getting behind planes

[Jyggalad]

I'm struggling a bit with aerial combat. I'm used to flight sims when it comes to scifi stuff so this can be a bit different. When I have someone on my tail, I try to get behind them but nothing I do seems to work. I try maintaining speed, I try reducing speed, how do I make sharper turns to get behind the enemy when they're attacking me? Any help would be wonderful.

[Jaes]

If two competent pilots get in a fight with each other, and one of them starts the fight behind the other, the one behind wins.

This is a general maxim you should keep in mind when choosing engagements. Choose smart engagements and you'll find that you'll have less of a problem worrying about people getting behind you.

However, your question is way too broad. What aircraft are you flying? What aircraft are they flying? What's your aircraft good at? What does your opponent's aircraft suck at? Are you playing Realistic or Arcade?

However, your primary goal is going to make your opponent overshoot you or at least make it so its difficult to hit you. They got nose guns? Keep under their nose/throw their nose off you so they can't get lead. They got guns on the wings? Displacement rolls help a lot.

Otherwise, you're going to be relying on teammates, and organic teamwork in War Thunder is never something to bet on.

[Sabinox]

Generally speaking your don't really turn, to get behind your enemy, it's not that easy.

What type of plane are you using? What is the plane on your six purpose? With a boom and zoom plane you don't turn fight, with a turn fighter you don't boom and zoom, with an energy fighter you try to out smart your enemy not over turn him.

It seems to me that you are trying to approach the game with the wrong mindset. I highly, HIGHLY, suggest you start looking for guides, about plane types, and manouvers, side climbing and overall strategy. The game is, unfortunately, not as straightforward as you think it is.

You can try looking into some begginer guide here, but there are plenty more online if you dont like them.
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkfLNWx9j3BvSP9WtjhqwiSn4wpQ7aQU-

[CaptainSpacetime]

if they're on your six you've basically lost already

if they're going much faster than you you can try to force an overshoot

if they're pretty close forcing them into a rolling scissor

if you're a lot faster go vertical try to stall them out then hammerhead turn

[Futuristic Hexagon]

Depends on the exact scenario, but some maneuvering, especially rolling scissors and some good flaps management could at the very least put you in a position for a good deflection shot.

[HerrDoktor45]

I agree with all the comments about working to avoid letting anyone on your 6. Good camera management, i.e., looking around is crucial. Also, just avoiding anything that looks like it might get behind you is important. When I really started to care about who was getting behind me, the number of planes I shot down decreased, but so did the number of losses in Air Arcade, and the amount of time flying on the edges of Air RB increased a lot with more games without a kill; but I died less frequently. You have to learn to boom in at high speed, take a snap shot and zoom away without being enticed into a dogfight. Knowing the other planes is important. An SU-7 has no countermeasures and guns only. T2 has no countermeasures. A4E has limited manuverability and slow acceleration. These make great targets for early IR missles. Avoid wasting time launching early IR missles at planes with countermeasures. These are strategies that I picked up along the way. There are so many more. If you look past all the negative comments the game is actually rich in strategy and tactics. If you want to just fly around and kill people like they do in the fake youtube videos, then purge that from your mind.

[Jyggalad]

Hey gang, thanks for all the responses. I can't really give you much information on the planes, I'm still pretty new to the game but the suggestions have still helped quit a bit. Thanks!

[𝒞𝒶𝓈𝓊𝒶𝓁 Sinner]

Originally posted by Jyggalad:

Hey gang, thanks for all the responses. I can't really give you much information on the planes, I'm still pretty new to the game but the suggestions have still helped quit a bit. Thanks!

What vehicle/country are you playing? The type of vehicle or the vehicle itself also makes a big difference. Something like a German FW190 will never outturn a Japanese Zero and as a result the two have very different playstyles, etc.

[Chaoslink]

Some planes do what's called boom and zoom. Basically, you get altitude and dive fast. Use that speed to "sneak" up on your enemy and hit them before they react. If you miss, don't turn fight. Just use the speed to get away and climb again. Use the energy you have in the form of speed to get more altitude than they can. Disengage entirely and once you have the distance to safely turn around, do so and repeat.

You want to learn what your plane can do basically. Fly some Japanese planes like the Ki-61 or A6M2 and you can turn fight just about anything. However, you'll never have the speed to catch up to an enemy who doesn't want to be caught. Fly a P-51 instead and you'll be able to climb super fast and drop on people who never see you. My personal favorite tactic is getting up high then turning off your engine when diving. The enemy won't even hear you. Mix in stealth belts so they can't see your shots and most won't know how to react. They'll be dead before they know where you're coming from.

[nyannokonekko]

If you get into a turn fight while using a P40 against a bi-plane then you're going to lose, so make use of either your planes climbing OR diving down advantage to gain distance and speed before having enough distance to turn all the way around before shooting them again.

[Futuristic Hexagon]

Originally posted by nyannokonekko:

If you get into a turn fight while using a P40 against a bi-plane then you're going to lose, so make use of either your planes climbing OR diving down advantage to gain distance and speed before having enough distance to turn all the way around before shooting them again.

Very true here. Sometimes you'll just have to accept that going in a straight line and building distance (or luring towards friendlies) is the best approach. In ARB in most of those cases the opponent will still be like 700m behind you and might try to get the ocassional spray and prey technique with a low rate of success on their end.

[SadlyItsDaniel]

Originally posted by Jaes:

If two competent pilots get in a fight with each other, and one of them starts the fight behind the other, the one behind wins.

This is a general maxim you should keep in mind when choosing engagements. Choose smart engagements and you'll find that you'll have less of a problem worrying about people getting behind you.

However, your question is way too broad. What aircraft are you flying? What aircraft are they flying? What's your aircraft good at? What does your opponent's aircraft suck at? Are you playing Realistic or Arcade?

However, your primary goal is going to make your opponent overshoot you or at least make it so its difficult to hit you. They got nose guns? Keep under their nose/throw their nose off you so they can't get lead. They got guns on the wings? Displacement rolls help a lot.

Otherwise, you're going to be relying on teammates, and organic teamwork in War Thunder is never something to bet on.

teammates is something you should never count on in war thunder because they are more braindead than a deceased person