Maybe, but I’ve always seen it while flying SK-60’s.
Well, we saw how Gaijin solved this problem for the Maus, so perhaps it can indicate what ought to be in order for the BI. :P
In regards to the rest of your post, I think the only real problem with uptiering the BI is it’s low speed for the onset of compression, and low rip speed compared to aircraft with otherwise comparable flight performance. It would be in the awkward position of being the slowest thing around while having overwhelmingly superior performance in every other way such as maneuverability, acceleration, and rate of climb. The armament is an issue but Shvaks are reliable these days and the plane is very good at getting guns on target as long as it isn’t compressing.
Just dodge… it has barely any fuel.
You are aware wrong. It doesn’t fully unlock until less than ~225kts. Above that speed, which you should be at all times anyway in 6.0 props, it will lag behind most fighters it faces. Only once it has bled enough speed, which it is terrible at, will it be able to pull guns on target. It also has a measly 45 rounds per gun. It’s hardly OP, it just punishes people whose only move is pull as hard as they can in every fight.
I find it highly maneuverable in test flight as high as 650 kmh IAS. The plane is terrible at bleeding speed even with maximum elevator and 0% throttle only beyond about 700 kmh IAS due to compression. I would say that in most cases it’s best to avoid exceeding 700 kmh IAS in the BI anyway.
45 rounds per gun with 2 Shvaks is only measly if the plane was bad at getting guns on target or you want to spray/take risky shots. The plane outperforms all competition so overwhelmingly that getting into position to just tap the trigger and kill the enemy with a few rounds would not be overwhelmingly difficult.
This sounds more like something to be said about an A6M Zero. The BI isn’t only good at turning, it’s better in every other way as well against props except for rip speed. The BI doesn’t even have to turn, it’s just another advantage that makes it even more invincible. Even if it was a flying brick it still has such high acceleration, rate of climb and speed in level flight that it can force all opponents to dive away to escape and then BnZ them until they run out of energy.
It CANNOT BnZ. Even with engines off, it requires spiral dives to avoid over speeding into the uncontrollable zone. If you can’t maneuver to prevent giving good angles for that to be effective I don’t know what to tell you.
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Maybe “BnZ” is the wrong term for this. The BI doesn’t need to dive in from too steep of angle or too great of a height, because it has so much excess power that it can “Zoom” almost infinitely from any starting position. If you are at ground level where the only true defense against the BI in a prop, diving away, is no longer an option, props in the 5.7 to 6.7 BR range have absolute top speeds in level flight between 570 kmh IAS to 670 kmh IAS at the very most, and it takes time to accelerate to that. The BI will easily outrun anyone while still going slow enough to instantly begin outmaneuvering anyone who attempts to maneuver. You can fly straight and die, or turn and die.
If the BI is keeping his speed up and making repeated passes instead of maneuvering, you may be able to dodge him, but every time you maneuver you burn off more speed that takes time to accelerate back up to, while the BI has infinite energy and rapid acceleration. Eventually you won’t have enough speed and altitude left to turn hard enough to dodge his attack without crashing into the ground. And not to mention that none of this ever involves you even getting a chance to put shots into the BI.
I disagree with this wholeheartedly. It’s at 6.7 the only props it’s facing are super props, the best in class fighters. They will not struggle to makeup any lost speed from avoiding a pass or be unable to regain altitude. Most can exceed 400kts on the deck, well past the BIs lockup speed and can sustain that for long enough for separation and quick reclimbs.
They cant really do that since the BI was given as a coupon. It would crash their whole market the second they show that they will randomly block sellable coupons from being bought.
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I don’t normally use knots, but im getting back that 400 knots is 460 MPH or 740 KMH. At sea level TAS and IAS are nearly equal so that can’t be the issue here.
I can state this very affirmatively: No piston engine fighter in the game is capable of reaching anything close to this speed in level flight on the deck without diving a lot. The fastest piston engine fighter in the game is the P-51H, which is capable of something around 670-675 kmh IAS at sea level. Most do not even exceed 640 kmh/400 mph/347 knots. A few others I know of that can do this are the F4U-4B, F8F-1B, and Tempest Mk II, which are all slower than the P-51H at sea level.
Are you talking about speed picked up in a dive, or even the rip speeds of these props? If yes then it’s still only a matter of time, these planes are not going to ever be comparable to the TWR of the BI, they can not accelerate or climb fast enough to matter. Eventually they will run out of energy.
Also, 5.7 props are often not really superprops, such as the 109 G-10 and K-4, the Spitfire LF Mk 9 or Mk 14. These planes have top speeds in level flight more like 570 to 600 kmh at sea level and will rip before the BI does.
