near the top of the furball, looking for people who come up at you but don't quite have the energy to do it. Or you can circle and look for low-energy targets lower down in the furball, upon whom you can swoop down for a quick shot. Watch your six as you prowl. Keep your speed up. If you get into trouble, you can dive down through the furball, pulling some high-g evasives -- maybe your pursuer will go after an easier, less-maneuverable target. If you get clear, you can zoom back up to the top of the furball and look around again. Watch out for people following you back up -- watch your six. For B&Z tactics, you basically come zooming through the furball at very high speed. Coming through level or in a very shallow dive is best. Pick out a target that is involved in a turning fight and that happens to be turning his tail toward you as you close. Fire at him. If you can't find something like that, fire at the best target you see -- but be careful of allies. After you pass through the furball, go into a shallow, slightly turning climb to one side or the other (not just a straight climb -- remember that it's harder to target someone who isn't in a purely vertical or horizontal plane). When you reach a range of about 1600-2000 yards from the aircraft on the outside of the furball, do a lazy (3 g) Immelman, dive back down, level out, and zoom through the furball again. You can also watch for aircraft that have zoomed through the furball and are climbing up but that don't have the speed you do. You can fly up on their tails and shoot them as they climb. Watch that this doesn't happen to you. You can also employ the "vertical yo-yo" maneuver on furballs -- see the section by that name. If you do, beware losing altitude with each yo-yo and ending up within the furball without any speed. Whatever tactics you are using, one way to try to shake an enemy who is on you is to go into as dense a cloud of planes as possible and to do a high-g turn to a new direction 90 degrees from where you were headed -- or maybe a high-g split S (watch the ground, though). That way, you don't bleed off all of your speed in the high-g maneuver, but you end up at a radically different heading. Hopefully, the enemy will lose sight of you or go for someone who isn't maneuvering as hard. If you are going fast, and an enemy is hot on your tail, diving under a cloud of friendlies can allow some friendlies to split S onto the enemy. Or you can dive into the cloud of friendlies and turn hard, and keep turning hard until your speed and the enemy's speed are low enough for the other friendlies to engage. 7.12 CHOPPING THROTTLE by Brooke As discussed previously, if your speed is very high, reducing your speed will allow you to turn more rapidly and more tightly. Chopping your throttle is one way to reduce your speed rapidly. This is good, but reducing your speed also means that you are reducing your energy. So there is a tradeoff -- when should you chop your throttle? Usually, you should chop your throttle if you are following an enemy at high speed, and you notice your enemy drastically out-turning you (or out-looping you or out split-S-ing you -- they are all turns at heart, just in different directions). At the same high speed, all of the planes turn equally well as they are all limited by the g's the pilot can pull. So if an enemy is out-turning you, it means that he has slowed down. You might need to slow down in order to pursue. This happens a lot in planes that hold onto their speed very well, like Spitfires. Likewise, if an enemy is pursuing you and if the two of you are going very fast, you might want to chop throttle as you commence a high-g maneuver, in order to increase your turn rate. Generally, you want to do this if you think that it will result in a good shot. Maybe you think that a quick loop back behind the enemy will work well. Maybe the two of you are in a high-speed turn and chopping throttle will give you a quick turn-rate advantage that will get you on the enemy's tail. Regardless, being the first in a fight to chop throttle can be dangerous. If the enemy doesn't chop his throttle, except in the case discussed previously in Section 3.4, he will most likely end up with more energy than you. Chopping throttle is more commonly used in planes that don't have to worry too much about getting slow. These also happen to be the planes that hold onto their energy better and thus are more likely to need speed reduction anyway: Spitfires and the A6M5. The safest place to chop throttle is when you are in a very fast, very steep dive. There, chopping the throttle so that you can pull out more rapidly does not necessarily use more energy than keeping full throttle and doing a max-g pullout. You'll go much lower during the high-speed pullout than you will in the chopped-throttle pullout. As an example, Section 3.4 discusses chopping the throttle in a split S. 7.13 CLIMBING TURNS by Kato The climbing turn, or chandelle, is one of the simpler maneuvers. Useful when taking off from airfields where enemy contact is possible, a climbing orbit over a friendly ack gives one the time to gain some situational awareness about the theater environment while reducing the threat of being ambushed while still low and slow. Pilot preference and aircraft climbing ability will determine the rate of climb, but there are tactical considerations to chandelling up to altitude. Increasing the angle of bank (the steepness of your turn) reduces your climb rate, since part of your lift vector is now being directed horizontally (toward turning your plane rather than merely keeping it aloft). Thus, a tight turn lengthens significantly the amount of time it will take you to climb to altitude. Conversely, a turning radius that is too large may take one outside your ack's protection. When enemy planes are in the area, keep your climb rate low. That gives you a compromise between getting to altitude and sustaining enough airspeed to exercise defensive options in an emergency. This will help keep you alive if an enemy pilot decides to brave your airfield's ack in hope he can kill you and escape before getting shot up. The chandelle also has more aggressive uses. Primary among these is its employment at the merge as a variant to the Immelman or split-S. Using the chandelle to take the reversal out of the pure vertical plane moves a lead turn into two dimensions (the concept of the lead turn is presented elsewhere in this manual; understanding it is crucial to air combat success). The largest advantage to using this "hard" chandelle in conjunction with a vertical post-merge reverse is that it moves you out of your enemy's plane of maneuver, forcing him to correct to your flight instead of vice versa. It may also cause him to lose sight of you -- no mean bonus! Lastly, a factor that could be a caveat or an advantage is that pulling the air combat out of the strictly vertical plane increases the difficulty of retaining control if a fight drags on to the point where both pilots are stall fighting (very low-speed, edge-of-the-control-envelope ACM). A good pilot may then be able to force the enemy into spinning out of controlled flight. After that, all that remains to be done is capitalize on his mistake! 7.14 OTHER CLIMBING TURNS by Brooke If you are in a low-speed turning fight and if your plane has a large climb-rate advantage over the enemy's (see Chapter 7), you can sometimes go into a climbing turn without getting shot. This is a tricky business, but it can work when flying a Bf 109 (one of the best climbers in the game) against some of the slower climbers (Zeros, Ki-84's, maybe even P-38's, which aren't all that bad) or perhaps even when flying something like the F4U against a Zero. You will sacrifice some turn rate by going into the climbing turn, so you want to start it when the enemy isn't more than say 180 degrees around the circle from you. If the enemy is coming around for a shot as you are climbing, you can always evade with a nose-low turn (picking up speed and turn rate in the diving turn). The idea is to go into the climb when you are closer to the tail of the enemy than he is to yours, but when you can't manage to get the lead you need for a good shot. You go into a climb. Now there are two situations to account for. First, if the enemy doesn't follow, but keeps a flat turn, you just have to watch out initially that he will out-turn you and get a quick pop-up shot. Make sure you have room at the start and go into a nose-low turn if he is closing too fast. If the enemy doesn't close before too long, though, you end up with a significant altitude advantage that you then can put to use whenever you want to increase turn rate (trade altitude for more speed, i.e., a higher turning rate). Second, if the enemy does follow, you generally don't have to worry about him coming around on your tail (as his turn rate will be lessened, too), and moreover you are now in a great position as his plane won't climb as fast as yours. You just wait until you have that altitude advantage. 7.15 IMMELMAN WITH A TURN AT THE TOP by Brooke Many fights in Air Warrior begin with a head-to-head pass, as the enemy often sees you coming and is prepared for it. If you don't have any advantages over the enemy (a better plane, more energy, or more skill), the opening moves are often critical in determining who wins. One maneuver that I like -- but that is dangerous -- is the Immelman with a turn at the top. Here, after I pass the enemy, I go into a lazy Immelman, pulling 3 g's or less. If I see the enemy pulling a very hard Immelman and coming around on my tail for a shot, I pull maximum g's to complete my Immelman. At the top of the Immelman, I see whether or not the enemy seems like he'll soon have a shot at me. If the enemy won't have a shot, I roll to one side or the other (to the side the enemy is on) into as hard a flat turn as I can manage given my speed (which is near stall speed). I make sure I have WEP on, and if I have a plane that can generate better turning with some flaps deployed, I deploy them. I then watch for the enemy. If he wasted energy coming up to my altitude (at the top of the Immelman), he won't have as good a turn rate as I do or he won't even be able to make it to my altitude. He might stall out and spin trying to bring his guns to bear. If so, I most likely have him. If he doesn't blow it, we are now both chugging around in a stall fight, and I can fly the edge and see if my opponent can wring as much out of his plane in this flight regime as I can. Or I can go into a descending-spiral fight. If the enemy will have a shot, I again roll to the side the enemy is on, but I don't roll into a flat turn, I roll only 45 degrees or so (so that I am still slightly inverted) and pull into as hard a nose-low turn as I can manage. I go into a nose-low turn instead of a flat turn as, at the top of the Immelman, I have very little speed and can't generate a good turn rate. If you don't generate a good turn rate, the enemy, if he is below you coming up, can shoot you in the side -- it's much harder for him to do that if you are turning well. Again, I make sure that I have WEP on, but I don't always click in a notch of flaps if the enemy is seems very skilled and aggressive -- I might need the speed to continue my nose-low turn into a spiral-diving escape. Again, if the enemy wasted more energy than I did, I will be able to come around on him. If he didn't, I am now in a descending spiral fight. I like this maneuver because, if my enemy doesn't conserve his energy as well as I do, this puts me right over his head where he can't get me but I can use my energy to come around on his tail. Also, if my enemy blows his timing, I can be up gathering some airspeed in my turn at the top while he is still getting up there, which can allow me to come around on him while he's very slow. The big danger is getting shot in the side or in the canopy if the enemy pulls a very hard Immelman -- that's where your judgment of his position is critical and where quick counteraction is required (namely, the hard nose-low evasive). 7.16 VERTICAL ROPE A DOPE by Brooke For the vertical rope a dope, you want to sucker a lower-energy enemy into following you into the vertical. Sometimes you can do this by diving down from a large altitude advantage, leveling off, going past an enemy who is going mostly in your direction, and just pulling up into a vertical climb. Sometimes, you use other B&Z tactics and just watch for the enemy trying to follow you as you climb -- then you go into a vertical climb. Sometimes you use it on a lower-energy enemy if the following sequence occurs. After a head-to-head pass, you both do Immelmans and are in a head-to-head pass again. Now you do an Immelman again, and the enemy follows but doesn't have the energy to complete it. The point is, if you have much more energy, you won't stall out, but the enemy who tries to follow up will. You have to be able to judge how much energy an enemy has compared to you, though -- you get that with practice. If he does follow you, watch him. If he isn't falling back and is close enough for a shot at your tail, it's time to evade hard. If he is falling back, you just watch for his rate of separation to increase drastically -- then he has either stalled or broken off. You then reverse hard back onto him. If he has stalled, he is now flailing around without any airspeed, and you fill him full of lead as you dive upon him. If he broke off, you are now chasing him and can run him down unless his plane can out-accelerate yours. Don't get into this situation yourself. Don't get so slow following someone that you lose the ability to maneuver -- unless you are quite sure you'll get that shot or that the enemy won't be able to capitalize on your momentary helplessness. Watch your speed when following someone into a climb. 7.17 VISUAL CLUES by Brooke You use visual clues all of the time in air combat as you are always judging the future location of an aircraft based upon your past observations of its flight path and attitude. For close-in combat in Air Warrior, when you can see the shape of the plane, using the visual clues is second nature. You'll know what's happening when a plane zooms up into a climb, then slows to a crawl -- he's near stalling. You'll anticipate when a plane rolls inverted at the top of a climb, that he's pulling back down to get some speed. All of this will come naturally and needs no explanation. Finding the visual clues when planes are at a large distance, though, is less natural. How do you know what another plane is doing when it appears just as a dot? Well, you can always judge altitude, even of a dot. How far above or below the horizon is it? And if you see several dots, dancing around, staying roughly in the same location, you know that they're in a dogfight, that they probably don't have much airspeed. If you see a dot going up and down like a yo yo, you know that he's probably in the process of doing loops -- a looping fight. Sometimes, in B&Z fighting, you will be attacking a plane that is involved in a low-speed turning fight. As you come through at high speed, it's much better if you can come into gunnery range while the enemy has his tail to you. Once you've been close enough to know which plane is the enemy plane, you can keep an eye on it even as it's a dot and know which side of the circle it's on. You can try to time things so that you are coming in when you are presented with the best shot. 7.18 SITUATIONAL AWARENESS by Bug Developing Situational Awareness (SA) is one of the most difficult skills to be learned in the process of becoming an effective fighter pilot, but it's also one of the most important. Some would say that it is THE most important skill, next to learning the directions to the sheep enclosure, of course. Part of SA lies in having a good grasp of the immediate 3-D tactical situation: knowing or having a pretty good idea of where planes near you are in relation to you, what direction they are pointing, how much energy (E) they have, and how much of a threat they are at any particular moment. Sounds a little bit daunting, doesn't it? When you're just starting at this game you are struggling just to learn the basic geometries of combat, and all the things I mentioned above tend to be overwhelming. Don't worry, for the longer you fly, the easier it becomes to visualize the immediate situation. We'll talk about some of these things later, but there are a lot of clues to Situational Awareness that you can glean from information the game gives you. And in any situation, you can put yourself in a better position if you just apply a bit of knowledge of human nature. Don't underestimate this last bit, because you can score a lot more kills if you can guess what the other guy might do before he even thinks of it. Sound good? Read on. The first thing you should always do when you first enter the game is to find out the odds, as follows. 7.18.1 THINGS TO DO BEFORE YOU FLY Yeah sure. You can just log on, go to your favorite airfield, grab your favorite plane and fly. Nothing wrong with that. . . . But you'll be a lot smarter, and kill more if you follow Uncle Bug's advice. By this time, I'm sure you've set both your handle and (more importantly) your Custom Player ID (CPID). You have, right? If not the system automatically assigns you the handle of New User, and a CPID that is some random nonsense like "xtv145q." It's the CPID that appears in front of all of your radio messages, so if you change JUST your handle, you still appear to the world as "xtv145q." In other words, you appear to be clueless. This is bad, so click on the flight jacket in the lower-left corner of the Officer's Club to change this stuff to something meaningful. The first thing that I like to do when I get on-line is take a look at the overall strategic situation. Specifically, I want to see what the odds are by country. This information influences my decision of what plane to fly, and where to fly that plane from. More on that later. To get this valuable info type the following into the text area at the bottom of the screen "/theatre". Most commands can be abbreviated. In this case, "/th" does it. This will show you how many folks are flying in each country. Just add up the vertical columns to get the totals. But wait a minute! Half of the information has scrolled out of the little text window! Just hit the "F2" key to expand the text window to full-screen. Ain't that handy? This is also good for when you are in the radio room trying to taunt the masses into a duel, recruit gunners for your sissy bomber, or whatever. Note the "/" character in the above command line. This is a little bit confusing, since while you're in the air, the "/" is used to talk on the all-country radio channel. See the radio chapter for details. But on the ground, all commands begin with a "/" character. Maybe now you'd like to see if some of your pals are up -- or better yet, your hated archenemy Fill-In-The-Blank. You want to check the roster. Either click on the chalkboard, or type "/roster" (or "/ros"). Now you need a field to fly from. You can see a map of the fields by clicking on the view of the Spitfire out the window. This map is a nice feature, since you can also see the sector counters that give you some idea of where everyone else is flying. As is pointed out elsewhere in this document, the map is divided up into squares called "sectors." Sectors that have planes in them have "sector counters" in the upper left corner of each sector. Enemy planes are indicated by the little orange squares. The number of friendly planes is shown by squares of YOUR country's color below the orange ones (blue for A, red for B, green for C.) Note that this map does not show WHERE in the sector these planes are. It just shows you that that number of planes are in that sector somewhere. You want to fly from a field that is undamaged. Well you do, don't you? If you click on an airfield on the map, you can get a look at that field's current status. But it can take you awhile to go all around the map checking all of them. A faster way is to use this command line: "/airfields" (or "/a"). This shows you the status of all airfields in your country. You want to fly from a field that has Ammo, Fuel and Maintenance all at 100%. Exception: the Me-109 can fly just fine with fuel quality reduced to 85%. Okay, now you've chosen your airfield. If there are no bad guys in the sector with you, go ahead and fly. But if there ARE bad guys in the sector, you might want to pop your head out and take a look around first. This is just in case your field's ack defenses are down, and the stinkin' rotten bad guy is circling just behind your takeoff point waiting to vulch you as you helplessly roll down the runway trying to take off. The term "vulch" derives from "vulture." I leave you to infer the meeting for yourself. . . . So grab a jeep and take off in that. Why a jeep? For one thing, even if you do get shot down in a vehicle, it does not count against your record in airborne vehicles. For another, a jeep affords you an unobstructed view in all directions, and a view is all you want here. Take a look all around, and while you're at it, check the radar ("F10" key). Locations of planes close enough to be picked up will be shown precisely, and this you cannot do from inside buildings. Some fields don't let you take jeeps out, but will let you take Flakpanzers. So fine, take one of those instead. However you'll notice that the view is quite bad from the driver's position. Type "jg". This stands for "Jump to Gunner position." There! Now you have a nice view. However, even if you see enemy planes nearby, DO NOT, DO NOT, DO NOT shoot at them! If you do, you are likely to shoot down some of your countrymen without even knowing you did so, and this can make you VERY unpopular. See the section on vehicles for more details on this phenomenon, and how to avoid it. This sounds like a lot of stuff to do, but in practice takes just a minute or two. And you end up armed with a pretty good idea of the enemy's strength and their general location, and this in turn lets you pick your plane and fuel load intelligently. But hey, if you want to fly that old Spit from a damaged field five sectors away from the nearest action, go ahead. But you'd do better to check things out a bit first. Trust Uncle Bug on this one. 7.18.2 THINGS TO DO WHEN YOU FLY OK, now you know about the "/theatre" (or "/th") command, choosing an airfield by looking at the map and considering number and placement of sector counters, checking the health of your fields with the "/airfield" command, and even taking off in a jeep to see if bad guys are waiting to vulch you. Now it's time to get in a plane and take off and to exercise aspects of in-flight situational awareness. Let's illustrate some of these things with an example that you may find useful. In this example, we will assume you are an A-lander. Why? Because, that's why. At this point you should probably go look at the Real-time European Theater map to get a good mental idea of where the fields I will mention (A83, A88 and B86) are in relation to each other. If you don't, you'll miss the point. . . . Let's say you log on, and you use the "/th" command. You discover that there are only two A's up, nine B's, and no C's. You check the map, and by the sector counters you can see that there are two friendly counters and seven enemy counters in the sector that contains A88. Two more enemy counters are in the B86 sector nearby. What does this tell you? It tells you that all the B's are busy gang-banging your buddies at A88, and probably flying from their closest field as fast as they can to get in on the fun. Human nature, remember? So, what would be a good plane to fly in this situation? Assuming that you want to stay alive, a P-51 would be a good choice, because it's the fastest plane in the game, and will stand you a better chance of getting you out of any trouble that you get into. So you check the airfields with the "/a" command and find out that A83 is not damaged. You take off from A83 and immediately climb out towards the west, clawing for altitude. You climb up to 15k or so, heading west. You see a couple of kill messages, but the only friendly counters are still over A88. Apparently, your silly countrymen are getting all pissed off and taking off right away from 88 again after getting killed. This little furball is bound to be quite low over 88, right? Sure, because the B's will be trying to kill the A's just as they take off. You notice that a couple of B's have been killed, and a couple minutes later two enemy counters pop up in the B86 sector. Ah! They're probably all bent out of shape at being killed and will head right back to 88 to get their revenge without bothering to gain alt. So you fly towards the point about midway between 86 and 88 and hope that you're right. And sure enough, there's a couple of low dots heading to 88. You head behind them, hoping that they don't see you, and knowing that your altitude will give you the speed you need to catch up. If you time this correctly, you will ideally make your move as the bad guys get close to the furball, since they are more likely to be fixated on the fun coming up in front of them, and not looking out the back as they should be. (Human nature strikes again!) So you come in behind the trailing plane, keeping your maneuvers wide and gentle so you don't bleed off airspeed unnecessarily. You drop below his altitude so that even if he does look straight back he won't see you. As you get within gun range, you open up. Hits! Boom, he dies! Now, his buddy is still 1000 yards away, but off to one side a bit. Also, he's just about to 88, where only one of your fellow A's is still alive. You'd have to maneuver hard at this speed to get a good tail shot, and losing airspeed in the middle of nine enemies would be a bad thing. About this time you see that the last of your buddies gets killed. All those bad guys were twisting and turning, slavering over his kill. Now that he's gone, they're gonna look around for something else to kill. And the only thing around is . . . you. Yes, you probably could get that second kill, but if you want to live you will straighten out, put the nose level or slightly down and blow right through this mess, only climbing out when you're well out of gun range. It's handy that your escape path towards home is already pretty much the way you're heading. It'd be a coincidence, but you planned it that way, because your SA is so darned good! This is an example of the kind of considerations you find yourself making all the time in this game. Notice that I used knowledge of how many good and bad guys were flying (that I got from using the "/theatre" command while on the ground) and figured out the general situation from number and placement of sector counters. Then I chose a plane and tactic suited to the situation. None of this required that I fly like the Red Baron (and good thing, too!) just that I observe things, and use the information in an intelligent way. You don't have to be the top stick-and-rudder man to fly smart, and that is what Situational Awareness is all about. Here's a few other general truisms of Air Warrior that you can use to your advantage: -- Furballs (as well as any close-in turning fights) will tend to descend. -- Almost everyone will tend to gang-bang at the least provocation. If you're looking to get your own kill, you might not want to join in with five of your buddies as they try to kill one enemy, but rather stay at a higher altitude and look for someone trying to come to the rescue. -- Bombers almost always bomb the closest enemy airfield. -- Pilots flying E planes (P-51, FW 190, etc.) straight into furballs at low altitude are almost certainly dweebs that you don't have to worry too much about. -- Pilots flying E planes at high altitudes who fly right over furballs without diving in are aces that you should worry plenty about. -- Someone killed on their takeoff roll (also known as getting vulched) who is mad enough to pop right up again in the same spot, to get killed again, will be mad enough to pop up yet again. To get killed again. Repeat. -- Patient pilots kill more than impulsive pilots. -- Pilots afraid to seize an opportune moment don't get kills. They just fly around. Notice how the last two points seem to contradict each other. But they don't really, because the decision on when to be patient, and when to risk it all depends on the surrounding situation. Take a look around you when the moment comes for that decision -- or better yet, know the situation ALREADY when the moment comes. The "/theatre" command for general odds, the "/roster" command for personalities, the sector counters for odds in each locale of the arena, and the radar and visual sightings for relative altitude and plane types. Not to mention some understanding of the way people behave in Air Warrior! All this enters into the decisions you make. All these things are easy to observe if you just make the effort. Common sense and awareness of your surroundings will go a long way to making you a killing machine. But this is only the general part of Situational Awareness. There's the other part that pertains to dogfighting I mentioned earlier, and this I leave to those who understand it better! 