Which Warbird is best? Allied Fighters in DCS World

Which of the Allied fighters is best in DCS World? In this DCS world video I compare the Allied warbirds and give my opinion and overall feeling of which is best. The answer may surprise you.
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[@ReflectedSimulations]

Great job, I always wanted to make a warbird buyers’ guide video but it’s just too complex there are so many aspects…Flying warbirds is one of the most rewarding things in DCS, limping home and landing on your last few gallons after getting lost, it’s not for everyone though. But whichever you buy, you cannot really go wrong.

[@TacticalPascale]

It helps when you make such great campaigns for them.

[@derekcoaker6579]

@@TacticalPascale Right! Without those campaigns, I wouldn't even understand RS's Post. Top notch stuff for sure.

[@bukhariali71]

The little I16 would give any warbird a run for the money. Fun fact: the bullet drop is minimal due to their light weight so at close range it literally fires green lasers. It flies and fights like a Tie Fighter. It’s a pain in the back to get it off the ground though.

[@TacticalPascale]

I’ll have to give the rat a better go

[@jagheterbanan]

Totally agree on the P-47, it’s such a well made model you can almost smell the cockpit and there’s something addictive about letting all those 50-cals rip!

[@caseyw216]

One thing I would point out about the I-16. It really helps you understand how to fly. It is very difficult to take off, fly, and land. If you can do that you can fly any war bird after that.

[@samsmith6791]

There is a parking brake in the Spitfire... You have to mouseroll on the brake lever to set it.

[@Viking355th]

Alternatively, press and hold wheelbrake, hit Esc, release WB, Esc again to return to the game. The game will fail to detect the button-up message when the menu is up, and it will remain held until pressed and released again. Your approach is better, but Spitfire-specific. My approach is more awkward, but generally-applicable for all aircraft where you wish a button would stay pressed for a little while.

[@TacticalPascale]

I didn’t know that

[@ReflectedSimulations]

I always mouse roll it as well

[@virgo47]

@@Viking355thOr just have it on axis with mod, engage, release the mod button and then it's locked even if you release/change the axis.

[@tinglydingle]

The best DCS Warbird pilot I know is a guy called JP122 and he's a Thunderbolt pilot for the most part. The stuff I see him do in that thing is just incredible, somehow turning that freight train of an aircraft into a ballet. It's a remarkably capable aircraft that sadly lives in the 51's shadow. Thanks for the cool video about it, although I maintain that the Mosquito is my undying favourite Warbird.

[@TacticalPascale]

I like the Mossie but I’m yet to love it. Maybe I’ll spend some more time in it and get to grips with it

[@SurfVR]

Id say the Mustang is THE most survivable plane on the lineup. With its speed you can dictate most fights, when to engage and disengage.

[@RibshackTV]

Nice vid man! I admit I'm a Spitfire addict. Just can't fly without being able to turn on a dime (without blacking out!). 🤪

[@Bergie_78]

I agree, I hate the mustang in a dogfight it just keeps stalling a wing!

[@DCS_World_Japan]

Whenever I think about comparing warbirds, there's such a complex matrix of pros and cons that I find it one of those things where you just need to 2-week trial all of them and figure out which one is most enjoyable.

[@captain_kaoss]

I flew the Spitfire exclusively in DCS for a long time but when I picked up the P-47 I haven't looked back. As you say once you've mastered the engine management its so satisfying to fly and take into combat. It also looks and sounds fantastic in DCS

[@TacticalPascale]

If you don't have the wolfpack campaign, get it.

[@troycrum9294]

All great, but the jug is an absolute beast when you can get into that supercharger. Once ya can get it figured out, it’ll pull you around fairly well even in mid to low altitude dogfights. For a moment or two that is, but that’s all you need it for because after that, you better have cleared the area, or have a couple of buddies on top to watch you climb back up.

[@indianajon7980]

Ace video although the spit does also have a parking brake. When you first get in put your mouse over it and scroll till it reaches full right. It will then lock until you squeeze the brake again.

