C.202
| World War II aircraft | |
| Macchi C.202 | |
| Variant of | Macchi C.200 |
|---|---|
| Nickname | Folgore |
| Type | Fighter |
| Country of origin | Italy |
| Manufacturer | Macchi |
| Crew | Single-seat |
| how to edit | |
Contents
The C.202 in World War II
Development
Unit Deployment
External Links
| Aces High II aircraft | |
| C.202 | |
| |
| Variant of | See infobox doc |
|---|---|
| Type | Fighter |
| Crew | One |
| Aces High II loadout options | |
| Package 1 | 2x 12.7mm MG, 400 rounds/gun 2x 7.7mm MG, 500 rounds/gun |
| Package 2 | 2x 12.7mm MG, 400 rounds/gun |
| Aces High II Main Arenas | |
| Earliest MA | Early War |
| Typical perk cost | 0 (Late War) |
| ENY value | 40 (Late War) |
| Available on carrier | no |
| how to edit | |
The C.202 in Aces High II
Probably the least popular plane from month to month in the game, the C.202 really has few redeeming characteristics in comparison to most of the planes. It is slow, has little firepower, turns only maybe a bit better than average, and has poor cockpit views, traits which tend to leave a poor impression. Getting kills is difficult in the C.202 and landing them even more so. Add to that a younger brother, the C.205, which is far more capable and you have a recipe for unpopularity. Having flown the C.202 from time to time I can understand why it isn't very popular. There are typically three things people tend to look for in fighters, turn-rate, speed, and firepower, any one of which can make a plane at least fair. The C.202 doesn't really excel in any of them and is far below average in most. This makes for something that really isn't very capable and tends to give more assist than kills. People in cannon armed planes will jump in and inflict more damage in one pass than you have in 3 and steal a lot of kills from you.
Engine Power
The engine on the C.202 is not particularly strong with a cruise speed of 307mph at sea-level/ 315mph with WEP. Altitude increases speed dramatically and by 15K the C.202 is capable of 353mph. Top speed is almost 375mph at 16K with WEP, not unrespectable though the C.202 is certainly best at medium altitudes. Climb rate is also quite good, something that might surprise a lot of people. The C.202 can maintain over 3,500ft/minute of climb right up to 14K (with WEP) which is quite impressive. Unfortunately, the WEP time available is only 5 minutes and the use of WEP is very important to this aircraft. Save WEP for battle if at all possible and don't waste it climbing or sprinting to the battle area. Fuel range on internal fuel is 40 minutes, a lot, though no drop tank options are available. The C.202 is certainly most comfortable in the medium altitude range though, so that is the best place to fly it.
Aces High II Performance Charts
Firepower
Firepower on the C.202 is second weakest in the game for fighters, just ahead of the Ki-43-II, and with the Spitfire and Hurricane MkI tieing for weakest and likely the biggest reason people discount it as a good fighter. The plane has two options for guns but both include a pair of cowl mounted 12.7mm machineguns with 400 rounds of ammunition. This is a good start but unfortunately there is little to back it up. An option pair of wing mounted 7.7mm machineguns with 500 rounds/gun offers little in real firepower and might actually be better left on the ground. I tend to take them since I don't think the extra weight of the guns detracts much overall and gives me something else to shoot and hope for hits. The problem is, in snap-shots or in BnZ style attacks, the C.202 just doesn't have the hitting power to get the job done quickly. A good pass with hits might not even cause any damage and leave the opponent with only a scratch. This opens the door for others to jump in and knock the enemy out, or at least inflict enough damage to be awarded the kill later. You may find yourself doing the work but still just landing lots of assists. Never Head-On with a C.202, you are bound to lose and you are only likely to possibly damage your opponent. I would set the 12.7mm convergence out to the maximum of D650 in order to achieve best results at medium or longer ranges. Convergence on the 7.7mm's is better short, or at what you find are typical combat ranges.
Maneuverability
Maneuverability is pretty good at medium and higher speeds, though the sustained turn rate is hurt by the lack of engine power to maintain a good corner speed. The C.202 also tends to bleed speed a little faster than some aircraft in turns (some people feel it bleeds very quickly). The C.202 is actually smaller in every dimension than a Spit V and weighs in at 6,500lbs, certainly making it a lightweight. Roll rate at all speeds is very good though the plane seems like it wants to yaw a bit when reversing rolls or using rudder. The C.202 is really tough though and can stand a lot of punishment due to airframe stresses holding together with the wings creaking under heavy high speed maneuvering. The C.202 is fairly quick in acceleration in the early part of a dive and well controlled up to about 550mph where it starts to suffer buffeting and the early signs of compression. By 600mph you are likely in serious trouble though as compression will leave the C.202 with little hope in recovery. The stall properties are fairly harsh, but easily recovered simply by releasing pressure on the stick and allowing the plane to regain airspeed.
