How to fight A7M1 and A7M2?

Game Discussion Realistic Battle
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In a D-28 but no matter what I find, I can’t find myself beating the A7M (both the A7M1 and A7M2) in any regard. My top-speed advantage seems to be so slim that I spend around 4 minutes gaining meaningful separation, I could be at 6000 meters yet the aircraft seems more than happy to keep up in a vertical. No matter what I’ve tried I just can’t get any kind of drop on the aircraft

Forcing head-ons already puts me at a disadvantage, because 1 20mm in this game is worth 15 .50s worth of damage. What realistically can do to the A7M?

I feel some confidence while facing Ki-84s, but the second I see an A7M I instantly go 'Ah man, it’s over."

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Dude, you’re a P-47. You are not going to win against A7Ms. The solution is to learn how to Boom and Zoom. Never turnfight which seems to be what your struggling at not doing.

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Considering that the D-28 can handle the Bf-109 G/2 handedly and I have no trouble fighting them, the airplane can be capable… But I’m not trying to get into turn and burn fights with japanese aircraft. Look at my K/D on the D-22. I’m trying to capitalize on my higher alt performance and any energy advantage I can get, but no matter what I do. I can’t rope-a-dope, I can barely run away. I can barely do anything against the plane that’s supposed to be only .3 higher than me.

Your “jUsT bOoM aNd ZoOM” Comment is nothing more than trolling. Or you legitimately do not know how U.S. fighters work when you actually try and use them with success.

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Not surprised, the A7M’s wings and flaps can still give it plenty of time before it stalls out completely.

I find most of the late-war jap props to be unbearable to fight. Your best bet is to keep whittling them down by spraying them so much. They roll so slowly too, the 20mm ballistics aren’t that great, and they stiffen like a b!%tch once you get them past 500kmh. With this in mind just spray because more than likely they have to commit or try and roll away.

Anything else? Just hope your team can cover you or get them aware. (highly unlikely.) It’s pretty much just a very long mind game fighting them.

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Just took it out now and I’m surprised. The N1K2J/Ja are worse than this thing in performance and they stay at 6.0

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you unfortunately just have to do the arduous process of pressing headons repeatedly and dodging their shots

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BnZ like most the yanks planes. D-28 its way faster, better diver, solid x8 .50, good turning at high speeds. Just keep always up

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Never try to turnfight a Japanese fighter. Ever. That’s their only gimmick. They have low top speed, middlin’ to low climb ability and low to middlin’ acceleration compared to everyone else. Boom n’ Zoom and/or Energy Trap them and they are easy pickings.

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This applies to any of their early planes (except for you J2M.)
Their late-war line of props can and will be co-alt or even higher. Especially that one A6M5 ko player that managed to reach 6.5k undetected.

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So. In a D-28 you are basically screwed in a dogfight. You might be able to outrun it but only in a dive. I think the A7Ms top out at ~680 km/h?
If you are having problems destroying Japanese planes in a head on with .50 cals thats just a skill issue.

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A7M can dive at very high speed. But it locks up horribly, way worse than A6M5 f.e. Which means, above 650, you can do a sharp turn and he can’t. You won’t be able to turn till you get on his 6 most likely (though I’ve managed to do that a few times). But you can create separation and also gain some alt on him, since he’ll keep on diving for some time before he pulls up. A7 also has a pretty bad roll.
But don’t expect to win a dogfight. As soon as A7 bleeds some speed, it’s a monster.

So, how to fight it? In P-47 I would feel fairly comfortable in a head on at long range. In German planes I’d stay fast and he goes head-on - fine, I’m small, he’s big, I can roll out of the way, he can’t do that so easily. I usually 3rd party these planes as they slow down a lot to fight people, unlike f.e. Yak-3U that can dogfight and maintain 500+km/h like it’s nothing. Most A7Ms will not be able to dodge a well timed attack.

I still consider A7M the nice zero, that I can fight. Because vs A6M5 pulling 14Gs at 675 IAS, you can only run.

And yeah, 20mm nowadays have insane damage. MG151/20 or even MK108 fall behind vs fighters when compared to Shvak and Type 99 Mk2

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Not quite. Plenty of the late-war props are still undergunned in the engine department.

As for that A6M5 Ko - Bro just sideclimbed like a ninja.

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There’s always one constant in ARB, it’s a japanese prop always managing to ninja climb all the way to the stratosphere

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Real and True.

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I see this similar - you are basically stuck between a rock and a hard place.

So if you try to keep your team alive you will have A7Ms above you (or at least at co-alt) - and if you try to gain a significant alt / energy advantage above them your US team is usually dead.

The TT A7M2 is imho one of those planes you can’t allow to be above and behind you - flying with it was nice, but boring as hell as your team is usually way too strong.

At least in Air RB the A7M is imho way too slow (even more at high alt) but it takes ages to gain enough separation (i use 5-6 km) to turn around and to accelerate to a very high merge speed in order to dodge their shots and spray them down when they try to dodge (800 meters convergence).

Imho the OP is not wrong - the challenge is to get in a position were you can think about a BnZ attack in a P-47. Unfortunately A7Ms are often accompanied by J2Ms which will be above you without excessive sideclimbing - and thx to the way too low contrail altitudes in Air RB there is no “Ninja” climbing. So beginning a fight without a significant energy advantage vs JP planes is usually not as easy as it sounds.

The sole exception from this rule are the matches on the very large Pacific maps (if the lobbies are small like 6 vs 6 or 8 vs 8) as the much higher contrail alt of ~ 6.500 allows you to sideclimb undetected and come in with very high speed and alt advantage - so even the usual “Ninja climber” (😂) is no threat.

