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.
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.
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
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
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:
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Keep speed
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Keep altitude
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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.
Neither of them have lost much power by 6000m. Both have giant wings and are relatively light which helps with high altitude flyability.
In return the A7Ms have terrible aileron authority, low speed at any altitude, are absolutely MASSIVE, and compress very hard.
In a P-47D-28 (which is now 4.7 btw) you should seek to third party them whenever they start a dogfight (which will be very often as that is their only move). At those low speeds they’ll be unable to roll out of the way.
And gaijin thought this thing was fair at 5.0 and 5.3? Thing could give Bf-109 K-4s and Yak-3s a run for their money. That’s nearly if not 6.0 material.
The snail giveth, the snail taketh away. The N1K2-Js stay overtiered and the A7Ms will stay undertiered.
aw hell yeah im crewing my a7m2 stat to bully us players! =D
A7Ms have long, fat wings which makes them very slow to roll. The guns are also super wide in the wings which gives a pretty bad convergence factor, making them terrible in a head on - Id absolutely be forcing a head on in a P-47, with 8 .50 cals you are going to shred him. Start firing from ~1.5km out, and roll out of it before ~800m, his convergence issues will struggle to land a hit on you while you have filled the sky with lead.
It is faster in a climb and a dive than the Zeros, so I agree the P-47 will struggle in that regard. You are still faster in a dive than him though, if you can get him to turn a bunch of times and burn his energy, he will struggle to gain it back and keep up with you, especially with that roll rate.
I do agree the P-47 is definitely a plane that the game doesnt really suit in an Air combat role, airfields are placed much closer together than in real life so the P-47s lower climb rate is a big issue in getting to enough altitude before combat starts, which wasnt much of an issue IRL. However once it is up there, a high up P-47 is a very scary opponent to fight.
I’ve tried taking a look at their roll rates compared to the P-47D-28 but the A7M2 has 10 degree faster roll rate than the D-28. I thought it would be something, I could use, but the D-28 is actually slower than the A7M2 and M1 at rolling.
under…tiered?
In terms of battle ratings. The plane is placed too low. It’s facing planes that it shouldn’t.
Man, the only thing going for the Reppu is turning. Its slower than majority of things it fights, while having comparable climb rate with them. Compresses at dive or above 600 km/h, have guns far apart so the convergence is really whack, have massive wings and once it catches fire,it dies and any hit into it makes it near uncontrollable.