coordinated teamplay in warthunder random battles? Forget it! It is thing that never happens! How play it solo, that is question? I personally prefer energy fighters, but P51 really is not good for this, mainly because of very bad climb rate: you reach 4k meters and your team already lost or won. And, as OP said, after first and perhaps second attack it is just running away to the friendly AF or hell knows where, because it is losing energy pretty fast, but cannot climb away. it can be played, but this plane is massively overrated, as in WT environment (matchmaking, and random battle madness with rampant individualism ) it is less than mediocre plane.
“as long as you stay very fast and above 6-7 km”
Pointless advice. as battles hardly happen so high, it is 3k to 5k max!
Pointless comment. Why?:
-
You refer to a comment describing fights vs the P-51 D-30 in a P-47. You haven’t even flown a P-51 higher than BR 3.7 and have zero matches in any P-47.
-
I recommend to play a few dozen battles in any US fighter at 4.7/5.0 - You would be aware of that you meet quite nasty opponents - you are forced to get above 6 km to be somehow safe from Yak-3Us and A7M2s - even stuff like I-225s is dangerous…
-
A battle or fight happens where you want it to happen. Fighting on the terms of your enemy is the first step to get killed. So if you main strength is at high altitude there is no need to go low.
-
So if you fight at lower alt that does not mean that others would do the same.
1 Like
This few games we get over 5k with p51 most of the team is already dead, or game is almost won. Please, come back to the reality of random battles!
1 Like
Because it was a plane filled full of fuel tanks, with good high altitude/high speed performance, designed to be mass produced, and its main job was to escort high flying bombers with the their long range.
The clue is in the name, Mustang.
In the game, high G penalty (airframe damage, manuverability, and pilot blackout) have way less effective on any planes.
High altitude performance is irrelevant because no one climbs anymore
Long range is useless (other than planes on ki 200 where range actually matter) and the excessive fuel tanks serve no purpose other than making your plane easier to burn
5 Likes
It has middling performance at high alt. I’m surprised people keep bringing it up. I almost never take the fight there unless I’m fighting planes that have worse performance at high alt e.g La-7.
Plus its rudder at high speed is HORRENDOUS. Once Gaijin eased the F8F-1’s high speed rudder stiffening, I pretty much stay away from the P-51D-30 now. Had numerous times where I could’ve gotten a kill fast but the rudder just blows it for me (It’s historical though so I’m not going to advocate for a change.)
1 Like
Well, when I fly my P-51K, which is basically a P-51D-30, sometimes I have Japanese planes as my opponents. And when you come across situations like this, you can hardly gain any advantage.
Not that much of a plane problem, squads are annoying and hard to deal with lol.
1 Like
Only Gaijin in war thunder the most realistically unrealistic game would make the best fighter of WW2 absolutely shit !
The mustang is a cool plane and I love flying the B/C mustangs but it’s by no means the “best fighter” of World War 2.
It was well-suited for its duty of long-range bomber escorts within the european climate.
Notably, pilots preferred the “Razorback” and Malcolmhood mustangs over the D variant for dogfighting and close air support. Command preferred the D variant for the added range. Said D variant also made it a nightmare to take off with and fly until the fuel tank drained.
In the pacific climate, the P-38 performed quite excellently.
Most of Warthunder prop tier ARB and even air sim is comparable to the eastern front with low altitude frontline patrols and interceptions (or carrier engagements).
Also, our pilots got superhuman G resistance and Stamina and ability to maintain control of stick and rudder. This reduces the advantages of planes like Fw190 and P-51 which made flying the plane at high speeds much less strenous than other aircraft.
I love Mustangs and I’m happy that I have all the D-models now (I think) with the USAF B-day sale. However, that love isn’t because they’re well suited to how matches unfold in War Thunder.
The P-51D-30-NA is the consummate “support” fighter. It works well when flown in a pair. It works well for baiting the unwary into your team… or using said team for bait while you improve your position. It doesn’t excel in any fight where there is approximate parity in either position or energy. The energy generation AND retention are sub par. The instantaneous turn rate is sub par. You can sometimes bait people into a reversal (or to rip their wings)… but, notably, that requires the opponent to make a (BIG) mistake. The good news for the D30 is that it climbs decently and the acceleration isn’t terribad… so building and conserving position or extending is a little easier. However, there will be plenty of times when you have no choice but to employ “peak” U.S. prop game play and immitate Brave Sir Robin.
Every match in a U.S. prop is something of a bet… you’re rolling the dice as you decide how much to climb and when to turn in. Getting caught low is NOT where you want to be… but climbing to 6000 meters while your team gets ROFL stomped and then trying to 1v10 isn’t great either (nor is climbing while the enemy team collapses, for that matter). Being able to read the flow of the match and make a good decision (guess) on how much to climb and when to turn in is probably the biggest factor in whether you’re stuck extending away indefinitely… and if someone spots you or decides they’re just gonna keep climbing, you won’t be above them anyway.
1 Like
it simply doesnt comply with the current meta of flying straight in without a care in the world and going into a furball which 95% of matches are.
The aircraft isn’t the problem, it is the battle parameters and majority fighter mindset.
When you have the mindset of killing and surviving as per your aircraft parameters but literally everyone else is willing to trade a death for a kill and fly straight in with no regards for anything- (which is often the case) you are left out.
It is the unfortunate truth.
Combine that with the p51’s having very specific parameters and making it more difficult to use than a yak for example - you are always on the back foot.
Keep doing what you do and dont revert to the low effort approach :)
3 Likes
agreed 100%