Plane Spotting!

[Bokonon]

I currently play at 1920x1080 but I hear of lots of people playing at lower res, partly to improve fps but also to make plane spotting easier. One of the hardest things about full real for me is plane spotting and quick identification of targets as friend or foe.
What tips and tricks do the more experienced guys (or anyone) have to help with this?

[ChiefRedCloud]

Somewhere between IL-2 and here are siloets (pardon my lousy spelling) for plane recognition which might help you some. But other than that all I can offer is what you most likely already know. Look for the square or flat tips on 109's as apposed to Spits or hurricanes.

Yea I know this is a poor tip, but hey, it's a tip. Have a good laugh and like me, look real hard.

heck i jinxed yesterday when I was buzzed by one of my own( a Spit) so go figure.

[Bokonon]

Not a poor tip at all, square wing tips vs round is very useful, but I often find that by the time I have id'd the plane in question It's a few seconds too late to make the decision that turns the fight in my favour. The most useful tactic I have found is working in a team, if you trust your fellow flyers enough you can start thinking about firing solutions far earlier than if flying by yourself. I was mainly asking if running at a lower res really gives an advantage with regard to spotting planes sooner due to increased pixel size etc.

[Hoogs]

Its always a challenge to spot the enemy aircraft without the use of icons, but that's a big part of the fun too. Keep in mind that your aircraft visible range is 20km and the BOB map is a fair size, especially when only 5 people are playing on it.

Hawkinge has a tendency to be well populated and can be a good place to start looking for a fight. Watch for flak smoke, that means someone is flying over unfriendly territory and the flak is probably within 1-4km of your bogey.

If you can, fly with a wing man. Two pairs of eyes trumps one pair and its always good to have a friend close by. (and on comms) lol

Hope this helps and happy hunting ~S~

:salute:

[Ohms]

Hi Bokononist

I have found that on lower res long distance plane spotting is easier but plane recognision can still be difficult.One thing i do is fly with the canopy open(hurri) which you can then hear the engine sounds which can help in identification.One small note the sound of a DB when you can't see the plane will get your heart racing.

Neil

[ChiefRedCloud]

Hi Bokononist

I have found that on lower res long distance plane spotting is easier but plane recognision can still be difficult.One thing i do is fly with the canopy open(hurri) which you can then hear the engine sounds which can help in identification.One small note the sound of a DB when you can't see the plane will get your heart racing.

Neil

Padon my question M'8 but what is DB? Also doesn't your open cockpit cause quite a bit of drag?

[ATAG_Bliss]

Good stuff here. Sadly I'm still as blind as a bat most of the time :Grin:

@CRC - I think he's referring to the 109's engine Daimler-Benz - which is extremely loud :o

[ChiefRedCloud]

Cool! Thanks Bliss .... :coolio:

[Ohms]

Sorry CRC for not being to clear.Bliss is right i did mean the 109's engine.I don't think that drag is a issue at the moment.I also read some where that some pilots flew with the canopy open because they feared being trapped in a burning a/c and just put up with the cold.Will find the book and pilot who said this.