Aircrew On the Job Training v Pure Training

[Hano]

I'm in May 42 and still struggling with a lack of aircraft and trained pilots - What is the best mix of training and doing operations to gain experience, most of my aircrew are under 60 Exp, I cant afford to have units sit it out on the bench, but nor do I want to send lambs to the slaughter. How does doing operations improve experience as opposed to 100% zero range training?

[GetAssista]

I'm in May 42 and still struggling with a lack of aircraft and trained pilots - What is the best mix of training and doing operations to gain experience, most of my aircrew are under 60 Exp, I cant afford to have units sit it out on the bench, but nor do I want to send lambs to the slaughter. How does doing operations improve experience as opposed to 100% zero range training?

You don't want to train xp ahead of skills too much cause after aroud 50 xp skill training slows down noticeably. Keep your recent school grads in pure training units far from combat on a 100% training until they reach 65-70 in primary skill. Secondaries can be trained on the job through certain %, but also in training units, just different ones. it is better to shuffle pilots beween iunits than switch training types for units. Xp for fighters goes up when flying CAP, other guys can bomb something harmless, just do this all after you trained skills to a satisfactory level.

in general it all depends on your immediate needs and frontline situation, but always keep in mind that for e.g. fighter pilots the more trained and experienced guys will save you a lot of airframes later, even if you have troubles earlier while keeping those guys for longer in training away from the frontlines.

[LargeSlowTarget]

+1 to what GetAssista said. Be patient, fight delaying actions with the few skilled pilots at hand and the expendables while maximizing training of the freshmen away from the fighting up to skill 70. Use the first batches of skilled-up pilots on defensive CAP and naval search missions to gain exp. Strike missions should be limited to emergencies and milk-runs against undefended targets - even if the value of the milk-run target itself is of no importance, it will yield precious xp. Beware of enemy CAP traps to avoid unnecessary losses. When you have build-up a pool of 70+ skill and 50+ exp pilots and airframes, you may transition to a more offensive stance, since above these values, the yield of training slows and you need actual combat to improve further.

[JanSako]

Does 'bombing something harmless' and 'flying CAP over Tokyo' (in early '42 ) count as 'actual combat' for the purpose of earning XP?

[Xargun]

Does 'bombing something harmless' and 'flying CAP over Tokyo' (in early '42 ) count as 'actual combat' for the purpose of earning XP?

Yes - flying CAP over ANY base is considered combat and will yield XP gains. I have half a dozen fighter units simply flying 80% cap over the home islands earning XP for my pilots... You need to use both 100% training units and then actual flying missions to fully train up your pilots.

Xargun

[GetAssista]

Does 'bombing something harmless' and 'flying CAP over Tokyo' (in early '42 ) count as 'actual combat' for the purpose of earning XP?

Human opponents can surprise your overconfidence even in early 42, so yeah, some CAP over Tokyo might be a good idea if you don't know where his carriers are