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[IonicRipper]

I'm looking for tips on how to come out victorious against a Zero with an F6F.

I've heard it was suppose to be a Zero killer but when i tried in QMB i got obliterated, surely i'm doing something wrong...

I know you should avoid a turning battle with a Zero at all cost but other then that i'm not sure.

[Pursuivant]

I'm looking for tips on how to come out victorious against a Zero with an F6F.

Keep your speed up above about 240(?) knots/hr (~450 km/hr) - basically fast enough that the zero's control surfaces start to "lock up" and it can't maneuver as well.

Use "Boom and Zoom" tactics - don't try to turn or loop with the zero.

Take a wingman with you - U.S. tactics emphasized the "Thatch Weave" to negate the Zero's maneuverability advantage, and U.S. squadrons always fought by pairs or sections. By contrast, the Japanese had poor radios and their tactical doctrine emphasized individual fighter maneuvers, so they basically fought alone.

Choose Average or Rookie level AI for your Japanese opponents - After 1942, the U.S. Navy faced progressively more poorly trained foes. Some of the Hellcat's reputation came from the fact that U.S. Navy pilots flying the Hellcat were much better trained and more experienced than their opponents.

Make sure you outnumber your foes - Again, part of the Hellcat's reputation came from the fact that, after 1943, the U.S. Navy could achieve local air superiority just about whenever it wanted to.

Fly against the A6M5 - The F6F only entered operational service in 1943. By then, the A6M2 had mostly been replaced by the A6M3 and A6M5 which weren't as maneuverable. Basically, all of the flaws of the A6M2 (except vulnerability) with few benefits (other than reduced vulnerability and slightly higher speed).

Summary of the U.S. Navy Intelligence bulletin for tips on the F6F vs. the A6M5 here:

  http://forums.ubi.com/showthread.php/131653-Hellcat-vs-Zero-Comparison-Summary-Forums

[Yeager_1946]

Everything Pursuivant said is true. Don't underestimate the Zero. It wasn't so much the F6F that was a Zero killer as it was the veteran F6F pilots (with a huge amount of combat experience) which were up against rookie pilots that barely had basic flight training (and no combat experience).

Imagine putting a rookie with 60 hours flying time against an expert pilot with 1000 hours... it won't be much of a fight no matter what the capabilities of the aircraft are. This shift in the skill of the pilots happened after most of Japan's best pilots were lost at sea when their aircraft carriers were sunk in 1942. Unlike the US, Japan didn't have pilots in reserve to take their place and had to send hastily trained rookies with no experience into combat from thereon. The Hellcats also almost always had a numbers advantage and used team tactics which proved to be much more effective.

In the hands of a skilled pilot the Zero remained deadly throughout the war. On  24 June 1944, Saburo Sakai single-handedly fought 15 Hellcats in his Zero without being hit by a single bullet! This despite the fact that he had lost all vision in his right eye two years before. Even though Japan developed better fighters during the course of the war, Sakai still spoke highly of the Zero due to it's excellent handling characteristics in a turning dogfight.

[IonicRipper]

This is why i love this forum, so much information waiting to be shared

Thanks guys!

Pursuivant, that link you posted is very informative, just what i needed. Thank you

[mojojojo]

feel free to use the hellcat like you would use a wildcat. the hellcat still has all of the good qualities of the wildcat, but most of the bad ones are removed. a head-on pass is a good idea, as the zero has very little armor and is liable to catch fire after a few hits. this tactic is also good because the hellcat is very rugged.

[IonicRipper]

What are the Wildcat tactics? I can't say im very familiar with it.

[mojojojo]

use ur dive speed and armor. and dont be afraid to ask ur wingies for help.

[Pursuivant]

feel free to use the hellcat like you would use a wildcat. the hellcat still has all of the good qualities of the wildcat, but most of the bad ones are removed. a head-on pass is a good idea, as the zero has very little armor and is liable to catch fire after a few hits. this tactic is also good because the hellcat is very rugged.

Be careful doing that if you're up against a Zeke pilot who's any better than a Rookie. The zero's 20mm cannons hurt! More specifically, just one 20mm round in your engine takes away the Hellcat's big asset - speed.

Also, if you're flying realistically, consider that you've probably got to fly your plane home over several hundred miles of shark-infested ocean, or at least get it far enough away from Japanese-held territory to ditch and, if you're lucky, get picked up by a friendly submarine or patrol plane.