7.19 VERY-BASIC MULTI-PLANE TACTICS by Brooke Multi-plane tactics are more involved than the tactics you've read about so far. They are useful in situations involving up to about five or six aircraft. After that, things start to get a bit confusing, and you're getting close to furball tactics. At any rate, this subject is mostly "beyond the scope of this text," but I will give a sprinkling of details that seem to apply best to Air Warrior. I refer you to Shaw's book for more details. If you are fighting two on one, it is best to start out with one of the planes using B&Z tactics while the other fights whichever way it wants. It's definitely not best for both to fight angles right away. If you do get into trouble in a two on one, make sure you signal your partner that you need immediate help. Three clicks on channel 2 is what is commonly used (i.e., you hit the apostrophe key and then the "Enter" key -- do that three times in a row quickly). In Air Warrior on America Online, this would produce something like the following in your radio buffer (which means that Brooke is in deep trouble): *Brook: *Brook: *Brook: Then, if you can do it without getting shot, take the fight to a position under the free ally, even if you have to dive down a lot to do it. The free ally can then more easily use energy to get a shot on the enemy. For partners who have a communication system worked out, you can do some fun things. Let's say that an enemy is following you. You're partner might tell you (with one or two clicks on the radio, for example) that he is in position for a drag. A drag is when you fly across the front of your partner so that he can shoot the enemy following you. It might involve easing off on a tight turn, for example. You can arrange before engagement to do a bracket. You and your partner approach the enemy head on. As you get to about 2500-3000 yards or so, you move apart by about 1500 yards. Whichever way the enemy goes, the ally on the opposite side can turn toward the middle for a shot on the enemy's tail (if the timing works). Again, a click or two can signify the beginning of the bracket, when you are to move apart. You can follow each other in trail, one 1000-1500 yards behind the other. If the enemy goes for the leader, the trailer can fire at the enemy's tail. If the enemy passes the leader, the leader loops back while the trailer continues forward. Now if the enemy stays on the trailer, the leader (having looped around) can fire on the enemy's tail. You can both dive simultaneously on an enemy from different directions. Then, if the enemy turns to go head-to-head with one, the other has a tail shot. Two-on-two fights are similar if you and your partner go after one enemy first. You can use the above ideas while watching out for the second enemy. If you take one and if your partner takes the other, then it's mostly two separate one-on-one fights until someone dies or until the two fights merge. If you are attacked by two enemies, you are most likely in big trouble. Be careful of getting into a low-speed turning fight with one while the other does B&Z passes -- unless you think that you can polish off one enemy quickly. Be careful of going after one of the planes while presenting a nice tail shot to the second one. 7.20 CHAPTER 7 EXERCISES 7.20.1 FLAP SETTINGS IN STALLFIGHTS This exercise requires a watch -- a digital watch with a stopwatch function is best. Take up a P-38 to 1000 ft. alt. Use full throttle, and begin turning as hard as you can, staying at all times near 1000 ft. alt. Do enough revolutions so that your airspeed is steady in the turn -- i.e., go into a stallfight turn. Note your airspeed. Now pick out a terrain feature that you can recognize easily (a control tower, a mountain, whatever) and start your stopwatch when your nose passes it. Let your nose pass it two more times, and on the third time, stop your stopwatch. Now you can find out your turn period (seconds per revolution) by dividing the time by 3 (you did 3 revolutions). Repeat the test with 1 notch of flaps deployed, with 2 notches, and with full flaps. Which flaps setting (0, 1, 2, or full) resulted in the best turn rate (i.e., the lowest turn period)? How does the airspeed for that setting compare to the airspeed for no flaps? Repeat this experiment with two other planes that you'd like to fly frequently in Air Warrior. Now you know whether deploying flaps in these planes matters much in stallfights. 7.20.2 CHOPPING THROTTLE IN A HIGH-SPEED SPLIT S Take a Spitfire IX up to 5000 ft. altitude and get it up to 250 knots. Do a maximum-G split S. (Careful not to black out.) Note your altitude at the bottom of the split S. Go into a 60 degree climb back up to 5000 ft. Note your airspeed at 5000 ft. Now get the Spitfire IX back up to 250 knots at 5000 ft., chop your throttle, and do a maximum-G split S. At the bottom of the split S, go back to full throttle and note your altitude. Go into a 60 degree climb back up to 5000 ft. Note your airspeed. Which maneuver (chopping throttle or not) was most energy-efficient (i.e., at the equal altitude of 5000 ft., which maneuver resulted in the highest airspeed)? How much lower did you go in the split S with full throttle than the split S with chopped throttle? 7.20.3 CHOPPING THROTTLE IN A HIGH-SPEED TURN Take a Spitfire IX up to 7000 ft. altitude. Get up to speed, turn on WEP, do a 45 degree dive back down to 5000 ft. altitude. Level off at 5k and wait for your speed to reach 300 knots. Now time how low it takes to do a maximum-G 180 degree turn. Note your airspeed at the conclusion of the turn. Do the same thing again but chop your throttle right before entering the turn. Is there much of a difference in turn rate (how long it takes to do the turn) or turn speed (how fast you are going at the completion of the turn)? 7.20.4 COMPRESSIBILITY AND WING FAILURE If your Air-Warrior program allows you to jump into films and take control of the plane, you can film the first part of this exercise and use it to do the second part without having to climb your plane back up to 20,000 ft. and top speed (which takes a while). Take a Zero up to 20,000 ft. altitude. Get it up to near top speed. Turn on WEP for a couple of minutes. Go into a 60 degree dive. When you experience buffeting, try the controls and see how effective they are. Now pull all the way back on the stick and then chop throttle. Notice how your wings tear off as soon as you come out of compressibility. Now do the same thing, but don't pull all the way back on the stick after you chop throttle. Instead, pull back only enough to pull 2-3 g's on the g-meter. As soon as you come out of compression, there might be a spike in the g's you are pulling -- immediately relax back pressure on the stick so that you are pulling only 6 g's. This is how to keep your wings attached coming out of compressibility -- watch those g's, and don't pull all the way back on the stick as you are coming out of compressibility. 7.20.5 GENERAL PRACTICE Practice as many of the maneuvers discussed in chapter 7 as you can. When you feel comfortable with them, try doing them in another plane of your choice. 8.0 CONCLUSION After you have read all of the chapters in this manual, done all of the exercises, and flown a modest amount of time on-line against real opponents, what's next? You can learn more about ACM by reading FIGHTER COMBAT, by Shaw (Naval Institute Press) -- see the "Recommended Books and Movies" appendix. There's also more flying, of course. I hope that this manual helped you to progress much more rapidly than if you had just dived into the on-line arenas of Air Warrior without it -- but the real key to increased skill is a lot of flying. Also, since by now you should know your way around Air Warrior pretty well, you might want to consider participation in squadrons, historical scenarios, and war nights. Squadrons are groups of Air-Warrior folks who fly together occasionally. For example, in the "More on ACM" appendix, you might have noticed some pilots putting a "=>DFA<=" after their handles -- that's for "Death From Above," one of the oldest squadrons in Air Warrior. Squadrons sometimes get together on certain nights (squad nights) and form up missions to do various mischief. Sometimes, two squads arrange to be on at the same time so that one squad can battle the other. Some squads have themes or certain flying styles. Some squads have become part of Air-Warrior lore (like the Aggressors). If the idea of belonging to a squad appeals to you, you can ask around on the radio when you fly, or ask in the "alt.games.air-warrior" newsgroup, to find out what's out there. Historical scenarios are set up to give people, as much as is possible, a more realistic taste of combat missions. Sometimes, scenarios are based upon actual WWII missions or situations. Regardless, scenarios have definite objectives, missions, and resources. Many people feel that scenarios are a whole new level of fun -- that they are to regular arena play what arena play (with its multi-player action) is to playing stand-alone flight sims. I'm with them. It's a blast, and it gives me the same feeling I get when reading exciting accounts of real WWII aerial combat. You'll hear about scenarios in radio chatter when you fly or if you keep up with the "alt.games.air-warrior" newsgroup. You can get more of a feel about what a scenario is like by reading the "Historical Scenarios" appendix. War nights are like mini-scenarios. Scenarios, while being great fun, run infrequently because they are so involved to set up. War nights are less involved and run much more frequently (usually once per week) -- and they can help mollify one's craving for scenarios in the times between scenarios. If you are interested, ask on the radio or in the "alt.games.air-warrior" newsgroup when war nights occur on the on-line system you use. There are also (usually about once or twice per year) Air-Warrior conventions, where folks get together for some on-line flying, trips to plane museums and air shows, etc. I went to one in the early 1990's in Los Angeles, and it was a blast. It's a lot of fun to meet folks you've known for years but have never seen. (No one looks like what you thought they'd look like.) The conventions are talked about on the radio and in the "alt.games.air-warrior" newsgroup, among other places. Well, that's it (finally, eh?). Again, if you have comments, suggestions, or spot errors in this manual, feel free to send some e-mail to "brooke@alumni.caltech.edu". ---- APPENDIX: DEFINITIONS ---- AAA. Antiaircraft artillery. Ack. Antiaircraft artillery. ACM. Air-combat maneuvering. Alt. Short for "altitude." Ammo. Short for "ammunition." Auger. Means "crash." AW. Short for "Air Warrior." Bail. Short for "bail out," i.e., parachuting out of your plane. BDA. Bomb-damage assessment. Blanks. "I have blanks" means that you are not getting hits on enemy aircraft when it seems like you should (are on target and within range). This can be due to network problems. Bogie. Unknown aircraft, usually seen in Air Warrior as a black dot -- an aircraft not close enough to be identified by an icon. Bug out. Disengage from a fight and run away. CC. Short for "copy." Con. Short for "icon." "I con a FW" means that a FW is close enough to the person sending the message statement that the FW shows up as an icon on his screen. Copy. "I copy" means "I hear you" or "I got the message." Used to acknowledge a radio transmission. Deck. The deck is the ground. "Flying on the deck" means "flying close to the ground." Dot. Same as bogie. E. Short for "energy." Egg. An egg is a bomb. Energy. The energy a plane has, a combination of speed and altitude, i.e., kinetic energy (from speed) plus potential energy (from altitude). Engaged. Engaged in a fight. Furball. A furball is a large dogfight involving many planes. IAS. Short for "indicated airspeed." ID. Short for "identify." Same as con. In. "I am in" means "I am engaged." Inverted. Flying inverted means flying upside down. k. As in "10k." "10k" means "10,000 ft. altitude." Kts. Short for "knots" (1 knot = 1 nautical mile per hour = 1.2 mph.) Merge. "The merge" is when two opponents come together (not a collision, but just right near each other), usually a head-to-head pass. Out. Opposite of in. Ping. A "ping" is a hit from gunfire. Prep. Short for "prepare." "To prep and airfield" means "to get it ready for capture." Prop. Short for "propeller." Refer. Short for "refinery." Rgr. Short for "roger." Roger. Same as "copy." Saddle up. When you saddle up on someone, you have gotten into firing position behind the enemy. Six. Six o'clock position, i.e., behind you. Stick. Short for "joystick" (or control stick). Also, a "stick of bombs" is one of the two batches of bombs that bombers carry. For example, the B-17 carries 16 bombs in two sticks of 8 bombs each. Each stick can be dropped independently. Warps. Warps are when an enemy plane jumps around erratically on your screen, making it very hard to hit, not due to maneuvering on the part of the pilot but due to packet delays in the network. WEP. War-emergency power. ---- APPENDIX: MORE ON ACM ---- The following material is taken verbatim out of a file called "tnt-guid.txt", which was first compiled for the Air-Warrior Training-Academy back in 1994, I think. I included it because it's useful to hear the views of good pilots. Some of the terminology might be out of date, as the Air-Warrior program has changed a bit since then, but most of the discussion is still as worthwhile now as it was then. This material was written by JD, Killer, Rash, Holmes, Fool, Bug, Spellbound, and Twist. AIR COMBAT MANEUVERING (ACM) AWTA Briefing compiled by JD, from posts by various pilots It has been said that all ACM is just turning, with some degree of vertical thrown in. The trick is knowing WHAT kind of move to make, HOW to make it, and most important of all, WHEN to do it. The essential elements of fighter combat are: A. Situational Awareness, B. Energy, C. Position, D. Gunnery. Situational Awareness (SA) is the subject of another briefing. Energy is the currency of aerial combat. He who goes broke first dies. Hoard your energy when you can, you WILL need it!. When you spend it, make sure you get something in return, ideally a kill. Speed of course is kinetic energy. Altitude is potential energy. DO NOT assume that you are safe just because you are faster and/or higher than the enemy you see. Look for the higher or faster one that will kill you. As a rule, the higher plane presents the greater threat. Position - the ideal one is where you can shoot the enemy, but he cannot touch you. The tail shot, or "6:00" position is prized by fighter pilots for this reason. Above the enemy is nearly as good. Gunnery - normal maximum range of anything but a tank cannon in AW is 650 yards. Your guns fire in one-second bursts. Hold the trigger down for 1-1/2 seconds (on the SVGA FE at least) and you expend 2 seconds' worth of ammo. Fire short, well-aimed bursts. Don't spray, all you will do is waste ammo. The host will only acknowledge one hit at a time, so holding down the trigger will accomplish little if anything in extra lethality. -> Caution on the rear-view phenomenon: This is caused by the network delay. When you see a plane at 1000 yards in your rear view, remember that what you see is his position ONE SECOND AGO. A second's worth of closure can be 3-400 yards, placing you at 600 yards in front of him. That _may_ not always be the case depending on HIS delay and speed, but follow this rule, it will save you many deaths: OBJECTS IN THE MIRROR _ARE_ CLOSER THAN THEY APPEAR!! Always, always, *always* subtract 4-600 yards from the distance you see an enemy on your 6:00 at, and figure that is where they see you. In other words, if you see an enemy at 1000 yards, assume you are at 600 in his front view. You are not _truly_ safe from an enemy's guns until you have at least 1400 yards of separation, and 1600 is better. Here's Killer on gunnery and the effect of network delay. I've found that I get hit from 1600 on in with good regularity. In realtime anyway. I always consider 1600 out my rear view as 700 yds. It all depends on closure rate. If the guy is moving at 150 kts, he travels one helluva lot less distance in a second than he does at 350 kts. Especially in realtime, if the guy is diving on your 6 he can hit you at just under 1600 out your rear view with the net delay, if he's only coing 150, your prolly safe at 1400 or even less. Also remember that the gun range is set with muzzle velocity + duration time of bullet flight, your speed is added to that muzzle velocity so at high speeds you can hit at slightly more than 650 yds. Also I've noticed that if the guy is losing packets, you will freeze in his sight motionless for brief instants and warp 500 yds or more into and back out of range, The FE only gives hits for bullets that hit the plane, so during those warps you can be hit no matter how far you actually are from him. Yet another reason I set 1600 as my limit. The delay value (d=) is an average amount of delay. Its the average of delay in seconds for the # of trips, and is rounded to the nearest whole number. Trips are just that, the data packets make the trip from Host to FE and vice versa. Hist is the last average before the current one I believe. All the info sent back and forth from the host to the FE and back is sent in packets of data. The delay is the amount of time in seconds that that transfer is taking. Esc Q lets you know more about how many packets have been sent and acknowledged by the host and provides a ratio of sent/acknowledged. Due to the effects of the network, gunnery is modeled with a "hit bubble" around each plane. The bubble is normally set to 3 times the plane's wingspan. Bullets reported to the host as passing through the bubble are checked by the host against a series of criteria that includes range and aspect angle. If the host decides that there was too much range or deflection involved, the hit is not allowed. If the hit is allowed, then the target plane's Front End (FE) is notified of the damage to apply. When the damage exceeds the plane's ability to withstand it, the plane is destroyed. - Killer =>DFA<= Mr. Mustang, Rash on the subject of head-on shots: I have found it a "good idea" if your are being killed a lot, to change tactics. If a plane is within firing range, expect to get hit, and It is your job to make it as hard as possible for him to hit you. I'm not saying this to sarcastic, but I believe that with the delays, our FE's (while planes are pulling G's) can be off by 180 degs or more for brief periods of time, and with this new version any angle is deadly. - never trust what your FE is showing you. True, it's chicken dodo for a pilot to fire on a merge, that is straight and level coming from 180degs opposite directions. But if you take away the headons, f6's will be able to once again loop in front of firing guns, and Zeros will be able to do flat turns until they run our of gas with no fear of receiving any hits. Now getting caught low, slow or hanging on your prop is certain death, and that's how it should be - I like it! Just because some people are getting killed more, because they are using old outdated tactics, doesn't mean something's porked. Rash =>DFA<= THE TWO MAJOR TYPES OF AIR COMBAT You know this already, they are angles fighting AKA "stallfighting", and energy fighting, which is sometimes known as "E-fighting," "Boom & Zooming" or "B&Z'ing". ANGLE FIGHTING (STALLFIGHTING) The basic elements of angle-fighting are simple: 1. get on the enemy's tail, 2. hammer him until he dies. The opening move is the CRITICAL one in a stallfight. Since the combatants are close, and generally neither has enough speed advantage to escape, the opener often determines the outcome, unless: A. neither pilot gains the advantage in the opener, B. one pilot makes a mistake the other can capitalize on, or C. an ally intervenes. The ally can be another fighter, the ack, or even a dump. Once combat is joined, assuming neither pilot has a favorable position, it's a 3-D chess game. It is axiomatic that a pilot who makes all his moves in the horizontal will not live long. A lot of our fellow aviators have taken that viewpoint to the extreme. All of their fights are a seemingly endless series of pure vertical loops, until one pilot runs a little short of Energy, and it's all over for him. Rule: He who loops last, wins. That simply means that the pilot who hangs onto enough E to go vertical after his opponent is too slow to do so will usually win. A high yoyo, in which the attacker goes vertical to cut across a flat-turning plane's turn circle, is the tactic of choice if you have the E for it. If both pilots are at the same energy state ("Co-E") and neither can go vertical anymore, then the engagement degrades into a horizontal turning match. Usually by this time both are low, and it's not an option to use a low yoyo to cut the other guy's turn from below. The low yoyo is less efficient than the high, and riskier too. At this point, it's a matter of who can out-turn the who. It is not necessarily a case of whose plane can turn tighter. The ability to ride the edge of blackout and/or stall will often determine the outcome. Weight is an important factor in this situation. If you are locked in a horizontal circle with an enemy and you are hauling nearly a full load of ammo, "dumping" some of it, just shooting it off without a chance of hitting, will lighten your plane and may give you the edge in turning. Flaps will tighten your turning circle, but will also slow you down. Use them, but use them cautiously. Practice offline holding your plane in a max-G turn. Lower flaps, see the effect. My advice on the looping and flat-turning stalemate situations described above: AVOID THEM! Even if you are a dedicated anglefighter, keep your speed and altitude up enough that you have options. Learn to perform lead turns in the horizontal and vertical, and make good use of them. Timing and speed control are the important issues. The spiral climb is a DEADLY tactic against many stallfighters. The zero and Ki-84 are most susceptible to this, though a spitfire or 109 can sucker FW's and 51's this way also. It works like this: you have an E advantage over the enemy, OR a plane that climbs better. You engage him, and notice that he stays close to horizontal in his moves. Maybe he does a zoom climb, but he's not working the vertical effectively, and is anxious enough to pepper you that he is bleeding E too quick for his own good. You turn with him a time or two, keep your speed up, and don't pull as many G's as he does. The bad guy's gaining angle on you, and you know he's salivating. At that point, you go into a spiral climb. Don't wind the spiral too tight or you'll stall out. You may need flaps and WEP as you get close to topping out. Watch the enemy the views, paying close attention to his range readout. When you see his closure stop, and then his range starts to rapidly increase, he has stalled out. Roll over and pounce! Don't get impatient and overshoot. Stay on top, tap-dance on his head. He will have to dive to regain control, but you will be nearly impossible to shake off. Just roll your plane to track him as he turns. A few hard break turns, and he's likely to black out. Then he's yours! ENERGY FIGHTING An energy fight between two good pilots is actually a series of openers. It's like jousting; thrust and parry, then break off for another pass. There are a number of things that come into play in high-speed fighting. What you CAN'T do most of the time is just line up on a bad guy from way out, and expect him to hold still. I often do just that, though, _if_ I am clearing the bandit off a buddy's tail. I make him break, he blows E, and the friendly lives. I like to climb out away from trouble, and cruise around at about 28k. Most people, even 51 drivers, level out way below 25k; it's kind of a psychological thing. If I see a lone bad guy on radar or get a radio report of one, I figure that's either a dweeb or another hunter. If I'm near enough, and thinking about engaging, I need to know how high he is. After I find out, I close on him and judge his speed. If he is heading for some probable target, like a tower, I will try to get there first. When I figure he's starting his dive, then I dive on his target also. All I have to do is adjust my speed so I don't overtake him too fast. At some point in his dive, I'll pull onto his 6. It's amazing how few people will abort a bomb run, even when death is breathing down their necks. If I'm tracking the enemy toward a furball, I generally dive in behind him, but don't go anywhere near as low, and make no attempt at setting up a firing pass on anyone in the furball (yet). I follow him down, then pull off and line up on where he's going to climb out. As he zooms up and out, I dip slightly below him, line up, and BOOM. I often make a big circle around a furball, and it tends to piss off some of my allies who are in it, fighting for their lives. They get real quiet when they see me whack an enemy B&Z'er like I just described. Plucking a low, slow, tight-turning enemy out of a furball is a little different, but not much. The trick is NOT to focus on the enemy, but tune in on the rythm of the fight. Watch a furball, and you will see that planes go round and round, up and down in a rythmic, predictable, TARGETABLE pattern. (credits to DoK) OK, that's fine but how can you LINE UP on a spit going around at 150 IAS? Well, one of my favorite tactics that I learned from Fool is to make a few low-G S-turns as you come in, and follow the flight path of the plane that the targeted bogie is going round and round with. If the bad guy is in a looping fight with one of your pals, and they are not right down on the deck, dive below them as you come into icon range. Then, carefully gauge the timing of their loops, and zoom up behind the bad guy as he climbs. At the worst, you'll make him break, and give your pal some breathing room. I make my first pass into a furball AWAY from my eventual egress route. This is because I will have plenty of speed on my first climbout, and an enema who may be trying to stick it to me like I described back there will not have turning room to get on me if I zoom out toward him. If your pal is in trouble, low and slow, or if the fight is in your home turf and you won't have to fight your way home, the BEST way to kill a low, stallfightin enemy is to get RIGHT on top of him, cut throttle, and dive straight down on his head. It's damn near impossible to evade this, because all you gotta do is roll your plane to track him. You will be in lag pursuit as you dive on him, then rapidly switch to LEAD pursuit at the moment you set him up to die. 1K-1400 yards, depending on speed, is where you pull lead on him and slide onto his 6:00. I usually drop a notch of flap at that point, and I'm working the throttle to stay at 275-300 knots. The P-51 turns nicely at that speed, especially with a notch of flap. You can lower flaps in a 51 up to 300 IAS. I usually get at least 2 hits on a pass like that, and often more. If the bandit has hits on him at that point, he's dead unless I really blow the setup. Even then, I buy my buddy time. Leveling out with your victim is sometimes successful, but the only time I do it is if he is at very low altitude. His speed being lower, he can out-turn you, so there's no way you can follow him in a break. If he has 4-5k of air under him, dropping below his line of sight and zooming up to him is often the best way. This is especially true if he is making vertical moves, i.e. in a looping fight. Catch him at the top of his loop, fill him with lead, and zoom up over