[@-ugly-Derby]

Nice video. The Jug is my favourite Allied fighter as well. It's a monster in A2A between 24'000-30'000ft, carries a huge amount of ordnance and is a lot of fun to fly. The Pony is the better overall package but I tend the have more fun flying the Jug. As for German fighters, I love the Anton. On paper it might be the overall worst of the bunch but it handles great (much better than the more capable Dora imho), the cockpit design and layout is absolutely fantastic - well ahead of it's time, the armament is incredible (4x20mm plus 2x13mm) and like the Jug it's got a radial engine. To fly it successfully in a PvP environment requires discipline, patience, good situational awareness and preferably a wingman in another Anton. You will not win many dogfights from a neutral merge so it's all about setting up the kill. Get to altitude, build SA and pick and choose your battles. Most engagements are won or lost before the real fight starts. Avoid fights with a neutral merge or worse with a disadvantage. Energy management is everything. Down low you can disengage from fights against Jugs and Spitfires as long as you keep your energy up, at higher altitudes the only opponent you stand any chance of fighting head on is the Spitfire. Keep the Anton fast, be patient, play the energy game and you might come out on top but it's extremely difficult due to the Spitfires superior climb and acceleration so I usually just extent and only turn around once the spitfire gives up the chase. The Jug is too fast at altitude and forget about fighting Mustangs - experienced Pony drivers will win at any altitude against the Anton. Hell, even multiple Antons are not a problem for a Mustang pilot with good energy management and situational awareness, however nothing is as satisfying as an opponent disintegrating in a hail of 20mm cannon fire, you just have to get your nose on target once to deal catastrophic damage. And the beautiful handling characteristics and centrally mounted cannons and MGs make it easy to land hits on target.

[@TacticalPascale]

What a well thought out and insightful comment. I’ll be getting into the axis birds more as a result. Thank you sir!

[@RFCFirefly]

​@@TacticalPascale The Anton is very advanced for its time with very easy handling and engine management is a breeze. You only have the throttle and cowl flaps to worry about. If you are interrested on the IRL working of the Fw190A, go to a channel called: Greg's airplanes and automobiles. He has made a series of great video's on the 190's design philosophy and inner workings. If you are interrested in aircraft design, give that channel a look.

[@-ugly-Derby]

@@TacticalPascaleThanks, I hope you find something to enjoy. To be sure the Kurfürst is much better as a fighter when matched up against the allied late war fighters we have in DCS, after all it's the ultimate version of the 109 but I just don't like it, personal preferance. The Dora handles so much worse than the Anton that I simply don't enjoy flying it although it's a very close match for the P-51 at medium altitudes. It's also not as rugged as the Anton with its radial engine and armor plating. Normally I would even say the Anton is the best module for people getting into warbirds who want to fly an Axis bird, Kurt Tank designed an absolute winner. Easy start up, easy ground handling, take off and landing, very stable gun platform that is easy to aim with, good nose authority, very good in a dive (you can even pull out of 850km/h dives using elevator trim). However, in DCS it's matched up against fighters that it wouldn't have fought in mid 1944, save for the Spitfire, and to this day ED hasn't implemented the 1.62ata increased emergency power which all frontline units were field modified to use by early summer 1944. All this makes the Anton objectively worse in the typical fights that people like to get into and as a result the lone wolf type of player who just wants to do 1v1 dogfights from a neutral setup is going to have a rough time in it. But when you fly with a team mate and stick to its strengths it can be a lethal hunter in the skies.

[@samsmith6791]

I wish ED cared about the Anton a bit more

[@tinglydingle]

@@samsmith6791Give it 1.65ATA, a common field mod for the time, and it'd be so good!

[@thecircusfreak5364]

P-47 is my favorite fighter in DCS … but the Mossie is probably the best overall WW2 module in my humble opinion. It’s amazing and really only held back by DCS’ sniper ground AI. IF that is fixed someday and we get a dynamic campaign for DCS, then the Mossie will likely become one of the best modules period. It’s not known to as many people, but it’s arguably one of the best (if not THE best) overall aircraft designed in WW2. It could do it all. I’d kill for a night fighter variant.

[@flightenvy680]

Mustang was always the logical starting point. As you say a jack of all trades. But it even has automatic oil and radiator cooler, making it easier on the newcomer to manage the engine. But most of all, the TF-51 is free with the game, so its the perfect option to try before going for the armed option or any of the others

[@tinglydingle]

I think the automatic rad controls in the 51 can be a bit of a trap because the oil cooler especially has a nasty habit of letting the oil temps get really hot before opening fully. This is apparently realistic, but can catch a new pilot out who thinks they can just leave the rad controls in auto and be fine to climb hard or fight.

