CR-4P

The Model CR-4P is a cheap, mass-produced aircraft first designed and built by Hoover Heavy Industries but now licensed to several small manufacturing companies such as MacLeach Manufacturing. For many Skyrates it was the first plane they ever flew, but none worth his grog would stay in it long. The "Crap," as it came to be known, was about as fast and maneuverable as a rock, and saving up for a better plane is about all its pilots ever did.

In recent times, heavily modified CR-4Ps with upgraded engines and weapons have been encountered, and have proved to be difficult opponents even for experienced Skyrates. These mysterious planes have been dubbed "Phantom Junkers."

Flying the CR-4P
Every Skyrate begins the game in a CR-4P and must work their way up to a better craft. The CR-4P is slow, weak and exceptionally difficult to fight in. Thankfully, while flying a CR-4P you will usually only face other CR-4Ps (aka G01D-F15H) in Combat (unless you have purchased Combat Infamy from the Skill Tree), though it is quite possible to encounter Thors and Nomads from time to time.

Avoid the Nomad; unless you can keep ahead of them and know what you're doing, the tailgun will chew you up and spit you out as a pile of scrap - fortunately if you go to full throttle you can outrun the Nomad as it's slower than the CR-4P. Obviously don't try and tail a Nomad unless you're feeling spectacularly suicidal. Maneuvers and a long lead could help you however; the Nomad tends to chase you, so you could try to Immelman and open up on it, then swerve and use Afterburner to avoid that rear arc or clear it quickly. The Nomad is not exactly graceful and can be outmaneuvered with some luck and persistance, but try not to black out and expect to lose armour. Otherwise, just out of dodge quickly.

As for the Thor, they're not that hard, especially once you pick up Afterburner, which allows you to negate the Thor's speed advantage and keep tailing it, at which point all you need to do is shred it with your main gun. Alternately, just do your best to outmaneuver it, which isn't as hard as it sounds if you drop speed for hard turns. The Thor doesn't tend to dish out lots of damage, so no need to worry about getting shredded unless you stay in those front arcs too long.

Fighting the CR-4P
The nice, simple firing arc makes fighting in a CR-4P intuitive. If you begin facing your enemy, make an initial strafing run, then immediately turn into the other CR-4P's turn (again, when in a CR-4P, you will usually only face other CR-4Ps - with the exception mentioned above). You will be able to out maneuver them and fire on their side while remaining well clear of their firing arc. Repeat until you've shot them down. In higher tier planes, the same strategy works well; CR-4Ps are relatively minor threats. Strafe them from behind to maximize damage.