him. At that point you should roll 180 and watch what he does. Hopefully he will blow up, but if not you may see him go into a spin from trying to evade you. If a friendly is fighting him, ask the friendly if he's OK. If he says yes, then get your alt back as your pal finishes off the bad guy. It all gets more complicated in a multi-plane engagement. If you are in a B&Z plane like a P-51, do not get drawn into the furball. Some of your friends are likely to die, but the best way to help them is to stay fast, put hits on as many of the bad guys as you can, and make any incoming enemies break or die. - JD 2959 Holmes ^TH^ Yeah the gut-shot :) Particularly effective when there's no radar operatin for the bad guy. If you angle the approach from below just right, he'll not see your icon when he looks in direct rear view til it's too late. Don't give away too much alt before the merge, yer lookin only to get a better angle and delay his seeing you. Another plus is it puts you nose up when you overshoot. Then you can get right to bidness goin vertical without yankin too many G's. - Ho 5551 Fool on Boom & Zoom Fighting B&Z...in a one versus one... We will assume here that your enemy has seen you and turned around to take your pass headon. Score 1 advantage point for you, you forced him to turn 180 degrees and use up some of his energy. Now dive in but stay about 1500yds above him and pull stright up. Pull up early so he sees it, hopefully he will pull up and try to follow. Watch for him to stall and dive in on his 6. If he doesnt follow you up, at the top of your zoom pull back on the stick and level out, you will be inverted at this point and way above your enemy. When he turns around to take your next pass, (note; you just scored another advantage point) wait until he is passing under you, then dive straight down on him. Now any direction he turns you only need to roll your ailerons to pull in behind him. The main point here is to make as many passes as required to slow your enemy down to the point were he can no longer pull his nose up. I.E. he can no longer loop, he can only do level turns. Then dive straight down on him. Some guys don't like this approach, but the straight down dive negates the enemy's faster turn rate. - Fool 5047 B&Z by Bug The technique that Fool describes is also known as the "rope-a-dope" and is dependant on the bad guy following you up. The problem with it is that it burns up E a lot faster than the classic b&z, due to the high g's you must pull to get pointed straight up. You usually cannot do more than about two of these manuevers before getting dangerously slow and easy meat for a skilled defender. The usual b&z involves low-g zooms and long extensions in order to keep that good E. And yes, I will usually go level with the bad guy just outside of gun range - this is particularly effective vs. bad guys already involved in a fight. If they have been fighting for any length of time it is likely that the combatants have pissed away their E and are now stuck turning in the horizontal plane. If you blow through them in the vertical plane, your chances of a nice tail shot are greatly diminished. - Bug 2472 >OPENING MOVES The following is a post by Spellbound dealing with the all-important topic of opening a fight. Opening moves are not restricted to the start of a fight. However, properly done, the opener makes the rest of the fight unnecessary! PRACTICE THE VIEW KEYS!!! ACM 1vs1: Now that you know the basic fighter manuevers, we'll start putting them together in 1vs1 engagments. The first move you make during the merge in a 1vs1 is known as an "opening move". The following are some examples of opening moves used frequently. High G Immelman: As you are closing on the enemy, you pull up into a full g immelman, in realtime I tend to start pulling up around 1k or so, bout 1/2 that in 1/2 time. This is an aggresive opening and the quickest way to reverse direction on the enemy. It's main disadvantage is that it bleeds energy quickly. Low G Immelman: In this opening, you conserve energy in doing a low immelman. You can also pull up a bit later than a high G immelman. Be prepared to take hits if your opponent went with a high g manuever. In this opening you convert most of your energy to alt. If your opponent used a high g manuever, you will have an energy advantage. While you may take hits, he will likely stall trying to follow you. Once you have an energy advantage, use your alt to gain position or make firing passes, now YOU dictate the fight. Vertical Lead Turn: As you are going head-on, enter a shallow dive to gain vertical separation and airspeed. If you have the vertical separation, pull up into a high g immelman a little earlier than normal, 1300 is good for me. This is a super agressive opening and can gain you a quick victory, when it works, its beautiful. You find yourself a couple hundred off the enemies six as he starts to pull up. You must kill QUICKLY or you will be at a major energy disadvantage. If you need to follow him over, use flaps to get over the top. Low g climbing spiral: In this opening, you pull up into a low g climbing turn. The idea is similar to the low g immelman but it is a little more difficult for the enemy to keep you in views. Basically you show the enemy your rear, enticing him into blowing all his energy to get ya, then you use your energy advantage to gain alt, then position or make firing passes. This opening may require you to take hits as well. There are many variations on these but basicly they fall into high g and low g categories. The high g manuevers are agressive and designed to get angles as quick as possible, ie the quick kill. The low g are designed more to get you an energy or alt advantage which you can then use to dictate the fight. What you do following the "opening move" depends on what your enemy does. Once engaged, you are both reacting to the other. In an engagment, the pilot making the smarter decisions will prevail. If you both make the same decision, and the same moves, the one making the quicker decision will prevail When in doubt, DO SOMETHING, don't fly straight thinking about what to do next. Also when in doubt, or if you lost the enemy in views, go up :) use the vertical to gain alt while you find the enemy in view. Practice flying the planes at the edge in a turnfight, practice riding the edge, both in low speed maneuvers or stallfighting and at high g, riding the grey. Be aware that unlike 1/2 time flaps in realtime will give you a TEMPORARY increase in turnrate at the expense of drag and energy. After dropping flaps, go nose low to gain speed back when you pull them up. Also be aware that some aircraft are equipped and modeled with maneuvering flaps in which they help your maneuverability at medium to low speeds without a major addition in drag. The P38 is equipped like this, as are the P51 and F4U. The first notch of flaps can be dropped at under 225ias or so. Also dropping flaps can help you pull over the top of that 2nd immelman much quicker. - Spellbound Here's a good one from Twist: With almost all planes the idea to making it productive is the same: find the strengths of that particular aircraft, and apply them. Use it at what it does best and try to get the opponent to follow along and you will have him. For the 109, the strengths you should look for are the high climb rate and very respectable turning ability. A 109 in a flat turn with a Spit pilot who knows what he is doing will most likely loose the battle. A 109 who makes that same Spit pilot follow him into a _climbing_ turn has an edge. Much the same for the 38. Note the interesting reversal: the strength of the 38 is an amazing turn rate when it is supplied energy, which most 38 pilots get by pitching the nose down in a turn. The 109 pilot who turns with a 38 nose down is dead. If you are engaged by an energy player and he doesn't have a large starting alt advantage, simply climb for everything you are worth when not evasive, while of course maintaining enough speed to turn when necessary. The easiest way to do this s to always remember the stronger and weaker points of your aircraft overall. When you are faced by another in combat you can take your energy state vs. his plus your plane strengths and simply stick with the maneuvers that best use both. The only time you are truly in trouble is when his plane shares all of your strengths or better, and you are co-e or lower. -Twist 2471 ---- APPENDIX: THE TWIST FILES ---- The following material is taken verbatim from Twist's Web page. Some of Twist's aircraft descriptions appear in Chapter 4. Since he has done more, I include the others here since they are also excellent and since it is helpful to read more than one opinion on the capabilities of an aircraft. THE GRUMMAN F6F-3 HELLCAT The F6F was created as a direct response to the Japanese Zero in an amazingly short period of time; designed in the spring of 1942, it was tested later that year and by years end was being mass produced. Despite the short design cycle the plane was an astounding success in almost all respects, and it was the performance of this stubby looking plane, coupled with it's overwhelming production numbers (11,000 were delivered in a two year time span) that spelled doom for the Japanese hope of air superiority in the Pacific. Although the Hellcat might have had a different history in the mixed bag of designs used in Europe, in the Pacific it excelled at everything required for victory. It was faster than the Zero, out climbed it, could climb higher, was heavily armored, carried a huge ammo supply, worked well off carriers, and turned well. In this light it's not surprising that this fighter, flown in ever increasing numbers against a steadily drained Japanese navy and army, produced the highest kill ratio of the war. The Hellcat in Air Warrior Strengths: Climb -- Only the F4U out climbs the Hellcat. Tough -- Like many American planes, the F6F can take considerable punishment. Guns -- The six .50s are fairly lethal, but the 2400 round capacity makes up for any lack by allowing plenty of spraying. Turns -- The Hellcat can turn or out turn everything but the Zeke; however, the Ki is an extremely close match and boils down to a question of fuel loads/pilot. Weaknesses: Slow -- Recall that the Hellcat was designed to fight the Zero, one of the slowest fighters in the war. It has plenty of speed to deal with Zekes; but in the mixed environment of games often has to deal with other American planes that are much faster, like the F4U or P51 -- or the Japanese Ki. The F6F is the second slowest plane in the Pacific plane set. Compression -- The F6F compresses fairly badly, but luckily has the best airbrakes available, so recovery is possible in short order. Flying outside compression keeps you at low speeds however. Model weirdness -- The F6F has a bad engine condition that can arise any time the engine is oil starved -- in a spin or inverted for instance. It takes only a second or two in the AW over modeled version before the R2800 is porked and starts delivering considerably less power, which can't be fixed short of replaning. Take off checklist: Where: The F6F is a Pacific only plane that operates either from carriers or regular ground fields. Field: Hellcats can climb well and are passable at low level stallfights, but it's important in taking off to do a quick scan for Zeros, which if they can catch you will easily out turn you. It takes a minimum of 4K or so to have good dive area to escape a Zero, so fields should be picked that will give you a full minute of climbing. F6Fs are also excellent at long range missions, with the best fuel endurance available. Fuel: The F6F has huge tanks, but extra fuel significantly impacts its turning ability. A 20% fuel load can get you 3-4 sectors and back without much trouble, so use 15-20% for immediate action and no more than 35% for general cruising, unless you have a particularly long mission in mind. Bombs: Hellcats can carry two bombs, but compression hurts them somewhat as a dive bomber. The Hellcat is an oddity in that it has no clear strengths over other planes in the Pacific, and yet has the right combination of abilities to fight any opponent well. It can use turns, climbs and speed alternatively against various planes to give it a clear advantage. Only when it faces combinations of opponents that invalidate one or more of its advantages does the F6F suffer badly. Like it's real world counterpart the F6F is a smooth handling plane and responds well, making it a good ride to learn in. If handled lightly it can stay in controlled flight at very low speeds (70IAS) and thus doesn't spin very much, but when it spit it doesn't recover particularly well and the engine must be shut down almost instantly to avoid oil starvation. Flaps are an all or nothing proposition and shouldn't be used save for tops of loops and the like; hitting flaps in turns definitely hurts in almost all circumstances, as the plane slows down drastically when they are deployed and compresses at very low speeds if they are left on. One unique advantage of the F6F is it's heavy air brake capability (air brakes are deployed with the space bar or middle button on a TM stick). You'd think from the way it slows down there was a deployable parachute that drops out every time you slam the brakes, and the combination of laying on the brakes and chopping throttle allows the Hellcat to blow speed faster than any plane in the game. This is particularly useful during initial engagements where you can use it to "dump and deliver" -- come in fast at a very off-angle approach, and when you get close drop throttle to zero, slam the brakes and pull hard around. Opponents will have a difficult time visualizing the very small turn radius the F6F can produce in this circumstance and will instead react to what they think is a fast plane (=large turn radius). Since the Hellcat has such a wide range of rolls it can be used in it's important to remember which of it's strengths you want to use against particular types of planes. Against P47, P51s use climb to get above them and of course vastly superior turn ability to out turn them. F4Us can't be out climbed but can be out turned; careful for the experienced F4 pilots who will use multi-position flaps against you by going nose down on their brakes with two clicks of flaps -- in these types of turns you need to ride your air brakes and possibly chop throttle a bit to match radius. Ki's are difficult in flat turn matches so the emphasis should be placed on plenty of vertical turns to maximize use of the Hellcats climb ability. P38s can be both out turned and out climbed, but watch similar situations to the aforementioned F4 with flaps and be careful to keep loops as small as possible in verticals as the 38 can pull some tricks there. Zekes should simply out climbed and hit from above with speed -- don't even bother turning as this plane has a ridiculously overmodeled turn capability. The Hellcat isn't a stellar boom and zoom fighter because of it's speed and compression issues; on the way in you compress and on the way out you don't have enough speed to zoom properly. However it does very well at energy fighting tactics like the rope-a-dope because of it's high climb and low speed turning. THE NAKAJIMA KI-84 HAYATE The Hayate, or "Frank" as labeled by the Allies, is often regarded as the best Japanese fighter of WWII (the N1K2 "George" had better performance but saw very limited production). Brought into service in 1944, the Hayate demonstrated that the Japanese aircraft builders had learned the bitter lesson of American designs: that a speedy aircraft can easily best a more maneuverable one, using proper tactics. The advanced Ha 45 direct injection 18 cylinder radial engine gave the Frank plenty of speed, but unfortunately was also the source of constant problems. The Ha45 required constant and skilled maintenance, and as the war further hampered Japanese industrial power the Ki-84 suffered other problems, such as chronically failing landing gear (they were very long, requiring precise metal treatment to last). Had it reached better production than it's 3800 or so made, or been introduced earlier, the Hayate would have certainly left even more of a mark in the Pacific. As it was American pilots were rightfully cautious of this fast, maneuverable plane -- post war testing showed the Ki84 to be faster at 20K than either the P51 or the P47. The Ki-84 in Air Warrior Strengths: Turns -- The Ki is an adept turning plane, especially with it's multi stage flaps and low stall speeds. Speed -- Able to keep pace with even the P51 until about 20K Weaknesses: Climb -- Although fast the Ki is not a particularly good climber Strength -- Not the toughest plane available, and further is prone to loosing wings when high speed maneuvers are attempted Acceleration -- Given a little diving distance a Frank will go plenty fast, but it's level acceleration is not good. High alt performance -- The Ki is very much out of its element at higher altitudes. Above 20K it looses speed on many planes, has terrible climb rates, and negates any turn advantage against the F6F. Take off checklist: Where: The Ki-84 is a Pacific only plane, available from ground fields. Field: The Hayate is a good fighter to scramble in, although the Zeke is a better instant action fighter if a field is capped. Fuel: Ki's have medium sized tanks, and suffer less performance loss than most when carrying large fuel loads. Even with 40% fuel it's fairly easy to maintain 100IAS turns, so taking loads of 30-50% is not unusual. Bombs: 1 bomb The Frank lives up to it's billing as a superior fighter in AW. Nothing but the Zeke or decent Hellcat pilots will want to tangle with it at co-alt, so expect F4Us and P51s to use climb or BnZ attacks against it. With a few K of alt on any opponent the Ki pilot can expect to be able to run them down and force them to turn, where it can expect to win against anything but a Zeke -- and it can always run away from those if something goes wrong (or Hellcats for that matter). Not only does it turn well naturally, the Ki has four stage flaps that help it considerably against closely matched opponents. It's reasonably easy to use flaps and turn at rates even below 100IAS with good results. And although the AW manual paints it as a difficult spinning plane, in fact it has one of the easiest to control spins available in the game. It will spin a fair amount, but it's trivially easy to recover and often, unfortunately, gives the Ki pilot a hidden advantage by gaining angles in the spin (unfortunate because it destroys the realism of the simulation). If all engagements were below 20K, the Ki would be a superplane. Luckily they aren't, so it's merely formidable, with a couple of drawbacks. While the plane itself is a high speed aircraft, at the upper end of the speed range it becomes dangerous to fly -- above 400IAS or so pulling significant Gs will pop the wings right off, which makes it difficult at times to keep up with gyrating P51s or F4Us that can full-G at 500IAS. Also at higher speeds it looses some of it's already average roll rate, and of course to get to those higher speeds you are basically required to dive, since it doesn't accelerate well at all. Because of it's unusual mix of talents Ki's can be used in many different ways, but they generally fail as a straight BnZ plane due to limited climb and zoom potential. Many Ki pilots love to use them to hunt down BnZ'ers with its great speed, diving in on a fight slightly lower and catching a P51 or F4U extending out. Others simply use it as a straightforward stallfighter, and a Ki vs. Hellcat matchup is probably the most interesting in the game, as the planes are very closely matched but with different strengths. THE REPUBLIC P-47D THUNDERBOLT The "Jug" (short for Juggernaut) was built in the later part of the war as a multi-purpose fighter. Numerous production difficulties arose in creating this mammoth aircraft, and when it did appear it took some time before tactics evolved to meet its capabilities. Weighing almost half as much as some of the bombers it escorted, the P47 was built around the famous Pratt & Whitney R-2800 18 cylinder engine that served in so many U.S. planes. While it was fast, carried ample armament, and was incredibly tough, the Jug was initially met with little enthusiasm. It would be fair to say the RAF hated it -- it was dramatically different from most of their designs and didn't fit most engagement tactics of the time. Eventually the Jug found a home as the premier ground-attack fighter of the war. It could carry a wide array of weapons and was the terror of retreating armor columns, trains, and the like. With the addition of an external fuel tank P47s could easily range to target and back with their bombers, and several squadrons (notably the famed 56th) rang up impressive air to air success with the plane some thought would never fight against the sleek designs it often countered. The Thunderbolt in Air Warrior Strengths: Speed -- it doesn't accelerate or dive well, but a Jug with head of steam above 20K or so is difficult or impossible to catch. Above 29K it can out pace even the P51. Tough -- The sturdiest fighter in AW, it takes a lot of ammo to down a P47D Lethality -- With 8 .50s the Jug can deliver a hard punch. Weaknesses: Turning -- Basically, the Jug can't. Several bombers can out turn a Jug easily. Climb -- Even an R2800 can't make 20,000lbs soar into the clear blue sky E-Bleed -- If you do attempt to turn a P47, it will loose speed like you just dropped anchor. Compression -- At a little over 300IAS the Jug turns into a very large, fast brick. Take off checklist: Where: The Jug can lift off any European field, and any ground-based Pacific field. For a fun some time try various fuel configurations taking off carriers off-line. Field: Rear fields, with plenty of clear space to climb, unless you have an unusual sense of humor. Fuel: The Thunderbolt has excellent fuel endurance. Regardless, there is no substantial advantage from running with low fuel loads as in some turn fighters, so 50% is fine for most missions. Bombs: P47s can carry two bombs in AW (in real life the P47 had a payload capacity well above most fighters save the P38). However, it's a fairly lousy dive bomber, as it often will compress and lawn dart the adventurous bomber, and has no air brakes to help when the stick stops responding. Simply put, the Jug is a terrible fighter in AW. This often annoys players used to its rather high reputation in real life; and there's considerable debate as to why the AW environment hurts this machine in particular. Many anecdotal accounts don't agree with the AW experience; but it's possible these are reflections of limits in the AW flight model (Shaw postulated for instance that the Jug's much talked about roll ability might be under G-load; in AW fighters can roll the same regardless of current load). As a final insult, the P47 in Air Warrior is given a reduced ammo load from its historical capacity, although this will likely be changed in future version. This means that not only is it extra difficult to get in firing position with a Jug, but when you do you'd better make sure your shots count, because you get only a few. The only way to fight with the P47 effectively is to use a conservative, boom and zoom type approach. Turning for any period of time is sure death, so speed is required to carry you away from the target before any lumbering maneuvers are attempted. This is not to say that the Jug can't get kills; just that it has a fairly limited number of tactics and those available have to be executed particularly well to succeed. It's often useful to use Jugs in pairs or more; the extra numbers provide the advantage required to press the attack consistently against the better fighters of the arena. Thunderbolts draw out fairly predictable reactions from other players -- once they see a Jug, groups of enemy will flock to it in search of the easy kill and will often remain unusually fixated when in pursuit. Lone enemies with other things to think about will often completely ignore Jugs, especially co-alt or lower ones, since they don't qualify as a threat. Being aggressive in these situations or exploiting them can result in interesting and hate-filled exchanges, always a worth while pursuit in the AW arena. There are almost no "tricks" to flying the Jug. It doesn't spin very easily, but recovery can be an adventure. Multi position flaps are available but can't be deployed until barely above stall speed; they are useful only for going over the top of loops. Leaving flaps down any amount is asking for nasty compression. An amusing tidbit is that dropping gear produces almost unnoticeable difference in performance (except at high speeds of course), rather like dangling a kite out the back of an 18 wheeler. The Jug also happens to be the most difficult to land plane in AW, as getting it down below the required 150IAS leaves the plane hanging on the edge of a stall, and last second attempts at corrections are ignored as it barrels into the runway. Whereas historically in AW the Jug was the chosen ride of only a few unusual loners, currently several players use it quite often and with good effect, as they understand and work around its limitations using boom and zoom, wingman, and the element of surprise (a Jug attacked me?) approaches. Jug kills are the result of luck or solid tactics; since few people are blessed with consistent luck, if you can score repeated kills in a Jug you're doing something right. THE NORTH AMERICAN P-51D MUSTANG The P51 is the most famous of the American "big three" from WWII: those being the P47, P38, and P51. It seems ironic that this fighter is so closely associated with American air power in the second world war; as it's design specifications and requirements were driven entirely by the RAF in the form of an order from the British Purchasing Commission. If it hadn't been for the outstanding performance of this fighter it might have existed simply as an American export to England; but after test figures came through the US was compelled to start using the P51 along side the P38 and P47 designs they had already committed to. The P51 owes its rightful place as one of the best fighters in WWII to some innovative design and a small piece of luck. The design was in the low drag airframe and laminar flow wings, which allowed for some truly staggering at the time top end speed, and the luck was a British decision early on it's history to attempt to mount a Rolls-Royce Merlin engine in place of the original Allison supplied in Mustang Is. The resultant Mustang I/Merlin combination provided such astounding performance it basically replaced any plans to use Allison variants; instead the U.S. began supplying Packard-built Merlins in P51 frames. A saying came about in WWII that describes the Mustang well: "The Mustang won't do what a Spitfire does, but it does it over Berlin". P51s had a staggering amount of fuel capacity hidden in their sleek lines, and with the addition of disposable external fuel tanks could range upwards of 2,000 miles -- full operational distance for most bombers. They weren't the best turning planes in the air, but by the time they were widely in use pilots understood that turning was a very limited performance characteristic in combat -- what was required of newer fighters was speed. And the P51 had it in droves; it was faster than almost everything in the air, climbed reasonably well, and suffered much less high speed maneuverability loss than most of its opponents, due to the wing design. When it came to high speed fights the P51 was very much in its element -- it had flaps specifically designed to deploy at almost any speed, an airframe with tolerances that reached into high G range, good dive acceleration, and steady horsepower even at very high altitude. The P51D in Air Warrior Strengths: Speed -- Highest top end speed, decent acceleration, better maneuverability at high speed. Able to sustain high speeds longer than any other plane. Roll rate -- Good roll rate, especially above 300kts Flaps -- able to deploy one notch of flaps to good effect at medium speeds (250 kts or so). Weaknesses: Average sustained turn ability -- Better than a FW, but stallfighters chew it up. Poor Climb rate -- With the 109, Spitfire, F4 and F6F clearly superior Take off checklist: Where: The P51 is available from any land field in Europe or the Pacific. Field: Due to it's mediocre climb and