2 newb questions.

[millgate1]

Hi, just bought this game and I'm loving it! Forgive me for my lack of plane knowledge as I'm a casual flight simulator gamer. Right, first question, if I go into the Hangar and go over a plane, it'll have a yellow bar under it's picture, like an XP bar. What happens when you fill it up? I filled it up for a German plane and have no clue what it did. Different camouflage? New decals? or what?
Second, what, in your opinion, is the best big daddy plane? By big daddy, I mean the planes that are bigger than most of the planes in the game and they usually have more than one turret on them and can drop bombs. Again, forgive me for my lack of knowledge. I love the heavy bombers or whatever they're called, the big planes . I just want to know which one should I be aiming to get. So far I got a few German heavy bombers and a small amount of American hb.
Thanks a mill.

[Aruberikku]

Originally Posted by millgate1

If I go into the Hangar and go over a plane, it'll have a yellow bar under it's picture, like an XP bar. What happens when you fill it up?

That is actually an XP bar. When you fly with a new plane you will get 5x more XP while using it. Once that XP bar fills up, you'll only gain XP at the normal rate. It was implemented by the developers so that people would try out different aircraft.

Originally Posted by millgate1

In your opinion, is the best big daddy plane?

The B-17's are certainly the biggest ones in this game. They have 11 or 13 turret positions, depending on the version and they can carry either 8x1000lb, 16x500lb or 2x2000lb bomb loadouts. Two others that are pretty similar are the B-24 and the Lancaster Mk III. The B-17's and the B-24 are US aircraft, while the Lancaster is a British plane.

Other than that there are a few "medium" bombers, like the G4M1 (Japan), IL-4 (USSR) or the He 111's (Germany).

And finally there are quite a few smaller "bombers" aswell. A-20G, Blenheim, Mosquito,... They don't really classify as bombers in the traditional sense, but are very decent ground raiding aircraft.

The H6K4 (Japan) is also worth noting. It's big in size, although it's bomb loadouts aren't that impressive, but it's the only aircraft that can have up to 3 torpedoes equipped. I wouldn't use it in an online match though as it has pretty weak defensive capabilities.

[millgate1]

Originally Posted by Aruberikku

That is actually an XP bar. When you fly with a new plane you will get 5x more XP while using it. Once that XP bar fills up, you'll only gain XP at the normal rate. It was implemented by the developers so that people would try out different aircraft.



The B-17's are certainly the biggest ones in this game. They have 11 or 13 turret positions, depending on the version and they can carry either 8x1000lb, 16x500lb or 2x2000lb bomb loadouts. Two others that are pretty similar are the B-24 and the Lancaster Mk III. The B-17's and the B-24 are US aircraft, while the Lancaster is a British plane.

Other than that there are a few "medium" bombers, like the G4M1 (Japan), IL-4 (USSR) or the He 111's (Germany).

And finally there are quite a few smaller "bombers" aswell. A-20G, Blenheim, Mosquito,... They don't really classify as bombers in the traditional sense, but are very decent ground raiding aircraft.

The H6K4 (Japan) is also worth noting. It's big in size, although it's bomb loadouts aren't that impressive, but it's the only aircraft that can have up to 3 torpedoes equipped. I wouldn't use it in an online match though as it has pretty weak defensive capabilities.

Thanks a lot man! Much appreciated! I got the B-17E and it's amazing! 8 turret positions! Love it a lot but it takes too much damage! I think the heavy bombers need a buff. They're slow and they're pretty crappy when it comes to air to air combat. The turrets are a bit too inaccurate in my opinion. Only advantage is the bombs...which are pretty much useless if you can't make it to the enemy base.

[Aruberikku]

They are pretty weak compared to other flight simulators, but I'm not entirely sure if it's historically inaccurate. During WW II the Luftwaffe discovered that it only took about 20 hits to take a B-17 down with 20mm guns when attacking from the rear and only 4-5 hits when attacking from the front! This is during the earlier period of WW II. Later on with stronger guns and more experience it was even easier. In reality an average pilot only had a 2% chance of hitting with his bullets, but it's a lot easier in this game.
This is why in real life, the B-17's always used to fly in huge groups and tight formation. Make a mission with the mission builder, where you need to attack a huge formation like that. It's awesome fun lol

In this game you can try getting a lot of altitude and hope no one bothers coming up to 10.000 feet. But there's no online mode that's really fun to fly with heavy bombers like this. A B-17 will just devastate the enemy base and it will be game over.

[millgate1]

Originally Posted by Aruberikku

They are pretty weak compared to other flight simulators, but I'm not entirely sure if it's historically inaccurate. During WW II the Luftwaffe discovered that it only took about 20 hits to take a B-17 down with 20mm guns when attacking from the rear and only 4-5 hits when attacking from the front! This is during the earlier period of WW II. Later on with stronger guns and more experience it was even easier. In reality an average pilot only had a 2% chance of hitting with his bullets, but it's a lot easier in this game.
This is why in real life, the B-17's always used to fly in huge groups and tight formation. Make a mission with the mission builder, where you need to attack a huge formation like that. It's awesome fun lol

In this game you can try getting a lot of altitude and hope no one bothers coming up to 10.000 feet. But there's no online mode that's really fun to fly with heavy bombers like this. A B-17 will just devastate the enemy base and it will be game over.

Thanks for the tips man! You really know your facts ^^ It may be realistic but it's not balanced...maybe the turrets should get a small bit of auto aim? To help defend yourself? I don't know. Anyways man, you should really be on the official Birds of Steel forums! You know a lot Also, the thanks for the great trophy guide, much appreciated.

[Aruberikku]

Actually I am on the official forums, but I'm just not very active there.

And no need for auto aim in my opinion. :P But it would be fun if you could have several people controlling 1 bomber. One pilot and the rest has to man the turrets. ^^