BF3 Jet Piloting - Tips?

Makhaira

Makhaira

Makhaira

Soldato
Joined
23 Nov 2007
Posts
4,994
Location
Lancashire, UK
Ok, so I'm fairly useful on the ground, but put me in the air and I'm nothing more than a piece of noisy fast moving scenery.

- I seem to bank extremely slowly
- If I go too high I seem to get "stuck" for a few seconds where it's like flying in treacle, before the jet stalls back towards ground and I can pull out.
- I can't spot other aerial targets to save my life
- Strafing usually involves a crash

On the plus side I'm "epic" at flying around in circles...

Any tips?
 
Makhaira said:
Ok, so I'm fairly useful on the ground, but put me in the air and I'm nothing more than a piece of noisy fast moving scenery.

- I seem to bank extremely slowly
- If I go too high I seem to get "stuck" for a few seconds where it's like flying in treacle, before the jet stalls back towards ground and I can pull out.
- I can't spot other aerial targets to save my life
- Strafing usually involves a crash

On the plus side I'm "epic" at flying around in circles...

Any tips?
Click to expand...

I suffer from the same problems with the choppers. Keep getting engine stall warning and then can't pull out of the death nose dive to the floor !!!

For planes, i tried using an xbox controller, but in the end just simply used keyboard WSAD and arrow keys for banking, turning, I tried using the mouse but controlling rolls etc was damn hard when it was set to 3600 DPI, I tried cranking the dpi down but then suffered badly when trying to lock up ariel targets as the response was too slow.
 
wildman said:
I suffer from the same problems with the choppers. Keep getting engine stall warning and then can't pull out of the death nose dive to the floor !!!

For planes, i tried using an xbox controller, but in the end just simply used keyboard WSAD and arrow keys for banking, turning, I tried using the mouse but controlling rolls etc was damn hard when it was set to 3600 DPI, I tried cranking the dpi down but then suffered badly when trying to lock up ariel targets as the response was too slow.
Click to expand...

Its insane how sensitive the roll is with high DPI on the mouse. I've yet to manage the heli yet, so I basically avoid aircrafts and stick to land! Safer for both teams :D
 
Choppers seem so slow in this game, Jets I use the xbox controller with outside view....im yet to actually kill anything in a jet, im one of those annoying people that uses it as fast transport and then ejects :D
 
I'm no way an amazing pilot but just fly around all happy spamming Q spotting everything. See armour on minimap, bank out to the edge of the map, swing back in, fire all rocket pods, if most were on target it should be disabled (you don't even need to touch anything apart from fire once you're lined up - easy) then just switch to guns for vehicle destroy + kill.

Also, air radar is an awesome upgrade. Really helps when trying to stay behind or loose an enemy jet.


Air radar, flares, rocket pods is my current load out.

No one decent in jets uses heatseakers so no need for stealth, which everyone seems to love. If you get locked on by AA, stinger or heli just fly away from it with afterburners, you'll be out of lock soon.

As for the AA, even if they get a lock you only need one flare then you're free with your rockets. If they try their cannons, as has been said, just approach from further away. Honestly, the rocket pods should be more than enough to kill anything on the ground. Apart from infantry, which (after the new patch) die quite easily to your cannons.
 
its not just me!!!!! thank god!!!

me + any flying device = total fail

....shooting them out of the sky mind you....all over it :D

cheers for tips above, will help me too
 
Ive set up my xbox controller for flying but im still utterly useless. transport helis are just about manageable but my life expectancy is usually measured in seconds.
 
use the arrow keys and wasd

should help. outside view wont help you shoot....

fly out as far as you can get height too. then turn hard and you will see the whole battlefield in front of you. try and spot planes with q.

then you might have a chance to get behind another jet or have a run at a heli.
 
I pull hard turns by backing off the gas and using S (WASD) to slow the jet down whilst turning, it gets a very tight turn.
 
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If you apply the brake when turning you turn quicker. Im awful in jets though, give me the chopper anyday!
 
I found I got more luck in the choppers by staying as low as possible and hiding behind buildings/terrain etc. Pop up, find a target, shoot, gtfo.

Same goes for the jets really. Stay low and fly far away from the battlefield, gain altitude and fly in for an attack and then scream off as low and as fast as possible. If someone is on your tail in another jet I usually just die, haha :(

Try watching some videos on Youtube of the good pilots, theres plenty on there.
 
Random Guy said:
Why is this pray tell?
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Personally I think it's easier. No waiting for lock-ons, no dealing with flares, more rounds between lock-ons, etc.. The other thing is that your opponent gets no warning, unlike the heat seekers which practically scream HEY SOMEONE IS SHOOTING AT YOU!!1!. Plus, I love the seat-of-your-pants flying you have to do to stay on someones tail long enough to get them with the cannon, and I think it's good practice for dodging bogies on your tail.

The other advantage is that if you don't use heatseekers you can use the Air Radar unlock, which is incredibly helpful.
 
I recently became a master of both the jet and the chopper (excuse my ego)

I use an xbox controller for both. I only really started getting lots of kills in jets when I started to use the rudder.

Before the rudder - Following someone, they make a tiny movement left. To actually hit them with my machine gun I would have to rotate 90 to the left and then pull up to move my aimer left.

With the rudder - You stay level, move the rudder left very slighty and it moves your machine aim, like an actual gun you can move. Revelation!

Also use braking and sharp turn with rudder when getting chased. When flying I'll use 3rd person, but when attempting to shoot something it's always 1st person. I have max upgrades and I use:
Air radar - quite possibly the best upgrade, vital when dog fighting.
Flares - I find these better than the ECM jammer.
Land based missiles - 2 of these + a little machine gun fire will normally destroy a tank.
I don't use heatseeker at all in the jet, they don't reload fast enough compared to flares. Especially when you opponent is ducking and diving to avoid a lock.


As for the chopper, that does take a fair chunk more practice. Half my time was spent learning and judging how far you can lean forward without hitting the ground, that's done purely with practice. I fly 99% with 1st person, it's much easier to learn how far you can push it before smacking in to the floor. Once you get the hang of flying it's very easy to avoid missiles by hiding behind building/trees etc.
When you face an enemy helicopter always try and keep above it. As soon as I see one coming for me I'll jump straight on the ascend button. Use heatseekers but only fire when your fairly close as the flares will waste your missiles.
 
Random Guy said:
Why is this pray tell?
Click to expand...

Because it's easy to evade heatseekers with sharp turns, and if you're behind them getting a lock you're in a position to be shooting them with the cannons. The cannons kill a jet in about 1 second of sustained fire on target, that's not a lot. You can disable it with one burst. Heatseekers are overkill, and take longer.

Also, as has been said it clears up a space for better unlocks.
 
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