Hunt or Prey

As I've mentioned before I am addicted to Aces High, an online massive multiplayer WW2 fighter sim. The game has a HUGE learning curve because the flight model is very realistic. It is a simulator, not an arcade game. You have to know how to fly a plane or you will die and do so very quickly.

But even with 1000's of hours of flight time under my virtual belt (been sim flying since 1996), I could never pull off some of the maneuvers this guy does in a P-47. Now to be honest this is not one sortie. It's not even the same model of Jug. It's a compilation of flights that jump between a N model (light color) and an M model (dark color). But it is a fabulous demonstration of what a Jug is capable of.

The M is a beast, literally. It is very heavy and even with that massive Pratt & Whitney R-2800-57-C Double Wasp engine, it has a low thrust to weight ratio. The N model is even worse. But if you get your "E" (energy/momentum)  built up and the right guy at the controls that knows how to stay on the razor edge of out of control and milk the last bit of maneuverability out of it, you can do some amazing things in a Thunderbolt. Add 8 .50 caliber guns and it's as deadly as they come.

I was beaucoup impressed with this guy's stall fighting abilities starting at the 2:50 mark. That is just incredible. In fact this whole video is incredible. Marc Tardif did a fantastic job not only flying but putting this video together.