Welcome to this Plane guide :D

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Priorities as a pilot

 

Before jumping into a plane you have to get the right mindset. As silly as it sounds, more than often I see teammates getting into a plane, just to fly way to aggressive so they'll get shot down before our team even caps the first flag in Conquest mode (me every time I touch a plane)

As a pilot, when flying, everything and anyone is your enemy, especially in BF1 where your plane is made out of paper and sticks. Unlike in previous BF titles, every gun in this game will deal out damage to your plane, so you have to be very careful with it, or you'll be dead in no time. This said, it is very easy to wrap in a few points as a support if you see a plane flying over you, just empty your mag at it, and you can easily get 10 points of damage onto it.

Also see yourself as a support role, and don't try to go berzerk on the enemy team. I know it's tempting to just fly over and bomb the shit out of this large mass of infantry, and sure go for it, but as soon as an AA sees you or they start shooting at you, you're done. This is the first important thing to know as a pilot, if you get challenged from the ground, be it an AA or a group of infantry, just stop what you were trying to do and get the hell away. Sure, you might get 6 kills and then crash, nice you just added 6 kills to your name but your team lost a plane which could do a lot more than 6 kills in the next 2 minutes it's grounded. Don't be greedy, you'll have your kills at the end of the round even if you play carefully.

 

This brings me to the priorities you should have as a pilot, priorities as in what to attack first. This is pretty simple.

 

Enemy Planes > AA > Enemy Armor > Objectives > Infantry

 

You might ask, why should I deal with enemy Planes and Armor before going ham on Objectives and Infantry?

 

Well, that's quite simple.

You don't want Pro Pilot "BlazeFighter420_rekt" and "TankGod69" to rape your team, while you get your juicy kills on enemy infantry. If you want to brag about your high KD, go play COD (no disrespect) and join some FFA.

It's all about eliminating the biggest threats to yourself first (Planes and AA) before moving on to the biggest threat for your team [Armor(skip if you're flying a Fighter)].

You're doing your team the biggest favor by distracting the enemy Armor and Planes while they take Objectives on the map, dw the Assaults will take care of enemy soldiers.

 

I know it should be common sense, but more often than not the enemy pilot just didn't bother actually fighting me and just went for my Infantry and got shot down within a minute...

 

 

 

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Basic tips to not get shot down within a minute

 

• Don't fly low unless you're on a strafing run

• If you get shot at from the ground, stop what ever you were doing and gain altitude/distance to the thing shooting you

• Don't be to aggressive when flying

• Always check your minimap
• You can change your key-bindings for your plane. I recommend to change it so that space makes the plane go up, so you don't need to move your mouse as much.

 

 

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Different types of planes and their best Loadout

 

 

The Fighter Plane

 

The Figther Plane is by far my favorite plane.

 

Why?

 

It's fast , powerful and agile. It's the best plane to fight other planes and **many people don't know that**, it's the best plane to fight the Airship Behemoth.

On a good strafe run you can get between 100-200 damage in (compare to AT-Rocket: 3 Damage). You'll fuck it up badly, just make sure to always stay **above** the Behemoth so the AA won't be able to take you down.

 

The best Loadout is the "Trench Fighter" Loadout. If used properly you can do massive damage to enemy infantry and stationary guns. Also you get 2 Flares you can pop when flying over enemy territory.

The secondary weapon has a very short recharge time.

 

The Attack Plane

 

A slower and bulkier version of the Fighter plane with heavier guns. You give up mobility and deal out less DPS afaik, as your secondary weapon needs to recharge longer compared to the fighter plane.

 

The best Loadout is the default loadout imo.

 

Has space for 1 extra person as a gunner, use that option. The gun on the back shreds enemy planes to pieces.

 

 

The Bomber

 

Huge plane, very slow but very effective if used properly. Massive damage when bombing, but huge recharge times for the weapons.

 

The default loadout is the best here aswell imo.

 

Has space for 2 extra persons.