average turning ability, the 51 is not well suited to low alt engagements, especially when outnumbered. However it requires only a few K of alt to be able to out run anything in the arena -- so experienced 51 drivers only avoid fields that are immediately capped. Fuel: The 51 has good fuel endurance, and it does feel the effects of large fuel loads fairly drastically. Normal load outs are to about 50%, with more used for escort missions. Bombs: Two bombs, and the P51 is the best dive bomber in the game. Mustangs have a bad reputation in Air Warrior, one which their nickname illustrates well -- "Runstang". A P51 in almost all circumstances has one option his enemy does not -- he can leave, because the P51 is in Air Warrior as it was in real life, the fastest plane around. It needs a little time to work up to that speed (it can't accelerate like a Spit for instance) but once it gets above 325kts or so its in home turf. A panicked P51 pilot with alt can simply point the plane in a steep dive and reach speeds no other plane can touch (easily into the 500kts range). The other thing that can be aggravating about pursuing a Mustang is that they HOLD that speed incredibly well. P51s can do level extensions at well past 300kts and maintain it; most planes can't go above 300kts without a dive or WEP. In gentle zooms the 51 is incredible; it's possible to dive from 10K, make a pass at speeds that no one can match, and then climb out slowly to almost original alt and cruising speeds. It's too bad that so many P51 pilots are excessive runners, as the plane is perfectly capable of fighting in many circumstances that the average P51 pilot will avoid. It has a good roll rate and at medium speeds (225-250) is very dangerous with its high speed flaps (the 51 can drop one notch even in this speed range and not compress). More experienced P51 pilots can be seen "dogfighting" it quite well, but it's a deceptive kind of engagement, as they deliberately keep the speeds higher than most turn fights and use their high speed turning speed as a surprise factor. Even the best P51 fliers are in serious trouble if they regularly drop below 175kts in a turn fight, as around 150kts it is a very poor turner and will get eaten alive by true stallfighters. Mustangs can, however, out turn FWs providing the FW pilot doesn't constantly spin when compromised. The P51 itself has an unforgiving spin, probably one of the more difficult in the game. Like the FW, a P51 is a dangerous (read: does not have to run) plane as long as it is provided a cushion of alt to work with. It's a simple fact that a 51 with 8K or so of alt can reach speeds no other plane can save other 51s. As long as that option is kept open it's unnecessary to run at the sight of a higher/better plane. In fact, many 51 pilots make the mistake of running TOO EARLY and depending on their speed too much. When a P51 extends away, especially if it dives somewhat, it is expressing its one advantage fairly early on. If the stallfighter/higher plane has enough alt that it can dive and match pace with the superior speed of the Mustang, than when the stallfighter catches up the P51 pilot has blown his one advantage. Given a choice in these circumstance I usually wait right below the diving opponent, making him blow his energy advantage to get to me, then I pull a basic evasive and use the P51s speed to get away. An interest AW tidbit is that P51 is basically a reference plane for all others; it has by definition standard lethality and toughness, since other planes are judged relative to it. THE SPITFIRE MARK IX E The Spitfire is possibly the most famous combat aircraft of all time, and certainly one of the most recognizable. Combined with the Hawker Hurricane it was part of the pivotal effort by the British to repel the formidable German Luftwaffe in the "Battle of Britain", the legendary fight between the British and German air forces, where the Spitfire gained its initial reputation as a solid dogfighter. Due to its unusual at the time planform elliptical wings, the Spitfire when coupled with a powerful engine source exhibits both excellent handling and speed, characteristics vital to air combat. In its various incarnations (it was produced throughout the war for the British) the Spitfire was steadily refined into perhaps the best all-around fighter of the war. The Spitfire in Air Warrior Strengths: Turning ability -- can out turn or turn with every other fighter Speed -- Top end speed is average, but accelerates quickly and dives well Lethality -- short on ammo, but initial punch is very powerful Climb -- second best climb rate in European plane set Retains energy -- Spits hold their energy very well Weaknesses: Low ammo load -- often the Spit will run dry after only one or two kills Control -- The strengths of the Spit can be used against a careless pilot, as described below High speed maneuverability -- At speeds >300 IAS the Spit gets mushy and rolls slowly Toughness -- The Spit doesn't take many hits to destroy Take off checklist: Where: The Spit is only available in Europe, but can launch from any plane field. If the strategic feature in Air Warrior bombing is EVER fixed again Spits are very likely candidates to be "denied" by closing aircraft factories and the like. Field: The Spit can go from just about any field, due to its great climb ability. It is the best all around plane to take when hostiles are in the immediate vicinity, as it can get up quickly, climb to alt, and isn't substantially compromised at low alt fighting. Fuel: 15-30% when combat is close, up to 50% for general missions. Bombs: Spit can only carry one, but it's a fine dive bomber Spitfires are often referred to by old timers as "one kill wonders". In three words this fairly summarizes the strengths and weaknesses of the machine: it has just about every strength in the book, making it a wonder, but carries an anemic ammo load, making it a "short kill" plane. Despite its reputation the Spit can be a difficult beast to master, and beginning Air Warriors often wonder how they can die so often in a plane that is so good. The answer of course is that more experienced pilots exploit the bad points of the Spit to kill them. If there's one key feature to flying the Spit well, it's the THROTTLE. In a flat turn situation, Spit pilots who leave the throttle walled at 100% are asking for trouble. The Spit holds energy so well and bleeds speed so slowly in prolonged turns that it will continue to move much faster in those turns than other planes -- resulting in a wide turn radius for the Spit and a potentially much smaller turn radius for the slow plane (I'm going to explain this concept in another page that I haven't done yet, so you'll just have to think about it for now). The response to this weakness is to use the throttle to control your speed in turns against others. If you in a Spit are tracking an opposing plane through a primarily flat, horizontal turn and you've already gone 180 degrees, and it looks like he is going to keep turning -- you should immediately think about reducing your speed to a target of 150 IAS or so (slightly slower as you get more used to the Spit). At 150 IAS and 4-5 Gs a Spitfire will out turn everything in Europe short of another Spit. Practicing this off line will help; take up Spitfires (against drones or not, doesn't really matter) and see how well you can hold the edge of turns at 150kts. You should pull enough Gs to make the stall light flicker but not allow the stall horn to go off. Flaps will help a Spit over the top of loops but generally are not useful for straight turns. Rather than flaps you should be adjusting throttle to maintain turns -- when going too slow, increase to WEP, when going too fast drop it back. You'll find the Spit responds very poorly to flaps at >150 IAS and becomes unmanageable at speeds >225 IAS. A Spit can easily loop at speeds well below 150IAS using flaps, and will stay in controlled flight at speeds as low as 60kts even when being slightly pulled. There is no specific maneuver that the Spit excels in -- it's so good that literally the entire book of tactics are available should you choose to use them. Despite this most Spit fights, particularly against other Spits, eventually work their way to a simple test of flat turns. So you'd better be proficient at flat turns. A more interesting albeit complex way of fighting in the Spit is to use it as a close proximity energy fighter; tactics that apply here are rope-a-dope and the like. The other major problem many Spit fliers encounter is black outs. Since it pulls so well at almost any speed it is easy to exceed the artificial 6G limit imposed by the Air Warrior blackout system. The only way around this is practice. Again offline will do fine; the typical drill is to take a Spit up to 10K feet, record a small piece of film, then put the plane into slow nose down turns of about 10-20 degrees below the horizon. Keep pulling until the G meter reads right at 6G; then try to keep the G-meter constant by increasing your dive angle to keep the speed high. After you've depleted your 10K alt, replay the film you took at the beginning, and then take over the control while playing the film (saving you the trouble of climbing), and practice again. You should be able to pull right at 6Gs almost by feel if you do this enough times. The next step after that is to school yourself not to pull too harshly at merge with the Spit when engaged -- remember, instead of just yanking the stick full, CHOP THROTTLE and THEN yank the stick -- but only to 6Gs. THE YAKOLEV YAK 9D The Yak-9 was introduced in 1942 and late that year supplanted the Yak-1 and Yak-7 as the primary fighter for Russia; it was produced in large numbers for the entire war. The 9D variant was a "long range" fighter capable of distances of up to 840 miles (for comparison, North American P51s could range up to 2000 miles with drop tanks) and saw service from 1943 onward. As with many Soviet fighters the Yak-9 is often vastly underrated in Western literature -- in point of fact it was a very capable counter for the German BF109G it most often fought and by many accounts was able to out fight the German plane on a level playing field. More importantly it was much better engineered for the frigid, harsh conditions of the Soviet front, as with many Russian war products it featured a simplicity that allowed easy maintenance and operation compared to the much more complex German designs. A descendant of the Yakolev line, the Yak-3, was probably the best fighter made during the war -- offered a choice of any Allied plane to fly, the Normandie-Niemen group selected the Yak3 and scored the last 99 of their 273 victories in the war. The one major disadvantage of the Yak-9 line was speed; it was slower in level flight than most aircraft it encountered. Initially this was a serious drawback against a seasoned Luftwaffe capable of fully exploiting the weakness, but later in the war increasing numbers on the Soviet side and better experience among their fliers dealt with the problem. The Yak-9 in Air Warrior Strengths: Turns -- The Yak is capable of maintaining a very small turn radius. Properly flown only a Spit can compete with it in this regard. Weaknesses: Slow -- The Yak is terribly slow, only slightly faster than a Zeke. It doesn't accelerate well and it doesn't dive to high speeds -- plus it will rip wings off at high speeds when under high G-load. Ammo -- It might as well be shooting green peas. Three kill missions in a Yak are the mark of careful ammo conservation. Climb -- A poor climber Fuel -- Basically equivalent to the 109 in this regard. The Yak has a small gas tank compared to some of it's opponents and has very limited range. Compression -- Yaks get very sluggish at higher speeds. Take off checklist: Where: The Yak is an ETO only plane. Field: Yaks don't climb well, nor do they particularly benefit from altitude. In fact a Yak is completely out of it's element above 20K so there isn't much point in taking it there. Might as well take it up from a field close to the action and only climb slightly -- running away in a Yak is basically impossible, so you'd better be ready to fight. Fuel: Yaks have tiny fuel tanks and seem to require 5% to get to the end of the runway. Fuel loads of below 20% are pointless; flying even 2-3 sectors with combat requires 50% or more. Bombs: 1 bomb available. On paper it would seem the Yak is the junk heap of Air Warrior. In practice though an experienced Yak pilot will get more kills and more easily than a Jug pilot for instance; however, the Yak pilot may not make it home to talk about it. As it is in real life this plane is much maligned in AW and has grown a reputation of being flyable only by a select few -- the truth being that only a select few have bothered to find out you can get quick kills in it. Essentially all "Yak attacks" revolve around it's turn ability coupled with a huge e-bleed characteristic. Slamming a Yak into a 6G turn at 250kts is like hitting airborne salt water taffy -- the plane instantly sheds speed at an alarming rate as it comes around. It so happens that this is almost the opposite characteristic of the better stallfighters of the European arena, the Spit and 109. In turns they will tend to keep their speed fairly well, and as a result make much wider radius turns. Flying a Yak in turn fights is like flying an F6F with the air brakes on 100% of the time. The trick to it is to visualize a time to commit to that one heavy turn that will bring you into firing position. Unfortunately a mistake at this point will leave you relatively helpless against a plane that without doubt is faster, can climb better, is tougher, and has better lethality than you do. Luckily the Yak has several weapons at low speed to help it out of tough spots. First, it has two-stage flaps and responds well to both settings -- 50% flaps and 75-100IAS in a carefully managed turn will yield a very small radius. 100% flaps can be used at the top of loops or even going under with Split-S maneuvers. Also, the Yak rolls fairly well at low speeds. Finally, it's a very forgiving plane about stalls -- they can be recovered easily and quickly when they occur. It's important to note however that even at these edges of execution an aware and capable Spit flier for instance (with a reasonable fuel load) can out perform the Yak in all respects. 109s have a hard time in flat turns but can easily switch into climbing turns where the Yak is absolutely terrible. Most other planes will (at least should) simply run away. Ideally you should try to set up Yak engagements so you have just enough alt to supply you speed to jump a faster opponent and get him to commit to a turn. At that point the Yaks bleed characteristics should put you in firing position; if this doesn't happen quickly (within a turn or two) you've probably lost the window of opportunity and should think about regaining speed again, unless you're completely committed to the turn fight in which case you should try to get it going slow where the Yak is better matched. THE MITSUBISHI A6M5A ZERO-SEN The Zero was the emerging standard fighter for the Japanese at the beginning of their Pacific campaign; it was fairly new (having first flown in 1939) but not so new the U.S. didn't know about it -- it had seen action in China and elsewhere long before it was used against the Americans. Even so American armed forces severely underestimated the A6M and that mistake caused considerable problems -- it's primary opponents in the early war, the F4F Wildcat, the P40, and the lamentable P39, were heavily outclassed by the Zero. The wide disparity in plane ability forced a quick adoption of new air to air tactics by the American pilots; the famous "Thatch weave" for instance, which was effective but required two to one engagement odds, close wingman contact, and was fairly risky even so. More commonly Americans took to a simple philosophy echoed by pilot biographies throughout the era; engage with alt, engage with numbers, and when compromised immediately dive to safety (a singular weakness of the Zero was high speed diving). This confused the Japanese, who by and large considered air combat almost an art form which matched the wits and ability of one pilot against another. This was mirrored in the very design of the Zero; it was at the time the ultimate "dogfight" style plane, exhibiting superb turning capability, good range, and excellent power -- at the price of durability, low offensive armament, and very limited payload or bombing options. If American pilots had attempted to engage the Japanese on a level playing field, so to speak, they would have been slaughtered, both by the superior design and better training at the onset of the war the Japanese enjoyed. Unfortunately for the Japanese the features they designed their premier fighter for were quickly obsolete in the air war. Having demonstrated the validity of their new tactics in combat, the U.S. armed forces began making planes to better utilize them, and training their pilots extremely well in how to do it. Against a supreme turning plane the U.S. answered with several planes that had common core design features: they were fast, they were heavily armed, they were heavily armored, and they performed well at high altitudes. Against the likes of well flown P38, F6F or F4U, the Zero was hopelessly outclassed, but by the time that was evident to all concerned it was too late to displace it as the number one fighter for Japan. When asked after the war which plane he fly in WW2 combat if he had a choice of any, Sabaro Sakai, one of the leading Japanese aces of WW2, said he would pick a P51. The pilots of the Zero understood what they needed was a faster, tougher plane, but the design that produced such outstanding early war results was no longer able to give them that four years later. The Zero in Air Warrior Strengths: Turning -- The essential capability of the Zero. It can out turn every other plane. Weaknesses: Speed -- A huge flaw, the Zero is by far the slowest fighter in the Pac. Any decent pilot with a few K of alt can avoid a Zeke with speed. Climb -- Almost as significant as speed, the climb ability of the Zero is awful. This means the F4 or F6 for instance can separate in two ways -- vertically by climbing, or horizontally by walling the throttle. Weak -- The Zero had a wooden frame and as little metal as possible to decrease its weight. Armament was added later but it was never enough. The weakest fighter in the Pacific, it can rip wings easily at speeds >300kts. Take off checklist: Where: Any Pacific aircraft field Field: The Zeke isn't a good choice for rear fields because it takes too long to get to the action and large amounts of alt advantage are mostly wasted. It is however a great plane for field defense or fields close to the action in general. Fuel: With such a light weight and large fuel capacity, the Zero can go quite a way on it's tank. Fuel endurance is excellent and you can generally get by with 30% for most missions (or even less). Bombs: One bomb, but the Zeke is a terrible dive bomber. The Zero has definite appeal as a turn fighter because of it's phenomenal turn rate, but it quickly runs out of tricks after that. The basic problem with Zekes is that by themselves, they're more or less worthless against aware opponents. Any other fighter can pick a way to simply run away from a Zeke if one shows up alone. This is why I often refer to Zero's as "assist killers" -- they can get a kill, but usually the reason they do is the opponent was forced into close quarters with the Zero by another plane. Once that point is reached, it's simply the application of an overwhelming turn advantage to kill the opponent. There's no inherent problem with this, it just means that when flying a Zeke you will be best utilized with another fighter of different type, preferably a fast climber like the F4. If you plan to go solo, plan to be frustrated. Any other plane that perceives you at an E advantage and within range to do something about it can and will simply leave, and you should expect nothing less. One way to combat this is to keep your speed as high as possible in general flight; holding at a steady 250kts or so when approaching for instance, instead of climbing which will put you at <150kts (do your climbing before engaging). Some players won't be expecting a Zeke to go that fast and won't deal with it properly, possibly allowing you to close into range that forces them to evade -- at which point you can throw your speed away in turns, since the Zero will win that fight sooner or later. Keep in mind while trying these type of tactics that the Zeke is a very poor high speed plane; it rolls slowly and of course can rip wings above 300-325 or so. You will have to be careful to use gentle, easy turns to keep your speed up because in any heavy turn the Zeke bleeds speed terribly. It's more important than normal in a Zero to be aware of your loop ability and not get going so slow you can't Immel or at least get nose up. The reason for this is obvious; other planes are going to use their superior climb rate on you whenever possible and thus you'll often have to deal with planes "on top" that absolutely want to stay there. Your best hope against them is to hoard your speed and try to catch them close enough above that you can zoom up and hit them, or possibly lead turn them as they come in (which is very dangerous, so practice it a lot if that's what you want to do). Probably the most fun in a Zeke is fighting another Zeke. It's here that the plane is in its element and you can experiment with things like partial flaps (which work very well at low speeds) and the amazingly slow speeds that Zeros can perform some maneuvers. ---- APPENDIX: HISTORICAL SCENARIOS ---- Historical scenarios are, in my opinion, the most exciting activity in Air Warrior. To give you an idea what scenarios are like, the following is a detailed description of the last scenario I played in: the Saga of the 5th Air Force, Part 2, a scenario constructed by Try Harder that was played over a three-week period in March, 1996 on GEnie. There have been many notable scenarios, many run by Doktor Gonzo, who has a Web page: "http://www.cris.com/~Msmiller/AW/". Scenarios start with a write-up, which is a description of how the scenario will work, what the sides will be like, what the objectives are, what the rules of engagement are, and which planes will be available. After the write-up is posted, people sign up, including volunteers for commanding officer (CO) for each side. CO's are usually responsible for assigning people to various other positions and for developing the battle strategies. Other positions include executive officer (XO) who helps the CO with developing strategies and with directing the aircraft in battle; logistics officer (LO) who makes flight assignments and might appoint squadron leaders and flight leaders; and the bomber-group leader (BGL) who is in charge of the bombers, bomber flight assignments, and directing the bombers in battle. Once all of the personnel are assigned, the CO and XO (and often others who are interested) plan out a strategy for the first mission. Several days before the first mission, the orders are sent out to everyone. On the day of the battle, people show up half and hour or so before takeoff, any last-minute flight assignments or other adjustments are made, and people wait those tense minutes before takeoff. Finally, the launch order is given, and the fight is on. It's always a rush to see all of those planes taking off and forming up, the radio chattering with messages as the squadrons sort themselves out and head out on their missions. The battles generally last 1-2 hours, and afterward everyone meets in conference rooms to report to their squadron leaders. Damage assessments are taken and delivered to the XO or CO, who then reports to the person running the scenario. Before the next mission, people write up mission debriefings, giving them to the CO so that he can more precisely tell how various parts of the battle went and so that others can read of the exploits. Then the command staff sits down and plans the strategy for mission #2. So, now that you know the process, the following will give you the details for Saga of the 5th AF, Part 2. The following contains the write-up, the list of participants for the Japanese side, the pre-mission orders from the CO, the orders for mission #1, and some actual debriefings from mission #1. WRITE-UP ... October 12th, 1942 ... "This is the BBC, Sydney... Japanese forces this week launched the heaviest air raids yet against allied airfields in New Guinea. Allied losses are said to be very high. To add to the bad news coming from New Guinea, General Kenney, Commander of the American 5th Air Force, said today that Lt. General moggy, commanding the Allied Air Forces in New Guinea, was shot down over the recently captured Japanese airfield at Buna. He was the leading Ace in New Guinea at the time. General MacArthur released a statement today in which he said that the air losses were so severe that Allied forces in northern New Guinea could no longer be supported. The American airfield at Buna and the RAAF airfield at Milne Bay have both been lost to Japanese Army forces. All Allied forces are being mobilized to protect the facilities at Port Moresby, the last Allied foothold in New Guinea. An aide said that General MacArthur told General Kenney 'Save Australia! If the Japanese manage to invade, the entire South and Southwest Pacific Areas could be lost.' The new commander of the American 5th Air Force in New Guinea has a large and difficult job before him..." ... October 23rd, 1942 ... "This is the BBC, Sydney... As the Japanese continue their daily attacks against the Allied installations surrounding Port Moresby, the outlook for our forces holding that strategically important city is described as grim. Today Japanese forces are reported to have completed the airfield at Kokoda. This places Japanese aircraft within 20 miles of the outlying fields defending Port Moresby. There is a bright spot in today's news. Lt. General moggy, commander of the American 5th Air Force, returned to Port Moresby today with an Australian Army unit retreating from Kokoda. General moggy, thought lost in combat over Japanese held Buna, was able bail out behind the Australian lines southwest of that village. He was found by an allied patrol and was able to return with them over the Owens-Stanley Mountains as they retreated from the vastly superior Japanese forces moving in from the north. Perhaps this spot of good news indicates that the allies' luck is about to change..." The 5th Air Force Saga Chapter 2 "Save Australia!" INTRODUCTION The situation is becoming desparate. Although it appeared that the Japanese had finally been stopped with the capture of Buna, the victory was short lived. The Japanese regrouped their forces and struck back with a fury and precision that is a testament to the abilities of their commander. The equipment is tired, but the men are willing. And as a bright spot, the new P-38 Lightings have finally arrived and are being readied for combat. They are not yet arriving in large numbers, but the pilots say that it is an amazing airplane. Also, Washington has detailed a Task Force containing the aircraft carrier Enterprise to the theater. With Australia too far away for fighters to be based there, and Port Moresby under constant attack, this moving airfield was the answer. However, the Japanese have not been idle either. Despite the success of the Zeros and Bettys that have served so well, here are new enemy aircraft on the way as well. Planes that have been given codenames such as "Oscar" and "Nick", as well as others of which the allies may know nothing, are said to be on their way to the area. OVERVIEW This scenario will be a 6-mission, 2-stage event based on the conflict in New Guinea between the USAAF 5th Air Force and the Imperial Japanese Air Force. This scenario is the next chapter in a story which began with chapter 1, and which will form an on-going story. The first chapter of this story was based, as much as was possible within the constraints of AirWarrior, on the historical situation in July and August of 1942. This scenario, or chapter, has been formed by the results and performance of the AirWarriors participating in the preceeding chapter. As a result, the story line has departed from history in terms of the locations of battles and the forces involved. However, the availability of new aircraft types and other factors are still affected by the historical timeline. The standard AirWarrior scores (points gained for shooting down aircraft or bombing targets) will not be used in this scenario. However, a record will be kept of consecutive victories and/or bombing missions for each player. This record will be cleared each time a player is shot down or crashes. It is hoped that players will continue to sign up for succeeding chapters in the story and continue to build their kill and mission lists. Eventually, skilled and lucky players may build records to rival those of the aces and heros of the historical campaign. This scenario will be held using the Real Time Pacific terrain. The following is a list of airfields available for each side and their historical counterparts (N66, N65, and N64 represent the airfields around Port Moresby): 5th AF IJA ============== ============== N66 Berry (12 mile) C61 Lae N65 Wards C63 Salamaua N64 Jackson (7 mile) N70 Kokoda A61 Mareeba, Australia C67 Buna A67 \ A68 - Possible Enterprise locations A69 / GOALS AND OBJECTIVES The mission of the Imperial Japanese Air Force is to eliminate the Allied presence in New Guinea by capturing the Port Moresby airfields. The mission of the 5th Air Force is to protect Port Moresby. Additionally, the 5th Air Force has been given the mission to capture and hold Kokoda, sealing the pass through the Owens-Stanley Mountains. AVAILABLE FORCES IMPERIAL JAPANESE ARMY AIR FORCE Commanding Officer: Brooke Aircraft -------- Field: Buna (C67) 12 A6M5a Zeros Field: Lae (C61) 2 HQ Flight (any of below, plus Tess [JAAF version of C-47]) 18 25th Koku Sentai G4M Bettys 8 Ki-45 Nicks (A-26Bs) 8 A6M5a Zeros Field: Salamaua (C63) 16 A6M5a Zeros 8 Ki-43 Oscars (Bf-109Fs) Field: Kokoda (N70) 12 A6M5a Zeros Targets: American airfields. Shipping and industrial targets in sector 3,3, which represents Port Moresby itself, and sector 1,2/1,3. Convoys and other shipping as appropriate. 