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Hello Pilots, welcome to the fourth episode of BluePrints.
In this episode, the British Hawker Fury, *** and the Gloster Gladiator.
The Fury variants are the first aircraft available to you when first starting out the British
aviation line. This single-seat, open cockpit biplane fighter
possesses a single in-line, liquid cooled, Rolls Royce V12 engine, powering a wooden
twin-bladed propeller. The fuselage, wings and tail possess a metal framework and fabric
skin. In addition, the forward fuselage up to the cockpit and engine cowling is covered
in duralumin sheets. The Fury prototype made its first flight in 1931, and after a successful
test and evaluation period, entered production for service in Britain’s Royal Air Force.
As with all reserve aircraft, repairs are free of charge, so don’t worry about crashing
into the next hangar. The standard Fury Mk I features the 525 hp
Rolls-Royce Kestrel IIS engine. This power plant propels this aircraft to a top speed
of 276 Km/h, or 293 Km/h with the use of WEP. Sadly, this makes the Fury Mk I the slowest
aircraft in the reserve tier. With the instalment of upgrades, top speed is boosted to 296 Km/h,
or 310 Km/h with the use of WEP. Even with a fully upgraded Fury Mk I, you barely outrun
the Russian I-15. Climb rate is on the low side as well. With
only 10 m/s, this aircraft is tied with the I-15 for the slowest climber in its tier.
You can temporarily boost your ascend to 14 m/s with the use of WEP. Fully upgrading amends
the slow climb rate somewhat, and boosts it to a more acceptable 13 m/s. You can further
increase it to 18 m/s with the use of WEP. Turn time seems to be this aircraft’s only
strength. With only 7.7 seconds per full turn, you can out turn most aircraft, struggling
only with the Japanese Ki-10. Upgrading boosts this figure further to 6.6 seconds, which
is among the best turn times in the game. The Fury Mk II features a stronger 640 hp
Rolls-Royce Kestrel VI engine, in addition to aerodynamic wheel covering and additional
stabilizer braces. These modifications boost top speed to 338 Km/h, or a temporary 346
Km/h with the use of WEP. This improvement in speed gives the Mk II a better fighting
chance against the other reserves. Upgrading further increases top speed to 354 Km/h, or
360 Km/h with WEP. This makes the Mk II the fastest of the Furies, and the only one capable
to keep up with other reserves in a straight line race.
The improvement in power is reflected on the climb rate as well, as this aircraft is now
capable of maintaining a 16 m/s climb, or a 21 m/s climb with the use of WEP, and can
as such out climb most reserves. Upgrading further boosts these figures to 20 m/s or
27 m/s with WEP, and enables you to keep up with stock Ki-10s in vertical battles.
The heavier engine negatively affects turn time. With 9.2 seconds needed to fulfil a
turn, you will struggle to dogfight against pretty much anything that isn’t a P-26.
Upgrading amends this somewhat, but the resulting 8.7 seconds turn time still doesn’t make
this plane a good dogfighter. The Hawker *** Mk I is the Carrier-based
version of the Hawker Fury. Modifications included a more powerful 590 hp Rolls-Royce
Kestrel IIS engine, stronger landing gear legs, enlarged fin and increased wingspan,
as well as flotation devices incorporated in the upper wing and tail to help maintaining
the plane afloat in case of forced water landings. The additional weight and drag affected the
performance of the *** negatively. The stronger engine enabled a higher top speed
than the Fury Mk I, but with only 286 Km/h or 300 Km/h with WEP, there isn’t much you
can outrun in this aircraft. Upgrading boosts top speed to 303 Km/h or 317 Km/h with WEP,
but still leaves the Mk I’s performance as merely mediocre.
The climb rate of this aircraft is the worst of its tier, barely scratching the 9 m/s mark,
or 12 m/s with WEP. Upgrades somewhat amend this to 12 m/s or 16 m/s with WEP, but don’t
expect to survive long enough to climb above your enemies.
Turn time is equally bad, clocking in at 10.1 seconds. Upgrading doesn’t help much, as
the resulting 9.3 seconds still won’t save you in dogfights.
The discontinued *** Mk II received a stronger 608 hp Rolls-Royce Kestrel V engine, as well
as an arrestor hook for carrier operations. The top speed of 302 Km/h or 314 Km/h with
WEP is mediocre, and doesn’t really add to the fighting capabilities of this aircraft.
Upgrading improves these figures to 320 Km/h or 331 Km/h with WEP, and puts the Mk II in
the middle of the performance list. Turn time is even worse than that of the previous
model, clocking in at 10.1 seconds stock and 9.3 seconds upgraded. Do your sanity a favour
and stay away from the Nimrods. These four aircraft feature the same armament.
