Dweeb Planes and Uber Planes
A term often heard in Warbirds is "Dweeb Plane" or
"Uber Plane". In this write-up, I will attempt to
portray my understanding of these concepts, what makes a plane a
"Dweeb" or "Uber" plane, and the current
state of "Uberness". Note that this write-up pertains
only to 1.11, as 2.0 is suspected to contain a "rolling
planeset" which will result in a rotating set of
"Uber" or "Dweeb" planes.
Ok, to start with I will define both terms:
Dweeb Plane: Any plane that allows a pilot to
survive in the Warbirds General Arena environment consistently
without much effort relative to the "average" Warbirds
plane, and to get out of most bad situations reliably when
abiding by a few basic rules.
Uber Plane: Any plane that allows a pilot to
dominate and or kill most other planes from a co-e state without
nearly as much skill or luck as would take in an
"average" Warbirds plane (or a plane that once
mastered, totally dominates the competition). Less important, but
still vital is the ability to get out of most situations easily,
thus most "Uber planes" are also "Dweeb
planes", but not necessarily.
As the saying goes, "it's the pilot, not the plane".
In the end, pilot skill will overcome most limitations in a plane
and allow even an inferior plane to survive, if not kill
effectively. For example, an Experten in a Sopwith Camel could
probably last quite a while vs a relative Newbie in an F22 and
possibly win. But all things are never equal, and with any two
planes, there are going to be advantages and disadvantages that
can make up a lot of ground between two pilots, or widen the gap
further.
In order for a plane to be a Dweeb or Uber plane it must be
easy for someone who has not flown it much to climb aboard and
use the plane to 90% or more of it's potential without much
practice in that plane. This means that a good Dweeb or Uber
plane can allow a newbie to be relatively effective, and an
Experten in another plane to quickly become an Experten in the
Dweeb/Uber plane. A dweeb or uber plane has to be easy to handle,
responsive to the controls, and preferably tolerant to abuse in
flying style. Take the P38L. It is very easy to handle from
150mph-500mph, rolls nicely at all speeds, allows quick response
to an enemy's maneuvers, and does not require much prediction of
what the enemy is going to do as it allows quick reaction. The FW
is the same way at high speeds (but not low), as it allows quick
response at high speeds, allowing easy adjustment if, say, a
bogie starts to break right but switches to a left break
suddenly.
A Dweeb plane must be tough, so that bad SA doesn't always
result in death. A tough plane is more likely to survive a bounce
by a high-speed passing plane, not only allowing the pilot to
react to the attacker and get home, but to find out what the heck
happened (hard to look around for that high-speed Dora if you're
in the tower).
A Dweeb plane must be fast, to allow the pilot to stick the
nose down to the ground and get the heck out of Dodge, or at
least stay ahead of attackers long enough to find ack or friendly
fighters. A dweeb plane is benefited greatly by good acceleration
and climb, as climbing above an enemy almost always gives one an
energy advantage. A plane that does not allow one to run from
most enemy is not a Dweeb plane as it can be run down and killed
in most extensions.
An Uber plane requires good guns. This is of primary
importance. A plane that allows you to get on the six of an enemy
and stay there, but doesn't allow quick dispatching of this plane
is not an Uber Plane. Ask Ki43 pilots from a Solomons scenario
about this, the Ki43 allows one to gain and hold an advantage
quickly over a Wildcat, but the guns require much time to be
spent there, vulnerable and predictable, in order to down the
opponent. Hard hitting guns, with lots of ammo are almost a
requirement, as it allows a glancing blow to down a plane, and
lets the newbie spray an area with effect. Placement of the guns
is important as well, as nose-mounted guns mean convergence is
not an issue.
An Uber plane must be able to turn effectively and maneuver
with most of the opposition. Angle-fighting is one of the most
effective ways to kill an enemy quickly, and an Uber plane must
excel at killing enemy planes quickly if it is to avoid getting
in and staying in disadvantaged positions. This is why poor
turning planes such as the FW are not, in my opinion, the best
Uber planes because they cannot angle-fight an enemy (although
their firepower and speed make up for this for the most part).
Along with this is the requirement for easy stall
characteristics. A hard stall line that whips the plane into a
snaproll every time won't cut it as it usually destroys any angle
gains. An Uber plane must allow the pilot to over-extend his
turning ability and recover with minimal loss of angles.
And finally, both Dweeb and Uber planes must have no planes it
has a tough time with in a co-e situations. A Dweeb plane must be
able to run from almost any plane, and at least be able to avoid
the rest from catching up quickly. An Uber plane cannot have a
plane that can easily dominate it in a co-e situation. Also both
Dweeb and Uber planes must have good plane visibility, or be able
to compensate easily for some visibility problem (such as in the
P38L, it's roll allows one to overcome side view limitations very
easily).
Ok, now that we have the criteria for a Dweeb or Uber plane,
which planes in 1.11 Warbirds classify as each?
Dweeb Planes: P51, Fw190D9, Ki84, 109K4, P38L
- P51 - The P51 is fast and dives well. The only plane that
can catch it is the Fw 190D9. It handles well at high
speeds, has lots of ammo, and retains E beautifully
despite having much less horsepower than the Fw190D9, yet
more weight. Plus it handles very well at slow speeds, it
takes quite an effort to snaproll this bird.