[@julianmorrisco]

I’m not British but I recommend the Spit to new warbird flyers looking to get into dogfights. Not that I’ve been asked more than a couple of times 😏 My thinking? Because it’s a turner, I believe the tactics are easiest for a beginner to get used to. Apart from going vertical into stall speeds with high RPM and manifold pressure, the engine is fairly foolproof. The ground handling is a big problem to beginners but when I started, I was told ‘you don’t step on the pedals, you tapdance on them’ and it became a lot easier. Ok, most landings ended in a totalled plane for a while, but by then I’d already been up and had some dogfighting action in that mission so, as long as I didn’t kill my virtual pilot, I considered it a win! I can land OK now, with the occasional bent strut or damaged aileron. But once you’re in the air, I find the spit the most forgiving and easiest to fight in. Not the best, I think that’s often a matter of preference and right now, I’m enjoying the Mustang and the Dora. And I hate the limited ammo of the spit. But that’s for dogfighting. For multi-role, yes - The jug is probably the best. Keep it fast, don’t be drawn into a turnfight, make sure you have at least a few seconds fuse on the bombs and you’re golden.

[@Wardog-wo8tc]

I consider it a shame that ED simply abandoned the old warbird modules; it simply drives away players who like the WW2 context.

[@derekcoaker6579]

My P-47 Achilles is the dang Main Bearing. Ruined many until I got it under control. The Jug is my pick as well. But, all 3 are incredible.

[@TheRaptorXX]

I've got all of 'em. Pretty much nailed it there TP. I (of course) mostly fly the Spitfire but the T'Bolt AND the Mustang are great to fly. The German machines are pretty self-managed overall but by GOD do they have some 'quirks'. Just the torque on the 109 is a days worth to manage, with an even narrower wheelbase than the Spitfire!!! I AM one of those three people who own the Ishak/Rata/Whatever nom-de-plume! Now if you want complicated management then THAT'S the one to get. Jeez, even putting the gear up/down is a lesson in physics!!!

[@Sandboxcode]

Good to see your passion and focus on DCS Warbirds!!

[@Sinni64]

Loved the video, it gives a great overview. Would add one point to the comparison. Range. The Spitfire lacks massively in that regard, compared to the P47/51. After flying Wolfpack, Blue Nose Basdards (and V for Victory) and not thinking about fuel that often, I fired up Beware Beware and was looking at the fuel gauge all the time. Most mission I land on fumes in the Spitfire. Which is somewhat a nice thrill imho. On a side note, huge shoutout to Reflected and his awesome campaigns. Man´s carrying WW2 DCS big time.

[@Hackspear214]

Not gonna lie, the P-47 was a surprise, but you raise some good points!

[@TacticalPascale]

I love the thing, just wish we had a birdcage version too

[@JamesW81]

Spitfire is very hard to get off the ground and keep in a level climb. I need to watch that tutorial again. I have the mosquito and its a good plane but the ground control works on the same principle as the spit (which is helpful if you already have the spit) and it can be hard to take off. If youre new to dcs and youre watching this, I'll recommend having takeoff assist turned on and lowering it gradually as you get used to the bird.

[@Viking355th]

Spit takes off much more easily if you trim to no more than +1 unit of pitch. I usually use about 2/3 of a unit, so it doesn't take off from a 3-point attitude. When the tail comes up, halve your rudder input to compensate, and slowly pull back to lift your wheels up. Note that too much nose-down trim can cause a prop strike just prior to liftoff, so be ready to apply a bit of backpressure if that starts happening.

[@kamicosmos]

Good timing since another sale just launched! I have the Thunderbolt, and It is pretty great and 'feels' really good, and yes it's cockpit is a joy to be in! Really emphasizes that other acronym for DCS!. I'm thinking about trialing the Spit and Stang. I love doing ground attack, but yeah, the Jug gets slow and it's not an Acceleration Monster, especially down low. In IL2, I've always been more of a turn fighter, so I'm looking at the Spit, but my experience in that game, all the British aircraft...yeah, getting them off the ground is tougher than fighting the Messerschmitts! (Which, I have the 109K4, and I love it!) So, I'm hoping the Mustang works for me. It'd be my dogfighter, and the Jug for ground attack. But also as you (and others, even myself) say with practice, it'll be a beast and very satisfying, so I dunno. We'll see if I add another warbird to my squadron. (Until the Corsair finally comes out. That's my dream plane!)

[@TacticalPascale]

I have a few tutorials on mastering the pesky ground handling of the spitfire, it’s not too bad

[@eggsdooley]

Thanks for the video! I’m currently bogged down trying to learn the F-18 weapons systems and it is killing me. I think learning a P-47 may just be break I need.

