Every time I am on the six of an A-5C, MiG21, J35, even Su25 and many other planes, when my speed drops below 500kmph, the F-5(E and C) turns into a brick. I cannot lead the guns enough to get a shot.
I know the F-5 performs well at high speed. It has great energy retention. But I wonder how’s that any useful? I am forced to slow down in every dogfight. Say I am on the six of an A-5C. We’re both at Mach 0.9. As soon as I am about to pull the trigger, the A-5C pulls 10 Gs to the left, bleeding its speed to around 500kmph. I can slow down to follow him, losing my speed but staying on his six. He can now continuously keep pulling as hard as he can to either side and I will never be able to get my gun on him, because he has better AoA at low speed. I might as well just J out at this point because there’s no way I can get back my speed anytime soon with the acceleration I have.
Alternatively, I can keep my speed and try to circle around or something. He can just missile me, put his AB on and quickly back gain his speed and be on my six, or just fly away. In any case, I am unable to kill him.
use the energy-retention to drain the energy of the enemy (and it doesn’t turn that bad) and then it is an easy shot, bc they can’t manouvre while stalling.
Also with flares you are basically immune to the missiles at this tier.
Air combat manouvering is difficult, so best of luck while improving that.
Edit:
I would try pulling up, making my turn at a (slightly) higher altitude, so if he stops the turn after 180 degs or something you catch him with more energy and are now quite a bit faster, if he reverses the turn, you just avoid the headon, and have him loose even more speed (and then you can just circle around him, maybe trade a bit of energy for position, since you now have much more energy) winning the fight.
If the enemy continues the turn then you stay a bit up (keep speed) and the fight continues.
If he pulls up, then you energy trap him similar as before, if not, then other manouvers are needed, but now you have the energy advantage and the more he turns, the more energy advantage you have. And with that you will probably get into a position, where you can trade a part of your energy for a position, giving you a good shot, while the enemy has no offensive option.
That’s the beauty of energyfighting, you control the fight.
Try a different aircraft the F5C is spammend to oblivion. Did you buy a premium vehicle without grinding there first? I notice about 80% f5c pilots are wallet warriors
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Manage your speed in a turn by tapping your pitch down key (probably W) repeatedly while turning with the mouse. The faster you tap the slower you will turn and the more speed you will conserve. This way you can turn while remaining above 500kmh, and you can stop tapping if you need to pull AoA and have energy to spare.
F-5C and A-5C is actually a pretty interesting fight imo. They’re fairly evenly matched in speed, acceleration and turning performance, so it often comes down to pilot skill. One might be slightly better than the other but there’s such a massive variation on pilot skill in those two planes specifically since they are such popular premiums with new players, so it makes every 1v1 encounter kind of exciting.
As for MiG-21, he’s even worse at low speed than you are, so you shouldn’t have too much trouble there. J35 is a little scarier on that front if he plays it right. Su-25 is surprisingly good in a turnfight so you should just never try rating with one, which is easy to avoid because they’re so slow.
I have played both the F-5C and F-5E.
The F-5 is hopelessly outmatched by the A-5C in terms of speed and acceleration. 90% of A-5Cs I try to engage run away from me by just flying straight.
The problem is that 2-circle fights never happen in WarThunder. Every time I try it, the enemy just pulls hard towards me, losing all its energy and engaging in a suicidal head-on. It doesn’t matter at this point if I am at 800kmph and they’re at 300.
If I avoid the head-on and try to circle back later, by the time I am around, the enemy is either accelerating away or ready for another head-on.
I think you’re right about acceleration, because F-5C’s is particularly bad, though speedwise they really should be fairly close. If you were to keep your speed and fly straight in the merge while the A-5C turns for you, you’d probably get away too.
I’m not sure I understand your problem in 2-circles; if they’re really pulling so hard they shouldn’t be getting away from you in anything unless you’re pulling just as hard. At 300kmh you’re basically dead in the water in a jet. You might try going vertical rather than flat turning if you see them going for a hail-mary in the one circle, or just turning slower but keeping your speed so they can’t accelerate away from you.