Posted by: hobo

Message: I sort of *discovered* the F6F last night. Yeah I know, it's been around forever, and the 6 view stinks, and it really doesn't do any one thing great. But it does just about everything fairly well and dives nicely. So the question for you expert F6F drivers...

1) What tips, strategies, and comments do you have about this plane?

2) What are it's strengths and it's weaknesses?

3) Does it have any really bad traits?

Thanks,

Hobo

Posted by: =eadg= [XO 487th FS]

Message:

: I sort of *discovered* the F6F last night. Yeah I know, it's been around forever, and the 6 view stinks, and it really doesn't do any one thing great. But it does just about everything fairly well and dives nicely. So the question for you expert F6F drivers...

: 1) What tips, strategies, and comments do you have about this plane?

The bigeest one is to fight the natural tendency to want to turn with it. Keep it fast and stay above the fight. Get above the fight, swoop in, get off a few rounds, turn throught 90 or so degrees if you must, and then get out. You can land multi-kill sorties this way (6-8 regularly if you stick to the plan, and enough ammo for even more). As you mention, it does everything pretty well, and can hold its own against any plane except the very late war speed demons. It'll catch almost anuthing if it can dive from a few K above, the ammo clip is huge and deadly (now that the Browning is more proeprly modelled), it can take a mean punch, and its dive is awesome. It also turns well, but not well enough to exist as a purn tnb fighter. It also isn't quite fast enough to be a pure bnz fighter, so you have to walk a fine line between the two worlds. I fly it almost exactly the same as I do the Spit 9 once the IXe is no longet the class of the plane set (late week 2 onward). Bnz anything that turns better, outturn anything that turns worse. It'll take some getting used to to figure exactly which a/c fall into which category :) To start - You'll outturn the usual bnz monsters (190's, 51's, later 109's, jugs, etc.). At high speeds, youll outturn spits and even zekes (but not for long as your speeds reduce, so take your shot and get out).

: 2) What are it's strengths and it's weaknesses?

Mentioned above. In addition, its roll rate sucks pretty bad, and the yaw control is unlike most other planes - its rather mushy, and ruddering in a shot is more difficult in the hellkitty than in almost any other a/c. Also, that 6 view is terrible. If you normally fly with good SA, such that you typically "know" where the enemies / threats are without having to see them every seond, you should do fine.

: 3) Does it have any really bad traits?

Only as mentioned above.

I'm sure =scop= will have a thing or two to add, but you can ognore him. (LOL just kiddin', he USED to be a great f6f jock ;)

Good luck and good hunting

=eadg=

Posted by: Alleycat (==ac==)

Message: : I sort of *discovered* the F6F last night. Yeah I know, it's been around forever, and the 6 view stinks, and it really doesn't do any one thing great. But it does just about everything fairly well and dives nicely. So the question for you expert F6F drivers...

: 1) What tips, strategies, and comments do you have about this plane?

Well with its all around capabilities the tips list could be endless ;)... The biggest thing is to use the plane to its full abilities... this means somtimes E-fighting and somtimes TnB. Having the choice to either is a nice change ;)

: 2) What are it's strengths and it's weaknesses?

The biggest strengths of the Hellcat are that it CAN turn with a spit V ... And yes there is proof ;).. on the average with 20% fuel load you can sustain turn a Spit V at 18 seconds per 360 degree turn... thats about the same as the F6F (you milage may vary).

The fact that the F6F can outturn a Spit 9 is really a suprise for the 9 driver... and big supprise for the Spit V driver who thinks that he will easily come around on you.

The Hellcat also has some great vertical power... with the 2000HP PnW it can hang on its prop at 50MPH or less ;)... and can snap back down on rudder to really surprise someone !

She also snaps and recovers fast, which can be usefull ;)

The downside of the Hellcat is its roll speed... a plane this hvy and stubby aint gonna roll fast no matter how much HP you put in it... so I use coordinated rudder input into almost every turn... and quick rolls can be done with lots of rudder into the direction of the roll.

: 3) Does it have any really bad traits?

Not really... and thats no BS... it is flat out one of the most underrated planes in WB. It can hunt FW's or Zeke's... all in the same sorty... and with 400 rnds of ammo X 6 you have like 33 seconds of sustained firepower... allowing you to bag LOTS of bad guys before you head home... my Best sorty in a F6F-5 was 13 kills... and yes I made it back too ;)

Hope this helps!

Alleycat

Warbirds Training Staff

Posted by: Snake

Message: : : 3) Does it have any really bad traits?

: Not really... and thats no BS...

The Hellcat is the BIGGEST target of all the fighters. Yes! ALL the fighters! We're talking planform here (which is what you're looking at with tracking shots). It's biggner than the P-47 and even bigger than the P-38. It also has a large stablizer and elevator (which account for it's turning ability) that are a magnet for bullets. The elevator is almost always the first thing to give way to damage (at least for me anyway). This is regardless of attack direction! IOW you can lose that elevator form HO shots.

Alleycat and Scorpion are deadly shots (which adds to their mystique). My best sortie is 5 kills, and I spend over 90% of my on-line time in the F6F (and F4F in the RPS). But what AC says about its turning ability is absolutely true. However it's a much surer bet to E-fight that Spit V than to try and turn fight it! The Hellcat zooms and steady climbs better than the Spit V, and is also faster.

Note: if iMOL takes away the direct 6 view in all aircraft (which they should for realism sake) then the Hellcat's disadvantage in this area is much less pronounced!

Snake

Posted by: Rickenbacker

Message: : The biggest strengths of the Hellcat are that it CAN turn with a spit V ... And yes there is proof ;).. on the average with 20% fuel load you can sustain turn a Spit V at 18 seconds per 360 degree turn... thats about the same as the F6F (you milage may vary).

Well, just because _you_ can outturn a Spit V in it doesn't mean _I_ can :-). Anyway, it's a great plane if you have a wingman or don't fly straight at all. My advice to anyone learning it (I don't fly it hat much, but I'm fairly successful when I do) would be to use it as a Pony at first, BnZing to your hearts content, then if you see an opening for turnfighting, enter and proceed to outturn anything but early spits and zeros. The 6 .50's have great staying power as well, and if you aim well and fire at convergence a 1-2 second burst takes most anything apart (not saying _I_ aim well, though :-).

The only bad things about it, like you said, are roll rate, view and max speed (it's fast-ish, but it ain't no Pony). Climbs great, turns great, dives great, and has no bad traits that'll kill you without warning.

Great plane, I'd fly it much more if it had a 6 view and more speed :-).

Rickenbacker

Wot Conv do you guys use with the F6F??? (NT) - Flapz-

Re: Wot Conv do you guys use with the F6F??? 200 yards (NT) - Alleycat