Fighting in the C.202
It's hard to give great details on how to best use the C.202 because it tends to have two opposite issues. For offense, to really get kills and not just assists, you need to get in and maintain a tracking shot. The lack of cannons or significant numbers of medium machineguns, leaves the C.202 with the problem of delivering enough firepower quickly. That means snapshots are less likely to be successful and most of the time you are working to get into more tracking shot opportunities. Of course, the flip side of that problem is, with tracking shots you tend to be turning more, and exposing yourself to prolonged loss of speed through turns, leaving you more vulnerable to other enemies or getting suckered into a prolonged turn-fight. The C.202 is not great in a prolonged turn fight against a good turner. It's best to try and find a lone enemy, then use an advantage in altitude to convert into speed to slow him down so he can't escape. Then use your remaining energy to gain position for a tracking shot at short-medium range. Keeping close to friendly forces will likely make this much safer, so always maintain good information about the position of your enemy in relation to other friendly forces. The only real good news is that the 12.7mm machineguns are cowl mounted with a pretty fair amount of ammo. They are sufficient to get the job done and have good convergence properties, making shots much easier at short and medium ranges.
Defensively, the C.202 is good with speed and should be able to give the enemy a pretty tough time. It is small, rolls pretty well, and can be controlled well at high speeds. You need to keep your speed up and do not want to have to dive to pick up speed. The C.202 gets worse as it gets lower so only use what altitude you need to when building up energy for defense. Roll, turn, and against average climbers you may be able to climb away if under 14K and with WEP. The C.202 isn't helpless, although your low top speed is likely to make it necessary to defensively maneuver frequently since you can't build up separation easily.
A couple of final notes, the C.202 is often flown very poorly by inexperience pilots so doesn't usually show up as anything more than a poor turning Spitfire clone with weak guns. That gives people the false impression that the plane is near helpless, which isn't the case. The C.202 also doesn't tend to how up in kill streaks, landing a lot of assists because it can't seal the deal quickly. Often, the C.202 does all the leg work but another friendly will drop in and administer the killing blow in one pass, robbing the C.202 of the kill. It also has some really poor visibility issues, the rear is not very clear, the canopy has lots of intrusive rails, and the wings are mounted further forward that typical, blocking visibility to the forward/down position.
Fighting against the C.202
The C.202 should be relatively easy to beat or defend against since it doesn't have the instant killer ability of so many planes. It also tends to get weaker as altitudes decrease so through the natural progression of a fight (downwards) it tends to fall further out of a position of good performance. The C.202 is certainly one of the weakest opponents though and the pilots that fly it tend not to utilize it very effectively.
Offensively, stay fast and take snapshots on it while zooming back up above while setting up for another run. The C.202 can climb, so be a little careful of that, but it tends to get pushed into constant turning fights quite easily since it doesn't have the speed available to build in some separation time between defensive maneuvers where it can accelerate. The C.202 is an average turner, though I think the roll rate is clearly better than average. If you have a Spitfire, or similar turner, you should be able to easily out-turn the C.202 especially if speeds get low and the turns are extended. The C.202 really flounders at anything under 200mph and is constantly fighting a stall. Be aware that I've seen C.202's used as bait more than as actual fighters. A C.202 will bring along some friends, act as bait while trading lots of altitude for defensive speed to extend his survival, and then let the other fighters bounce you. You may think you are dealing with an easy kill, until you realize you have a train of enemy cons following you.
Defensively, you are unlikely to encounter many C.202's but if you do then you need to consider what component of fighting you are better at. This will either be in turn rate or speed to the C.202. I can't think of a slower plane that turns worse, nor are there many aircraft that can't easily out-run a C.202. Chances are you have one or the other. Try and keep your speeds up if you plan to extend and gently dive away. The C.202 can follow a dive to great speed, but if he can't immediately catch you then it is unlikely he can in the long run either. Once low the C.202 is going to be decelerating quickly to the 307 mph sea-level cruise speed while you may have more than 50mph of advantage. Be careful of the C.202 climb rate though since it can catch a lot of aircraft in sustained climb right up to 14K. This can be a problem if you decide to come back after extending since he may have already climbed higher than you and you may be simply putting yourself into the same position you started in.