EDIT: This whole debate has felt pretty pointless anyway. No BI pilot would ever need to do all this. When the prop is running away at ground level, the BI will easily catch up, and once the BI gets in gun range the prop will start turning since that’s all he can do, the BI will effortlessly match his turn and shoot him down. That’s how it always goes in practice. the BI is maneuverable enough to do this even at 650 kmh IAS.
This was half-joking. I think the actual solution is probably to move the BI to somewhere from 7.0 to 7.7 BR, or maybe find some historically accurate way to nerf its flight performance, like giving it a realistically efficient rocket engine.
It’s not fair to ruin an entire BR bracket just because one oddball vehicle would be uncompetitive at a higher BR.
be better than the BI then you can win
The most forgotten secret about AirRB: It’s a team game.
You don’t have to fight this plane on your own.
It’s the same problem with the Me 163 at 8.0. Sure the performance is OP in a downtier. But a team with one more braincell than average counter it with ease.
And if he plays spaceship, ground pound.
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It’s probably the most forgotten because it’s true in name only. Teammates can often be more dangerous than the enemy. And at best they serve as distractions. Sometimes teammates communicate, or even try to coordinate with you, but often they lack the skill to avoid dying quickly when a fight begins, especially against an opponent as unstoppable as a BI. It’s very rare to find a random teammate who is communicative, coordinating, and competent. Most Air RB prop players dont even want to be there, they are just trying to grind some supersonic. The only reliable teammates are when I squad up with friends, which ofc is not an option all the time. Regardless, whenever I see a BI in a match, I always call it out as a priority target for the team. Whether this does any good or not is up to them. Besides, against any other prop or early jet I can usually just win the game by myself. The BI only causes trouble because it is overpowered and can’t be countered.
I would rather face the Me 163 than the BI, not saying the 163 should face props AT ALL, but it would genuinely be easier to counter even in a prop. 7.0 jets certainly have a far better chance against the 163 than 5.7 props have against the BI.
The only reason the BI is worse than the Me 163 is because the BI rips and compresses at such low speed for a jet/rocket. The 163 is way faster and compresses way less at high speed. That’s it. The BI has something around double the 163’s thrust to weight ratio, so it climbs and zooms WAY better. It’s also far more maneuverable at the speeds props are usually able to reach. In regards to fuel economy, the BI can actually maintain the same speeds as the 163 does at a much lower throttle setting. The BI can go about as fast at 17% throttle as the 163 does at 40%. The Me 163’s low velocity MK 108s also require much more skill to aim, especially against fast moving jets or in a dogfight, than the BI’s high velocity Shvaks. In a prop, if a 163 engaged me in the kind of low-speed dogfight the BI dominates, I could just outmaneuver and kill him. If the 163 makes a pass against me and I dodge it, I have a much better chance of getting a shot at him when he tries to zoom away compared to the BI that can just fly straight up at 20000+ ft/min and barely lose speed.
If the BI is high up and I go ground pound, he can just come kill me. He doesn’t even need an altitude advantage, it can run down any prop at any altitude, force them to dive away (assuming their rip speed isn’t lower than the BI’s) until they reach ground level, and then outmaneuver and kill them.
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Properly flown BI is simply unkillble outside of lucky 1km spray using high velocity weapons with stealth belt.
The plane clowns on props and early jets. Basically it can deny the opposing team the climb, score some kills, rearm and return to harass people some more with 0 risk.
The only real risk is ripping your wings while pulling sustained 14G turn.
Yes, it locks up at 700.
This is why should attack from below and bait enemy by sitting at reltively low energy.
BI can out-energy anything it faces anyway, even if it starts at huge disadvantage, and it won’t even take 20s to do.
I see @ProgramTheta has already explained everything.
I think most decent players are chat banned or worse, actively talking only to their seal-clubbing 4-stack, console players - they never use chat, and casuals don’t have the ability to fly and read chat at the same time… I remember 10 years ago chat being much more active.
I will point out it has a lot fuel contrary to what the fueltimer says. To extend its range you throttle down to the point you only have the acceleration of a 7.0 jet.
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The issue is if anyone turns they have to throttle up or leave them alone.
It’s how I’ve drained many a BI in the past, and how I’d still do it today.
Did they up it’s BR or just the part about it only coming out once a year?
I mean if anyone turns with you in a BI. You drain them of energy, or just outturn them. Which is something you can do as long as the BI dont have almost full fuel.
If its on 10 seconds of fuel, thats still a minute of more acceleration than you get in other nearby BR jets, while being in its most agile state.
There is more hope in it having no ammo left tbh
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Ok, so you turn with BI, he gets in a firing position within few seconds, DED. True masterplan.