Anyone gonna be up tonight?

[Nick]

Got rid of the sprogs to their grandparents UNTIL SUNDAY!!!!

So that me free most nights this week and gagging for fight tonight!

Anyone up?

[Dakaras]

Well at this moment in time Im cooking a Courgette n Cheese Souffle followed by a forced rhubarb crumble and my kids are away as well

So if you see me..................

[DaBeeeenster]

Dude. I am! Can you find me in Hyperlobby? Same sig as Hexus?

Or get me on MSN Messenger...

[luke313]

I might be....

[Stoo]

Possibly, I'm feeling the sudden urge to shoot the crap out of something (see general chat)

[yamangman]

I'm err, in there now.

[luke313]

Server going up in a moment - pass is HEXUS

[Dakaras]

Be along for a jolly in 30mins or so

no i wont forgot ive a dl with 1hr left on it going

[yamangman]

Good game. You guys are too good. Someones gotta tell me thems secret

[Nick]

Hey Yam,

Secrets? We aint got no secrets... its all about practice, practice and more practice.

First thing you gotta do is wean yourself off of the easier settings. We normally fly full-real so that means all the aids except the speedbar, (that little read out in the bottom left corner with your height, heading and speed), turned off. No outside views, no padlock, no map icons or plane icons. It sounds a bit daunting to fly like that at first, but you soon get used to it.

Next up is to get a grasped on the old height=energy=speed equation. He who has more energy has the advantage. Even if you're doing 400knots and I'm wallowing in the air at 200knots, if I'm 1000m above you, I've got all that height to trade off for speed whereas you'll lose speed climbing to meet me. Therefore, I dictate when we engage and how, giving me perhaps enough of an edge to knock you down.

Next up is situational awareness. Once you've got an eye on an enemy, its important to know roughly where he is and where he's likely to be too. That way you can get there first and be ready to kill him, or force him into a position where you have the energy advantage. I've lost count of the number of kills I've made from being about 500m above and behind a bogey who had no idea I was there until my tracer came by his cockpit. Even if you miss on your first pass, you still have the speed to climb away and stay in charge, but to do this you need to know where he is and where he's headed, which is a damn sight harder to do than say!

Next is gunnery. I'm sure you're got a handle on 'leading' a target so your bullets arrive where his plane is when you want them to, you know, the whole firing ahead of his nose thing... In a turning d/f, you will often find that the lead you want to give means that you can't even SEE the bogey... so knowing which way he is headed is important... get a few shots in on his engine and as soon as he takes damage there its just a matter of being patient and waiting for the opportunity to finish him off, you'd be surprised how few hits it takes to impair and planes performance enough to make him a sitting duck... snapping his elevator cables, or ppuncturing his oil pan are sure fire knockdowns... you just gotta be patient, point blowing all your ammo in wild bursts.

Best thing is to get on a few d/f servers and tail people. Get a firing position and just keep placing your cross hair where you think you should fire. You wouldn't believe the number of people that don't look right back and pull in a hard turn to check their six is clear.... once you're happy you can tail them, let them have a few shots and NOW try and stay on 'em... don't fire again, just let them think they've lost you... This is well tricky to do, but keep at it!

Try and figure out the basics of which plane does what best. 109s can climb like a powerlift, while an I-153 can turn on a penny, figure out the limits of your and your opponents plane and fly to them. I've taken down a couple of 109s in a 153 purely for letting them come in to attack me but pulling a very tight left/right jink... it threw their aim off and left their, admittedly rapidly, retreating bums in my sights... hose em down with the guns and hope you hit something vital.... scares the bejesus out of them too.

Finally, check YOUR six regularly! Don't get fixated on a target, cos more liekly than not, there's a guy out there who'll take advantage of that and blow you away. DOn't fly straight and level for more that few seconds and don't make smooth, constant truns. Vary your height, heading and bank a little all the time, a guy on your six might just be leading you the right amount as you make your turn harder or shallower... it could be anough to throw off his aim and when you see his tracer you've got a warning and time to re-act and excape!

Lastly (I know I said the last one was finaly, but there ya go), check the stickies at the top of the forum, theres loads of info in them for you.....

Good luck!

[Hat]

just popped in to HL.. guess I missed it all...

.. I'll be around a bit on Tuesday eve if anyones up for a dogfight praccy?

[Dakaras]

LOL Hat I went in at 12.35am missed you by minutes

[[GSV]Trig]

I've got an X45 to configure so expect me to be on and flying rather randomly for a while, give u all a bit of a chance eh

[Dakaras]

I've got an X45 to configure so expect me to be on and flying rather randomly for a while, give u all a bit of a chance eh

Yeah like we need it

[Nick]

/lays a tenner on Trig forgetting which button does what and ejecting while in a perfect firing position.

[Stoo]

or lowering the landing gear while doing 600+