War Thunder - PO-2 Review
Having unlocked the PO-2 during the Halloween event, I decide to take it out for a spin to see if its as good as some of its fans suggest and how it compares to its competitors.
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Game: War Thunder ⬅️
#warthunder #biplane #review #toreno #aircraft
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Game: War Thunder ⬅️
#warthunder #biplane #review #toreno #aircraft
Transcript
00:00Hello everybody, and welcome to another episode of War Thunder.
00:03As you can probably remember, I did an episode yesterday or the day before about the HE-51B2 Hydroplane, where we basically did an event and you got the Hydroplane.
00:17This is another event unlockable plane, the Po-2.
00:21As you can see, it's a biplane.
00:23One 7.62mm machine gun in the back, a Shakas machine gun.
00:29Only 200 bullets, which isn't a lot.
00:32And two 100kg bombs, or two 50kg bombs.
00:36You can get rid of them if you want.
00:38Now this is a light bomber, so you may well get the bomber reloading at times.
00:45I haven't tested this out yet, I haven't really flown it at all.
00:49It doesn't look all that great, if I'm honest.
00:5379mph, turn time of 30 seconds.
00:57This is in a biplane, remember.
00:59Planes that are usually ridiculously good at turning, and it has a battle rating of 1.
01:06So, not exactly a great plane.
01:10But it has a bit of a following, at least in War Thunder, because it was in the game before and it was removed for whatever reason.
01:18I think if you had it on your accounts before, you kept it.
01:21Which, you know, I've kept a lot of planes that have been removed.
01:24But yeah, it was removed.
01:27This was before War Thunder really took off, so not many people have it.
01:31But they did a competition for Halloween.
01:35I think they may have done it for Halloween last year as well, can't remember.
01:39Basically, you do three races, come third to first in three of them, and you get the plane.
01:46And I managed to.
01:48And I haven't really tested it out that much.
01:51I've done a quick test flight of it, and yeah, it is slow.
01:55The first test flight I managed to take off at 45mph was flying along 50mph in a biplane at about 30mph.
02:05I tried to lose some weight, lift myself up, drop in the bombs.
02:12Second time I managed to take off, a bit more successful, but it's still a slow as hell plane.
02:18So I'm going to quickly take it to an arcade match.
02:21Where I'll probably be slaughtered, but yeah.
02:25Before we do that, we'll quickly look at the information.
02:29Now, apparently it was the U-2, originally.
02:34But after the... I presume this is the designer...
02:38Oh yeah, created by Nikolai... Nikolai... apologies to Russians if I've mispronounced this.
02:43Polikarpov.
02:45After his death in 1944, redesignated the Po-2.
02:49And it stayed in production until 1953.
02:52It first flew in 1928.
02:55So yeah, this is a long-lift aircraft.
02:59But before I get into too much of a discussion on the history of it, we'll quickly go to an arcade match.
03:05So I'll see you in a minute.
03:07Welcome back everyone, in our arcade game.
03:10We're in Stalingrad, don't know if it's showing up.
03:13Groundschleife and Stalingrad.
03:15Just checked the opposition and...
03:18Doesn't seem too bad.
03:20I've been having a few situations lately where, despite having only tier 1 aircraft, or extremely low battle rating aircraft,
03:27I've been ending up in...
03:29You know, against matches with monoplanes and...
03:32Twin-engine bombers and... you know how it is.
03:36Now, because we're a light bomber, we get the bomber spawning, it seems.
03:41As you can see, we're miles away from the main action.
03:47We're at 2,000 meters, we're going flat out, and all we can manage is 80 odd miles an hour.
03:53This is what a TB-3 feels like when you're first going into action, except that's got about 20 miles per hour extra speed.
04:00And a lot more gunners to protect you with.
04:04So, let's try a rate of climb.
04:07Oh dear, this is awful.
04:10It's literally tilted the nose up barely a few degrees, and we're just losing speed like mad.
04:17We're barely climbing and we're still losing speed.
04:20Okay, we've got bombs, but it's a light bomber, it's supposed to...
04:24This is an arcade, imagine being realistic with the...
04:27Oh dear.
04:28With the less, um...
04:31Forgiving flight models.
04:33Um, right.
04:35We've managed to stabilize, we're only climbing a few meters a second.
04:41We'll try diving it, I mean, we're going to have to dive anyway.
04:45It picks up speed okay-ish, I mean, still quite slow.
04:50I'll quickly try turning, full circle. It said 30 seconds, but...
04:56In arcade at least, I don't think that's the case.
05:00Now we're... Oh, we're being shot at. Come on.
05:03If I get pilot shot here, this'll really annoy me.
05:07And our gunner's opening up, and we've already got a hit.
05:10Let's see if I can't...
05:14Oh, no.
05:16Now I take control of the gunners while the enemy's maneuvering.
05:19Once they actually start shooting, I leave it to the AI, who, um, died.
