Just reaching out to players with more experience and a better understanding of aircraft than me (probably most of you). I’m not struggling with the BF109, but when dogfighting in it I feel completely outmatched when going up against most planes, this is in contrast to my experience flying most other fighters. Generally speaking, I feel like my plane is slower has less acceleration and generally, less responsive and sluggish in the turns. This is true for my experience in the BF109 G2 and K4, keep in mind I mostly fly in ground RB.
In addition to being an inexperienced dog fighter, I have a feeling the way I setup up my fights is putting me at a large disadvantage. I find myself flying head on into players that are flying into the battle, I tend not to have enough altitude or speed so I generally dive to avoid a head on (I realise as I write this planes that have just spawned in to the ground match will have a huge energy advantage as they spawn at altitude and steadily dive into the ground battle) and I start trying to draw the fight into vertical turns as opposed to horizontal turnings and if I manage the reversal I’ll struggle to turn faster enough to get guns on target (Mainly Yaks and Corsairs) but I’ve also been energy trapped by SM.91s and and IL-10s. (as an aside I’ve noticed that the IL-10 is a capable fighter and is not to be underestimated).
In addition to not trying to energy fight planes with way more energy than me, is there any tips people can give help me get the most out of the BF109. (Another Aside, why do the 20mms on the BF109 seem to need way more lead than Russian 20mms, is there a huge shell velocity difference, because I feel like I need to lead 2-3 times as far in the BF109s as I do in a Yak or a Corsair/F6F-5N)
As always, thank you for the patience and guidance.
There’s a bug going on where all shells in the a belt have the same velocity, based on the first round in the belt.
So instead of firing Mineshells with 785m/s, you fire them with 720m/s unless you use the Stealth Belt.
Additionally, Mineshells have high drag, so they slow down quickly. Combine the two issues and you’ll see how the MG 151/20 has much worse ballistics compared to other nations 20mm guns.
I recommend Stealth belts and vertical targeting of 300-400m.
Other than that, the Bf 109 has two main strenghts:
Climb rate
Stall speed
So they work well energy trapping others or punishing others for going vertical when they don’t have enough energy to escape the Bf 109.
This video should explain quite well how to use Bf 109s:
I’ll hang on longer in the energy traps, I’ve been losing my nerve and cutting before the stall, I’ll run stealth in the 20mm and aim with the 13s and see how that goes.
I’ve not long started to get my aim in dogfights I used to miss horribly so I’m very hesitant to set the vertical aim
It makes sure that you hit a target flying straight at the set range
It reduces the amount of how much you need to lead in turns and how much you need to compensate for bullet drop
But the ballistic curve is generally flat enough, depending on the guns velocity, that you will still hit at closer ranges.
In general it only has advantages, since you don’t need to point your nose in front of a target that much during deflection shooting.
And the closer you have your nose to the enemy, the easier it is to respond to them.
This is actually similiar to ground battles. It makes no sense to have your aim set to 0, since you always need to adjust your aiming point to compenesate for the drop.
If you have it set to some value below muzzle velocity, you will always a completely exposded target at within that range, without needing to adjust for bullet drop (when aiming at the lowest part of the tank)
Imho the whole topic of vertical targeting is complex and easy at the same time as it depends on the gun location, caliber and muzzle velocity of your shells - but mostly on your play style.
So if you like to to have combats at very close ranges your strategy:
might work, but only then - simply because of the insane shell drop of the min shells at longer ranges.
So the recommended 300-400 meters might work perfect for player A, but player B won’t hit anything if he plays different and prefers longer ranges or high speed fights as the 20mm shells drop too much.
I use the MG 151s rather often (2 x 20mm center mounted) but with 800 meters convergence and vertical targeting. This allows me to hit reliably up to 600-700 meters with deflection shots at rather high speeds as the mortar like ballistics of the mine shells are partially compensated by the higher upward angle of the barrel.
Regarding your struggle with 109s:
From my pov the fellow player above gave you a lot of hints to improve. I do not see the vid as helpful for you if you play Ground RB - just based on the fact that you won’t fight above 5 km there.
On top of that: Energy fighting works only if you are able to assess the energy state of your enemy correctly - the markers in Air RB help a lot, you don’t have them in Ground RB.
Fighting Yaks at low alt is never a good idea in a 109 - same as turn fighting. Outside the 109 Es (a very good turner) 109s get outturned by almost everybody as soon as you get slower than ~ 300 or faster than ~ 550 kmph. That’s why very successful 109 pilots try to stay within this speed range or play energy.
I never liked 109s due to the rather low rip speed & the overheating issues and the game changed in the last 3-5 years - imho the plane is often simply outclassed by US/USSR planes at way too low BRs; so as soon as you meet an experienced enemy you have nothing which gives you an advantage.
Regarding aiming: Go to yt and look for DEFYN tutorial.
So far what I have learned is that 109s have very good low speed control, so if you can manipulate someone to go in front of yourself at low speed, you get a fairly easy time aiming your guns at the opponent.
Its funny that you use those terms, because when I point out things to the devs in this community forum its like talking to a politician, everything is always getting better in this game and nothing changes for the worse, but yes you are right, BF109, most of the variants have definitely changed.
I do very well in most of the BF109s, particularly the G2. Here is what I basically do:
I side climb away the pack as best as I can. When I get to a decent altitude, but not the desired altitude yet, when I am at about 400km/hr in straight flight, I nose down a little to gain some energy to see fast I am accelerating and how it feels. and then I keep climbing to be one of the highest fighters in match, not always attainable for sure. That being said, I will take head on shots, I have my convergence set at 800m by the way, I will take these shots from 110-100 meters out by placing my crosshairs on the red dot above the plane. After this shot, I will nose down and turn to either side while gaining energy. I will not close into a head on past 90m at the most.
Since I have climbed to altitude to the side, I have a full view of what is going on and so I can start planning my attacks, can I fly into two in row? etc. But with the 109 you have to make long sweeps preferably in a boom and zoom mode and then do not turn if you missed the shot but keep going and turn back as you were in a bit of a dive anyway and turn after youve made your sweep regaining the lost altitude. In a dogfight in the 109 its best to be at altitude, because 109s dive very well, keep the speed at around 620km hr if possible using your throttle. Above that compression starts and the plane gets wonky. 109s are a boom and zoom sweeping kind of attacker and this is how you get aggressive in it.
Fortunately I must have pretty good aim because my convergence is set at 800m and I really dont miss much when I decide to fire on things. Take that thing on a Test Flight, have some patience and get some altitude and use those targets on the ground to simulate diving on a plane. See how the plane handles at different speeds, BF109 is not a turn fighter, but if you have too, always turn at a downward angle if you can so you can maintain your energy. When turning deploy your flaps and lower your throttle to 0. Because a slower plane make a sharper turn, does that make sense, this is of course, up when youre hopefully never dropping below 400km/hr. Have patience and stay out of turning fights low.
Good Luck Mate, I am an Ace, and in props I do my best in BF109s and Zeros, two very different planes. Look around mate and position yourself well.
That is one thing a lot of players do not do, they do not use their throttle when turning in a dogfight. A faster plane make a bigger turn, if you lower that throttle when turning you will see a noticeable difference, guaranteed. But then see the importance of altitude, so you can go back down again and get your energy. Potential energy equals kinetic energy; if you are at 1000m in altitude and dive to 500m and then come back up to 1000m you will be at the same speed you started. Always remember that in any plane, basically down is your energy and up is decreasing energy. But even though youre decreasing your present energy by going up, you are building energy for future use as well, make sense? Thats the BF109.
