Instant Action -> Mig-15

Hello all,

I tried instant action missions for F-18. I have found the most challenging was the Mig-15. Even Su-30 was easier than Mig-15. What do you think? I felt like I am dogfighting with an F-22 :D

Well there is a workaround for beating the Mig-15. You can hit the airbreak at the right moment and let it pass you. But getting behind him without doing that was very very difficult for me.

Yeah in the instant action missions, there BFM missions seem to be reversed with the 15 being way harder. It definitely is not you. Fly them the other way around. (Sorry short term memory problems so I forget which jets the mission use, think it is the 29, then 21, then 15)

Use your afterburners and take the fight vertical. You will lose in a horizontal turnfight.

its a mistake to think that when aircraft designs advance, they get better in every aspect.

every aircraft design is a compromise, you need to be aware that if you want to be able to fly fast, you're never going to be as good flying slow as an aircraft designed for a lower airspeed envelope.

Against the MiG-15 you are the boom n zoom energy fighter. So don't be afraid to do a brave sir robin after a pass and unload, run away and then climb to make another pass. At angels 30 the MiG is a wallowing pig. You are less so.

Don't even think about saddling up. You can't follow if he decides to take his bucking seriously. Slash and extend. Repeat until done.

Good comments here. But anyway, I was really surprised because I always thought that F-18 flies so well in low speeds and has a better thrust to weight ratio for high speeds to keep the energy. So I was guessing that Mig-15 is no match for Hornet.

Having a thrust to weight ratio of 0.54 (Wikipedia) it performs so good that I can not turn better than him in planar dogfight.

But I remember also that I was fighting with Mig-15 against AI F-5E and I could never kill him. At that time I thought Mig-15 is too bad against modern fighters. Maybe I am a bad dogfighter :)

That because your wings are not design for that kind of flight, even tho you can do it and you have a way better T/W ratio you are in a much higher AoA therefore bleeding WAY more energy, that's it can get harder to keep up in a horizontal turn fight specially at very low speeds. keep your speed over 250/300 and should be an easy fight

easiest tactic to win this fight..

before the merge, open left.... then, a few seconds before the merge, turn right into the mig 15 to the right.. keep your speed below 400 before the merge.

high yoyo's to keep behind him.

You can kill both of them before they kill your wingman.

The Rope-A-Dope works! Forget about scissors, yo-yo's and what have we. :)

rope and dope ? LoL its all fun and games until you take a fox 2 up the ass...

yeah, I know, the Mig15 wont do it... but better not take bad habits.