5th AIR FORCE Commanding Officer: moggy Aircraft -------- Field: Berry (12 mile), Port Moresby (N66) 12 9th Fighter Squadron, 49th FG P-40s (Yak-9D) Field: Wards, Port Moresby (N65) 6 39th Fighter Squadron, 49th Fighter Group P-40s (Yak-9D) Field: Jackson (7 miles), Port Moresby (N64) 2 HQ Flight (P-40, A-20, plus C-47s) 6 39th Fighter Squadron, 49th Fighter Group P-38s 4 89th Attack Squadron, 3rd Attack Group A-20s (Mosquitos) Field: Mareeba, Australia (C61) 3 63rd Squadron, 43rd Bomb Group B-17s 6 90th Squadron, 3rd Attack Group B-25s Field: USS Enterprise (A67, A68, or A69) 12 VF-501 P-40 SeaHawks [a little known variant] (Yak-9D) Targets: Japanese airfields. Shipping and industrial targets in sectors 5,7 and 4,9. Convoys and other shipping as appropriate. MOVEMENT RESTRICTIONS All aircraft must stay on the map. The center of sector row 6 cannot be crossed below 12,000 feet except over the N70 island (the Kokoda pass). This represents the natural barrier of the Owens-Stanley mountains. The rule is meant to add historical flavor and to prevent low level raids from proceeding directly from Port Moresby to Buna/Salamaua and vice versa. As a historical note, players may notice that this is very close to the ceiling given to the A-20s below. Historically, there were times when the A-20s could not be sent on a mission because they could not climb high enough to cross the mountains with the required combat load. In the first chapter, we had a few complaints of planes diving "into the mountains" to escape pursuit. As a whole, all players were very good about the mountain range rule. Please everyone just keep in mind that when you are in a furball, or even just real busy, a pilot just may not be able to avoid a mountain that he or she cannot visually see. The spirit of this rule is to force planes taking of from Salamaua, Buna, Berry, Wards and Jackson to climb to 12+k before proceeding to attack. NOTE: This does _NOT_ affect the planes at Kokoda, nor attacks against that installation. Rather than use the huge Oceana terrain, I decided to keep things close and fast. However, this places Lae and Mareeba MUCH closer to the action than they should be, so there are a couple of special rules for aircraft based there. - Aircraft based at Lae (C61) must fly north to the center of sector 10,4 and then either east or west to the center of column 5 or 3 before turning south and proceeding with their mission. - Aircraft based at Mareeba (A61) must fly south to the center of sector 2,1 and then east to the center of sector 4,1 before turning north. Aircraft attacking these targets may fly directly to them, after meeting any other flight path requirements. Aircraft returning to bases there, may also fly directly to them, after meeting any other flight path requirements. ALTITUDE RESTRICTIONS Unless otherwise noted, all aircraft have a maximum ceiling of 30,000 feet. The B-17s have a maximum ceiling of 25,000 feet. Japanese Bettys must level bomb land targets from above 5000 feet. Bettys may attack ships at any altitude below their ceiling. The A-20's must attack from below 1000 feet. The A-20s have a maximum ceiling of 14,000 feet. All other aircraft may attack from any altitude below their ceiling. SPECIAL BOMBER RULES GENERAL Bombers must fly in flights of at least 3 (or fewer, if less than 3 bombers of a particular type are flying). The aircraft in each flight must stay within icon range of each other. This rule serves two purposes. First, it prevents the bombers from getting spread out all over the map and therefore becoming almost impossible to intercept. Second, it mimics the tight, defensive, formations in which the bombers historically flew. An exception to the above flight rules is the A-20s. A-20s may split up when within 1/4 sector of their target to attack from different directions. The surviving A-20s must rejoin into the icon range or less formation before egressing more than 1/4 sector from their target. Multiple flights may be joined into larger groups. At any time a Commanding Officer may elect to fully crew his bombers by taking pilots from the fighter forces and assigning them as gunners. Also, if any unassigned alternates are available for a given mission, they may be assigned as gunners on bombers. Pilots and crews of aircraft destroyed may be used as gunners in bombers flying missions later in the frame. Bombers landing at fields other than Lae (C61) and Mareeba (A61) are considered to have made emergency landings and will not receive full scores. Also, those aircraft will not be available for the next frame. See the B-25 exception, below. 5th AIR FORCE If the Mareeba B-25s are used, then they MUST stop at 7 mile to refuel before continuing to their target. They did not have sufficient range to attack from Australiua. Use the refueling rules below. NOTE: B-25s may re-arm bombs at 7-mile (N64) provided the bomb supply there is ample to re-arm ALL planes in the flight. B-25s which re-arm at 7-mile will NOT receive their full strike points until they return safely to Mareeba (A61), although they will receive some strike points for landing at 7-mile. GAME SETTINGS 1. Real-time is ON. 2. Radar is OFF. 3. Sector counters are ON IN FRIENDLY TERRITORY for EVERYONE. 4. Tower Warnings are ON. 5. All realism effects except engine over-rev are ON. 6. Gunnery range is 650 yards. 7. Visual ranges will be: Bomber: 10k visual, 6k icon Fighter: 8k visual, 3.5k icon 8. The Randomizer will be ON. 9. ALL flak batteries will be operational. See additional Flak rules, below. 10. Airfields will require 16 bombs to destroy the runway. All buildings and the runway must be destroyed to count as destroying the airfield. 11. Mission Aborts: any mission may be aborted at any time by the CO or his designated staff. However, the FRAME will run 120 minutes regardless. CASUALTIES AND ATTRITION Casualty minutes will be assessed using a base of 5 MINUTES (see below). Attrition does not affect the HQ squadrons nor the Combat Air Patrols (see Special Rules Below). Casualty minutes from deaths affect ALLIED FIGHTERS ONLY. Casualty minutes for the Japanese come from American attacks on their airfields. A "casualty" is considered to have occurred to a Japanese squadron when a medium bomber equivalent successfully drops on their field. A "medium bomber equivalent" consists of 3 A-20s or 1 B-25. A B-17 counts as 2 "medium bomber equivalents." Attrition for the Japanese affects the squadron based at the airfield which was attacked. A penalty of 1:30 will be assessed for each "casualty" the field suffers. Attrition for the Japanese will be cleared after each mission which the attrition affects. For example, if the Japanese are delayed 3 minutes in mission 2, and no Japanese airfields are successfully attacked during mission 2, then the Japanese will have no delay for mission 3. SPECIAL RULES The Ki-45 Nick (Toryu or Dragon Killer to the IJAAF) was a fine twin engined fighter/attack aircraft. In New Guinea they were often used in anti-shipping roles. The Ki-45s (A-26Bs) may carry up to 2 bombs and a single gunner besides the pilot. Fighters may carry bombs. Fighters may NOT attack runways or industrial targets. Fighters may attack ships. Fighters may also attack fuel supplies, ammunition dumps, maintenance facilities, etc. at airfields. The frame will last 120 minutes, or until one side has no planes left flying. Players which are shot down or crash or are lost over enemy territory are considered dead for the rest of the mission and may not fly as pilot of an aircraft. However, you may still fly as a gunner in a bomber, or man anti-aircraft defenses at an airfield. When you "die" when you are flying as a pilot, your kill/mission record will be cleared. Players who successfully ditch in friendly territory are not considered dead. However, you CANNOT rejoin the battle as a pilot, only as a gunner or to man anti-aircraft defenses. People who get dumped from the host are not counted as dead. If you get dumped, make sure to tell the CM or ACM so as soon as you return. Depending on the situation, it may be possible for you to rejoin the battle. The American CO has a severe shortage of aircraft. Attrition effects will be HALVED at the end of Stage 1, NOT cleared. This makes bringing your damaged aircraft home VERY important. The Fog of War. CO's will only get enemy loss reports from their own pilots. The CM will not inform them of the enemy's status. To destroy an airfield, you must destroy all the associated buildings as well as the runway. Airfields which are destroyed will be closed for the rest mission. Any aircraft which were to land at that airfield must land at an alternate. If no bases remain, then all aircraft must ditch. If you crash you are considered dead and will count in the attrition effects. Airfields are captured the same way they are captured in the arena. Each side may have a Combat Air Patrol of 4 aircraft. These may launch from any airfield and any squadron. However all CAP aircraft for a particular frame MUST come from the same squadron. CAP flights must fly in AT LEAST pairs. Flying as a pair means staying within visual range of each other. Any field captured may be recaptured by the enemy. Whoever owns an airfield at the end of a frame may move any fighter squadron AS AN ENTIRE UNIT to that field. Bomber squadrons (except the A-20s) may not deploy to a captured field. The A-20s may only deploy to 7 mile (N64). If the Americans run out of any type of aircraft, they may be replaced with P-40s. REFUELS/REARMS Re-arms and refuels are allowed for all aircraft. Strike aircraft must land at their takeoff airfield and check in with the CM or ACM before taking off again. (See the B-25 exception in the bomber rules.) Strike aircraft which do not land at their home airfields are considered to have made an emergency landing. Bombers which make emergency landings will not be available for the next frame. Fighter/bombers which do not land at their takeoff field may not re-arm with bombs. However, they may refuel and rearm as normal fighters. After checking in, all types must wait 10 minutes before replaning. This represents the time required to refuel/rearm your plane. ALL strike aircraft must rearm as squadrons or flights. The 10 minute waiting period does not start until the last surviving member of the flight has checked in. THE ENTERPRISE Before each frame, the American CO will notify the CM which position the Enterprise will be using. The Enterprise, and its planes, will be based here the rest of the frame. If the Enterprise is sunk, those aircraft may be redeployed to any land base. Japanese scouts _may_ find the Enterprise within a frame. If they do, the CM will announce the position of the Big E on IJAAF channel 2. If the scouts have not found the carrier by T+90, then they will not find it during that frame. The Japanese CO also has the option of launching an attack against any of the possible positions at any time. However, if the wrong position is hit the no points at all are scored and the mission was wasted. The "scouts" will be handled by the CM, and no players need fly this mission. There is a chance that the Enterprise will see the "scouts" that found them. If so, the CM will announce on US channel 2 that the Enterprise has been found. SUPPLIES Supplies are very important for both sides at this stage. Both forces are stretched almost to their limit. The Americans can only receive supplies by sea. The Japanese receive most of their supplies by sea, but receive replacement aircraft and some other supplies by air. The airborne supplies cannot be cut off. The Americans will start with 250 bombs available. The Japanese will start with 500. The Japanese will receive 50 bombs per frame by air. In random frames, supply convoys will be at sea to replenish the Americans, the Japanese, or both. Each ship in a convoy will carry 20 bombs. Ships not sunk during the frame will deliver their bombs to the appropriate side. Each CO will be given the convoy schedule for his team before the first frame. The stockpiles may be affected by attacking the industrial targets, or the shipping around the central atoll and the Kokoda island and in harbor in sectors 3,3 and 5,7. For the industrial targets, 5 bombs will be lost for each bomb dropped on target. Each ship sunk will cost the enemy 10 bombs from their stockpile. Also 25 bombs will be lost for each ammo dump and/or maintenance shed destroyed at an airfield. The 5th Air Force starts chapter 2 with 10 P-38s, 5 B-17s, and 18 A-20s. Each supply convoy that reaches port will bring 4 P-38s, 4 A-20s, and 1 B-17. If the convoy is attacked, these numbers will be adjusted downward based on the amount of damage the convoy receives. Washington may also send General Kenney (commanding the 5th Air Force) more aircraft via ferry flights at odd intervals, but the war is going poorly everywhere and these flights are unsure. FLAK Each airfield may deploy up to 4 Flakpanzers and 4 Jeeps at any one time for additional anti-aircraft defenses. These may be manned by active pilots, or by "dead" pilots. When a Flakpanzer is killed, it is out of action for 45 minutes. The person(s) manning the Flakpanzer must report to the CM/ACM in gen 1 before moving on to other duties. This is because it takes 45 minutes for maintenance crews to repair the damaged anti-aircraft installation. When a jeep is killed, the person manning the jeep must report to the CM/ACM in gen 1. They may then immediately return and go out in the jeep again, provided the field has not reached its limit of 4. This is because each side has scads of infantry available to man machine guns. MISSION SCORING Scoring is based on the performance of strike aircraft. Points are awarded for getting the strike aircraft to drop on their targets AND for getting back alive. NO POINTS will be awarded for strike aircraft which do not attack their target, nor come within ICON range of the enemy. The victory index will be based on the differential between the two scores, with the side with the greater score being the victor. MISSION POINTS +1 Per fighter/A-20/Ki-45 which drops on target.* +2 Per medium bomber (B-25, Betty) which drops on target.* +3 Per B-17 which drops on target.* +1 Per strike aircraft which lands without dropping on target. +1 Per strike aircraft which lands at an emergency field after dropping on target.* +2 Per strike aircraft which lands after dropping on target.* +5 Per airfield destroyed. +10 Per airfield captured. +20 To the Japanese if the Enterprise is sunk. +20 To the 5af Air Force if they own Kokoda at the end of the last frame. +10 To the Japanese each for holding Wards, 12-mile, and/or 7-mile at the end of the last frame. (*"Drop on target" means land >50% of bomb capacity on target.) VICTORY INDEX Differential Result ------------ ------ < 6 Draw < 11 Marginal Victory < 21 Substantial Victory > 30 Decisive Victory Scores will NOT be announced at the end of each mission. At the end of the first stage, each team will be given an idea of how they are doing. This will be in a form similar to "it is very close", "the Japanese are ahead", etc. The final victory status will be announced at the end of stage 2. TAKE OFF PROCEDURE T+0 CAP and HQ flights for both sides and Lae/Mareeba bombers cleared to take off. T+5 All other aircraft cleared to take off. FIGHT IS ON CAMPAIGN MANAGEMENT NOTES Some things that may be different from other AirWarrior scenarios: There will be a built in hold at T-5 minutes until start. At this time we will make sure that the sides are balanced and that each CO is ready to proceed. Also at this time, I will make a Campaign Manager briefing using the /announce command to cover any last minute rule changes, general reminders, etc. Command staff for each side should have their briefings complete by this time so I don't get accused of interrupting them. 8-) It is my intent that these holds be as short as possible, hopefully just long enough for the CM briefing. I am hoping that by the Command Staffs knowing this hold is coming, they can be a little more relaxed in knowing that they will for sure have time to get their sides counted up and ready to go before launch. When the hold period is over, the count will resume at T-5 minutes. The rosters will be disabled at this time as well. This should give each side ample time to assign planes and/or gunners without the other team being able to look at the roster and see what they are facing. There will be a 10 minute warning before the End Log. This should give everyone ample time to finish their fights and/or get their planes safely on the ground. Final Note: Since I have no idea how many people will sign up for the scenario, the numbers of aircraft for each side is a desired goal. The number of aircraft available to each side will be modified to match the actual number of signups. No matter how many aircraft fly, the ratios of each type of aircraft will be maintained. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ * * * end scenario description * * * ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ROSTER OF PLAYERS JAPANESE Availability Handle Plane Pref S W S W S W =========================================================================== <<< Headquarters Flight >>> Brooke CO X X X X X X AirShark XO X X X X X X <<< 1st Lae Sentai, Ki-43 (Bf-109) >>> Moose-san Oscar, Nick X X X X X X ThreadNeck Oscar, Betty X X X X X X Sturmer Oscar X X X X X X Banzai Oscar X X X X X X Drum Oscar X X X X X X Night Train Oscar X X X X X X Dactyl Oscar X X X X X X Biff Tarkiss Oscar X X X X X X <<< 2nd Lae Sentai, A6M5a >>> Coasty X X X X X X VBall Zeke X X X X X X TapeWorm Oscar X X X X X X wheelin X X X X X X Modo X X X X X X bodhi X X X X X X * Rogue X X X X X X * Santo X X X X X X Pops X X X X X * FeedBack A X A X A X Furis Zeke, Oscar X X X Jedi X X X TWanger X X X ShaDow X X X X moses X X X Doom X X X Stefan-san Zeke X X <<< 3rd Lae Sentai, Ki-45 (Nick) (A-26) >>> BlackPanther Nick X X X X X X ShaPPer X X X X X X Razor X X X X X X floor X X X X X X * Blackhawk (#1934) X X X X X X ShotGun X X X * Kaz X X X Tex A-20 A A A A A A <<< 25th Koku Sentai (Lae) >>> Meercat Betty X X X X X X Splatter Betty X X X X X X Deathbunny Betty X X X X X X Damned Big T X X X X X X ZAPPA X X X X X X * melon X X X X X X * Bloody Viking X X X X X X * Psyco X X X X X X * KOO X X X X X X * JasHook X X X X X X Nug X X X <<< Salamaua Sentai, A6M5a >>> SCD*DOGZ* Zeke X X X X X X FullRigor Zeke X X X X X X DoublTap Zeke X X X X X X AIRDOG X X X X X X * Reaper X X X X X X * Wildcat X X X X * Dasdman X X X Milkman Zeke X X X Newbie Zeke X X X Vicious X X X Bundy X X X Vortex A A A A A A Spellbound Zeke A A A A A A Shamrock ? ? ? ? ? ? <<< Kokoda Sentai, A6M5a >>> SkyVon Zeke X X X X X X Pulse Zeke X X X X X X Malice Zeke X X X X X X Tempest Zeke X X X X X X Pirate Zeke X X X X X X Moo Zeke X X X X X X Jigsaw P-38, B-17 X X X X X X Woebird X X X X * AC X X X PRE-MISSION ORDERS TO: All pilots of the IJAAF, New Guinea SUBJECT: MANDATORY TRAINING EXERCISES FROM: Command staff, IJAAF, New Guinea Brooke, Commanding Officer AirShark, Executive and Logistics Officer Splatt, Bomber Group Leader Pilots of the IJAAF, we will soon be launching wide-ranging assaults against US positions in New Guinea as we push toward Australia. Intelligence reports that the USS Enterprise is in the area and that US forces are being supplied almost exclusively via naval convoy. Also, we have some indication of the location of enemy anti-aircraft positions. As a result, our fighters will often be equiped with bombs and be given antishipping or ground-attack assignments as well as air-to-air combat duties. So, in addition having the usual high level of air-to-air combat proficiency, fighter pilots should make sure that they are proficient in divebombing. Nick pilots should practice divebombing, level bombing, and break turns (described below). Betty pilots should practice break turns and level bombing. The following training should be completed prior to March 9th. (For this scenario, Oscars are modelled by Bf109s. Nicks are modelled by A-26's. P-40's are modelled by Yaks. Zeros and Bettys are already available in Air Warrior.) SURVIVING COMPRESSIBILITY If you are flying a Betty, do not get into compressiblity -- diving straight at the ground until your wings rip off will not please your bomber group leader. If you are flying a Nick, you can dive for extended periods, just make sure that you don't pull more than 5 g's, as your wings come off at 6 g's. If you are in a fighter, be careful of how many g's you pull coming out of compressiblity -- practice the following. Nick pilots must be the most careful of all coming out of compressibility. Take your plane (armed with one bomb if you are in a fighter or 2 bombs if you in a Nick) up to 25k ft. altitude. Turn on your gun camera. Fly around for at least 5 minutes. Turn off your gun camera and remember to save the film. Now you have a film that you can jump into (take control of) in which your plane is already at 25k. Practice diving into and out of compressiblity (where your plane it buffeting and the controls are almost ineffective). Dive straight down until you are in compressiblity. Pull all the way back on the stick, then chop throttle. Observe how your wings rip off as soon as you come out of compressiblity, due to excessive g's. (At least this will be the case with the Zero -- I'm not sure whether the Oscar will come apart or not. Try it and see.) Now do the same thing, but pull back on the stick only far enough to generate 3 g's or so. As soon as you come out of compressiblity, immediately relax back pressure on your stick, pulling no more than 6 g's. Notice that your wings did not rip off. Nick pilots must be even more careful about coming out of compressiblity -- don't even pull enough to get to 3 g's in compressiblity. Please practice it. DIVE BOMBING For pilots of all but the Betty, jump into the film you made from the compressiblity practice and go divebomb a small ship. Practice divebombing so that you can come down onto the target vertically, in a steep dive, horizontally at low altitude and high speed, from various altitudes, and from various approaches. You will probably be doing a fair amount of bombing in this battle -- make sure that you are good at it. Note that, under some conditions (prolonged steep dives) , you might need to chop your throttle to maintain control of your aircraft. For the Betty, practice normal bombing. For the Nick, practice normal bombing and divebombing. BOMBERS AND BREAK TURNS If you are flying a Betty or a Nick and an enemy fighter is gaining on you, ready to start a firing pass, one of the most effective defensive maneuvers is the nose-low break turn. To do this, you start the break turn when the enemy is approximately 2500 yards to your rear. You turn hard either left or right, keeping the nose below the horizon and pulling 5 g's. Practice this maneuver. Practice chopping throttle during the maneuver if you are flying at more than about 150 knots IAS. DIVING AWAY IN THE NICK The Nick is very fast in a dive and picks up speed rapidly. If you have some room, you might be able to dive away from the P-40 and even accelerate away in a dive under some circumstances from the P-38. Don't be afraid to try diving away if the enemy is not closing quickly. You can always chop throttle and initiate a nose-low break turn if he closes. NICKS AND FLAPS NICK PILOTS -- IMPORTANT -- Be aware that, if you have one or more notches of flaps deployed, diving can cause you to exceed the speed below which you can control the pitch of your aircraft. If you are going to dive, make sure you don't have flaps deployed. If you experience a nose-down movement that you can't counter by pulling back on the stick, CENTER YOUR STICK and then retract flaps immediately. If you don't center your stick before retracting flaps, you will generate more than 6 g's when the flaps are retracted, and your wings will rip off. Practice putting in one notch of flaps then diving until your aircraft starts to pitch down uncontrollably. Practice recovering from the situation. -- Brooke, CO, IJAAF (brooke@genie.geis.com) TO: All IJAAF pilots FROM: Command Staff, IJAAF, New Guinea INTRODUCTION This document contains general information that will be applicable to all missions flown. Read this material in advance of your first mission. STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE Before you fly in a mission, make sure that you have read the rules for the scenario, the mission orders, and that you have a map. In addition, have a piece of paper and a pencil ready to write down briefing information (such as bomber assignments). Show up at least 20 minutes before takeoff time (T-20). Alternates will be given available planes at T-20; so if you don't show up by then, you risk losing your plane. If you are not scheduled to fly but would like to fly, please show up as an alternate. Go to C-land HQ and await assignment. Report enemy sightings on channel 2. Use your squadron channel for most other information. After the mission, go to your briefing room so that you can report kills and deaths to your squadron leader. Post-mission intelligence will be important for us to figure out attrition. Know which flight you are in and wait for my or your flight leader's direct order to take off. Do not take off based on TH's announcements. NAMING CONVENTIONS FOR FLIGHTS The Bettys will be divided into two groups, BG1 and BG2. The Nicks will be in one flight, NI1 flight. The Oscars will be in two flights, OS1 and OS2. The Zeros at Buna will be in two flights, BU1 and BU2. The Zeros at Salamaua will be in SA1 and SA2. The Zeros at Kokoda will be in KO1 and KO2. Know your flight's name -- I will use it during the mission to send orders. CARRYING BOMBS Zeros should keep their bombs even in dogfights. If you do find that a P-40 or P-38 is staying with you in a prolonged turn and coming around for a shot on your tail, you may jettison your bomb, but this should rarely happen. The Zero, under most circumstances, should be able with a bomb still to outturn the enemy planes. Oscars can jettison their bombs if they get into a turning fight. Keep in mind, though, that you should not be getting into prolonged turning fights -- we will need you to chase down enemies and get them to turn for the Zeros. Oscars will need to keep up their speed and energy. Nicks and Bettys should keep their bombs even if attacked. AMMO LOADS Ammo loads here are realistic -- half of what they are in the regular AW area. Zeros have a VERY low ammo load. Do not