 

 

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How to use each plane

 

The Fighter

 

In a Fighter Plane you're supposed to take care of enemy planes and infantry. You should always stay very high up in the air, to see enemy planes before they see you and just dive down, to finish them. Same goes for enemy infantry. They won't see you coming and before they notice they're dead. It also prevents enemy AA from shooting you down. Know your limits when flying this plane, a Kolibri will have you down in 2 shots /s .

 

The Attack Plane

 

Play the same as the fighter, just make sure to also use your primary weapon on infantry first before bombing them, as you can get some kills alone with that gun. You can right click to zoom in and get some easy kills. Just know your slow, so maybe don't go as low as the fighter when strafing or you'll crash, trust me.

 

The Bomber

 

If played correctly, the Bomber is a very strong plane. Make sure to use everything you have.

 

If you are in a Bomber you want to gain altitude asap until you reach the sky barrier. When done, you'll stay up there and won't go any lower. It'll prevent enemy planes from strafing down on you, and also keeping you out of AA range. Oh an the enemies won't have any warning that they're about to get bombed.

 

 

 

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Dogfighting

 

Dogfighting sounds a lot simpler than it actually is.

 

"Stay out of the enemy's crosshair, get behind him and shoot him down."

At the moment it is pretty simple to win a dogfight, as most pilots don't seem to be able to fly harder maneuvers.

Let's begin with defensive Dogfighting, i.e. you getting attacked.

 

As soon as you get hit by anything try to evade the enemies crosshair. This maneuver got me out of any crosshair pointed at me. It is done by abruptly turning to a side and pressing S at the same time and while turning, pointing my nose towards the ground. You let the plane drop down for max 1 second, then you start the engine back up and complete a loop which goes into an upwards spiral. The enemy just won't be able to get behind you, as the distance you were slowing down, he was catching up and came way to close to follow you, also by controlling your speed your turn radius is much smaller than your enemy's , so you'll be out of sight for a moment, and as he is following you down you are on your way up already to get behind him.

 

I illustrated it in this picture.

 

The spiral in the picture, stands for sidewards spirals not useless loopings.

 

Also a good tip: turn your headphones up, you can locate the enemies position, by turning off you plane for a brief second and listening to the direction the sound of the enemy plane is coming from.

 

Let's move on to offensive Dogfighting.

 

As soon as you are behind a plane, shoot it and follow it in every direction, as a Fighter you will take tighter turns, and by tapping **S** during turns you will get even tighter turns.

 

If you fight against a Fighter Plane, go for the center of mass and do it quickly i.e. sneak up to him and finish him quickly so he can't turn away.

 

Against Attack Planes with only 1 pilot go for the Wings. Yes you won't deal as much damage at first, but with a damaged wing, he won't be able to switch seats, because he'll lose control of the plane. He'll either have to control the plane and die, or jump out.

 

Against Bombers you don't want to be dogfighting alone if they have gunner, as if your alone the time when you have to fall back and repair will be more than enough time to repair the bomber. Get a wingman to do it, or just harass the bomber as soon as it gets over your territory to make it turn. If there's only one pilot, it's easy points.

 

 

 

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Strafe Runs

 

 

Fighter:  Look for large groups of enemy infantry, swoop down from an high altitude, pop flares about halfway down and use your trench bombs to finish off the infantry, and pull straight up.

 

Attack Plane: Same as the Fighter, just use your primary while flying down to get some hits in before bombing, and don't go as low as the Fighter.

 

Bomber: Stay up in the air, drop some bombs ;)

 

 

 

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How to deal with enemy AA?

 

The best way to deal with it, is if there is no AA. Tell your Team or Squad mates to destroy the AA at the Enemy Home Flag and the AAs at the most contested Flags in the middle of the map, so your Team has the only AA.

You can mostly destroy the enemy Home AA before they even reach the Flag, by bombing it. You just have to know the locations, which is crucial for strafe runs. Also if there is an AA on you, you can't do much, just stay out of range until the guy gets bored or focuses on something else, then you can bomb or strafe him. Also always call for help on your team, if no one's helping it's their freaking fault and you shouldn't feel bad for not being able to help them as well as you could, in the end it's a team game.