05:26Now here's a new thing, I don't know if this is a recent change, but it seems when you're gunner gets shot now, they will actually disappear.
05:32Before they used to, you know, they'd be made unconscious, but they would still actually be there.
05:38I noticed this in another match, with my bombers, and I noticed the gunners were just disappearing as I was taking shots.
05:44But, um, yeah, it seems to be confirmed, at least, well, for me at least.
05:49Maybe it's a graphic option, I don't know.
05:52Or some other option.
05:54Now, of course, we've only got bombs.
05:56They're really overkill for these sort of positions, but, you know, I'm not gonna ram to F and...
06:01It's not like I'm using my rear gunner anymore.
06:04It's not like he'd be effective at it anyway.
06:08So we've got... I think we'll get four ground kills out of this.
06:14Four ground kills. Four bombs, four ground kills.
06:18Overkill, but they guarantee you actually kill something.
06:23And we crashed.
06:25Well, not really anyone's fault.
06:27We'll try out another arcade match in a second, see how that goes.
06:31So, welcome back everyone.
06:33Did okay in the other match, actually got a World of Sword Art medal, I believe.
06:38Um, yeah. So that was good.
06:41There it is. Oh, no, there it is, third class.
06:44So we know how the aircraft will be, or is, roughly.
06:49Um, it's not great, but it's a lot better than I expected it would be.
06:54Um, you know, when you compare to...
06:58You know, I did my review on the Hydroplane, it wasn't that great.
07:02But this one, you know, has its strengths and weaknesses, it's not just...
07:06You know, it's not like they've taken on the I-15s and made the worst version of it.
07:11Which, you know, it's... Not Gaijin, obviously, I mean the Russians.
07:15You know, Gaijin, you know, it was sort of limited in fire planes that existed and all that.
07:20So I'll talk a little bit about the history of the aircraft, I've got my book out.
07:24It was originally called the, um...
07:26Oh, no, we talked about the name change, didn't we?
07:29Sorry, I do these in segments and sometimes I forget what I've talked about.
07:33Um, quite a lot of these were built.
07:35They were used for a lot of stuff.
07:37Spraying crops with insecticide, transporting sick, seaplanes, passenger aircraft.
07:43I don't know why the hell you would use this as a passenger aircraft.
07:46It only takes up one person, but still.
07:49Um, I've got written down here, 13,000 in service.
07:53Now, I've heard between 20,000 and 30,000 were built.
07:56I don't know why there's such a discrepancy, apparently a lot were built unofficially.
07:59After production officially ended, which was like 1952.
08:03Um, you know, it started flying in 1928, so a long time.
08:09Um, so, yeah, it was a popular aircraft and it was used to harass the German troops.
08:14Um, it's not written in my book, but from what I've heard, um...
08:18They would get close to the Germans, turn their engines off, and then just glide in.
08:24So, you know, um...
08:27If you glide in, you're not really making much noise, so the Germans aren't expecting you.
08:31Next thing they know, you're dropping bombs, your rear gunner's firing madly.
08:35I mean, I don't know if they took the rear gunners with them or they left them.
08:39Since you're probably not going to be lasting too long if you weren't found.
08:43Oddly enough, apparently the Germans called it the sewing machine on account of the engine noise.
08:48Which kind of goes against the whole they turn their engine off to glide in, um, story.
08:53But, I don't know.
08:55I suppose you would have had to turn it on again to leave.
08:58Um, and yeah, they did quite good at harassing the Germans.
09:02And these were actually used in the Korean War.
09:04Apparently quite successfully.
09:06I mean, maybe not as successfully as other aircraft, but...
09:10You know, considering they were 30-odd-geared biplanes, they did quite well.
09:15Well, apparently...
09:17I like to sort of rely more on the media for this information and other internet sources because...
09:21Most of the books I have only deal with up to 1945.
09:26Um, but apparently they had quite a little bit...
09:29Well, they had a bit of success, um, bombing coalition...
09:33UN airfields.
09:35Well, presumably using the same sort of tactics, um...
09:38Dropping firebombs, I think it was.
09:40And other bombs just over...
09:42Oh, I've lost all power.
09:43On the, um, airfields.
09:45Again, small aircraft made hard to detect.
09:49And they had a bit of success doing it.
09:51And I've heard a story...
09:53I've heard it quite a bit before, but, um...
09:56Oh, soft landing.
09:58Can't fix the engine, just let them waste their bullets on us.
10:01Oh, we're dead.
10:02Um, we might as well carry on the game, just while I explain this.
10:04But, um, yeah, I've read this on...
10:06I've heard the story before, but I've also seen it online, so I'll...
10:09Use that version, but apparently the...
10:12There was a...
10:14Jet trying to take down one of the O-2s, um...
10:18And it slowed right...
10:19Apparently, you know, it's a slow aircraft, so apparently the jet tried...
10:22Well, I've heard two versions of the story.