waste ammo on headon shots or snap shots. (You should avoid headon shots anyway as the Zero is so fragile.) Wait until you are saddled up on an enemy and well within firing range before you fire. Oscars don't have a huge amount of ammo either, but they do not have to be quite as frugal. Nicks have a huge ammo load and can take almost any shot of opportunity. EVASIVE TACTICS FOR BOMBERS If an enemy is closing on you, when he is at about 2500 yards, do a hard, 5 g, nose-low turn toward him. Don't rip your wings off by pulling more than 6 g's -- watch those g's. Making it a nose-low as opposed to a level turn is important -- you will be much harder to hit in a nose-low turn. Nicks can also try diving away from enemies, but if the enemy closes, chop your throttle and do a hard nose-low turn. COMPRESSIBLITY Bettys should never get into compressiblity. Nicks can go into compressiblity but must be VERY careful about pulling g's while coming out of compressiblity. Do not pull many g's at all if you are close to coming out of compressiblity or you will rip your wings off. Zeros can dive into compressiblity and can pull up to 3 g's at the transition of coming out of compressiblity. If you pull all the way back on the stick and come out of compressibility, you will rip your wings off. Oscars are more robust than Zeros, but be careful -- you might be able to rip your wings off, too. There is no need to pull more than 3 g's in compressiblity anyway -- that's about the limit of what you can pull, and pulling back more on the stick gains you little. MAPS You should have a printed map for this battle. You can obtain them in either of two places and in either of two formats. Maps are available on GEnie in the MPGRT library and on the Internet via anonymous ftp from alumni.caltech.edu in the directory /pub/brooke. The files are called "rtpacpcx.zip" (for the PCX format map) and "newrtpac.gif" (for the GIF format map). The maps in these files do not have sector numbers -- you will have to add the numbers to the rows and columns. Columns are numbered across the bottom of the map starting from the left with 0 and ending at the right with 8. Rows are numbered across the left side of the map starting at the bottom with 1 and ending with 10 at the top. Sectors are numbered using the (x, y) coordinate system. Write the names next to the appropriate airfields (Lae, Salamaua, Berry, Jackson, etc.). I will refer to the names usually as opposed to the field numbers. RADIO PROCEDURE Each flight will be given a radio channel to tune to. Tune to that channel right after takeoff. Use that channel for all communication except for communication with the bombers or with other flights, in which case you'd use the apostrophe key to communicate on channel 2 (unless you are in a bomber). Bombers will use the slash key to communicate and will always be on channel 2. Enemy sightings should be announced on channel 2, giving sector, location within a sector, number of enemies, type of enemies, and (if possible, given the situation) altitude and heading of enemies. For example: *5965: 4 yak in 5,5 nw hd ne 25k would mean that 4 P-40's (Yaks) are in sector (5, 5), northwest corner, heading NE at 25k ft. altitude. IF YOU ARE SHOT DOWN Get in a Flakpanzer (or, if no FP's are available, a jeep) and protect, in the following order of preference: Kokoda, Salamaua, Buna (if possible), and Lae. Listen on channel 2 for calls of gunners needed for any bombers rearming -- you may be called into service as a gunner, too. ADDENDUM TO GENERAL ORDERS FROM: Command Staff, IJAAF, New Guinea NAMING CONVENTIONS FOR FLIGHTS The Zeros based at Lae will join into two flights, LA1 and LA2. RADIO PROCEDURES Enemy sightings should be announced on channel 2, giving sector, location within a sector, number of enemies, type of enemies, and (if possible, given the situation) altitude and heading of enemies. For example: *5965: 4 yak in 5,5 nw hd ne 25k would mean that 4 P-40's (Yaks) are in sector (5, 5), northwest corner, heading NE at 25k ft. altitude. FIGHTER TACTICS If you are in a Zero, you should not be persuing enemy fighters that have two or more Zeros already in persuit ahead of you. Do not bunch up on enemy fighters. Do not blow your altitude chasing an enemy fighter that is already being sufficiently chased. Beward of chasing enemy planes into enemy ack. If you are in an Oscar, you may chase any enemy plane that looks like it is successfully running away from our Zeros, regardless of the number of Zeros already chasing. Do not chase a plane that already has an Oscar following it, though, unless it is a US bomber (especially a B-17). ANOTHER ADDENDUM TO GENERAL ORDERS FROM: Command Staff, IJAAF, New Guinea ALL PILOTS As soon as you are shot down, go do antiaircraft and antiparatroop action at any field that still has room for Flakpanzers or Jeeps. Pick a field in the following order of preference: Kokoda, Salamaua, Buna (if possible), and Lae. Take your vehicle off the runway at least a little (if possible). Do not bunch up -- spread out around the area so that you can shoot at paratroopers that might be dropped away from the field a bit (i.e., out of the range of your guns if you are still right next to the field). BEWARE OF PARATROOP DROPS BY C-47'S, expecially at Kokoda. I want some FP's and Jeeps spread around that field to shoot such paratroopers. Later in the mission, if we need gunners for bombers, a call will go out on channel 2, so you won't miss out if you are manning a Jeep or FP. Just make sure you are tuned to channel 2. You don't have to wait in the conference room of Lae for gunning duty. Divebombers, do not divebomb Flakpanzers unless otherwise ordered. Betty and Nick pilots, if you are rearming and if you need gunners, give a call on channel 2 several minutes before you are ready to take off. You will most likely get the gunners you need. GUNNERS Be aware that the gunners of a Betty do not get much ammo. Be conservative. Gunners in Nicks (A-26's) probably don't need to be conservative. BOMBERS Once you have bombed an area, do not stick around -- run like hell back to base. Hanging around, even to lend support for bombers not yet clear of the area, is not your job and is more likely to get you shot down. The Betty is fragile, not particularly fast, is worth 2 points if it gets back to base, and can be rearmed and flown again if it gets back to base. -- Brooke, CO, IJAAF MISSION ORDERS MISSION #1: LET'S KILL BERRY TAKEOFF TIME: 4 PM EASTERN TIME, MARCH 9TH, 1996 FROM: Command Staff, IJAAF, New Guinea INTRODUCTION The default mission is to destroy the Berry airfield. Divebombers will take out the ack and the support buildings, then clear a way for the bombers. The Bettys will come in to close the field and to destroy any remaining buildings. More detailed mission orders follow. Keep in mind that this mission will probably have a large portion of in-flight mission orders. For example, if we spot the Enterprise or a US supply convoy, we may have divebombers go hit either of those targets, but we won't know that until the mission is underway. This scenario will be a lot more active and less pre-planned. Timing of the strikes may change drastically if depending on US resistance, but the targets will hopefully remain the same. EVERYONE The ack at the central atol (Wards, Berry, Jackson) is very strong. We will try to kill the ack at Berry early on, but beware following enemy planes into the ack at Wards and Jackson. BG1 Brief at Lae, which is your takeoff field. Take off, tune to channel 2, and climb N to the center of sector (4, 10), then W to the center of sector (3, 10), then 150 degrees to sector (4, 8). Do a patrol there in a racetrack pattern, climbing to 30k ft. altitude. Tell me the disposition of enemy counters that you can see, and stay out of reach of enemy planes, even if you have to leave the assigned sector. Use the counters to stay out of trouble. When you are cleared to head to target, you will fly SE to column 5, then head S down column 5 until you are east of Berry. Then you will turn west, bomb the runway, and run north back to land at Lae. You may descend from 30k during your route, converting altitude to speed. Your Bomb-Group Leader will give you more specific instructions on altitude management. I suggest you stay as high as possible during approach. Your BGL will announce fuel load before takeoff. BG2 Brief at Lae, which is your takeoff field. Take off, tune to channel 2, and climb N to the center of sector (4, 10), then W to the center of sector (3, 10), then 225 degrees to sector (1, 8). Do a patrol there in a racetrack pattern, climbing to 30k ft. altitude. Tell me the disposition of enemy counters that you can see, and stay out of reach of enemy planes, even if you have to leave the assigned sector. Use the counters to stay out of trouble. When you are cleared to head to target, you will fly to Salamaua, then head S down column 5 until you are east of Berry. Then you will turn west, bomb the runway, and run north back to land at Lae. You may descend from 30k during your route, converting altitude to speed. Your Bomb-Group Leader will give you more specific instructions on altitude management. I suggest that you stay as high as possible during approach. You may be repositioned during the mission -- the above route is the default. Your BGL will announce fuel load before takeoff. NI1 Brief at C:69, but take off from Lae. TAKE 2 BOMBS ONLY! Take off, tune to channel 2, climb at 1k fpm N to the center of sector (4, 10), then E to the center of sector (5, 10), then 192 degrees to Berry. Level off at 13k ft. altitude -- I want you to get to Berry as quickly as possible. Your job is to kill the ack at Berry (which is on the north side of the field, at the center). Send in one Nick at a time if the area is hot while the others stay out of trouble. If you have bombs remaining after taking care of the ack at Berry, I may have you try the same thing at Wards. If not, you will bomb any standing structures at Berry. When you have dropped your bombs, if you have the altitude, run N; if not, run toward Kokoda. Get clear of enemy persuit, climb to 30k, and rejoin each other at Salamaua for a CAP. You will then be B-17 hunters. I want to time your arrival at Berry to coincide with the huge fighter strike that is headed there. Your BGL will announce fuel load before takeoff. KO1 AND KO2 Brief at Kokoda, your takeoff field. Load 100% fuel and one bomb. KO1, tune 101. KO2, tune 102. Climb in a 1-sector radius of Kokoda, doing a CAP. Wait for flights from Buna and Salamaua to arrive. You will then be part of a huge stike on Berry. Wait for the call to proceed. Once at Berry, wait for the call to bomb. KO1 will hit the fuel tanks at the NE end of the runway. KO2 will hit the control tower at the SE end of the runway. If your target is destroyed already, hit whatever else is standing. If there is nothing else standing, hit the northernmost ship docked near Berry. After your divebombing run, climb in the vacinity of Berry and await further instructions. BU1 AND BU2 Brief at Buna, your takeoff field. Load 100% fuel and one bomb. BU1, tune 201. BU2, tune 202. Climb at 1k fpm toward Kokoda. Once at Kokoda, you will then be part of a huge stike on Berry. Wait for the call to proceed. Once at Berry, wait for the call to bomb. Your divebombing target is the building on the N side of the midpoint of the runway (not the fuel tanks). If it is destroyed, hit whatever else is standing. If there is nothing else standing, hit the northernmost ship docked near Berry. After your divebombing run, climb in the vacinity of Berry and await further instructions. SA1 AND SA2 Brief at Salamaua, your takeoff field. Load 100% fuel and one bomb. SA1, tune 301. SA2, tune 302. Climb at 1k fpm toward Kokoda. Once at Kokoda, climb hard in a 1-sector radius doing a CAP. You will wait for flights from Buna to arrive and will then be part of a huge stike on Berry. Wait for the call to proceed. Once at Berry, wait for the call to bomb. Your divebombing target is the building on the S side of the midpoint of the runway (not the tower). If it is destroyed, hit whatever else is standing. If nothing else is standing at Berry, hit the northernmost ship docked near Berry. After your divebombing run, climb in the vacinity of Berry and await further instructions. OS1 AND OS2 Brief at Salamaua, your takeoff field. Load 100% fuel and one bomb. OS1, tune 401. OS2, tune 402. Climb at 1k fpm toward Kokoda. Once at Kokoda, climb hard in a 1-sector radius doing a CAP. You will wait for flights from Buna to arrive and will then be part of a huge stike on Berry. Wait for the call to proceed. Your purposes are (1) to chase down P-40's and cause them to turn so that the Zeros can kill them; (2) to make sure that P-38's don't maul our Zeros; and (3) to intercept B-17's at high altitude. If you can keep your bombs while doing that, fine. If not, jettison them. For the most part, you will follow around swarms of Zeros, staying fast and high. You are not to engage in prolonged turning fights if you don't have to. If the enemy is turning, he is tasty meat for the Zeros. You might get called away from swarms of Zeros if we locate any B-17's. You also will probably need to refuel at some point during the mission. I will keep an eye on your situation. You will divebomb if we manage to severely attrit the US forces before two hours are up. -- Brooke, CO, IJAAF ADDENDUM TO ORDERS, MISSION #1 FROM: Command Staff, IJAAF, New Guinea ORDERS FOR LA1 AND LA2 Brief at C:69, along with NI1. Take off from Lae with 100% fuel and a bomb loaded. Escort NI1 as best you can. (The Zero is slower than the Nick -- you will probably be trailing the Nicks until they pause to send one Nick at a time in on ack positions.) At Berry, do not drop your bombs unless specifically ordered to do so. If you escort Nicks to Wards or Jackson, after the Nicks destroy the ack, destroy the maintenance or supply building there (or both, if you have enough bombs and are not harassed by enemies). Continue to escort NI1 as it leaves the target area and heads either north or (more likely) to the Kokoda pass. DEBRIEFINGS MISSION #1 DEBRIEF BROOKE, 5965, CO STRATEGIC DEBRIEF It appeared that the US launched an early strike at Kokoda. The strike seemed to be handled by KO, BU, and part of SA squadron. There were also US planes near Salamaua, and the other part of SA and perhaps some of LA dealt with that. Meanwhile, the rest of LA stayed S of Lae to it; BG1 and BG2 acted as AWACS planes and stayed out of trouble; and NI1 went toward Berry. All of our airspace was eventually mostly cleared. After Kokoda was cleared out, all fighters at Kokoda and with bombs headed for Berry to bomb the hell out of the buildings there. Fighters without bombs were ordered to stay on CAP at Kokoda. LA stayed S of Lae for support. A fight ensued over Berry, but the buildings there were obliterated in divebomb attacks. NI1 was able to go in to bomb targets, too, although it had to fight its way in or out. Then, the US sent in some P-40's at about 20k north toward Lae. They were dealt with by a few Zeros from LA. Well behind the P-40's, the US sent in at least 2 B-17's, which flew near Kokoda on their way toward Salamaua. They were intercepted near Salamaua and shot down. I'm not sure if the B-17's were able to cause much damage at Salamaua. After the B-17's were dealt with, our airspace was soon again mostly clear of enemy planes. When the airspace over Berry was also cleared out, BG1 was sent in. BG1 encountered some enemy planes on ingress to target but several bombers were able to get through to bomb the runway. 2 bombers were able to get away from Berry, fly N, and land at Lae. BG1's strike on Berry apparently acted as a magnet for much of the US fighter cover over the central atol, for once the IJAAF fighters cleaned up the area, there didn't seem to be many US fighters left. When the area was again clear, BG2 was called in for a strike on Berry. BG2 was able to bomb the target and land at Lae with perhaps only one bomber lost. During the attacks by BG1 and BG2, the US sent first a wave of B-25's and later a wave of A-20's to hit Kokoda. Fortunately, the ack at Kokoda was still active. Among the ack, the FP's, the jeeps, and the few fighters over Kokoda, most of the US bombers were taken care of, but some did get away. The US managed to destroy the fuel tanks at Kokoda but not the much more vital supply and maintenance buildings. By this time, the US seemed to be fairly heavily attritted -- or perhaps they had a substantial CAP over the Enterprise. Either way, our surviving bombers were able to rearm and go out on a second strike. The target this time was Jackson. At least one of our fighter squadrons was able to rearm with bombs and go hammer the buildings at Jackson in advance of the bombers. BG1, with its surviving 1-2 bombers, hit buildings at Jackson. About 5-10 minutes later, BG2, which was mostly intact, bombed the runway. The bombers ran to Kokoda to land, which they were not quite able to do before time was called. Overall, I think that we did very, very well in this first battle. We landed a huge number of bombs on Berry and Jackson, destroying the maintenance and supply buildings at both airstrips. I am confident that we completely destroyed Berry. Jackson's airstrip might have barely escaped destruction -- we'll see on Monday when a more accurate damage assessment comes in. We did well, but I would like especially to congratulate the bomber pilots, so many of whom got to and from targets in two separate missions. Congratulations also to KO squadron, which despite heavy losses, dropped an estimated 14 bombs on targets, had several fighters return to base after bombing, and shot down 6 enemy planes. PERSONAL DEBRIEF I took off from Lae in a Zero loaded with one bomb. When the call of incursions over Salamaua came in, I flew S with LA squadron to protect against a possible strike at Lae. When that didn't materialize, I hung around Lae, keeping an eye on counters. At one point, I saw some enemy counters coming through our defenses and heading N toward Lae. They were about 10-20 miles S of Lae at that point. I put out a call on the radio and intercepted. It turned out to be three P-40's at 20k, heading N toward Lae. I did a half-hearted run on the leader causing him to veer away from his northerly heading. I harassed the second in line and then noticed another Zero or two joining the fray. At that point, I broke off as the P-40's were not much of a threat to Lae or to our bombers, which were elsewhere. I stayed on the lookout for US bombers, meandering in the area between Lae and Salamaua. Shortly thereafter, the call came in of B-17's near Salamaua. I flew to intercept and found 2 B-17's and one P-38. They were in trail at about 20k-25k being harassed by a couple of IJAAF fighters. I put out a call on the radio, rolled over, and dove onto the lead bomber's 6. I held my fire until I was at about 600 yards and then opened up. I held the trigger down until I passed the bomber and saw many hits at close range. The bomber was now in a break turn. I had a lot of speed on it, and as I passed, I pulled up into a steep climbing turn. At this point, I don't think that I had been hit by the gunners yet, so I looped over and came in again on the bomber as it continued its tight turn. Again I fired all the way to range zero and noticed strikes. This time, I did get hit. Another of the IJAAF fighters was tangling with the bomber now, too, I think, and the bomber was leaving a nice trail of smoke. I did a high yo yo and came in again on its 6. I opened up at 600 yards, closed to about 400 yards, seeing strikes all over the bomber. Unfortunately, I was taking hits, too, and my plane soon exploded, ending my participation as a pilot in the battle. After that, I sat for a long time in a Flakpanzer at Kokoda. I saw a couple of B-25's attack. One of them managed to hit the maintenance building but not to destroy it. I fired at the B-25's as they came in. At least one of them was shot down by the ack, perhaps assisted by the other FP's and Jeeps in the area. I sat for a while longer, and an A-20 or two showed up. At least one of those was shot down by a fighter in the area. By this time, BG2 was reloaded and ready to go, so I hopped in Meercat's Betty as upper gunner. BG1 was in front of us by about 20-30 miles and hit Jackson first, bombing the remaining buildings. By the time BG2 was 30 miles or so from Jackson, confirmation came in that all of the buildings at Jackson were destroyed, so BG2 was ordered to bomb the runway. Meer and BG2 hustled south at 20k, high enough to avoid ack, the FP's, and the many US fighters milling around at low altitude near Jackson. Jackson had an IJAAF CAP over it. There were some calls of high P-38's and P-40's in the area, but they were either driven or lured off. By the time BG2 got there, the area was clear. BG2 plastered the runway and then ran for Kokoda to land. -- Brooke, CO -- BPsan Debrief Frame 1 Took off with AS, Snapper and Tneck in our Nicks from Lae. As I was rolling some trigger happy guy behind me :) started shooting me. I lost my #2 engine but somehow managed to land and replaned after reporting to TH. Took off again and caught up with AS and Snapper...Tneck was dumped and a sector behind us. As we crossed the Owen Stanley range, AS dumped and me and Snap continued. I was giving Tneck our position when 3 Yak's got behind me and dove. I broke when they were 2500 yards back and put out a warning message to Snap...but as I watched in rearview all 3 yaks jumped him. He was killed shortly after. Another Yak dove on me as I headed back North. We passed under a flight of zekes (Lae) but they kept heading to berry. Finally one zeke saw me and cleared my tail. The Yak and zeke mixed it up and I tried a couple passes on the yak with no hits. The yak then ran toward C:63 and I chased him. The ack at 63 started up and the the guy decided to dive back S to Berry. He must have forgotten about those 12k mountains in Row 6 since he flew right through them at 4k. I decided to get some alt, cross the mountains and then blast Berry with my 2 eggs. As I approached Berry I saw a high flight of zekes. I also saw at least 3 p38's and 4 Yak's.... The zekes never even saw them or maybe were running away. I put out 2 messages to the flight about Yak's tracking them. I took a quick look out rearview and nearly crapped as I saw 4 Yak's and 1 p38 on my six...I chopped throttle and did a nose low turning dive but still took a couple pings. I dove N but was at 1000 ft and not wanting to smash into the mountains I turned 90 and headed for the Kokoda pass. I had 4 zekes and 1 p38 all all chasing me...lucky the nick is fairly fast. I was about 1 minute out from Kokoda when the P38 finally ran me down...I started doing some rolling corners to throw off his aim...but he still hit me 5 times. I thought I was ded when Crow came in and clear my tail...whew! I flew over our FP's at the Kokoda pass and headed north for alt. I turned 270 and headed back East to get alt to cross the mountains again. I saw 4 planes heading N to C:63 I was praying they'd be friendly but no it was another P38 and 3 Yak. I managed to turn S and they must have missed me since they continued N. I came into 66 and level bombed the maint shed there. I decided to get some alt with Furis escorting me, both heading to Kokoda and then revving back. We passed over 66 at 30k and headed for a look around the atoll. Me and Furis scouted 64 but we could see nothing from that alt. I was ordered to replane and bomb 64 by Brooke. I replaned at 61 and took off with FR gunning and formed with BG2 as they hit 64. I was ordered to hit the tower but for some reason(too high?) the norden never showed any buildings. So rolled over and divebombed. As I screamed in from 20k I saw the craters all over 64 and about 5 yaks and 3-4 FP's all milling below. I dropped 2 eggs right on the maint shack and egressed to Kokoda. I was had just landed when endlog was called. Another 30 seconds and I'd have made it into the hangar :( BPsan !! -- Debrief mission #1 - Oscars. Took off with all eight Oscars carrying bombs. Dactyl got promoted as I stepped up to be group leader. Found out my WCS had lost it's settings and did not work at all. Tried frantically to remember all the keystrokes . Got to 70, circling, per orders. Then a large group of p38s arrived, and they had at least 5k on us. Fight ensued. I totally lost sight of everyone and lost control of the group. Was chasing a P38 southeast, when we overflew a mossy coming north! Broke off the P38 and engaged the mossy. Fired 90% of my load against him from inside of 400. He must have been on his last ping, but he didn't die. (I did get 128 points :( ) Broke off, and Bodhi and I RTB'd to C63. He had smoked the P38 in the fite, again, no kills. Bodhi and I replaned and headed to N66. The rest of the Oscars were fighting around N70, mainly. I engaged a few Yaks and P38s vicinity of 66 but broke off to try to protect the buffs in the area. Finally headed down to 64. Bodhi died in the ack. I _tried_ to stay away from ack, but after about 3 inconclusive fights, I got pulled in a little close to 64. I took two ack hits and immediately died. The Oscars killed 3 buffs and 3 fighters, for 4 losses, two of which were USELESS deaths to the ack at 64. I prepare to disembowel myself upon Moose's return :) -Sturmamoto -- SA1 Mission 1 Debrief First off, I'm a little pissed cuz FR, Pop, and I were only ones to stick around and give a debrief for SAL flt. I had to do a /sco on all the people in our flt just to see who droped their bombs. Now to what I goofed up on. First off with the 109s squadron at Sal it was hard to figure out who was in what flt. I suggest that Sal flt or the 109s meet at C68 to brief and take a roll call. At -5 min we go to 63 and wait until cleared for TO. Upon being cleared for flt SA1 and SA2 took off and headed N for some alt. That was against orders, sorry Brooke and AS. We got some alt and turned toward Kokada. Saw enma ctrs, on dar, in sec 4,7. Reported it and was told to cap Sal. We did, climbing and lookin all the time. Spotted a couple of P40s higher. They did not engage, so they musta been scouts. When cleared off cap at Sal we hdg to KO. Once at KO we circled until cleared in to Berry. During this time SA1 and SA2 got seperated. :( SA1 went to Berry at 26k and we all dropped on maint bldg. We ended up being cap at Berry. SA2 came in dropped and beat feet back to KO. I should have taken SA1 with ya FR. Oh well, anyways we got engaged by 2 38s and 3 P40s(I think). I had alt on the 1 38 and was at 500 away an closing when Ketchup, in the other 38 got on my 6 and kilt me. There were no pings, just a BOOM! and red screen of course. FR assumed command of Sal flt then, so we'll have to see what he writes for a debrief. DT took over as FL for SA1. This is my first time as a GL, so if you see me making any goofs or have any ideas, please speak up. I had a blast btw, even tho I got shot by that turncoat Ketch. SCD*DOGZ* 4147 -- I apologize to the most humble servants of the Emperor, as the following is a lengthy overflow of excited words from a scenario virgin now without a cherry! From the Grave of TapeWorm 2nd Lae Sentai DeBriefing of Frame 1: Lets Take Berry Orders: LA1 and LA2 to escort NI1 to target and back. Vball GL/FL LA1, Rogue FL LA2. Active duty: LA1 - Vball,TapeWorm,Bug, Wheelin, Enforcer; LA2 - Rogue, Modo, Furis, Jedi. Brooke Santo was on stand down (due to improper version of Mac Software guys ya need v.3.28. or something like that??) I did not personally account for Pop's whereabouts. (was he there, just quiet?) Upon takeoff, we tuned 501,502 and joined up on Vball. Unfortunately, our orders were late in arriving to my desk (company adjutant - promoted to pilot cause I read the orders and did not have time to walk them to Vball-sama so he told me to hop in the nearest Zeke and brief him in the air) So, we turned west following BG1 and BG2 instead of east to follow NI1. I was ill prepared and suffering MASSIVE CONFUSION, I have never seen so many friendly counters in one place before. What a rush, my heart was pounding and I broke into an excited sweat. Oh my God, where is our flight of bombers?!!? On two, I see "NI1 turning 192 " and I realize we should have gone east, I was so busy trying to stay in formation (hard skill for adjutant turned pilot) I missed that little fact. OkOk its not so bad, we race south still formed up nicely