The two synchronous firing 7.7mm Vickers E machine guns mounted on the nose can carry
a total of 1200 rounds and fire at 500 rounds per minute. The resulting 0.33 Kg/s density
of fire should put these aircraft on par with the other reserves in terms of damage output;
however the available ammo belts greatly hinder these guns’ abilities in effectively shooting
down other aircraft. The Universal belt features Tracer, Armour Piercing and Adjustment Incendiary
bullets in a 1:2:1 ratio. For inexperienced players, this is the belt to choose. The Tracer
belt features Tracer and Armour Piercing bullets in a 3:1 ratio, and is as such almost useless
in taking down aircraft or armoured vehicles. You should not pick this Ammo belt unless
you’re fine with throwing marshmallows at your enemies. The Stealth belt features Incendiary,
Armour Piercing and Adjustment Incendiary bullets in a 1:3:1 ratio, and is as such the
belt with the most damage potential, but can make it difficult to hit fast moving enemy
aircraft. None of these aircraft possess flaps, and
none can carry bombs. As such, you’re limited to destroying armoured vehicles, Triple A
vehicles and positions and artillery positions, as well as patrol boats.
The British Reserves are among the worst fighters in the game. My recommendations are using
the Fury Mk I as a low altitude dogfighter due to its good turn time and roll rate, and
using the Fury Mk II as a medium to high altitude Boom and Zoom fighter. Skip the Nimrods altogether
if you wish to not break your keyboard. My name has been MikeGoesBoo.. Wait a moment,
it can’t be all that bad can it? The Gloster Gladiator was the last British
biplane to enter service with the Royal Air Force in 1937. This is the only Biplane in
the game with an enclosed cockpit, and features aerodynamic wheel covering as well as a 830
hp Bristol Mercury VIII radial engine, powering a three-bladed metal propeller.
These characteristics are implemented somewhat poorly in-game, with a top speed of only 335
Km/h or 348 Km/h with WEP stock, comparable to the Fury Mk II, and a top speed of 358
Km/h or 372 Km/h with WEP whilst fully upgraded. Climb rate is relatively poor as well, with
11 m/s or 15 m/s stock, which is boosted to 14 m/s or 22 m/s using WEP with a full upgrade.
Turn time is quite good, taking only 8.2 seconds. A Full upgrade further decreases this time
to 7.3 seconds. The Gladiator can’t carry bombs, but does
possess landing flaps. Use these sparingly in combat situations, or you will bleed of
speed very quickly. The true strength of this aircraft lies in
its armament consisting of four 7.7mm Browning machine guns. Two are mounted on the sides
of the fuselage and fire synchronously through the propeller, whilst the other two are mounted
in pods under the lower wings and fire freely. The ammo belts for this aircraft are more
focused on air-to-air combat. The Universal belt features Tracer, Armour Piercing and
Incendiary rounds in a 1:3:2 ratio. The Tracer belt features Incendiary Tracer and Armour
Piercing-Incendiary rounds in a 5:1 ratio. The Stealth belt features Armour Piercing,
Armour Piercing-Incendiary and Incendiary rounds in a 2:2:1 Ratio. Inexperienced players
should therefore use the Tracer belt, whilst experienced pilots might want to stick to
the Stealth belt. The choice of ammo types, in conjunction with
the density of fire of 0.66 Kg/s, and the Gladiator’s well-rounded stats make this
aircraft the best choice for air-to-air combat. The drawback? It is not immediately available
to you, as you need to research and purchase this aircraft in order to fly it, pay for
the 177 silver lion repair costs, and risk getting into tougher fights due to the 1.3
battle rating For the new pilots out there, use the Furies
as your main force in your British roster and unlock the Gladiator as soon as possible,
to give yourself an easier time to research later aircraft.
My name has been MikeGoesBoom, thank you for watching. Make sure to share this video with
your friends and subscribe to be notified when the next Blueprints is released. You
can follow me on Facebook to be notified of any new project, get to know me better and
directly contact me. Next episode: The Japanese Kawasaki Ki-10.
It’s this time of the video again, welcome back to bonus!
Yes, I am mad. Those freaking Nimrods were just absolutely horrible to fly. If by any
chance I offended you by criticizing your favourite plane, I’m not sorry. You have
terrible taste. Enough of the rage, I’ve found out something
quite interesting on Google this week. I got bored and decided to search for myself. At
first I used my old gaming alias, “mikekevin90” and found the usual old forum posts on games
I used to play. But when I searched for MikeGoesBoom, I found out that a War Thunder Forums community
manager by the name of Scarper actually dedicated a post to my series, and it seems to have
gotten quite the audience there. If you’re watching this, Mr Scarper, I want to thank
you for going through the effort and helping me grow my audience! And I’m so sorry I
went quiet for so long. Lastly, I seem to be finishing the reserves
next video. And I want you guys to pick which aircraft I should cover next! On the screen
right now should be a link to a strawpoll I made, as well as in the video’s description.
Cast your vote and I will do that episode next!
That’s it for this episode I’m afraid, thank you for watching and keep your eyes
on the sky, pilots. Until the next briefing.