Being an effective flight leader -- advice wanted

[bezpete 0]

Okay folks, I thought I'd start a thread on the subject of combat tactics and how to be a good flight leader. First of all let me stress I'm not offering advice on the subject, I'm asking for advice!!!

 

I don't know if this is an issue for the rest of you guys, but I have lots of trouble keeping my flight together and getting them to form up so we have an advantageous position before attacking. It's very common in my experience to have the flight formation totally broken up and each member of the squadron scattered all over the place just as the appropriate moment to attack the enemy flight comes. This makes it almost impossible to execute a coordinated attack. The upshot of all this seems to be that I'm probably losing more of my guys than I should be. And it's not uncommon to find out at the debriefing screen after the mission that a large number of my squadron mates have been shot down even though we may have downed a good number of the enemy squadron. I almost expect to get a reprimand, like in the movie "The Blue Max", when the Hauptmann accusingly said to Stachel "You have cost nearly half the squadron!"

 

So, let's hear from you successful flight leaders out there on best ideas for;

1) keeping the flight together and organized

2) best tactics for approaching an enemy flight, once it's been spotted, dealing with conditions such as;

a headon pass (especially when they have the altitude advantage)

the enemy flight is approaching from the side

the enemy flight attacks from above and/or behind before they've been spotted.

Edited November 24, 2008 by bezpete

[+Gepard 10,690]

Take as much planes in the air as possible. Direct them to the enemy before you give the attack command, what means fly in enemy direction and make sure, that the others can follow you.

And if you have to much losses, fly alone and very deep. Keep below 100 meters and you can outfight up to 8 enemies.

[joes_shop 0]

1) keeping the flight together and organized

2) best tactics for approaching an enemy flight, once it's been spotted, dealing with conditions such as;

a head-on pass (especially when they have the altitude advantage)

the enemy flight is approaching from the side

the enemy flight attacks from above and/or behind before they've been spotted.

 

_________________________________________________________________________________________

 

I keep the flight together by (almost) constantly hitting the 'Comm tab and selecting Rejoin esp. going through clouds/bad weather.

 

I try to wait until the last possible moment before issuing the Engage Air (or Ground) command in order to keep the flight together so they can select targets.

 

I avoid a head on pass if at all possible - it becomes a 'crap shoot'; if unavoidable, I climb and turn and select the closest EA that is targeting one of my flight.

 

I always try to gain as much altitude as possible prior to crossing the lines/prior to initial point - the goal is to be able to dive on a spotted enemy flight, tear through them and zoom climb for another pass (note, see 2nd sentence, above).

 

When attacked from above or behind I try to turn as tight as possible, keep the flight together and then issue the Engage Air command.

 

Note that once your flight is in a dogfight, it is impossible to influence their actions unless your are initially successful and then outnumber the enemy - just as it was historically.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Regards,

 

J. P. Kelly

[Bandy 3]

...Note that once your flight is in a dogfight, it is impossible to influence their actions...

 

I disagree. What I've found is that if one of my wingies has an enemy on his tail, I try to help out by closing the distance and then hit Tab-3, or call him to "return to formation". I then see my wingie break sharply to try to get behind me, and thus indirectly help me to line up the enemy following him.

 

This has worked a number of times to save a mate in trouble, but I cannot say whether there were more of us than of them (advantageous numbers), as joes-shop mentioned. But do try this out.

[joes_shop 0]

I disagree. What I've found is that if one of my wingies has an enemy on his tail, I try to help out by closing the distance and then hit Tab-3, or call him to "return to formation". I then see my wingie break sharply to try to get behind me, and thus indirectly help me to line up the enemy following him.

 

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B Randy RFC,

 

Tried this last night - you're right - a good technique that works. 'Still, bothers me a little bit as it is more of a 'gaming' technique; This technique is more applicable to WWII (with radio equipped a/c, i.e., telling your wingman to, "Break!", etc.)

 

During WWI I believe it would have been nearly impossible for a Flight Leader embroiled in a Dogfight to 'signal' (either by hand or signal flare) a wingman to perform a specific maneuver - 'just my 2 cents.

 

Regards,

 

J. P. Kelly

[fallenphoenix1986 603]

dnt know if its my imagination or if its actually working but the following seems to work for me:

 

on the roster screen select your best pilots as your wingman and use him, as he gains experience and reaches ace status i start using him as element lead. Mid way through Yom Kippur and I now have 4 aces in my squadron who seem to be doing better now as element leads than they were initially as my wingmen.

 

Craig

[sparkomatic 7]

the most important thing about being a flight lead: dont screw up, period...

[joes_shop 0]

Indirect: one of the 'tools' I've used since I started with 'Flight Sims in the 80's is to keep a 'Flight Log'; I use a ring binder and immediately after each 'mission' (single or campaign) jot down a 'debrief'. I am extremely critical and add notes re my performance (or lack thereof), recommendations for improvement, etc.

 

I've found this to be invaluable and it really speeds the learning curve esp. with a 'new' sim.

 

Regards,

 

J. P. Kelly