3rd Gen. Living, The ACG cold War server, and some more Mig-21 tactics

Disclaimer: I'm not an "ace" pilot or anything, I don't want these posts to sound like I'm trying to teach or train anyone, I'm just a dude who flies the Fishbed a lot and I've made a lot of observations. Also, I love having these discussions, with the sim we are making an alternate aviation history that is fun to explore! My name in the sim is OneEye27, so I'm sure some of you have seen me on the servers. Dudes like Thorus and some of the RVE guys are truly deadly on the Cold War server, and I fear them.

My last Fishbed tactics post concerned employing the Fishbed against 4th Gen airplanes, and how hard and deadly that is. This post will be mostly about the 3rd Gen fights, but I'd love to hear some new anti-Eagle and Mirage tactics that are working currently if anyone has any.

New Loadout: 4xR60M, 800l ventral Fuel tank. The R60m is no longer a crappy little missile that doesn't get tones! I think it works really well, and the amount of G it can pull off that rail makes it an awesome dogfight missile. However, it doesn't pack much punch, and has a very short range. I'm considering re-equipping the R13M1 for longer range shots on non-maneuvering targets. I still never use the 2xR60 rack. I see a lot of dudes using it on ACG, but it really does screw with your ability to horse the nose around, and is really draggy.

General Fishbed Tactics: I take off with the Jet completely hot to fight, sometimes sneaky Tigers hang out just outside of SAM range and I want to be able to smoke those dudes if I need to. After takeoff I descend to about 20 meters in burner using the radar altimeter and visual reference, and accelerate to about 1000 KPH, or 540kts. I reduce the power here just enough to turn the burner off, and cruise at 1100 kph with the tank, and about 1150-1200 once i drop the tank. I stay as low as my stomach can take it the whole time. It has taken a lot of practice to fly that fast that low but it pays off. Oh yeah, I see a lot of dudes on Red and Blue forget to turn their Nav Lights off, gotta get those bad boys off they stand out really bad. I start spamming AWACs at this point to get my vectors to the enemy. When I get a vector I like to offset my heading 30 degree from the bogey dope, and keep where I think the enemy will be at a 2 o'clock, or 10 o'clock high position, this helps not having the stupid Fishbed cockpit block out your visual. I've gotten face shot a lot because of that. After I get a visual I keep the target in that 2/10 o'clock high position, and start a gentle 2-3 G turn towards the target, keeping the speed high with no burner, trying to time it to approach at the Target's 4/5 o'clock, or 7-8 o'clock. When I can make out the details of the F5 or Viggen or whatever I pull the nose into a lead and fire a single R60. If I get a hit I try and roll inverted and dive back to super low level without lighting the burner, and I head for the hills and try and find a new bandit. This is my ideal engagement and I try and keep the speed above 1000kph the whole time. If I see a wingman or 2nd guy coming after me instead of turning to engage I light the burner and try and find some terrain to put between me and him. As soon as you make that first high G turn in the Mig you better kill the Tiger right away or you're in trouble!

Specific Tactics

Against the Viggen: The Viggen is the biggest 3rd gen jet so far and is easy to see. It has a really bad poof of smoke when it lights or unlights the burner, and this is a good visual reference to use. Also, if the Viggen search radar is on, and you are in RWR range, it will make the SPO-10 freak out, and it gives you a very high frequency beeping that can lead you right to the emitting Viggen. If the Viggen is low and he sees you soon enough, and lights the burner, he will outrun your R60 so save the missile, also, the Viggen can get the nose around and surprise you 1 time so be careful. Also, 6 heaters is nasty and I never gamble on the Viggen being out of missiles like I do with the F5 sometimes. If I was a Viggen pilot I would never fly above like 10 meters, and ambush from below.

Against the F5: We've talked about this a lot in the the first two Fishbed posts I made, but I just wouldn't ever turn with an F5 unless you know you will get him on the first missile. Also, it is the hardest jet to see and has the least smoky engines. I honestly think the best tactic to get an F5 off your tail is to try and get him to lose visual contact with you. If that isn't possible try and fight him in the vertical, but that's hard if he has missiles left.

Against F86: The Sabre can surprise a lazy Mig pilot, and embarass you if you turn. If you fire a missile at the Sabre, and it doesn't hit, and he turns into you, just level the wings and light the burner and get the hell out of there. It irks me to leave a kill behind like that, but it is better than getting in a scissors or something and getting your ass shot off by .50 cal. Also, the Sabre has a really smoky engine, which is easier to see than the F5. When I take off I check to see if we have any Mig15s, and if not, I fire at long range against any swept wings because I know it'll be a Sabre.

On the 3rd Gen server I consider helos and strikers fair game, because 90% of engagements you need a visual to shoot, and the missile ranges are so short. If you guys disagree let me know. I can't say enough how excited I am for the Mig19 and Mirage to be released, it will make the 3rd Gen servers even more fun than they are. I also think the F14A may have a place, with the 1st gen Aim54. Let me know what you guys think. Sorry for the length.

Cheers.