Requesting tactical help for LaGG-3

[EJGr.Ost_Caspar]

P.S.: The earlier you divert your flight path from the enemy, the earlier will he turn in again and much probably not yet be very high and far away. There is a chance, that you will get him int oa turnfight with scissors, even if he will use the first chance of climbing away again, if he get in defence. Try it again and again, he will not gain endless energy by this.

[Guggy]

I despise the Lagg early war when I'm in a 109F2. It doesnt seem to take much visible damage compared to its comrades the MiG, Yak, and I16 even. Is that just due to an outdated damage texture model as I expect, or is it really that durable a plane?

[Treetop64]

The laminated plywood construction of the LaGG series makes it more flame and damage resistant than the Yakovlevs. The I-16s and MiGs had somewhat similar construction but were more vulnerable.

As for fighting 109s when in a LaGG, I say avoid the fight in the first place if you can. The LaGG suffers every disadvantage in a fight against 109-Fs and beyond, though if flown competently against a less-than-ace or veteran AI 109-Es you have a fighting chance. If you have the initial altitude advantage then make a diving attack, but unless you outnumber the enemy, get the hell outta there after your run! Don't stick around. Now that you actually have some chance of losing the AI and bugging out I would do that and try to survive.

[CWMV]

Originally Posted by Treetop64

...avoid the fight in the first place if you can...If you have the initial altitude advantage then make a diving attack, but unless you outnumber the enemy, get the hell outta there after your run! Don't stick around. Now that you actually have some chance of losing the AI and bugging out I would do that and try to survive.

Only thing Id add is don't attack unless you have the advantage!
An equal fight is for losers!

[K_Freddie]

If you get your mindset right, you can dictate the combat even in an inferior plane, and with somebody on your 6.

First of all.. you're in a slower plane.
This generally means you can turn better - So you use this to your advantage.

The ME109 is coming from 'advantage' so you need to reduce this advantage.
You 'bait' him/her/AI by going into a gentle turn but keeping an eye on your attacker.
You turn in such a way that the deflection is just too much for the attacker to get a lead shot on you. By doing this you keep your speed up and bleed their speed.
If the attacker suddenly pulls extra lead to get a deflection shot, you just roll about 30 degrees and carry on turning - they'll miss by a mile, and they'll bleed more speed.

Now's the big point:
Practise rolling your a/c at max roll rate... the best way to do this is put the aircraft into a psuedo controllable stall condition. It bleeds speed but it will whip you around so fast onto his tail (any aircraft can do this) into a firing position as he/she/AI (I'm not desciminating against the AI ) passes. You usually have only 1 second window to get a good shot.

A human will cra,p themselves and give up after a few go's, but maybe an AI will be dumb as usual and suck in your shells.

There you go.. simple isn't it...

[K_Freddie]

If you're doing this online go down to ground level.... and play there.

YOU'RE MAD SAYS EVERYONE...

You're mad to stay at height, I'd say... Why??

Because if you go down, you're reducing your opponents advantage over other team mates that will arrive on the scene. You do not have advantage anyway, so by going down, your opponent now has to look over their shoulder, distracting their attention from you.
This has a big psychological impact making your opponent impatient and prone to making mistakes, which you can take advantage of..

Of course if more of their mates arrive .. you're in the poo

Take your chances..

[TinyTim]

Lagg-3 vs 109F is a tough, tough situation even on equal terms, let alone him having initial advantage. If you are going against a skilled pilot online, you will go down great majority of cases. Quality difference between the planes is just too big. There really isn't much your Lagg-3 can do better than your opponent. Bf 109 is faster and more maneouverable, and as if that wouldn't be tough enough to deal with, it's also a better climber and better diver! Lagg has somewhat better firepower (IMO) and is more durable (again, IMO). This would make me go for a headon Russian roulette, I'm dead already anyway.

[WTE_Galway]

You could take a big gun Lagg 3 and learn to snipe

Or get down amongst the smoke stacks and hope they run into one ... at least you are negating the diving advantage ...