10:24One was the jet tried to slow down and crash, and the other was that it overshot the aircraft and crashed.
10:29Um...
10:30Kind of sounds believable, I mean...
10:32We had, um...
10:33Fireplanes in the last match sort of...
10:35Overshooting us, so...
10:36You know, a jet...
10:37I can easily believe a jet overshot it.
10:39Um...
10:40Slowing down to engage it doesn't sound like something you'd do.
10:43I don't know why you'd waste all your speed and...
10:46Energy to just slow yourself down to a...
10:48Ridiculous speed to take out one of these, I mean...
10:51Take out an O-2.
10:52I mean, when you're going 60 or 80 miles an hour with...
10:55A forgiving half-flight model, I mean, it must've been going ridiculously slow to get there.
11:00I've heard similar stories about the Jerks, but at least they would've been going slow to begin with, um...
11:05So maybe there is some truth into it.
11:07Um...
11:08I think a Skyraider also shot one down, I think it was, like...
11:11The only...
11:12The first plane or the only plane a Skyraider shot down.
11:15So...
11:16They were...
11:17Successful, I mean...
11:18Maybe not as successful as other aircraft, but considering...
11:21They were built nearly 10 years before the war, and they were bioplanes...
11:25I mean, you see this sort of story a few times in...
11:28World War 2, um...
11:29Sawfish did quite good, the...
11:31Gladiators...
11:33I've heard that the, um, CR-42, the Italian biplane...
11:36Um, I've heard some people say it was one of the best biplanes in World War 2, um...
11:40Didn't really help them that much, but, um...
11:44I don't remember...
11:45You know, probably didn't have as many successes as the Sawfish, or...
11:47For example, but, you know, probably did quite well.
11:50So, Po-2 does seem to have been a quite successful aircraft.
11:54Well, I suppose the word, um...
11:56You know, best bang for your buck, I mean...
11:58The biplane's quite cheap and easy to master, I'm guessing, and...
12:03You know, it caused...
12:04Damage well out of proportion of what you'd expect it to do.
12:07Well, with the Bismarck being...
12:09Having it rather jammed...
12:11Rather jammed by the Sawfish, you know...
12:13One's a bi...
12:14You know, a biplane, a...
12:16Cheap, flimsy, metal, wooden construction managed to destroy, or cripple, a...
12:22Huge metal battleship.
12:24Um, I've actually started talking about the Sawfish now.
12:26Um, I'm just going to finish this game.
12:28Um, I won't show you all of it, because obviously that would take a while, but, um...
12:31So I'll get back to you in a minute, and then I'll give my final verdict on the Po-2.
12:35Welcome back, everyone.
12:36So, finished the match.
12:37I always finish these matches, because, you know, I don't want to leave people in a lurch...
12:41Because they've lost a person.
12:43Uh, you can see I've got some upgrades to it already.
12:45The turret was from the last match.
12:48Just unlocked the airframe.
12:50So, final verdicts on the Po-2.
12:52Let's actually get the Po-2 up.
12:54Um, I actually really liked this aircraft.
12:56I wasn't expecting to, after the B-2 hydroplane.
13:00Um, the difference between this and the hydroplane, um...
13:03Well, the hydroplane's bad, but it's bad, because it's like...
13:07They've taken an OK plane, and it's even worse.
13:10This is... It's not bad, but it's not as useful in that...
13:14But it's a unique plane.
13:15It's not like...
13:17It's not like they've taken an I-15.
13:19I mean, it's super slow and all that, and no guns.
13:23I mean, yeah, this is useless as a dogfighter.
13:26It has no forward-firing guns.
13:28It has a single 7.962mm machine gun.
13:33But, it carries a pretty good bomb load for a biplane in a Tier 1 battle.
13:39It has a battle rating of 1.
13:42But, despite being a battle rating of 1, these bombs can still be useful up to...
13:46You know, probably...
13:47You can take out medium tanks with 50kg bombs, if you're precise.
13:52This carries 100kg bombs, you know.
13:55Against armoured cars and medium tanks, light tanks.
13:58This would still be quite useful.
14:00So, yeah, I actually really like this aircraft.
14:03Um, I'm not going to be using it loads, obviously.
14:05Because it's a...
14:06You know, I generally stick to higher-tier battles.
14:09And I'll get the inefficient research bonus from it.
14:14But, yeah, I really like this aircraft.
14:16So, it's unfortunate you can't buy it.
14:19I still don't know why they took it out.
14:21I mean, yeah, like I said, it's not exactly the most useful aircraft.
14:24But, it is a fun little aircraft.
14:26And, it's a shame you can only get it in special events.
14:29I would recommend anyone who gets a chance to get it, to get it.
14:33Really, yeah, I really like this aircraft.
14:35But, anyway, thank you for watching.
14:37I hope you enjoyed the video.
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14:44Thanks for watching. I'll see you next time.