Advent Of The Attacker

In World of Warplanes, I have always viewed the the tier IX Supermarine Attacker is a "wonder jet."

I have witnessed first hand and watched in videos of players pulling off some pretty fantastic maneuvers and impressive end game scores. Based on those observations, I have been itching to get one of my own for a very long time.

Too bad I wasn't given the "beginner's luck" treatment on the first battle....

I did redeem myself on the second sortie though....

Westwall Thoughts And Plane Pains

During this last weekend of Operation Westwall in World of Warplanes, I have finally decided to summarize my overall experience during this event.

I don't like Invasion. I think concept of what they are trying to do with it would work much better in coordinated "teamwork" situation, like Clan Wars. As a mode for random battles, I found it to be frustrating as a solo player and marginally better while in a Flight. However, fill out both rosters with human players (on some kind of VOIP) and let them go at it and I bet that would be a show worth watching.

I liked Attrition. Although it is more of a varied theme of the current Conquest mode, I feel the stakes are higher, thanks to the removal of the Squall Line, limiting the respawns and hopefully promoting some more "smart" playing.

In the aircraft department, the Soviet tier VII Yak-9U has turned out to be a real performer for me....

Not too bad for the first battle of the day with it!

The tier VI MiG I-210 has become a "suffer plane" for me.

Top guns? Check. Top Engine? Check. Top Airframe? Check. Decent Pilot? Check....

My best defeat and despite all of my crafty efforts, this was the last battle of a three game streak.

I finished things off by finally collecting a win, but it wasn't an easy one by any means. A few times during the sortie, Bubba_Zanetti and I squared off, I dropped him, he dropped me and I could feel things were starting to get personal for me. Needless to say, the death-spiral above the open pit mine had me sweating, but thanks for the battle Bubba!

Back On Speaking Terms

Okay, with the family out of the house, I will give a proper battle review and commentary on the tier VIII premium Soviet I-260....

Silence Speaks Volumes

A break from my usual video format. With family over and my computer in the shared room being co-used, here is a no face, no commentary demonstration of my newly acquired premium tier VIII Mikoyan-Gurevich I-260.

The first two snippets are server side false starts to the real battle....

Easter Comes Early

Imagine my surprise when I logged into World of Warplanes today and I saw this?

Needless to say, I clicked on the link and checked things out.

It's usually around the Christmas Season when planes (and packages) go on sale (and I make my "once a year big purchase"), but this early Easter surprise has some aircraft I want to see, select tier VIII premiums, advertised with some really deep discounts and bonuses. Not the 15% seen in the past, a whooping 30% off! Now, the process of elimination begins.

I already own the Messerschimtt Me 109 TL, so scratch that off the list. I am terrible with Heavy Fighters (the French SE 100 is kinda the exception, for....reasons) and despite coming with a rear gunner, I doubt I would do myself any favors with picking that up.

By and far my favorite tier VIII premium is the Curtiss XF15C. Good firepower and heatcycle, flexible playstyle thanks to very good maneuverability. For me, it's almost perfect.

So, I decided to compare that to the J8M (should have been the German Me 163), classed as a Fighter and the Multirole I-260 (the lovechild of a Me 262 and Gloster Meteor).

I reversed the order and put up both aircraft against the first tier VIII premium that landed in my hangar, the Messerschimtt Me 109 TL.

By the numbers, the I-260 and 109 TL should be equals, just a slight deviation on a few attributes, but a familiar feel between the two of them. For a Fighter, the J8M appears to cover disappointment very well in the survivability and maneuverability departments. One is showing some flexibility, the other is pretty much pure BnZ.

However, if I did acquire the J8M, I would have all but one of the Japanese premium aircraft in the game (I didn't set out to make a collection, it just happened through events, giveaways and purchasing one aircraft). On the flip side, the I-260 would give me an upper tiered premium presence for my Soviet pilots (crossing that threshold the Kostikov 302 can't breach).

I dunno, what are your thoughts?

Treading Through The Sky

During World War II, the F4U Corsair had proven itself to be such a successful design that Vought was not prepared for the demand for increased production of this aircraft. As a result, the work was licensed to out the Goodyear Aircraft Corporation, who built 4,006 total FG-1 designated Corsairs.

The Brewster Aeronautical Corporation also built Corsairs, but only 735 of their F3A-1 would make it off the assembly. After only one year, from July 1943 to July 1944, their contract was canceled due to manufacturing and mechanical unreliability issues.

While Vought was completing their contractual obligations and was willing to move on to other projects, Goodyear decided to develop the Corsair even further and in early 1944, test flew an extensively modified FG-1 airframe, coupled with an even more powerful radial engine, designated the XF2G-1.

Despite being awarded a contract for the new "Super Corsair," only five of the new F2G-1 (land-based version)and F2G-2 (carrier version) were completed by war's end. The Grumman F8F Bearcat had demonstrated similar performance figures to the F2G, while equiped with the less powerful original F4U engine.

Two "Super Corsairs" survive today (both F2G-1's) with one still in flying condition.

Bent Wing Reversal?

An old favorite, a new era and a battle in World of Warplanes that showed signs of going right south for the good guys....