Nose Guns vs. Wing Guns

[Halo]

Are there situations where wings guns have an advantage over nose guns?  Often hear about nose guns being easier to score with since convergence is less of an issue.

It seems wing guns MIGHT be more advantageous in two situations:  turning dogfights where spray effect covers wider area, and strafing scattered targets like troops.

So given a choice, which armament do you prefer: nose guns or wing guns, or a combination of the two?  For example, in many situations the P-38 or Yak-9 seem to be relatively fun and relaxing rides in part because of their nose gun simplicity.  

Is your nose or wing gun choice important enough to dictate which type of fighter you fly the most?

[NHattila]

the p38 nose guns own. plain and simple. yaks are simply fun to get kills in.

[Xjazz]

Originally posted by Halo
turning dogfights where spray effect covers wider area, and strafing scattered targets like troops.

Spitfire Mk1 spray effect covers the half of the sky:D

[Tarmac]

For some reason I have a terrible time hitting with nose guns.  P-38, yak, la5, etc, I can't hit crap.  I'm ok with the 109's nose gun, and for some reason the Ta-152's nose gun always seems to find its target for me.  

Gimme wing guns.

[Kweassa]

I never notice any convergence issues with wing armed planes in AH.

 If we really think about it, all the planes that hit out very far and have a chance in downing the target plane in AH, are wing armed planes - .50 armed USAAF planes, Hispano armed RAF planes, or N1K2(which is a different case, as it is usually a spray issue due to some 800~900 rounds of quad-20mms).

 All the planes armed with nose armament - Las, 109s, Yaks - have an issue with ineffective gunnery at longer distances over 400~500yards.

 The only nose armed planes that have a noticeable aiming advantage over other planes, are the P-38L and the Mossie - which, come to think of it, are planes armed with either the .50s or the Hispanos or both.

[SlapShot]

FEAR THE 38 !!!

[Soulyss]

I can't hit squat with nose mounted guns.  Course then again I suck so that may have somthing to do with it.

[Ecliptik]

Some people find the nose mounted armament in the 38 to be very difficult to hit with.   This is probably because the spread is considerably tighter than wing mounted guns.   It's a fact that many real life pilots had trouble hitting with the 38 for the same reason - it's basically too accurate.  But when you do hit, all your rounds are landing close together and you have a very high probability of doing lethal damage, even with just the 4 .50's.  

I'd recommend that new 38 pilots fly with tracers on for a while to get an idea of how the rounds behave, and then turn tracers off.  If you can get your gunnery to the point where you can fairly consistently give the correct amount of lead on the first burst, there's no armament I'd rather have than the 38's.  

Another important tip:  Avoid firing the hispano and the .50's at the same time except at point blank range.  The hispano rounds drop faster and won't follow the same trajectory as the .50's, so firing both at a time will just cause you to most likely miss with one or the other and waste ammo.

[Karnak]

Originally posted by Ecliptik
Another important tip:  Avoid firing the hispano and the .50's at the same time except at point blank range.  The hispano rounds drop faster and won't follow the same trajectory as the .50's, so firing both at a time will just cause you to most likely miss with one or the other and waste ammo.

That is only true at long, long ranges.  Up to four or five hundred yards the two have very similar trajectories.


I think that what you are used to plays a large role in how difficult hitting is.  I notice a huge difference between the Spitifire and Mosquito.  For me, now, the Mosquito is much easier to hit with and much more leathal, more so than twice the Hispanos would suggest.  When the Mosquito was first introduced I had an easier time hitting with the Spitfire, though the difference was not as pronounced.

[Morpheus]

pfft:rolleyes:

P-38 pffft:rolleyes:

Junk:D

[Xjazz]

P38 have a "difficult" guns (4*US.50cal+20mm hispano at nose)

Since when you give a run for Spitfire Mk1 last time???