I see this similar - with my potato aim is is for me way easier to hit the way larger A7M than a A6M.

But the RNG factor of the 0.50 cal AP-IT is worth to mention too:

Usually you get a kill vs a JP plane with 25 or 50 points (1 or 2 hits) either causing a central mass engine fire or killing the engine/pilot. But in some matches even 4-5 hits have zero effect on them. This can’t be right.

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Mate the P-47, D-25->Spaded
P-47 D-28->Spaded. I know the aircraft because it was one of my most-used for the US. I am also a Japan main, so I know the flaws and strengths of the A7M because they were also one of my most used at a time.

So no, I’m not trolling you, also your “Rope to dope” doesn’t work against an aircraft that’s quite literally designed to energy dogfights. As Real K said, “A7M2 is imho one of those planes you can’t allow to be above and behind you”
Which is a fact, if it gets behind you, and was above you, you’re not winning at all. Cause all of the cards were laid out for the A7M.

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That’s my thing though. When my team does climb (I’ve seen it happen) Even when meeting at co-altitude, I find the U.S. props usually can irk out on top. Fighting J2Ms, Ki-84s, N1K2s, is not a problem. It does become a problem when there’s 3-4 enemies coming for me.

I think one issue I have is that I haven’t actually fought an A7M that much on it’s own compared to the other late-war japanese aircraft, so I don’t have confidence facing it. I fear this thing more than Spitfires because I know that I can handle Spitfires. In the D-22, I know above 4000m I can adequately fight Spitfire Mk Vcs . Most of my interactions with the A7M I’m trying to also survive against other aircraft gunning for me. Also advice “Don’t let them get behind you.” Doesn’t work because you’ll have to let everyone go behind you at some point. as you zoom past them.

It’s not hard to spade props. I’ve already checked your stat cards I honestly think you’re lying through your teeth about even SPADING them . You barely played the thing and you were in the NEGATIVES with your K/D.

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You spent most of your time ground pounding. You don’t know how to fly the P-47. So don’t lecture me on how to use an aircraft, that all you know how to do is lawnmower.

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they are slow af. dont dogfight them but extend out and boomNzoom them

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Ngl is there a thread or youtube video that shows how to do this effectively? I’ve watched Defyn’s video(s) on the subject but it doesn’t really seem to have much of a strategy, moreso just “be fast, don’t miss, that’s your only option.” I’ve been doing my interpretation okay enough, but BnZ still feels like a cop-out for poor balancing decisions

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Truthfully, look at Hav3ns videos on the P-47. Boom and zoom is worthless as a concept because it’s over simplified, also, you’re correct game is not built for U.S. planes. You will enter energy fights with opponents and so forth. Looking at from the P-47 perspective To break it down for you:

  • Keep speed

  • Keep altitude

  • Be aware.

The first two you should have both of, but at times you might not have altitude, so your best alternative is to keep speed. 500kmh is your sweet spot when running away as most enemies will not keep up with you. and you can use this to gain separation, climb, or some combo of both.

Altitude in a plane like a P-47 or another plane with turbosupercharging or some kind of multi-step supercharger is what helps you win battles. Your engine will work higher, therefore you usually can keep speed, and translate energy better than a spitfire at 5000m trying to fight you and so forth. You’ll power through a vertical pull while a spitfire will quickly expend all it’s energy away.

If an enemy is chasing you. Shallow dive, and shallow climb, but usually shallow diving will work and it’s preferential to shallow dive first before you shallow climb so you can reach optimum speeds (500+kmh-475)

Because of how fat most U.S. planes are, it’s preferential to use verticals instead of going flat against the opponent. Do be aware that altitude differences DO matter. if someone is dead set on you, let them follow you up to the altitude you want to fight at. If you think you might make them lose interest, you can cut a turn while running, you might lose 20-30kmh but you can gain it back quickly. This makes the enemy think they’re gaining on you when in reality they’ll end back where they started. behind you. You can use that time separating to shallow climb.

When at the optimum altitude you think you need 4000-5000 usually. Now is the time to fight. At around 4km. Turn to face your opponent and engage. If you believe you still have an energy advantage. slice by them, force a headon. and wait for them to turn for you. This is a good sign they’re bloodthirsty for you. This also means they’re going to bleed speed to catch you and you’re going to be faster than them. or you can use that as a means to go vertical. With your superior power at altitude, you can then use proper flaps and power through a vertical, dodging their rounds until they lose speed. Unlike jap planes where you skillessly turn and turn and turn and turn and turn and turn and turn and you’re equipped with over powered 20mm cannons.

American planes you REALLY need to judge energy as much as possible. You are given speed, horsepower and high alt-performance. That’s all you get and you need to figure out and visualize how to make sure your opponent has the least amount of energy possible to use against you.

The reason why I talked about the p-47 and not the P-51 is that the P-51 is iffy. P-51 is like an American Bf-109. Contrary to popular belief. The P-51D is not that good at high altitude. It only has around 1600 horsepower when reaching higher alts. What makes it go fast is it’s insanely low drag profile. that’s what helps it the most. At high alts, the P-51D, and C fly like a BRICK. The P-47 has the horsepower and large wings to necessitate high alt fighting.

It’s why once you reach extremely high altitudes 5000-6000m and the once in a blue moon fight you get up there, the P-47N is INSANELY good At 4500m is when the plane starts feeling good. The plane physically CLIMBS FASTER at high alt. But I digress.