Matrix Games Forums

I have some skilled pilots now. One has 17 kills.

If I send him to TRACOM does his skill "rub off" on new recruits? Can he teach what he knows?

Also, is it worth it to send him in a short scenario.


I am not playing the full campaign, I am playing Guadalcanal Scenario as Allies vs CPU IJN.

Probably not in a short campaign/scenario, but you can put him in a unit that is training other pilots to get their experience and skills higher. Then rotate the newly trained pilots out. They don't have to be in the best aircraft either for training.

As far as a campaign game goes, look at various AARs to see how people have done this and why. It is probably more beneficial to the Japanese than the Allies in a campaign game.

Pilots are eligible for TRACOM based on 80+ Experience, not number of kills. There have been numerous threads on this and a search of the forum using that term should find them.
Some players use TRACOM to store their best pilots safely until they get an aircraft worthy of them and can create an elite unit.

RangerJoe wrote: Fri Jan 27, 2023 9:50 pm Probably not in a short campaign/scenario, but you can put him in a unit that is training other pilots to get their experience and skills higher. Then rotate the newly trained pilots out. They don't have to be in the best aircraft either for training.

As far as a campaign game goes, look at various AARs to see how people have done this and why. It is probably more beneficial to the Japanese than the Allies in a campaign game.

Thanks, I have a couple "Training Mill" units in Australia that use the Wirraway fighter. My star pilot is a part of an elite group of P-40 drivers in Port Morseby. The majority of which are now aces due to the high level of combat above their field.

Maybe I will put one of my pilots from this unit in one of the Wirraway units and use his knowledge to sharpen some of those guys. That way when the new guys start out they will have a better baseline when they get thrown into combat.

BBfanboy wrote: Fri Jan 27, 2023 11:27 pm Pilots are eligible for TRACOM based on 80+ Experience, not number of kills. There have been numerous threads on this and a search of the forum using that term should find them.
Some players use TRACOM to store their best pilots safely until they get an aircraft worthy of them and can create an elite unit.

Thanks, in this case, the Pilot's experience is in the 90s. Between the manual, the forum and youtube there are aspects of the game that aren't always clear. It is always good to ask.

In this case, being that Gudalcanal is a time limited scenario, maybe it is not worth "storing" these pilots for later aircraft.

Maybe if I play a full campaign I will do this and stack for example, P-51 units late war when they arrive in theater as escorts for B-29 raids in the final push.

Keep in mind that you can't move an American pilot to an Australian unit....GP

btd64 wrote: Sat Jan 28, 2023 8:06 pm Keep in mind that you can't move an American pilot to an Australian unit....GP

Thanks, I have a couple of Aussie Training units using Wirraways and a couple of American Air Cobra Units training over the farm fields of Australia to raise better fighter pilots.

The scenario is probably too short at this point to make a huge difference (Feb now, scenario ends in 2 months) but it has been fun shuffling pilots between different groups to learn the mechanics for a future campaign.

The highest amount of rockstars in this game are Australians out of a Kittyhawk unit in Port Moresby. Most of the pilots I moved to TRACOM are from this unit. Does the higher number of Aussies in TRACOM help? Well, the recruitment stats show a level of 40 vs 38 for Navy (my 2nd highest # of TRACOM pilots) and 35 for Army. So it seems like TRACOM is helping though this could be a coincidence.

s96825 wrote: Sun Jan 29, 2023 12:01 am

btd64 wrote: Sat Jan 28, 2023 8:06 pm Keep in mind that you can't move an American pilot to an Australian unit....GP

Thanks, I have a couple of Aussie Training units using Wirraways and a couple of American Air Cobra Units training over the farm fields of Australia to raise better fighter pilots.

The scenario is probably too short at this point to make a huge difference (Feb now, scenario ends in 2 months) but it has been fun shuffling pilots between different groups to learn the mechanics for a future campaign.

The highest amount of rockstars in this game are Australians out of a Kittyhawk unit in Port Moresby. Most of the pilots I moved to TRACOM are from this unit. Does the higher number of Aussies in TRACOM help? Well, the recruitment stats show a level of 40 vs 38 for Navy (my 2nd highest # of TRACOM pilots) and 35 for Army. So it seems like TRACOM is helping though this could be a coincidence.

You need at least 10 pilots in TRACOM for it to work.

There are a lot of threads in the forum on pilot training.
Many cover TRACOM.

TRACOM is not very effective in the small scenarios because of the time factor.

Note that TRACOM works to accelerate pilot training. The recruits graduate early.
The second benefit of TRACOM is to reduce the negative pilot skill spread of
graduating pilots. Note that the pilots will never graduate above the national average
but TRACOM helps them to not graduate somewhere below the national average.
It is a chance only. You have to train them in the field to get them above the
national average.

Note…..You need to put the 80+ pilots into TRACOM in groups of 10.
You need at least 10 to have a chance to increase the monthly experience by one
which is the only thing they are trying to do and they can only do it in groups of 10.

Michaelm:
https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/view ... 9#p2176929

“There is some behind the scenes action with training of raw pilots and TRACOM.

The number of TRACOM guys can increase the month's EXP rating of the raw pilots.
If the new EXP exceeds the national EXP, then a random number of pilots will 'graduate' early.
When this happens, you get a message "instructors accelerate training of" in the operation report.

In general, this jump is only going to occur in the last month of training,
unless you add a huge number of pilots to TRACOM.

A rough guide is: for every 10 in TRACOM (of the correct nationality),
the monthly EXP might be increased by one.

Adjustments to the pilot training happens on the first day of the month.
The monthly EXP increase of the raw pilots (ignoring TRACOM effect) is a random amount (-2 to +2).
The new monthly EXP starts out as an average of the pilots in the month and those moving from the previous month.”

Kull:
https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/view ... 8#p4578178

“The second TRACOM benefit:
Graduating pilots come out with experience which is within a range +/- of the national average.
Having pilots in TRACOM will aid reducing the negative spread but will not boost them to
above the national average.”

Note that TRACOM is more important for Japan than for the Allies.
As Japan you want to put as many eligible pilots as you can into TRACOM.
The more you have there the faster you push out the recruits.
As Japan it's essential to pull those recruit pilots out earlier to reduce HI costs.

You can mix some 81+ guys in with your squadrons and it's also good to fill out
a squadron with more "elite" pilots if the aircraft model is your best.

You want to be very careful with the highly skilled Pre-War KB pilots as Japan,
especially the bomber pilots. Those pilots are almost irreplaceable.

I never use elite carrier pilots to support ground operations when I play Japan or the Allies.
You can lose highly skilled carrier pilots attacking an airfield which is just going to be repaired
the next day anyway.

If you use the KB to support operations against enemy ground troops or facilities I'd suggest pulling
out the really good bomber pilots and filling the KB with 60-70 skill pilots instead. Against ground targets
and facilities the skills aren't nearly as critical as when trying to sink enemy warships.

I use my elite pilots to go after naval targets only.

Superghelpful info Trugrit, thanks!