If you must trade head-on shots with a zero, don't go straight in. Instead, make a slightly diving attack at about 170 degrees of deflection. That way, the zeke will be a slightly larger target, you're more likely to get the wing tanks or the cockpit with a hit, and you don't stay under the zeke's guns for long enough for the slower-firing 20mm cannons to do (much) damage. Even so, you're asking for it against a Veteran or Ace pilot.

Also, in 4.101, it's still a common AI fault for planes to enter long, steep climbs where they bleed off most of their airspeed and energy and turn themselves into big, fat, nearly stationary targets. That makes it almost too easy. By contrast, the 4.11 AI makes veteran and ace pilots pretty damned good.

[BT~Tarik]

If you must trade head-on shots with a zero, don't go straight in. Instead, make a slightly diving attack at about 170 degrees of deflection. That way, the zeke will be a slightly larger target, you're more likely to get the wing tanks or the cockpit with a hit,

That counts for every plane : on head on passes, never go straight line, you are then way too predictable. Waggle your wings, use rudder, make everything to make the enemy think that you aren't even able to fly a head on pass straight. Of course when the right moment comes you need to aim well, as there is some deflection required.
I myself can actually score most kills like this, especially if I fly against superior planes (like 109e against mustang), where I would barely have a chance after the first pass.

[Pursuivant]

That counts for every plane : on head on passes, never go straight line, you are then way too predictable. Waggle your wings, use rudder, make everything to make the enemy think that you aren't even able to fly a head on pass straight. Of course when the right moment comes you need to aim well, as there is some deflection required.

This is very true, but the AI doesn't respond to those sorts of feints like a real human would.

The few places where you can just bore straight in with a head-on shot are when you're flying a much less maneuverable and/or better armed plane with comparatively heavier armament and your opponent's forward armament is nothing more than rifle caliber machine guns and/or a single low-velocity, slow-firing cannon.

Examples, P-47 (or just about any anything) vs. Ki-43. P-40C or P-36 vs. Ki-27 or A5M2. Bf-110 vs. Spitfire MkI or Hurricane MkI. IL2 vs. Bf-109E or F. Bf-109G vs. P-51.

Even then, you want to shoot from the extreme effective range of your guns and get out of there before your opponent gets within useful shooting range. For AI foes armed with .303/.30/7.6mm caliber guns, that's about 200-300 meters/yards. For 0.50/12.7mm guns it's 300-500 meters/yards. Human opponents are better at taking long-range shots.

This tactic works best if you have nose-mounted cannons, so you don't have to worry so much about gun convergence. It works even better if you have a fast-firing, high velocity cannon. Except for its fragile engine, the Bf-109G-10 or -14 is a wonderful plane for this sort of tactic because of its Mk108 cannon.

If you're flying a plane which is totally outclassed in terms of speed and maneuverability (e.g., Buffalo MkI vs. A6M2), the head-on shot is just about the only shot you're going to get, so you need to get good at taking them. You get at most one shot at the merge (when the opposing planes first get within shooting range). Then, if you're lucky, more shots if you can force your opponent to use boom and zoom tactics rather than just maneuvering.

The AI often likes to have planes which could easily win a maneuver fight just use B&Z tactics, so you you have lots of time to line up your shot as your opponent extends the range by a mile/2 km, then comes in with a diving attack. Turn into the attack, get your nose up so you're facing him, and trade shots if you can. Even if you can't get a shot, you can at least spoil his attack.

You're basically screwed anyhow, so there's no harm in losing a lot of airspeed by climbing to meet your opponent. Just make sure that you're as much of a head-on target as possible to minimize your profile with respect to your opponent and try not to stall.

If you're very lucky, since your opponent will have a lot of air speed and you'll be going really slow, if you survive the encounter you might be able to turn and follow your opponent. If they do the usual AI thing, they'll try to extend range using a long climbing curve. You can often turn inside that curve, either messing up their attack run, or maybe getting a high deflection shot at 70-90 degrees of deflection.

The really big deal is that an opponent can easily track your motion in one direction, but it's harder for him to track your motion in two directions. If you're going straight at your foe, you're basically negating one of your directions of motion with respect to your target. This means you need to actually be moving in three directions so that it appears that you're moving in two dimensions to your enemy. So, you dive and slip or turn across your opponent's line of travel.

You can also attack by climbing, slipping and turning, but that bleeds off airspeed which you probably need later, and speed also makes you a harder target to hit.

Even so, these tactics take a lot of work. Expect to die or turn into a fireball a lot until you get them figured out.