Air to Ground:Gunnery and Rocket Article

[Westy]

 Nice article on the basics of air to ground attack.
 http://www.simhq.com/simhq3/sims/air_combat/atgbasicsp3/atg3.html

 -Westy

[Spatula]

Cool stuff  
just gotta make ack more like ack than something from the star wars (tm) defense program.

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Supreme Mega-Overlord Spatula

"...perfect for serving"
 

=357th Pony Express=

[This message has been edited by Spatula (edited 03-28-2000).]

[RangerBob]

Excellent information. How do I adapt this information for use here in Aces High? I can't use these rockets at all?

I'm also wondering how we can effectively use bombs in jabo attacks? There's no dive bomb sight?

Any tips?

Ranger Bob

[Westy]

 Hey Ranger Bob. Well there are several folks who have questions on the damage model (blast effect? direct hit versus near miss?) in regard to bombs and rockets that have not gotten answere yet. But how does it apply here? They do work. You need outstanding aim and alot of practice.
 As for sights for bombing? Well jabo's didnt have any such thing. Dive bombers yes. Not computer aided mind you  but they had a static site to aim with. IMO, that is one of the bad aspects of brand "A" in that fighters could switch to a dive bomb site with a key command. Extremely accurate and totally unrealistic. With AH penchant for realism I'll wager we'll never see that magical computer controlled "X" out the canopy when dive bombing something.
 It takes alot of practice to dive bomb or jabo well. It truly will be a hard eanred skill that will be highly treasured when scenarios start coming along. Everyone can aspire to be a great dogfighter. But how about being a good attack pilot that also gets to become the wolf after the ordinance is dropped?  
 It is a "pita" to try and hit targets on a base when the ack is up. But the practice is priceless.

-Westy
 

[RangerBob]

Hey thanks much for the reply. You're right I shouldn't be looking for a bombsight like in AW. God it's hard to get rid of all those old AW habits isn't it? The only effective tactic I have found so far is to dive almost vertical like the old Dauntless pilots must have done.

The real problems are that the effective blast range is so limited, even with a 1000 lb bomb, that you have to hit the ack directly to kill it. As a result you can only dive in the vertical. (ever see about a 1000lb bomb go off while your there on the ground?) I practiced over and over in a more shallow jabo type dive and can put the bomb right near the target, but there are no blast effects. The other problem is the radar ack fire. You can't get close enough to use the rockets or even get near the field to use more shallow dive approaches.

I have a problem keeping the sight right on the ack target while in that veritcal dive. The plane wants to drift off the target a bit such that if you don't time the button push just right you might miss by an inch. An inch in AH is a miss.

Any tips in this area as opposed to the same old questions about ack lethality?

Thanks again,

Ranger Bob

[Wraith]

Aye, 90 degree dives only way.. I want my dive breaks!!


[This message has been edited by Wraith (edited 03-30-2000).]

[Westy]

Well the issue of ack is moot as Pryo said
a while back that they have a whole suite of new ack being developed. We just have to deal with it as it is now till they release or implement new ack.

As for tips? I am not very good at dive bombing. I need practice as I find myself dropping badly due to over correctiong to keep the ball centered  
 I've found a 1000 pound bomb WILL totally take out an ack emplacemtn if your in about a 45 degree angle of attack and you aim beyond the ack so that the bomb. See the article whose link I posted to see why. Gravity pulls that egg down. If you put your pipper on the ack and drop the bomb will fall short of your target.
 It also helps for friendly aircraft to buzz the ack with hi speed jinking as it will only be able to concentrate on one plane at a time.
 After ack is out then use rockets to take out the standing structures. Get close. Real close and they become more effective in thier use.
 And the most helpful tool you could use is the ZOOM feature. Zoom in more on the target so you can get a better picture of where your aim is at.
 For straffing put your pipper just above the targer so the shells impact in it.
For bombs put your cross hairs at least what would be 50 to 100 feet beyond the target.
 For rockets I've found that you want the pipper ON the target.
 
-Westy

[funked]

Yeah 90 degree bombing is the best way.

Also if you can learn to fly a consistent glideslope/aoa/speed/altitude you can learn a "sight picture" for shallower bomb runs.

Some WW2 fighters did have an adjustable head on the gunsight that you could set up for given bomb run parameters, but you still had to fly a pretty precise run to make it work.

There was not a CCIP system or any other trajectory computer.  Just some optics, Mk. I Eyeball, and Mk. II Cranial Targeting Computer.

[Greg 'wmutt' Cook]

Actualy, in history, only the dedicated  'dive bomber' aircraft crews would train for the vertical 90 attack.  I've read several pilot accounts (especialy in the Pacific theater) that recall a rather shallow (30 to 50 degree) angle of attack was used in most air to ground attacks involving planes such as the P-38 and P-47.  I would account for this being because of the low level approach used to approach most targets.
Note: I'm not saying that the 90 degree angle is not the best way to hit things in AH. It is, but it wasn't the way that WWII pilots trained for.  I hope maybe in the future we can have an ack AI that can be taken by suprise by a low level, tree skiming approach.  Of course we will need better trees too I guess  
(BTW, in history, you never came around for a second attack. They would be waiting for you.)

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Greg 'wmutt' Cook
332nd Flying Mongrels

[This message has been edited by Greg 'wmutt' Cook (edited 04-01-2000).]

[Fatty]

Bob, trim your plane out for 400+ mph prior to the dive, to keep it from drifting.  If you're compensating with rudder in a vertical dive, you're almost never going to be 'on target', because your plane is actually pointing to the right or the left slightly.

To avoid the ack come vertical just short of the ack and pull very slowly into it, drop on gunsight (if you're vertical it's an accurate sight), then keep pulling out.  Add a slight roll on pullout, and you'll never get hit by ack.

Once you get used to it, it's really not that hard.  I hit a little better than 50% on them, the main problem being simply getting there with 2000 lbs extra weight without getting intercepted by cons.

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Fatty
FAT DRUNK BASTARDS

[RangerBob]

Thanks Fatty.

Your info is right on target heheh. It does answer my drift problems. Now I understand what has been causing the drifting.

Wait till they change the acks, we'll be devastating. Hopefully, not flying a Devastator though hehehe.

Gee, and I thought the only way to take out an ack was with a forced march through the jungle followed by sneaking up with a satchel charge.

Ranger Bob
RANGRBOB