Agreed - one of my pet hates with FB

I don't see the great improvement with the late model 109's? I did some quick missions with the G-14 and K-4 against some Il2's of 44. The Il2's were very competitive in a general dogfight with the slightest advantage in acceleration going to the 109's. But all in all it was tough to get a shot on the IL2's. Then I tried it against and La and man there wasn't anything I could do to get away from it. I guess we'll have to see what Cube's tests show. Man I hope I'm not stuck in a G-2 online all the time.

As for the 190's I just don't know how some of these guys get them to perform....I can't for beans.

Hmm, I thought the La-7 was fair to kill even in the G-6, actually manouvere killed it, in the G-2 was able to kill it rather quickly with guns. Not such a huge disparity between the 2 and 6, but the 2 is still much better at getting one of those slippery devils in the sights. Anything below 1500 in the G-2 was tough work, G-6 you'd better have and advantage above 500m and be up at 2200 or above or he'll kick the snot out of you. Energy advantage was easy to get and hold. But than using average AI.

Roles reversed was no contest, the 109's go down as easy as ever, still an AI routine problem. They just refuse to run but surrender to the easy kill. I guess some must like the no contest aspect. :rolleyes:

Gunnery damage values are still 'shot away'

millisecond burst from a Zero will saw a P-47 in half, whilst I counted 9 hits (with the obligatory puff of smoke) from the Messer's 30mm and the thunderbolt was still flying

The most welcome and dramatic improvement I've noticed is the reduction of airframe 'shake, rattle and roll' from gun recoil when firing your guns, naturally. This makes gunnery more accurate and gives it a much better 'feel'. I tested this with the P47D27 which by all accounts was a very stable platform but (was) notorious for the sha-a-a-a-a-k-k-k-i-ng when firing in Forgotten Battles. It now feels much more solid and I got two veteran Fw190 A9 kills to show for it.

This brings me to the next changes:

1)
The .50s seem more powerful with apparent higher increased punch from further out. It definitely feels better, not just because I can shoot down more stuff more easily, but rather it seems consistent with what one has read about and expects when those bullets chew up metal airframes. Keep in mind the importance of setting your convergence. I was having trouble downing much of anything before until I set it to 200 metres. This of course varies and depends on the 'comfort zone' of your skill/preferences. 200 metres seems the sweet spot for me.

2)
This might be an effect of the more powerful .50s, but the Fw190s seem to have lost some of their notorious toughness. I realize that the detailed damage modelling in FB holds many opportunities for fantastic and rotten luck and anything in between, but have been my observations.

I've been looking forward to the Mustang and was not disappointed. Took it up with full ammo and 75% fuel and it is fast, stable and handles beautifully. It is a pleasure to finally 'fly' the airplane which first inspired my interest in WW2 aviation when reading about it in Chuck Yeager's biography years ago.

As others have have said the torque effect on the planes in general seems weak when making dramatic, abrupt changes of power in slow flight. This is contrary to what my admittedly limited knowledge/reading has led me to believe for WW2 warbirds, but if it's good for Richard Ordway, it's good enough for me!

Cheers, and thanks for the passion Oleg Maddox and team. You have made me very, very happy once again and you're always welcome for wine (or beer, or vodka!) and home-made pasta in Rome, Italy.

Cheers,
Simon
sDOTgriffeeATlycosDOTcom

I just had to pause the game and come and post this.

The P47 D(20? The earliest one in any case) is a joy to fly. It is stable and smooth and handles extremely well when doing diving attacks and zooming back up, and yes, the roll is better! This coupled with the increased gunnery stability due to reduced gun-recoil makes flying not only more alike to the various accounts of Jug pilots which I've read, but more FUN!

Back to practicing boom and zoom on Ju52s! What a pleasure to fly this sim!

-Simon

AI fighters still commence evasive maneuvers exactly before/at your convergance distance, resorting to setting it reaaaally short to allow me to get into killing range. Very annoying as you can't sneak up on them most of the time.

... and just as you are getting your crosshairs on them ... VERY frustrating sometimes!

Almost impossible to down a snow cone with the threat warning system. Remember to never point your sight glass area at anything with a gunner, the moment it passes over the gunners are going to nail you with radar directed fire. Handy to know when attacking formations. Wish there was a switch to turn it off.

Average AI seems much closer to previous Vet levels, they'll pick your eyes out at impossible deflection angles, especially frontal angles. Think this is going to be an area of sore disappointment among single players, they're running out of usable stuff. Not much room for inexperianced players learning the game left.

Yes, sorry. Only removed from fighters.