on Vball. It gets even better when we get a call from Brooke "Lae zekes released from bomber escort duty, stay on station at alt. and cover Lae - enemy B17 spotted heading your way. Over" Vball acknowledges and we are all relieved. Orbiting a while, LA2 splits from LA1. Bug, Wheelin, Enforcer, TapeWorm procede south, south-east toward Salamaua. Bug gets separated. Enforcer separates. Wheelin and I respond to a call to head west on report of possible bogies there. From the grave, Bug's ghost tells me that he proceeded to Salamaua, scouted, turned west due to same report of bogies, was checking map (looking at coffee stain from breakfast on said map) when... PING. I will defer to Bug for his report on the matter, but you get the idea. Wheelin and I intercept P-38 and 2 P-40's 5k lower than us and make run on them, (prolly the same ones Brooke spoke about in his debriefing) but they break off and head south (we had crossed Stanley - Owens by this time and were near Berry (12mile). Enemy never got closer to me than 1500 yards. (heart pounding for adjutant lemme tell ya, it is a far sight from my typewritter) We proceed to strike Berry - I successfully dropped on the Tower with my one bomb and climbed out west. Woefully, I found myself now alone and somewhat at a loss for what to do. I made an uneventful pass on two more P-40's that were not interested in me and just dove away. They seem to fly in pairs, but all P-38s I encountered were alone... I then found a low 38 alone at 5k nnw Wards so I aggressively dove to my doom. But I jump ahead of the story now. He was smart but aggressive as well and we made a first pass no shots fired and no pings felt. I anticipated his pull up and so went vertical. We leveled out at 8k and he flat turned with me. I had 50% fuel and no bomb by this time. When I got to within 1200 yards, he broke for the ocean. Now, two low P-40's were watchin as I followed my prey right between them. Uh oh. Gets hairy from here....38 turns with me and I go vertical, but forced to break away as P40 on my 6 1000 yds. I turn over on his 6, but he too fast pulls away. Next guy passes me and for half minute I keep switching targets just as they pull up past me. Manage to squeeze off a few rounds as I learn to anticipate their passes. No pings though - I am an adjutant.... Two more P-40=92s are comming 5000 yards from Wards, so I say screw this and head for the deck and promptly compress. SUCKS, but remember hearing pilots in training saying watch for the pullout - so I don't rip wings, just level out at 1000 feet and run right into ack field at Ward. Doh! they persue but I can breathe. Wind up jinking and juking over bridge and get nice view of salivating flak panzie drivers just out of reach. (How come none of those guys augered. It works in all the training films I have seen hehe) Anyway, Stinger claimed my kill and he had two other pelts at that time T+90min. Bug, Floor, I and Jasukua (aka JasHook) participated in second Betty run on Jackson (7mile) however, there was No Joy (term for noncontact with enemy). RECOMMENDATION: Furis deserves special attention and public congratulations for finding NI1 and personally escorting Black Panther through his mission. WELL DONE. APPOLOGIES: to Nick bomb group for blown assignment. IT WILL NOT HAPPEN AGAIN as long as I have time to properly prepare. I now know what to expect and was simply overwhelmed with the chaos and confusion. However, I am indeed addicted and anxiously await Frame 2. TapeWorm 2nd Lae Sentai adjutant (who finds Piloting a bit more exhilarating) -- Since I did't have a chance to debrief at 70, here it is, short and soo sweet. Think I hit ship tied up at Berry on first flight. RTB. Think I hit little building at SE end of strip at 64 on second flight. The joint was jumpin and took one hit from small arms. Subsequently engaged yak S of 64 (6687). He augered. Frame terminated shortly afterward. ?? Can we reduce fuel load for second flight? Woebird -- KO/GL Debrief At pre-flight debrief orders were ammended so that all flights were tuned to the same CH to facilitate comms between both flights. KO1 and KO2 took off from KO as scheduled and proceeded to gain alt/CAP 70 until we got the go ahead for our strike at Berry. We didnt have to wait long over KO before we spotted P-40/38's above us (have gotten mixed reports as to what there alt actually was), due to their alt advantage it was difficult to engage. Acft from both KO1 and KO2 got seperated as they continued to track the higher bogeys when calls came from members of both flights calling out mossies below (again, Ive gotten conflicting reports as to what alt they came in on 70), those in vis range of the mossie proceeded to intercept while others went to regroup at 70. By then we had been joined on the N by members of other Sentai's (Sal I believe). After 70 had been cleared we continued on to Berry as ordered with all my remaining hvy acft (14 total). As we approached our target we got the call of bogeys hi just S of Berry we pressed on at 20K until sure that target was clear for our strike. Once we arrived both flights attacked their assigned target, many good hits and even a visual confirmation of a building being destroyed were reported. After the srike both flts fanned out in diffrent directions as they proceeded to regain alt. I called for a regroup over Berry for both flights as we continued to climb to our CAP alt (20+K). Throught out our CAP we encountered and egaged several P-40/38's (difficult to estimate enemy numbers) at diffrent altitudes, during this period KO Sentai scored several kill. We re-grou at Berry and continued our CAP of the area, unfortunately during our fights with the enemy we lost about 1/2 of the Sentai. (I have a feeling that some of those got picked off as they were alone in one of our "fanned out" periods). We returned to KO to re-arm/fuel (lower fuel load), and then continued on to Jackson with 6 hvy acft (approx. 35 min to end-game), once we arrived at Jackson we went ahead on our strike on Jackson sructures/rway and took a CAP roll over it imediately after. During this time we again score several kills, and pursued several enemy acft from the area. We also had 3 P-40's low over Jackson attempting to lure us low into thier ack. I lost at least 2 acft to ack here. We continued to cap for the incoming buff strike and gave them escort on their egress to KO. All in all it was a fun and succesful mission for KO sentai, unfortunately with very heavy loses, I hope that with a little more common sense and some ideas I have some of those deaths can be avoided in the next frame. -Malice #2334 GL/FL1 Kokoda Sentai P.S. - Sorry if i was somewhat long winded :P this is my first de-brief -- 2nd Salamaua Sentai Dactyl, #2476 OS2(FL temp) At T-30, I joined my fellow Oscar jockeys at Salamaua. I settled into my chair, positioned my map just so and took a sip of freshly made coffee. Due to Moose's absence, Sturmer informed me that he had promoted me to OS2 Flight Leader. Fortunately, my wife was home and heard the loud 'fahWUMP!' as my body hit the floor. She came running downstairs with a bucket of water and revived me in time for take-off. We arrived over Kokoda and were circling at 25k or so when the first wave of P-38s arrived. "All hell broke loose" does not begin to describe the ensuing pandamonium. The messages were FLYING by with virtually no hope of communication outside our own flight channel. I believe the US strategy is to make a fast pass and then dive in hopes our planes will follow and end up at low altitude clearing the higher air for bombers. Virtually every US plane dove after the intial engagement. For the most part, our flight didn't bite and stayed high. When the B-17s arrived, they were escorted by only one P-38 and were apparently not gunned,(I was never pinged). I brought down one 17 and Biff Tarkiss killed another. We replaned at Salamaua and returned to Kokoda but all was quiet. Brooke ordered us to Jackson for a bombing strike on the maintence building. The rest of the frame was spent over the atoll. Shag killed a Yak near Berry. All and all, a very good day. Dactyl, OS2 -- Well is spit of a little disorganization, my flight stayed together pretty good. We took off Salamaua and circled northeast for alt. We revved and went straight south to Kokoda for cap. When we were almost there, the call came out the there was an enemy flight coming into Salamaua. There were very few friendly markers in the sector at that point, so I turned flight around and climbed north. Sure enough we encountered three high yakas and two or three p38s. They weren't interested in coming down to fight and just zoomed away back towards Berry. We then returned to Kokoda for regroup with Sal 1 flight. From there we attacked Berry. Berry was minimally defended with only a few FPs and a token effort by a couple of P38s. I chased one of them east towards Kokoda where he met his doom. (I think Crow got him). My flight was pressing the attack at Berry so I re-joined. Dove in on Berry and got very stupid. Dropped on an FP instead of building, thinking it was ack. Flight regrouped and rtb'd at Salamaua. I think I lost one pilot on an augered landing. (Practice makes perfect I guess...) We waited the obligatory 10min, and rearmed with bombs for attack on Jackson/ Port Moresby . We were joined by Dactyl, who seemed to have lost his command. We attacked Jackson putting ordinance on the maintenance shack. At that point, there were only a yak and a P38 circling low at the field. We egressed east after bomb run and re-gained alt. We then went back to Jackson for some tactical. At first there were only that Yak and P38. All of a sudden there were 3-5 yaks and at least 3 P38s. I think they were circling high to the south east and dove in as soon as the "bait" at Jackson was taken. We got chewed up and I died. Came up as gunner for BP on uneventful run on Jackson again and ran like hell to Kokoda. Endlog called 10 seconds from touchdown on tarmac. We need better coordination in SAL group and with other flights we're assigned to link up with. This was not that big a problem this time, cause target objectives were reached. But I don't think the enemy is gonna be as hapless in frame 2 . We should be ready for a fight. stevep1@primenet.com -- Mission #1 Debrief - BG1 Personal debrief: After launching and loitering in 4,8 we were called in to hit 66 from the east. BG1 decended from 30K to 20K for the bomb-run. We were attacked over 66 by 2 Yaks and a -38 (?). I was heads down and took 2 pings and saw a yak fly thru the bombsite before realizing we were under attack. Dropped and recovered at 61. Waited around for a bit and collected gunners. Big T and I then launched and flew to 64 where we attacked buildings. I droppped on the Maint. and Ammo buildings and was heading N when Big T called that he was going around again. Being gunned, I rev'd to lend moral support and draw fire from him on the bomb-run. Died after the tail ran out of ammo. 25th Koku Sentai awards ZAPPA a shiney new samurai sword for getting a total of 3702 pts for Frame 1 WTG ZAP! Splatt |! -- Mission Debriefing for Bomber Group 2 BG2 - Meercat, Koo, Zappa, JasHuku We took of from Lae and proceeded on a HDG of 330 to the center of sector 3,10. We then turn to a heading of 225 and proceeded to our holding position in sector 1,8. We made at least 5-6 circuits around 1,8 until we were released to proceed to target. After getting the go ahead, Meercat had to put the plane on autopilot while he went and hung out the side to relieve himself 8). We proceeded to Sal and then turned to a hdg of 180. We then turned to a heading of 270 and proceeded to drop all 16 bombs on the runway at Berry. We egressed to the North and all landed safely back at Lae. We then waited for the planes to be refueled and reloaded with bombs. With the CO as my gunner, BG2 then lifted for a strike against Jackson. We headed towards target and as we were closing we got the 10 minute warning. We managed to get bombs dropped on the runway at Jackson and proceeded to egress to Kokoda for landing. Time was called as all four of the BG2 bombers were in the final approach to landing 8( What I would like to suggest is a possible cutback on the holding times and let us get to the first target with more than 25-30 minutes left in the frame. Meercat-san <<< 25th Koku Sentai (Lae) >>> ---- APPENDIX: RECOMMENDED BOOKS AND MOVIES ---- FIGHTER COMBAT: TACTICS AND MANEUVERING, by Robert L. Shaw (Naval Institute Press). This is "the Bible" of ACM and contains lots of information applicable to Air Warrior. If you can't find it at a bookstore, you can probably order it directly from Naval Institute Press, in Annapolis, Maryland. -- Brooke TOP GUNS, edited by Joe Foss and Matthew Brennan (Pocket Star Books). Each chapter was written by a different ace. The book covers from WWI through the Vietnam war. This is one of my favorites, full of excellent stories of air combat, by all types of pilots flying various types of fighters. -- Brooke ZEMKE'S WOLFPACK, by Hub Zemke with Roger A. Freeman (Pocket Books). This is the story of Hub Zemke and the 56th Fighter Group (which included several other famous aces), which fought over Europe. Through most of his combat career, Zemke flew P-47's. He had brief duty in P-38's, and then more in P-51's. -- Brooke BAA BAA BLACK SHEEP, by Gregory "Pappy" Boyington (Bantam Books). This is the story of Pappy Boyington, from his days with the Flying Tigers in China, through his days as a Marine fighter pilot, to his emancipation from a Japanese war prison. Boyington flew P-40's in China and F4U's in the Pacific. -- Brooke THUNDERBOLT!, by Robert S. Johnson with Martin Caidin (Bantam Books). This is the story of Robert Johnson, ace with the 56th Fighter Group. He mostly flew P-47's. This book contains some amazing tales of the ruggedness of that fighter. -- Brooke TO FLY AND FIGHT: MEMOIRS OF A TRIPLE ACE, by Col. Clarence E. "Bud" Anderson with Joseph P. Hamelin (Bantam Books). This is about Bud Anderson, who flew P-51's in Europe. It also talks about his postwar work as a test pilot. -- Brooke FORK-TAILED DEVIL: THE P-38, by Martin Caidin (Bantam Books). This book about the P-38 has some very interesting tales about the plane. -- Brooke MIDWAY. This is a movie about the battle of Midway and the events leading up to it and is a very well-crafted film. -- Brooke MEMPHIS BELL. This is a movie about Memphis Bell, a famous B-17 bomber from WWII. It has some good air-combat footage in it. -- Brooke 12 O'CLOCK HIGH. This is a movie about a bomber squadron in WWII. It's a classic. -- Brooke THE GREAT BOOK OF WORLD WAR II AIRPLANES. This tome describes in detail (history, use in combat, performance, etc.) various WWII aircraft. It contains great pictures and lots of interesting information. -- Brooke JANE'S FIGHTING AIRCRAFT OF WORLD WAR II. This book is not as good as THE GREAT BOOK, but it covers more planes and is cheaper and easier to get a hold of. -- Brooke CELLULOID WINGS: THE IMPACT OF MOVIES ON AVIATION, by Paul H. Farmer (Tab Books). ISBN 0-8306-2374-4. Here's one of my favorites. It's a nice history of the subject, but the most useful items are two appendices, one of which lists movies alphabetically, and details all the airplane types that were used in it -- and which planes were masquerading as something else! The other appendix lists each plane by type, detailing all the movies that plane was in. I love old movies and refer to this book often. -- Axeman SPITFIRE ON MY TAIL. Read "Spitfire on my tail" if you can get it. Boy, does this guy rip on Galland! Very interesting if it's true . . . and for some reason, I believe him. -- Axeman THE LOCKHEED P-38 LIGHTNING, by Warren M. Bodie. (Published by Warren M. Bodie, ISBN 0-9629359-0-5, Widewing Publications, Post Office Box 238, Hiawassee, Georgia 30546-0238.) Twist's favorite book on the P-38. -- Twist ---- APPENDIX: HISTORY OF AIR WARRIOR ---- Air Warrior started as a program written by Kelton Flynn back when he was working on his Ph.D. (in nuclear engineering or physics, as I recall). It didn't bear much resemblance to the Air Warrior of today -- you'd type in maneuvers for your plane; your opponent would type in maneuvers for his plane; the computer would crunch some numbers and come up with new plane positions; and so on. It was played over terminals on the school's mainframe. Kelton got a lot more interested in this and decided after graduation (along with one of his pals -- I think it was John Taylor) to found a company to produce a multi-player flight sim. So Kesmai was formed, and Air Warrior was conceived. Kesmai started out with all of a couple of employees. To implement Air Warrior, Kesmai hooked up with GEnie, a new on-line service at the time. Air Warrior came out in 1987 and was the first multi-player combat flight simulator (at least outside of the military). Back then it cost $10 or $12 per hour to play and was available only for Macintoshes. That was in the days when Macs had the little nine-inch black-and-white screens and no joysticks. Still, I remember what a blast it was to find such a thing in those days: an honest-to-God multi-player combat flight sim! That first version of Air Warrior was pretty rough by today's standards. The frame rate was low (perhaps a handful of frames per second, depending on which type of computer you had), rough black-and-white graphics, bullets that flew on laser-beam straight paths, and wacky bugs (like being able to climb to the stratosphere as long as your plane was climbing while inverted). But there was nothing else like it out there. Keep in mind that Air Warrior was out only a handful of years after the original Flight Simulator by Bruce Artwick of SubLogic, when the best PC-based flight sims in the world didn't have much more than Air Warrior in the way of graphics and had no multi-player component at all. For people like me -- raving WWII aviation enthusiasts -- this was a dream come true. As the years chugged on, the Air-Warrior program was refined (adding more realistic gunnery and getting rid of flight-dynamics bugs), and the program was ported to the Atari and Amiga computers. Of course, folks at Kesmai knew that they were missing a big market in the PC and announced their plans for a DOS-based EGA version for the PC. Jeez, did that ever start the comments flowing on GEnie's Air-Warrior message boards. Lots of people were concerned that the PC folks would swarm into the arenas, flooding the arenas to overflowing with dweebs who didn't know how to fly. There would go the neighborhood. Maybe it was a little like that at first (not as much challenge for the old folks), but then the PC folks learned the ropes just like everyone else had, and the game had more participants, which added to the fun. Scenarios were also introduced into the mix of fun. Pioneered by guys like Doktor Gonzo (or "Dok"), these were battles set up with definite objectives and resources. To me, playing in a historical scenario gave the same feeling I got when reading about real WWII air combat. To me, scenarios seemed like a whole new level of fun in Air Warrior. But then came the "stagnant" years. Kesmai continued to make minor refinements, but some people had been asking for more realism or more features for a long time, and Kesmai wasn't giving much feedback. Previously, Kesmai had given lots of feedback and had talked to the players a lot about proposed improvements and new versions. Without the feedback, a lot of us figured that Air Warrior was stagnating, that Kesmai was more interested in producing other games that perhaps brought in more money. A lot of the old timers thought that this was the beginning of the end for Air Warrior, the start of a slow decline into obscurity. What we didn't know was that Kesmai was working on a vastly improved version, the SVGA version for DOS. Besides much higher resolution and better graphics, it would have most of the realism features that had asked for over the years: stalls, spins, blackouts, etc. There would be accompanying changes in the on-line arenas. Kesmai hadn't talked about it at all, though, because they were tired of the players constantly asking, "When will it be out? You said it would be out in two weeks. It's past two weeks, so when will it be out, huh? When?" That gets old very fast during a development process. So, to the surprise of many, Kesmai came out with the new SVGA version, which fairly closely resembled the versions available today. The Mac version was updated, too. About that time, the Atari ST and Amiga were declining into obscurity, and Kesmai dropped their support for those platforms. SVGA Air Warrior, with its up-to-date features, generated some interest from the retail market, and Kesmai entered into a deal to market it in stores. Unfortunately, that petered out due (it seemed to me) to poor distribution on the part of the distribution company (not Kesmai) and to a game that was not tailored to the ham-fisted "I want eye candy" arcade-game crowd (which seems larger than the rabid "I want realism" WWII air-combat-enthusiast crowd). However, this blip on the retail market might have contributed to Air Warrior being noticed by a Japanese company. The company invested a bit in Air Warrior, paying for the addition of artwork and data sets for some of the Japanese planes. At any rate, things were back to humming along in Air Warrior. The Air-Warrior Training Academy started sometime around 1993 or 1994. A bunch of the veteran players, knowing how steep the learning curve was for Air Warrior, wanted to help new players get up to speed more quickly. Also, Kesmai entered into deals with two other on-line services -- Delphi and CRIS -- to offer Air Warrior. Players liked this because it introduced some price competition into the mix. GEnie had already dropped its on-line charges from $10-$12/hour to $6/hour. Now, with the extra competition, it went to something like $3/hour. I think that Kesmai was finally starting to make some money, too, because it hired a lot more people, many of them from the ranks of avid Air-Warrior players. So, the Training Academy was up and running. Air Warrior was running on GEnie, Delphi, and CRIS. Scenarios were humming along. The cost for Air Warrior declined to $2/hour and less. Things were great. And then, in 1996, they got even better, although in an erratic way. Kesmai made a deal with CompuServe, America Online, and Earthlink to offer Air Warrior on their services; and GEnie, long the most popular spot for Air Warrior, pretty much went belly up (due, in my opinion, to very poor management and to being far behind the technology curve). Overall, Kesmai now had a much larger market because of the size of America Online and CompuServe, but for a couple of reasons, there was a lot of disruption in late 1996 and early 1997. First, the demise of GEnie as THE place for Air Warrior caused a scattering of the Air-Warrior community and a momentary halt in scenarios and the Training Academy. It was sad to see all of the old timers scattering to the winds, and some seemed to drift off altogether during this time of change. (Sniff, sniff.) There was even another Air-Warrior-like product out there: ICI's WarBirds, written in part by Air-Warrior veterans HiTech, Caligula, and Pyro. This drew off some Air-Warrior players, too, but competition is a very good thing for us consumers. Second, Kesmai rapidly developed successive new versions of Air Warrior that, because of improvements, were incompatible with other versions; and Kesmai dropped some of the older versions. During 1996, they released Air Warrior for Windows, Air Warrior for Windows 95, and a corresponding beta version for the Macintosh. In January, 1997, they dropped support for SVGA Air Warrior and the SVGA-style Mac version. In late February, 1997, they released Air Warrior II for Windows 95. The incompatibilities lead to a fragmentation of the Air-Warrior universe. The current situation is that there are four separate sets of arenas: one set for Air Warrior II on Delphi, Earthlink, and CompuServe; one for Air Warrior for Windows on Delphi, Earthlink, and CompuServe; one for Air Warrior for Windows on America Online; and one for the beta version of Air Warrior for the Mac. Thus, users on Delphi, Earthlink, and CompuServe who use Air Warrior II can play together in a scenario; but people using Air Warrior for Windows, Air Warrior for the Mac, or playing on America Online can't participate in the same scenario since their arenas are separate. Still, despite such fragmentation, the future of Air Warrior looks brighter than ever mainly because popularity is higher than ever. I think that Kesmai is finally starting to make a decent amount of money from Air Warrior -- and more money encourages more development. Air Warrior II is out and selling in stores; the Air-Warrior Training Academy is getting back up to speed; war nights are up and running; and I hear rumors of more frequent scenarios. I hope that a new Air-Warrior community will form around the "alt.games.air-warrior" newsgroup, where people can participate no matter which arenas they fly in. So, after writing all of this, after having thought back to those days a decade ago when first I took to Air Warrior's virtual skies, I am left with many thoughts. Three stand out: first, that Air Warrior has progressed so far over the years; second, that compared to the old days, Air Warrior is so cheap to play; and third, that if it had been this way back in 1987, I never would have graduated. -- Brooke ---- APPENDIX: BIOGRAPHIES OF CONTRIBUTORS ---- BROOKE P. ANDERSON e-mail: brooke@alumni.caltech.edu AW handle: Brooke Yeah, my handle is mighty imaginative, isn't it? I first played Air Warrior in 1987, when it started. I was just trying out this unheard-of game -- "Air Warrior . . . a multi-player flight simulator? Wow!" I didn't care about handles -- I just picked my first name and took off. Then, once I started to develop a reputation, I didn't want to change my handle. Reputations were a lot more a focus in those days, as the Air-Warrior community was perhaps more fanatical. (We were paying something like $10-$12/hour to play in those days -- that sort of culled out the more reasonable folks.) Probably part of the reason for my participating in producing this manual has to do with the old days. Back then, not only weren't there any helpful manuals around, but other pilots rarely would tell you ANYTHING about how to fly and fight. It took a long time before I found someone who would give me pointers like "don't take 100% fuel as it really hurts turn rate," or "try flaps in a dogfight," or "a P-51 can't out-dogfight a Spitfire"; and I learned a lot by trial and error. I still loved the game -- I wanted Kesmai to make a lot of money so that Air Warrior would thrive -- but I could see how only very motivated people would get into it. Also, there were a lot of us who enjoyed the game and the Air-Warrior community enough that we wanted to add to it. Working on this manual was a way for me to do so. Anyway, back in 1987 as a graduate student, I knew that I would get hooked on Air Warrior if I continued to play, and yet I didn't have the money to spend. So, I stopped playing. But a year or two later, I became a volunteer sysop on GEnie (I ran some writers' workshops) and got free access to everything, including Air Warrior. I played A LOT then, from the late 1980's perhaps up to about 1990 or 1991. I started out in Spitfires, working to master angles fighting. Then, I started to lament the fact that almost everyone flew Spitfires in those days (i.e., the lack of diversity) and started flying P-51's exclusively. The P-51 was my favorite plane as a lad, and the only other folks flying them much were Fencer's Warhawks. But especially in the days when the Air-Warrior program had no stalls, spins, blackouts, etc., being successful in a P-51 required a different style of fighting, namely B&Z. At one point, some other old timers (Dok, Airmigan, and maybe Anvil, V, and Wildthing -- I forget who else) and I formed a squadron devoted to avoiding both stallfighting and the use of Spitfires. We were the mighty Werepigeons -- but, alas, we didn't stay together long. By then, none of us played often enough anymore to keep up the cohesiveness of the squad. I had gotten hooked on scenarios after playing in one for the first time (Indian Ocean, run by Dok), but scenarios didn't run very frequently. When the Air-Warrior Training Academy started, I became an instructor, and most