S3 Series

SUMMARY
Forget everything you've learnt about how the Nintendo Ki-61 flies in the Main Arena. The real Ki-61, built on correct data, is a totally different bird. Please practice the airplanes in the Air Combat New FM arena, because they fly nothing similiar to what we are used to. Fact is that the Allies have a clear upper hand when it comes to fighters. We have nothing as good as the P-38G. This series would quickly turn into a massacre if we try to face the enemy without bringing local superior numbers or surprise. The P-40N is also deadly but luckily should be an equal or sligthly inferior plane compared to our Zeros.

TRIMS
The A6M3 and Ki-61-I's do not have manual rudder/aileron trims. It's not a bug as historically they simply didn't. This means out of auto-trim you need to fight to keep your wings level and rudder centered. This gets easier at lower throttle or higher speeds.


Our rides

Ki-61-Ic (1st line fighter)
I would recommend to use this plane as a hit-n'-run buff-interceptor, or as a tactical ground striker.
The -Ic is the better choice over the -Ib. They have nearly identical performance but the "c" comes with cannons. The Ki-61 historically had a fairly high wingloading (35.5 lb/sq ft) and awful power/weight ratio (0.15 hp/lb). This means it's not as agile as you would expect from a japanese fighter and it climbs poorly. All the Allied fighters will outturn this plane. It's only qualities is decent firepower and the same speed as the P-40N, but the P-38G will catch the Ki-61 at all altitudes. If attacking buff formations we will need to have a good escape plan. The roll-rate is very slow unless you use full rudder, at which you can make very fast snap rolls if you learn to control the motion. It is not an ideal dogfight plane but can at least engage the enemy if we have superior numbers. It has good bombs so can do ground attacks.
Service ceiling: ~30 000 ft
Fuel: 90 min / 146 min (droptanks)
Bombs: 2x550 lb
Guns: 2x .50 cal, 2x 20 mm.

A6M3 Zero (2nd line fighter)
This would be my fighter of choice.
Very good climb until 30k, agile as a paper plane, can perform a loop from 110 mph, can turn with- and just slightly outturn the P-38G, but most importantly the zero has a much better roll-rate. Use this ability aggressively in defensive scissors. The negative side of the A6M3 is it's top-speed, dive-speed and sub-par but still quite decent firepower. This bird should be superior to the P-40N, but we should not engage P-38G's unless we have the numbers or other advantages (or left with no other choice), as the speed difference is significant.
Service ceiling: ~36 000 ft
Fuel: 111 min / 189 min (droptanks)
Bombs: 2x132 lb
Guns: 2x .303 cal, 2x 20 mm.

Ki-43 (2nd line fighter)
Just no, 2x .50 cals aint going to kill anything. Great performance overall but it doesn't make up for it's very weak armanent. Use at own leasuire.


Enemy Planes

P-38G
Great turnrate, no torque, excellent handling, superb climb, fast speed and strong guns. This is the best airplane of this series. The P-38G's disadvantage is it's very slow roll rate. As such the P-38G will struggle in aggressive scissors and is likely to overshoot you sooner or later + has a hard time to shake off an attacker without assistance. Do understand there will most likely be another enemy sneaking up on you though if you take to long behind the bandit. Respect this plane and try to always engage with advantage or avoid it.
Service ceiling: ~38 000 ft
Fuel: 92 min / 184 min (droptanks)
Bombs: 2x1000 lb
Guns: 4x .50 cal, 1x 20 mm.

P-40N
The P-40N-1 has better performance while the P-40N-5 has better guns. This airplane is improved over the P-40E, and is a dangerous foe in close combat. Our Zero should have a slight advantage though, especially in the horizontal and vertical turns. If we engage P-40N's then make it a turn-fight. The enemy will most likely outdive us as a tactic, so if possible get it to the deck first so they can't do this.
Service ceiling: ~33 000 ft
Fuel: 90 min / 147 min (droptanks)
Bombs: N/A
Guns: 4x .50 cal or 6x .50 cal.




Cheers!
/Robert
4th FG

Question? Are the new FMs fully implemented in the S3 series? If so under 185 mph I believe with combat flaps that both Kis should be close to turning with P40 and P38. In the OL arena i was able to turn with them and at some moments slightly out turn them. With the 2x12.7s I had guns set at 400 and was able to kill 5 Ais in a turn with them guns, ALL COCKPIT SHOTS.

