Today I unlocked the Etendard IVM, and I played a few games with it. But while it seems to have a better thrust than the SMB2 (a plane I genuinely enjoy flying) and overall seems similar in flight performance, there is a little something I can’t put my finger on, which makes me struggle.
It bleeds really badly and for some reason the engine doesn’t seem to compensate as well as that of the SMB2 in turns, even though the SMB2 seems to accelerate slower in straight line. The Etendard also feels weird to handle, its nose behaves weird in deflection shots (I haven’t landed a single one while I’m pretty good at those on the SMB2, and they’re the same guns afaik?). I also noticed that any attempt at following an opp in the vertical will just fail, as the plane will simply refuse to raise its nose.
But the thing is, people told me the Etendard was a nice plane… So what am I doing wrong folks? How should I fly it, what should I do or not? I’m open to any kind of advice
I have not played the Etendard or SMB2 so this is an outsider perspective, any french mains that comment will have much better info than me
First off, Id judge it once spaded, those mods can make a far larger difference than you realise.
but secondly the Etendard is a ground attacker and designed with naval operations in mind, so potentially optimised for low level flight, that has traits that make it okay in A2A combat, but the SMB2 is a fighter and likely better suited for higher alts. so I wouldnt be surprised if there were clear differences in handling.
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Yeah I expect it to be far better once spaded, but still there’s a little something I can’t tell that feels weird about it. I didn’t experience it with the others planes while stock grinding them. It instantly hit me when I played it, that something felt weird
Like, it isn’t stable like the mysteres when rolled on a side for a deflection shot, the nose goes up and wobbles a bit
Hmm… It might be the low level strike fighter part of it.
It might just be optimised to be very stable in level fight, but not well designed for sharp, aggresive maneuvers.
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That makes sense I guess… But then why did people tell me it’s a “hidden gem” if it’s just a great attacker that dogfights like a brick?
Might just require a fundementally different approach.
The wiki does state that its got a good engine (typical with aircraft designed to haul heavy loads like the Bucs) and good performance when unloaded
The aircraft has incredible guided CAS ordnance for its BR in ground mixed battles, and in air-to-air engagements, the aircraft can take lower end missiles and the powerful DEFA 552 cannons to utilize its incredible unloaded performance in dogfights.
So maybe its also a case of finessing fuel option taken
But for now, until someone with experience comments, Id guess wait till spaded, might be one of those cases where the booster mod is just essential for example
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Alright, I’ll just spade it for now then. Hopefully in that time someone who played it can help me on that matter. I’ll probably be more able to apply advices once I get more experience with it anyway
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The Etendard IVM has a peculiar characteristic: it maneuvers in one plane (horizontal/vertical) without flaps, but it becomes completely unmanageable with them. In the other plane, when maneuvering without deployed flaps, it conversely starts to twitch erratically. I can’t remember off the top of my head which plane gets which behavior.
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And honestly, I wouldn’t call it particularly good. It… just exists. Its only distinguishing feature is its ability to return to the airfield relatively quickly for reloading (+ it has a drag chute for even faster landings). That’s it.
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Just play it like a mig-15 bis that is constantly on max fuel (but with two missiles and good guns)
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I don’t have the mig 15 bis, but I guess I’ll know what to expect when I get that
tldr
use your thrust to stay fast, do not commit to dogfights
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Overall, there’s no point in grinding for it unless you play GRB.
Oh well, shoulda went for the 3rd line instead then I guess