Why is the P-51D such a nightmare to play?

I don’t know about that one, chief.
passive

Playing this plane the way the developers designed it will actively put you at risk of getting your account suspended.

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This might be the case of a flight instructor trimming the rudder. Check how it looks in SB where there is no flight instructor.

In DCS you need to trim the rudder for about 7° because of propeller momentum trying to turn the plane.

No it wont, that is automatic. Because of players who want you to die for them

As long as you are in control of your aircraft you are not passive. Ive had many warnings like that.

If your afk your passive. Players opion differ but you are allowed to stay safe

Never heard of a suspended account due to “passive behavior”.

Forget those reports - Game Masters might be able to give you a chat ban, but nothing more. They openly admit that they do not even know “real” gaijin staff who is in charge of account bans. GMs are players like you and me - acting as volunteers, don’t be afraid if you got such messages.

If your enemies decide to pick planes with poor high alt performance - it’s their fault, not yours. If you have 2-6 guys at your six, you are not enforced to turn into them…

There’s plenty of other planes that overheat too much because the automatic radiator / prop pitch system isn’t great. The P-47s also suffer from bad auto radiator modeling, the corsairs got an overheat nerf meaning they self-sabotage themselves during the climbout, and a lot of other planes have issues too.

In the P-51 (any model) you set prop pitch 100% and about 80% radiators on takeoff and you’re good to go. Increase to 100% if necessary on a desert map. You won’t notice the performance drop and you’ll be able to WEP for the entire game without overheating. This is a big advantage compared to planes like the Bf 109 F-4 which can’t realistically reach their top speed unless they want flashing temps.

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Speaking of borked FM’s, have you seen the A6M’s FM?

“Naval aviators put the Wildcat’s strengths to good use. Diving away was one edge the F4F had over the Zero. Above 280 mph, the A6M’s controls stiffened noticeably and above 300 mph rolling the airplane was difficult. In such settings, its large control surfaces were actually liability. Above 350 mph, the Zero’s elevators and ailerons were almost impossible to move. The F4F had none of these problems because servo tabs on all the control surfaces countered aerodynamic forces.”

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Same with Fw 190s - but the other way around.

Tests (and report by Eric Brown) showed very responsive electric control surfaces with low force needed on the stick. This resulted in an agility (not turn) advantage vs Spits Mk V - especially if high G-forces were involved.

But in wt they fly and turn like bricks…

Summary

Evidence:

In that same month, a Mk IX with a 61-series Merlin was flown against the captured Fw 190A. The test found that at varying altitudes, the speed difference was not more than 10 mph and the Spitfire was usually superior, but only by a small margin. In a climb, the Fw 190A was slightly better due to its superior acceleration, but not remarkably so, while in a dive the Fw 190A was better, especially in the early stages. The roll of the Fw 190A was far superior to that of the Mk IX, and the overall manoeuvrability was superior, except in the case of turning circles, where the Mk IX could get inside the Fw 190A for the all-important killing shot. However, the ability of the Spitfire to turn was one of its most well-known traits, and experienced Luftwaffe pilots would likely have avoided this at all costs in any case. One noticeable advantage of the Fw 190A was its ability to get away from a Spitfire by doing a flick-roll in the opposite direction to the angle of attack and then diving away, so Allied pilots were warned to expect this move.

From here:

How a captured Focke-Wulf Fw 190A led to the development of the Spitfire Mk IX, the best close-in fighter of WWII - The Aviation Geek Club

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I see many fw190’s do this, my counter is not to use zoom and just shoot at them 😆

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You need to force high speed fights to reverse enemies behind you. The great thing about the P-51 is that it can fight down and doesn’t need to be above its enemy to fight since its high speed control is so good. To see an example of what I am talking about, check out this short video of me reversing a Yak-3 in a P-51D-10.

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That is not a very good pilot in that yak, he never should of followed you down and should of gone up when you did, unless you both are close to ground where he would be faster in the horizontal. But yeah fair play in baiting him

I agree with Wishie. That guy killed himself. He clearly don’t know how to properly use Yak-3.

It is deliberately built that way IRL to counter torque -

image

You should see how the Italian work zround for torque, 1 wing longer than the other 😆

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Yeah there are various ways to counteract engine torque with airframe construction (as opposed to contra-rotating or counter-rotating props) - the Mi-24 helicopter is an extreme example better known to current audiences than the older ones.

Mi-24 uses standard tail rotor to counter torque if I am not mistaken.

BECAUSE THE U.S PLANES IN THIS GAMe are terrible.

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The tail plane and stabilizer are canted 2.5 degrees due to a particular issue at hover.

It is really noticeable when you look for it!

Didn’t know what exactly you were aiming for. But yes, tail rotor is under angle by design.

I mean, you could technically say that about any aerial kill ever: “The dead pilot never should have done XYZ.” Aerial combat is mostly about just that which is capitalizing on enemy mistakes rather than having the superior plane because the BR system mitigates that issue to reasonable degree, at least for props as I don’t really play jets too much. Also, you are mistaken since the P-51D-10 is faster in the horizontal than the Yak-3 by a large margin since it goes 613 km/h IAS on the deck versus the Yak-3’s 572 km/h IAS. If I’m not mistaken, all the P-51 variants 5.0 BR and below are faster than their 5.0 and below Yak counterparts.

Nevertheless, what the video illustrates is that the P-51D can always control the fight by being able to BnZ when above an enemy as well as do what I did in the video when below the enemy (sufficient altitude permitting) which is what I would characterize as reverse BnZ. I didn’t even have to take the fight from that disadvantageous position of lower altitude if I didn’t want to since I could’ve kept running indefinitely until the Yak-3 eventually pulled off and then I would climb above him which is the cheesiest but most safest way to play a BnZ fighter and the strictest form of BnZ also. But, the critical thing is, if I play my cards right by always forcing the fight down, in order for the Yak-3 to kill me in the P-51, he will always have to point his nose down as well and stick with me to some degree if he wants to get any decent shot at all. Because he’s forced to point his nose down if he wants to do anything other than neutralize the dogfight (that is, win the dogfight), I can always get on his six by forcing the fight down every time because he will overspeed if the descent continues long enough and thereby be forced to pull up whereupon I can pull up after him too and get a gun solution.

This is a fantastic dynamic in the P-51s favor because the Yak-3 will be slowing down as we zoom up as opposed to me getting faster and harder to hit as we dive down and 50 cals have incredible speed and range to complement the former, making them especially lethal as both planes lose energy. Moreover, if I ever run out of altitude, I can simply extend away with my superior top speed and climb at a shallow angle until I have regained enough altitude to perform the same tactic over and over. Or, if I am feeling particularly ballsy, I can simply turn straight around and head on the Yak-3, rinse and repeat aerial jousting match.

To say the least, this a great tactic that I have perfected and am still perfecting myself, but other, better players than me in War Thunder have used this same tactic as well like RamJB and proven its merit. RamJB uses the FW-190 in this video to reverse BnZ a Spitfire. Moreover, the P-51D has been demonstrated to outperform Yaks in high altitude vertical maneuvers as this YouTuber,
noSBinTSSclowns, shows in this video so that was also another possible way to defuse the situation if I could’ve gotten co-alt with the Yak-3. All in all, don’t doubt the P-51s merit.

Bonus clip: P-51D-10 reverses J2M2

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If i was flying that yak i would not of followed you down, same if you was in a f4u and i was in a spit, simply because of your energy retention. That is what i do.
I might even wait for you to come bsck up but i will have more energy if i choose to climb. Even in a turn fight if you try to low yo yo, i will maybe high yo yo. Also you have less compression and i know this

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