of my flying time was spent in that and in scenarios, which started to run more frequently. I was a CO in Imphal Plain, Sicily '43, Munda Weekend, and Saga of the 5th AF, parts 1 and 2; and I participated in other capacities in Indian Ocean, Battle of Germany, and Kursk III. One of the things I like these days about Air Warrior is that it does seem so realistic in its flight dynamics. I have never flown a WWII fighter, but I have flown at Air Combat USA, a place where you go up in Marchettis (the low-end NATO fighter trainer, a two-place prop plane) and have dogfights one on one. This was due to the generosity of J-Wolff, another Air-Warrior player, who took me along. To me, the combats seemed very similar to the way they feel and develop in Air Warrior, and the feel of the Marchetti reminded me a lot of the P-51 in Air Warrior. There was the same buffeting, the same feel to the roll response (no goofy over-rolling supposedly due to roll inertia), the same feel in a stallfight, the same feel for many things -- except for the physical sensation of G's, of course, and except for the fact that it's actually easier to look around from an Air-Warrior cockpit than it is from a real cockpit. If history is any indication, I think that Air Warrior will have an evermore realistic flight model as time goes on. I'm all for it. So, what am I in real life (other than an Air-Warrior nut)? Most of my life has been spent in school (BS in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Michigan in 1985; MS in Applied Physics from the California Institute of Technology in 1987; and Ph.D. in Computation and Neural Systems, also from Caltech, in 1993). After graduation, my business partner and I founded Acacia Research Corporation to do money management with computer models. We ended up doing that as well as venture-capital investing, and the company went public in the process (NASDAQ symbol "ACRI"). I am currently a director and Vice President of Research and Development, and I'm a director for a couple of the companies we helped start. My hobbies (other than Air Warrior) include war gaming and role-playing gaming; reading science fiction and fantasy; watching BABYLON 5 and THE SIMPSONS; occasional writing of amateurish science fiction and fantasy; rollerblading; and ice hockey (I still play for the Caltech hockey club). One of these days, I might even get off my ass and continue the flying lessons I never completed ("Wrong-way Anderson," they used to call me). -- Brooke JIM SHAFER e-mail: EyeBLS@aol.com AW handle: Eyeballs I've been interested in flying since I was a kid. Finally got my private license in 1967. Commercial, Multi-engine, Instrument, Glider, and CFI followed over the next few years. Have flown many different types of real aircraft including the Pitts special and a biz jet. Have done "bush" flying into Indian reservations in Arizona as well as shooting the ILS into SFO tucked between two airline jets. I have been a fan of flight sims from the early 8-bit days. Flew almost all of them. Then I got a modem (spring, '92) and immediately started flying AW on GEnie. Haven't been serious about another flight sim since. Took awhile to figure AW out mainly cause I was flying with a mouse. Had tutoring from Voss, Brooke, and others. Finally got to enroll in AWTA in the fall. Had been out of town too much over the summer to take a 7-week course. Was "assistant" trainer for Bug. Graduated with honors. . Stayed in the pack beneath the gods but above the unwashed. Have flown in nearly all the scenarios without distinction or dishonor. But with tons of excitement. One mission in a Pacific scenario resulted in two kills as I took on >12 zeros that were chasing a B25. Sounds better than it was. The zeros were fixated on the B25, and I just motored up behind them. Those that didn't break off the pursuit died. Started as AWTA instructor back on GEnie a couple of years ago. Now on AOL. Find it is a real charge to take new users and give them their first few clues to AW. Goes back to teaching days in real life. I fly with the Turkey Hams squadron. This almost-5-year-old squadron now consists mostly of multiyear veterans that have formed an association off-line as well as in the arena. It is worth noting that nearly all of them are instructors now. In real life, I am an ophthalmologist in practice in Phoenix. I keep busy with computer graphics, animations, video, etc. I am also a model railroader and have a little bit of Colorado narrow gauge in the 10-by-20 foot train room. Since my youngest is graduating college in June, I will be able to afford to fly again. I am building an acrobatic, 2-seat monoplane. Painted in desert camouflage, it might look a bit like a 109. Should be ready to fly mid summer of '97. -- Eyeballs KEVIN HIGGINS e-mail: kato@southwind.net AW handle: Kato If I had to pick an epitaph to describe myself and the way that I live life, I'd have to select, "A Jack of All Trades, and an Adventurer At Heart." I grew up with a passion for reading, and I've been more places, fought in more wars, explored more worlds, and vanquished more villains than the most unbelievable of heroes. Of course, most of that swashbuckling thrill was the benefit of an extra- ordinary imagination, fueled by talented writers, and happened while safely ensconced in the comfort of a Lazy-boy recliner. Lest I be accused of couch-potatoism, though, let me say in my defense that I have shown some of that lust for excitement in real life. I grew up as a Navy brat. We moved about every 12-18 months, on the average. I had a great childhood and matured within a very tightly knit family. In other words, my youth was about as colorful as a freshly painted apartment wall. After effortlessly excelling at high school scholastic challenges, I spent an unproductive and unsatisfying couple of years in college, then joined the military. I qualified for the most intellectually demanding jobs they offered. So I chose Infantry. I figured: if you're going to be a soldier, why go into a job where your glory days are spent as a REMF? During the course of that indoctrination I seemed to manage the difference between fantasy adventure and the real thing; while a newly trained member of the Warrior caste I managed to get selected for Officer Candidate School. Over the following nine years, I led men in training for desert warfare, fought countless force-on-force mechanized (mock) battles with the best desert combat force the US Army has (OPFOR), and developed teams of soldiers whose daily focus was honing themselves for the mission of closing with and destroying the enemy. After a gloriously fun company command, during which I took 123 men to Saudi and brought them all home safely, I decided that after ten years of heavy duty gruntdom, I was getting weary. Spending around 200 days each year in the field, doing continuous operations in a tactical environment, was getting hard on my knees and my easygoing personality. I left the military as a Captain and entered the commercial sector. In other words, I became a silly-vilian. My early experiences in the commercial sector make dull reading. Now, however, I'm doing a job I love. I've made the transition from combat arms soldier to... computer hacker! I work as a Field Automation Analyst, which is kind of like being a System Administrator without all the hassles. Computers have always been a passion of mine, and I'm finally happy to be doing the sort of things at work that I enjoy doing at home in my spare time. But I won't be doing this forever. Like many people, I hope one day to write successfully. That desire is always in my background looking over my shoulder, and I picture it as a living entity with my Grandfather's face. His name was Leslie Charteris, and he wrote a series called, "The Saint." One day I hope to be at least 1/50th as published as he was. I have had a short short (story) published, and received an advance on an epic fantasy I cowrote with an Army buddy. Unfortunately, the publisher that sent us the advance went out of business, so our book is not on the shelves yet, but we keep trying. By the time you read this, I will have started on my next book-- one which will combine my military experiences with the visionary science fiction that has always fueled my Walter Mitty-esque dreams. In the meantime, I enjoy computer gaming--a job designing games might be the only thing that could be as rewarding as writing great fiction. Should you be interested in reading about the kind of gaming experience I'm burning to create, I refer you to my web page, at: http://members.aol.com/senseikato When not hacking on Unix systems at work, I really enjoy concentrating on health and fitness, working out both in the gym and in the dojo. Despite my doctor's arguments to the contrary, I maintain that if you play hard enough, you can eat anything you want. I'm a dedicated carnivore, but I have a feeling that one of these days that doctor is gonna force me onto a pure celery diet. With luck, medical science will soon progress to the point where we humans can eat like the scavengers nature designed us to be and STILL live long and happy lives. (screw that cure for cancer--figure out a way to let me eat my cheeseburgers!) I run, but it's a forced habit, and I mostly hit the road because it feels so good AFTERWARDS!). Mostly I do it to stay in condition for the things I feel everybody needs to do at least once in their life (if not regularly): bungi jump, skydive, scuba dive, go white water rafting and hang-gliding. I still have the latter two left to do. May the spirit of adventure never leave my breathing body. Zheesh, did you really want to know all this about me? I'm Mensa's token moron, having made it in by the skin of my cortex, with the lowest possible qualifying score. I'm fiercely competitive (in a good-natured fashion), but mostly for individual challenges; I generally sustain no interest in team sports. I've been flying Air Warrior since about 1990 or 1991 or so. I enjoy training people in the fundamentals of Air Combat and find it as rewarding as smashing someone in a tough game of chess. I especially love it when a student can come back and clean my clock. -- Kato JIM EGGLESTON e-mail: Chickje@.cris.com AW handle: Chick I started flying Air Warrior in 1993, at that time Cris, Genie and Delphi were the providers. I was lucky enough to log in, find the training arena and run into the Damned squad during a practice flight. I was given the best advice that night: "Get into the AWTA." At that time it cost $75.00 for the class, and it has been one of the best expenditures I ever made. I did have some advantage as I have a couple of thousand hours of logged time in fixed wing and rotorcraft. However, the AWTA teaches what you need in Air Warrior. After a year of attending training sessions and generally making a pain of myself, Damned JD asked me to join the Damned. I fly in C-land with the Damned but on occasion do slip over into B-land to fly with friends there. (Yes, the Damned do have friends -- some of them anyway.) I was an instructor with Stymy for the weekly training sessions on the DOS Air Warrior and was left in charge when the move was started to the Windows version. After the transition was made, I was moved over to AOL, where I now reside in Full-Realism Training. I think that attending the Air Warrior Training Academy is perhaps the best time that a true Air Warrior can spend. (That and remembering: keep 'em in the up front view and pull up.) -- Chick DENNIS e-mail: bug@concentric.net AW handle: Bug I stumbled into Air Warrior shortly after getting my account on GEnie in (blush) late 1989. I flew my trusty Amiga around with the mouse and got killed. A lot . . . Eventually I moved out of dweeb-ness to the status of Pretty Good, where I've been stuck since! But that was good enough for me to conduct classes in the AWTA -- and I'm proud to say that some of my students have gone on to become Trainers and top aces themselves. . . . I work at NBC, where I produce, write and edit promos for the other shows on NBC -- you know, "Must See TV" and all that . . . Married to a slender beauty with a great tolerance for my gaming silliness. -- Bug RICHARD LAWRENCE e-mail: rich@kesmai.com AW handle: Twist [Twist didn't send in a biography, but I thought that readers should know that he is one of the best pilots in the game -- very deadly in his steed of choice, the FW 190. I should know -- in scenarios, I've had the pleasure of trying to defend bomber formations against him and his merry band of interceptors. -- Brooke] TERRY WELDON e-mail: specter777@aol.com AW handle: Specter [Specter didn't send in a biography.] ---- APPENDIX: THE PREVIOUS INTRODUCTION ---- The following is the introduction that I wrote for the Air-Warrior Training-Academy version of this manual. I include it here for amusement and in case the Academy gets up to speed again. Welcome to the Air-Warrior Training Academy. The goal of the Academy is quite straightforward: to take you, the still unformed and malleable clay of cadethood, and to mold you into an aerial killing machine, one that will prowl the skies of Air Warrior and rain down death and destruction upon your enemies, be they in the air, on the ground, or on the sea. This goal is straightforward, but it is not easily achieved. To do so, two things must happen. First, the expert instructors of the Academy must impart a portion of their expert knowledge to you. Second, you must develop the skill necessary to use that knowledge. More than anything else, it will take a lot of practice on your part. This cannot be overemphasized. Air Warrior is a very realistic game, and the nuances of aerial combat cannot be learned without a great deal of practice and experience. Fortunately, this practice is usually a lot of fun -- and if you practice enough, you won't even once be asked to polish the Academy toilets with your toothbrush. As a further motivation to succeed, keep in mind that, if you do become a deadly killing machine, feared and respected throughout Air Warrior's azure skies, it is a great source of pride to your instructor, who can then claim that he taught you everything that you know. It would be nice to tell you conversely that, if you do not progress past bumbling ineptitude, it is a source of great humiliation to your instructor, an indication of miserable failure on his part. The truth of the matter is that your instructor will in that case deny all blame, claiming that, despite his formidable educational technique, you were untrainable and would have been best employed in the mess tent piloting a potato peeler. However, let us dwell on the positive. The Academy will teach you to fly with all of the realism settings for Air Warrior enabled: spins, blackouts, redouts, stalls, etc. Keep them on when you practice, too. If this does not appeal to you then you are probably operating under the delusion that Air Warrior is only a game. The Air-Warrior community is a collection of military-aviation enthusiasts, people who wish they could have been fighter pilots, and in a few cases, people who already are fighter pilots. (It might also have a large number of misfits who would be in prison if it weren't for the healthy release provided by games like Air Warrior, but that's beside the point.) When they shoot someone down, they want it to say something about their piloting skill. They want the fights to feel like what, all of their lives, they've read about in accounts of real aerial combat. Without realism, you might as well play Super Space-weenie Shoot-'em-up (TM) v3.51. "Hey, I just shot down Darth Vader! Cool! I am one sierra hotel space-fighter jock!" you say? Who cares? But take up a Warhawk and find the heavily escorted Japanese bomber stream at 15k, heading south to hit Milne Bay in the Air-Warrior scenario "Saga of the 5th Air Force." Get out a quick message -- "Many buffs 1 sect n milne 15k. In in in." -- and dive in through a cloud of angry Zeros, every one piloted by a real person burning with the desire to shoot YOU down. Pick out a Betty and come screaming in for the shot. Stay on her as her pilot spots you and cranks into a hard break turn to the right. Watch those g's -- with so many Zeros around, you're dead if you black out. Feel the tension build as you pull some lead to get your shot -- you know those angry Zeros are only moments away from firing on you. Line up quickly and expertly, not missing the chance even though you're closing now at a big angle and 300 knots. Hold down the trigger. Watch the tracers arc out toward your prey. Watch the strikes all over the bomber as you pour on the shells. Watch the debris stream away and the Betty explode a moment later. Then slam your stick hard to the right, going instantly into an evasive -- you don't need to look back to know what's right on your tail firing right now. Click in war-emergency power. Barrel roll right, diving hard for the deck. Jink the whole way down, evading the angry Zeros, which are trying so desperately to kill you. Jink. Roll. Use your speed to get away with your life -- barely. Now you're talking. There is a lot to Air Warrior, and the purpose of the Academy is to get you into the thick of it as quickly as possible. Before each session of the Academy (by "session," I mean the on-line portion, where you interact with the instructor), you should read the assigned portions of this manual and do the assigned off-line exercises. At the beginning of each session, you will be able to ask questions of your instructor. These questions usually concern the reading material or the off-line exercises but may stray to more esoteric issues such as why Air-Warrior pilots are vastly superior to and more powerful than the uninformed masses who fly unrealistic, watered-down flight-simulation games made for sissies. Next, after all of the questions are answered and after some amount of other pontification, the instructor will take you and your fellow classmates up into the virtual skies of Air Warrior and, among other things, teach you how to kill each other and how to destroy everything in sight. The instructors are well qualified to explain such issues. They are a group of volunteers, pulled from the ranks of Air Warrior because of their flying skill and their ability to teach. You will be taught by some of the finest, most-experienced pilots in the game. They are also the ones who have collaborated to produce this manual. (As you read the following chapters, note that the collaboration is the reason for the inconsistency in writing style, not insanity of the author -- although sanity of all instructors is not guaranteed.) Now, having trudged patiently through this long-winded introduction, you must be eager to get to the meat, your mind hungry for any tidbit that will help you to become the deadly aerial killing machine that you were meant to be. Or there's a potato peeler with your name on it. Which is it going to be? -- Brooke ---- APPENDIX: GETTING STARTED IN AIR WARRIOR ---- by Brooke Air Warrior is an on-line multiplayer combat flight simulator from Kesmai. To many, it is a lot more than a game. For WWII aviation enthusiasts like me, it is a dream come true. Even on its most superficial level -- taking off, heading for the action, mixing it up in dogfights against other live opponents -- it is a blast. However, there can be a lot more to it. There is a sense of community in Air Warrior, and it's fun to build a reputation based on your flying skill or style. There are also war nights and historical scenarios where the action involves definite missions and objectives. For me, playing in historical scenarios gives a similar feeling to reading about real WWII aerial combat and missions. Multiplayer action is a whole new level of fun beyond stand-alone play; and for me, historical scenarios are a whole new level of fun beyond normal multiplayer action. To play, you need the front-end software for Air Warrior. The front-end software runs on your computer, doing the flight simulation and connecting via modem to a host computer. The host manages and distributes the data coming from the on-line players. There are hosts available from America Online, Delphi, CompuServe, and Earthlink; and to play in the multiplayer arenas (except as discussed below for the Mac beta version), you need an account on one of these on-line services. The costs to play depend on the service -- see the "Prices for On-line Services" appendix for more information. There are two types of front-end software available: free versions and a boxed version with lots of extra features. The boxed version, Air Warrior II, is for Windows 95 and is available in stores for $40-$50. It has multiplayer functionality plus, among other features, a much larger variety of aircraft to fly, an off-line mission builder, and the ability to play head-to-head. The head-to-head feature allows you to play against one (and only one) other opponent without connecting to one of the above-mentioned on-line servies -- you can instead connect to the other person modem to modem, over the Internet, or over a LAN. The off-line mission builder provides for off-line gaming and practice. As of the writing of this manual, America Online is not set up to use Air Warrior II. Delphi, Earthlink, and CompuServe are (or will be shortly). The free versions (Air Warrior for Windows, Air Warrior for Windows 95, and Air Warrior for the Macintosh) have basic functionality for multiplayer on-line play but no head-to-head or off-line mission-building features. The Mac version is available from Kesmai's Web page at "http://www.kesmai.com/" and is free to play while it is in beta testing. As for Air Warrior for Windows and Air Warrior for Windows 95, for information on how to obtain them and how to get on-line, go to Kesmai's Web page at "http://www.kesmai.com/" or contact one of the on-line services mentioned in the "Prices for On-line Services" appendix. Setting up the software is usually pretty easy. If you bought Air Warrior II, you just install it and follow the instructions. For the free versions, you need to get the basic program (which will be in a self-extracting archive); and you'll probably want to get the optional artwork for the various planes. Artwork comes in three resolutions: 640x480, 800x600, and 1024x768. In my opinion, the 640x480 artwork looks almost as good as the others, so if you have a slower machine and want the lower-resolution artwork, you won't be missing out much. If the frame rate is low (i.e., the motion of the world isn't smooth as you fly), try turning off some of the features such as horizon shading, plane shapes, ground detail, etc.; and if things are really bad, fly in one of the lower-detail modes when fighting (pressing 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 on the keyboard selects the view detail). Before you fly for the first time, make sure that you set up your joystick in whatever control panel you have for your operating system AND that you set up the joystick again in Air Warrior by going into the "settings" area. You must calibrate it in both places that first time. Aerial combat is a complicated business to learn. Therefore, in the early 1990's, in an effort to help new players get up to speed quickly, a group of Air-Warrior veterans formed the Air-Warrior Training Academy (AWTA). There are two parts to AWTA: formal classes and informal training. Informal training is open to whoever shows up, and it consists of on-line instruction on any topic that the students want to learn. Possibly in addition to other times, it runs in both the full-realism and relaxed-realism training arenas on Wednesday nights from 9-11 PM Eastern time on all of the on-line services. If you have questions regarding the sessions on America Online, send e-mail to Chick at "jre@bellsouth.net". If you have questions regarding the sessions on Delphi, CompuServe, Earthlink, and possibly CRIS, send e-mail to BMac at "johnmcnamee@worldnet.att.net". Instructors who participate in these Wednesday-night sessions include (among others) Chick, BMac, Sty, Snowman, Holmes, Shaky Stick, Bug, StuB, SharkBait, Black Panther, and Slug. As of the writing of this manual, formal classes are not yet up and running again since the expansion of Air Warrior to other on-line services and the resulting reorganization of AWTA. We hope that they will be up and running soon, though. This part of AWTA involves enrolling in a class that meets once per week, for a few hours per week, for seven weeks. Classes contain about 3-5 students. The students are instructed on-line in all aspects of Air Warrior, with most emphasis placed, of course, on aerial-combat techniques; and there are off-line exercises and reading assignments. The goal is to help students increase their combat skills as much as possible within that seven weeks and to produce pilots who are skilled in all aspects of the game. This manual is the main text for the classes. There is also a Usenet newsgroup devoted to Air Warrior: "alt.games.air-warrior". If you have questions about the game, AWTA, historical scenarios, war nights, etc., that is a good place to post questions. ---- PRICES FOR ON-LINE SERVICES ---- To play Air Warrior, you need access to one of the Air-Warrior hosts. For that (unless you are running the Mac beta version of the front-end software -- see the "Getting Started in Air Warrior" appendix), you need an account on one of the following on-line services. There are often two pricing schemes: one if you use the on-line service's dial-in modem lines to connect and another if you already have an Internet service provider (ISP) and use the Internet to connect to the on-line service. This second option (use another ISP to connect) can be used by players in countries that don't have cheap dial-in access directly to the on-line services. America Online (AOL) is one of the cheapest ways to play Air Warrior. An account costs $20/month, or if you connect through another ISP, only $10/month. For that price, you can play an unlimited amount of Air Warrior for no extra fee. Currently, Air Warrior II is unfortunately not available on AOL, so you'll be using only Air Warrior for Windows. AOL's Web page is at "http://www.aol.com/", and its phone number in the US is 800-827-6364. CompuServe has both Air Warrior II and Air Warrior for Windows available. An account costs $25/month, which covers 20 hours of play per month. There is an additional charge of $1.95/hour for each hour past that initial 20 hours per month. The cost includes access via CompuServe's dial-in lines -- it is not cheaper if you already have an ISP. CompuServe's Web page is at "http://www.compuserve.com/", and its phone number in the US is 800-848-8995. Earthlink has Air Warrior II and Air Warrior for Windows available. An account costs $20/month, or if you connect through another ISP, there is no base cost. To play Air Warrior, there is an additional cost of $1.75/hour. Earthlink's Web page is at "http://www.earthlink.net/", and its phone number in the US is 800-395-8425. Delphi has Air Warrior II and Air Warrior for Windows available. An account costs $24/month or, if you connect through another ISP, $7/month. To play Air Warrior, there is an additional charge of $1.80/hour. Delphi's Web page is at "http://www.delphi.com/", and its phone number in the US is 800-695-4005. ---- USUAL LEGAL STUFF ---- Air Warrior (R) is a registered trademark of Kesmai Corporation. (C) 1996-97 Kesmai Corporation. All rights reserved. Registered in US and Japan Air Warrior Training Academy (TM) is a trademark of Kesmai Corporation. (C) 1996-97 Kesmai Corporation. All rights reserved. Trademark pending registration ARIES (R) is a registered trademark of Kesmai Corporation. (C) 1996-97 Kesmai Corporation. All rights reserved. Registered Kesmai (TM) is a trademark Kesmai Corporation. (C) 1996-97 Kesmai Corporation. All rights reserved. Pending registration Flight Simulator, Microsoft, and Windows (TM) are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. America Online, Delphi, CompuServe, Earthlink, CRIS, GEnie, ICI, and WarBirds are probably trademarks of their respective corporations. Void where prohibited by law. If condition persists, consult physician. No user-serviceable parts inside. No other warranty expressed or implied. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. Use only as directed. Extended use may cause drowsiness. All models over 18 years of age. Freshest if eaten before date on carton. No animals were harmed in the production of this manual.