- Fw190D9 - This is warbird's fastest plane on the deck. It
climbs well, and accelerates with the best of them. With
5,000ft, this plane can escape from almost any bad
situation, assuming it doesn't get nailed in the first
few seconds of an extension. Net Lag
problems aggravate this enabling a small diving advantage
over many planes to become a sure getaway. Good guns and
a generous supply of ammunition make it preferable as a
Dweeb plane over the P51 as it is easy to spray and pray
and score kills. It's high speed handling is superb,
allowing effective jinks to hold an opponent at bay until
it's speed advantage kicks in.
- Ki84 - This is another plane that is dead easy to escape
in. What it can't run from it can outturn, and what it
can't outturn it can run from. One common escape tactic
is to dive like a Dora, and once gone 1/2 a sector or
more, reverse on the pursuing Fw190D9s and P51s (that can
catch it). This forces them to extend, and allow you to
almost always get away. Alternatively, the Ki84's awesome
acceleration and climb allows a climbing extension, but
this is often dangerous since a higher enemy might come
along while you are climbing. But it is very easy to get
above opponents in this plane.
- 109K4 - Like the Ki84, high speed extensions and climbing
extensions are very easy. Above 10k, nothing outclimbs a
109K, and under 10k, only the Ki84, can match it's climb.
Speed wise it is only catchable reliably by P51s and
Fw190D9s, but unlike the Ki84 it can't turn with these
planes as effectively so reversals after an extension to
scare them off usually don't work like they do in the
109K4. Plus this is one of the best divers, having a
small compact airframe, and 2000hp of power pulling it
down.
- P38L - This plane isn't the Dweeb plane it used to be.
seven other planes are now faster than it in a run,
including many of the more popular planes, making running
a risky proposition. It's climb rate is only average. But
it does have one attribute over all other planes in the
game: High speed roll rate. With those powered ailerons,
it can roll like a top while extending. Only the FW comes
close, and if it can pull the FWs away from the rest of
the pack in a run, it can turn on these planes like the
Ki84. Sure it can't run like old days, but it can really
keep the pings down and burn up pursuer's ammo (with the
recoil hurting their chase attempts)
Uber Planes: P38L, Ki84, FW190 (all)
- P38L - This is the Uberplane of old. It still is to some
degree, but where it could outturn anything but a Zeke,
now there are many planes that can turn with and outturn
the P38L. No longer are the days where it can dominate in
the TnB area. Nonetheless, it can really make hay in a
TnB, and can run away/extend/E fight those it can't turn
with. It is very easy to control, responsive at all
speeds. Ammunition is very plentiful, allowing for much
firing. The guns are the most accurate in the game, with
the highest-velocity guns combined with nose positioning
allowing an excellent range 5 sniping platform. Very few
planes can kill at long range like the P38L. Plus this
plane is very durable, allowing for one to make mistakes,
take the pings, and learn quickly. With no torque, a
stall only loses a bit of E, while too much stall on most
single-engined fighters results in a spin unless
corrected quickly.
- Ki84 - IMO, this is the new King of Uber planes. This
baby can TnB with the best of them (save Zeros and the
Ki43), and BnZ with the best of them. Her firepower is
right up there, her low speed handling is superb and her
high speed on the deck really helps in binds. Plus it is
the king of the Drag Race and the climbers, under 10k,
matched only by the 109K, which it blows away in the TnB
arena. Fortunately for the Arena, this plane is not an
easy plane to master. It is difficult to keep from flying
it wrong, for example to take full advantage of her
acceleration and TnB abilities requires much flap
manipulation. Her poor roll rate requires much advanced
planning as knee-jerk responses are not possible
defensively or offensively. This is further aggravated at
high speeds as she has the Spit' high speed right-roll
problem that requires precious time with auto-trim to
correct. Her gunsight is close to the cowl making
deflection shooting over the nose tricky, requiring much
practice. Plus her cannon load is only 12 seconds,
meaning one has to hold back for the really good shots,
and not spray 'n' pray like in a Dora or P38L. But in the
hands of an expert, the Ki84 is an extremely lethal
killing machine, able to deal with any other plane co-e
and below, and is amazingly easy to overcome an energy
deficit in. In many ways I'm glad the Ki84 is the new
King of Uber planes because the P38L (which the Ki84
deals with very effectively) was so easy to just grab and
do well in. Not true with the Ki84.
- FW190 (all) - These planes are Uber planes not because
they can TnB (they can't), but because they have huge
ammo loads and very heavy firepower. A few pings is all
it takes with the A series of these birds, and all the
FWs have 25 seconds of cannon fire, allowing high speed
spray 'n' pray tactics to be wildly successful. Plus this
is one of the best planes to head-on another plane with
as it is very tough to damage in the front quarter, and
has the best Head-on guns. This is aggravated by
Warbird's gunnery model as the
sort of attacks the FW excels in are artificially
effective (referring to the fact that high speed
deflection shots in "real life" distribute the
shells all over a target plane, not all in one spot like
happens in FW-type pings, and the shell/bullet
"bubble" makes it easier to hit enemy planes in
direct 6/12 situations). Thus in a sense this plane
doesn't need to TnB, it just needs it's target to be in
front of it. And it's superb roll and control response
allows quick last-second adjustments that can turn a bad
solution into a killing 2-ping snapshot.
Note that neither Spitfires are on these lists. This is
because neither of them are very fast in Warbird's arena, and
both have problems dealing with the arena's Uber planes. The
SpitV can turn with the Uber Planes, but cannot catch them, and
doesn't have the vertical maneuvering performance and
acceleration to counter E deficits. The SpitIX does, but it can't
turn with the uber Ki84s and P38Ls, can't beat the Ki84 in E
power-fighting consistently, and the P38L's awesome gunnery
virtually nullifies any power E fighting advantage it has over
the P38L.