A6M Pilot Manual/Notes Available?

[Yoshikawa]

Hi- returning to IL2:'46 and loving the newly cockpitted selections and mods- BUT...

I've gotten very interested in the Pacific battles recently and am wanting to learn the ins and outs of the A6M "Zero" series of fighters. Does anyone have a link to any sort of IL-2 related pilot's notes or a flight manual on this plane? I'm looking for anything on handling and engine management- I always seem to be burning up my powerplant chasing down others!

Domo arigato

 

[Tao-san]

Hello Yoshikawa
Happy to help you, you should take a look or register for request to that virtual Il2 squadron, they are flying exclusively japaneses aircraft (I mean online) and they are all crazy about A6M as you can imagine, the are french sites but all of them speaks a good english. Some of their members are frenchies living in Japan.
There is one of your fellow countryman in the Kz Kamikazes squadron but their forum is actualy into technical service, his log is Kz-Shibata but he is also using the first forum, I know that he've done videos and he knows pretty well about all the virtual reisen aspects.
If not, these guys could redirect you where you could find stuff to help you.
The 343rd Kokutai : Forum du 343 Kokutai :: Index
Don't hesitate you will be welcome.

 

[eddie_brunette]

The way I fly the A6M: Always attack! Turn and attack. Don't try and chase or dive- turn and attack. Don't single out one enemy (except if you one on one), turn and attack. DONT try to dive away, always turn into opponent. KNOW you enemy's weak points and strong points. The Zero is a exceptional climber, but be sure you don't have a F6F on you tail, it WILL out climb you. Most imported for me, DONT get one on your 6, no amour

edd

 

[Yoshikawa]

Is there any hard and fast rule on when to kick down the supercharger to Stage 2? I had been given a rule of thumb to hit the switch between 3800 and 4000 ft; so far it seems to be working for me well enough.

Also, is it pretty common practice to run the engine at near-maxed the bulk of the time? That's pretty much what I'm having to do to keep up my speed for all the turning contests I seem to find myself getting into. At 98% and radiators on 4 at least I'm not burning my engine out any longer!

I've also learned that Zeros are flying bullet magnets- as you noted, they indeed can't take much of a hit and everybody is itching to be the last one to put a hole in me! I'm proving to be VERY good at being the bait for drag-n-bag party trains Every time I go up I imagine all the pilots on the other side grinning at the prospect of a relatively easy kill- that's what makes me want to get better

(Of course, what else SHOULD I expect when faced with a sky full of Spits, La-7's and Fw190's? It's been ages since I've flown an accurate historic mission! Time for a few hours with Mission Mate, I suppose...)

 

[strike]

A6M in combat http://www.angelsandairspeed.com/phpBB3/download/file.php?id=42

 

[eddie_brunette]

.........common practice to run the engine at near-maxed the bulk of the time? That's pretty much what I'm having to do to keep up my speed for all the turning contests I seem to find myself getting into. At 98% and radiators on 4 at least I'm not burning my engine out any longer...)

Are you using "prop pitch" function? With prop pitch, you can keep your speed easily up, while running at 90-95% throttle. Also, you don't need to keep the radiators open, as this only creates drag, especially on radial engine planes.

It especially helps during long distance flying. I easily maintain high cruise speeds, using only 55-65% throttle

edd