[@georgejoachim320]

I thought so too…P-47

[@ravennightingale1260]

Gonna have to dispute the notion that the P-51's cockpit textures look better than the Spitfire's.

[@notarokescientist3003]

I am starting with the P-51D because of the "simple" ground handling. I expect once I have got confident with it the Spitfire will be more to my liking. The P-47 will come along later as it has my terrified with engine management. There is an official training film on YT from the era. Watch that and the P-47 will scare you off like it did me. I got enough for now just getting solid with ground handling and takeoff in what everyone says is the easiest warbird at that stage.

[@matthis4881]

I was very interested to hear your opinion on taking off with the P-47. I've seen your excellent guides on the bird as well and visited them frequently while I was learning to fly her. I will say, though, that I've had a more interesting experience reliably getting the jug off the ground with a payload (which you'll almost always have because it's primarily a ground attack aircraft) where I found I might have to use water injection and turbocharger to keep it from bouncing back down and damaging landing gear. Maybe it's just me and I need more flight hours.

[@TacticalPascale]

With bombs use 10+ degrees of flaps and use boost it should be good to get up. Be nice and gentle on the back pressure

[@matthis4881]

@@TacticalPascale thank you for the tips. I'll keep working on it. Keep up the great content!

[@ColonelAkirNakesh]

I love the axis birds, especially the Dora, but even including them, think you're dead on for why the P-47 is the overall pick for a great DCS experience.

[@stevep4131]

But you missed the best bit! The landings.. (Landing a Spit is a fun part of DCS)

[@bassjunki]

The 51 did have a cockpit update recently... its still a little flat though 😢

[@TacticalPascale]

They’ve ruined the others with the 47 and the Mossie 😂

[@bassjunki]

@@TacticalPascale haha mossie is the best 👌

[@DanielSirqueira]

What bothers me about the P-47 is that the hydraulics are not simulated. I hope ED implements it as soon as possible.

[@TacticalPascale]

I’ve had hydraulic failures in it. Damaged, no hydraulics to lower the gear so I had to use the handle, and then no brakes on landing

[@jonw3529]

I love warbirds! But communities are scarce. Is there a public discord or DCS server you recommend? and WELCOME BACK!

[@TacticalPascale]

4YA for WW2

[@thecircusfreak5364]

Wolfpack and 4YA currently

[@mrshar1000]

Love the Video and definably have not given the 47 any attention since it dropped, but I knew the cockpit was really good looking, definably will give it another look ;) Keep up the great work and hope to see a similar video for Ze Germans!

[@pinkfloyd7572]

P-51 FTW!

[@TOMCATnbr]

Which allied warbird is the best? 🤔 Corsair, 😁 joke aside, P47 is a true gems. Like you say, it requires work and practice, but it rewards you big times. Spitfire is my second choice. Dream to fly and easy to fight with him, but nightmare to land properly. But a true beauty and mythical. P51 solid third. Good at everything, but too tamed compare to the Thunderbolt and as gorgeous as the Spitfire. Too bad you didn't do such a video for the Germans planes, because I like the FW190, but 109 is such an iconic plane, that can't choose between them 😅

[@TacticalPascale]

190 - Anton or Dora for you?

[@bobholmes487]

can not wait for the hellcat…. f-4u for that matter also

[@TacticalPascale]

I would love a Pacific map with ww2 carriers

[@RoamingAdhocrat]

wondering who would be interested in spending ten minutes of their day off or evening waiting for a simulated engine to warm up

[@TacticalPascale]

People who like simulations i would reckon.

[@BunialskiTrip]

Spit!

[@Viking355th]

3:58 - The Mustang's lockable wheel and individual wheel brakes make it easier than the P-47: why? They both have lockable tail wheels and individual brakes. What makes the Mustang easier?

[@matthis4881]

I definitely find the P-47 easier to taxi. The stick must be used fore and aft to lock and unlock the tail wheel in the P-51 while the P-47 just has a lever you can push or pull to lock and unlock the tail wheel. The P-47 just seems more stable in my personal opinion as well.

[@TacticalPascale]

The slightly less obscured view as the engine isn’t as massive as the 47s.

[@larspanky]

No mosquito?

[@TacticalPascale]

I only covered the fighters, that baby is in a league of her own

[@indianajon7980]

Ace video although the spit does also have a parking brake. When you first get in put your mouse over it and scroll till it reaches full right. It will then lock until you squeeze the brake again.