<{S}>

S3, AFMA, OL, all same flight model from my understanding. In case lurkers here don't read the totalsims boards, the first notch of flaps will produce significantly more lift than drag on all models, unless data refutes "combat flap" operation (i.e Spits going full down/up). Popping the flaps in a turn with increase your Angle of Attack range, thereby holding and controlling a tighter turn in the vertical axis of the a/c. You may be able to "pull" tighter than the 38 for a period of time, but be mindful, single engines will have to combat torque at slow speeds. Long term edge, P-38.

Extra note to the unknowing, .slip 1, will give you a HUD slip indicator. .slip 0 turns it off. If you have trouble finding the center of your screen it may not be all that helpful. Using track IR I often lose my reference points looking around.

In my tests I used consistent turns on the deck, so power/weight ratio did play a big role. I found the Ki-61 able to keep a low stall-speed (only 125 mph) in consistent turns which means it has a more narrow turn-radius. As such I do believe you have a point that it can keep on the inside of a P-38G for a limited time as long as there is potential or kinetic energy to sacrifice (alt and speed).

Not sure if the Ai's follow exactly the same physics or damage-models as human players. And zinhwk is on point about FM's used in the S3 and flaps.


<S>
/Robert
4th FG

Well good news is the A6M3 is your 2nd Line fighter and scores 3 times the points as the Ki61.

Things are a bit confusing right now but I believe only the AFMA is using the updated FMs and DMs. The S3s will do also. Still working on this to make sure its in the S3 arena.

Taking out Allied bombers is a huge point fest for the IJ. Basic BDA will not score the Allies a lot of points but if they target parked a/c, ships and tanks they will score more BDA that way. Closing airfields will be a benefit to them as you will not be able to use them for the rest of the series.

Being crafty and waiting for the isolated enemy unit may pay off more than trying to contest every attack on less crucial targets.

Thanks Robert to this comparison. Its all new to us so practice as much as you can in the AFMA or S3 arena.

I am a bit suspicious of the AI bombers as well. In the past the AI heavies all were shotdown fairly easily. But remember since the Allied bomber pilot can jump to any of his 4 ship element the AI bombers will continue on much longer and at some point it will be a real pilot in the seat. So AI bombers and player bombers will have the same bomber tuffness of 1.0. With the ability of bomber pilots to jump between their bomber element there is no need to increase the bomber tuffness to support decent mission success rates. Maybe this is where the Ki61 with the cannons can come into its own taking down bombers in fast slashing attacks.

UPDATE

The P-38 and Ki-61 have been fixed in the new update. I have updated the diagrams in my first post to include the new testdata. The sum is: The P-38G should see a small decrease in performance, while the Ki-61-Ic should see a small increase in performance, making it not as useless as before.

P-38G
I discovered a weight error as the weight-report from ww2 tests, which the new P-38F&G were built on, apparently featured a P-38G with only 2 mg .50 cals and missing a lot of ammo. As such the Warbirds new P-38F & P-38G were modeled to weight in at 1126 lb to light. This has now been corrected which means the P-38G has an overall decreased performance due to the extra weight added.

Ki-61-I
Dawger and dobs discovered anomalies with this FM. As such it has been tuned. Lift-co was increased, induced drag was decreased and flaps now work as they should. This means the Ki-61 will:
Turn: ~2 sec/lap faster
Climb: ~200 ft/min better
Speed: ~3 mph faster

P.S. -jabo-, I can happily test the FM's for coming series as soon as they are released. This to make it easier for you to plan side-balance and points worth. Atm I'm just waiting for the Hurricane new FM to be finished.

Cheers!
/Robert

Robert thanks for your work and the time you spent here on the flight models. I really appreciate it. Please see that omega and any other of the 4th that are having issues get the orders.

Thanks

And this info from Robert and Zinhawk appeared to be heeded...

Think the biggest thing was Frame 1: you guys got fed piecemeal into the Allied Big Wing...Later Frames We got fed piecemeal into the Axis Big Wing:) Numbers are hard to beat at point of contact.

Ki-44 was a nice addition to the frame and took away our "Sir Robin" option...

<S>!