Quick Question on Gun lethality

[SwampRat]

The other night I was up for quite awhile testing out (fairly new to AH) differen't aircraft/guns, tactics, about everything really.  I noticed something during a Pony flight that got me to wondering if dumb luck or perchance some wierd technical thing may have been working to my advantage.  In a single flight, I killed a Lanc, a B17 AND a B-26, all with what I consider VERY short gun bursts considering the targets I was shooting at.  On all but the 26 I was VERY fast, which would also be indicative of the "shortness" of the burst.  Knocked the tail off the Lanc, a whole wing off the 17 but didn't see the damage on the 26 cause I was a little more worried about having slowed up at lower alt so I boogied the area BUT..It's not like I wasted much ammo on the 26. Anyway, the question in my mind is...does speed increase gun lethality, or was it (out of character for me) real good/lucky aim?  

[Dingy]

Havent seen any speed increase in lethality (and I usually like to stay fast too).  

I think what you saw could be either some very good shooting (with maybe a little luck) or perhaps someone before you had already weakened those tail structures.  

Either way, consider yourself the benefactor of good fortune....those 50 cals are notoriously weak  

-Ding

[Lephturn]

6 x .50 caliber machine guns at convergence will do a lot of damage if you can hit in one spot.

I think you are a better gunner than you give yourself credit for.  I have trouble doing that in the Jug with 8 x .50's.  

But AFAIK, there is no advantage to going faster as far as weapons power goes.

BTW, did any of these guys shoot back?  I normally get my asskicked if I try any rear hemisphere shot at any speed.

------------------
Lephturn - Chief Trainer
A member of The Flying Pigs  http://www.flyingpigs.com
 
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Though you may be thrown over by Tabby and Rover, You'll never go wrong with a pig, a pig,
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[SwampRat]

Hey I forgot about that.  The Lanc and 17 actually did fire at me and I did pick up a couple pings but no damage. I usually wiggle my rudder a bit and apply "a little" roll back and forth while attacking from the rear, especially against 17s.  Course at the speed I was moving I was getting VERY little roll.  Anyway I know it's not much but being even a slightly moving target is better than a stable one.

[-ammo-]

Here is IMO the ideal way to attack a buff. Now keep in mind his eye was probably deep in his bombsight (which makes it even the more sweeter   ). As far as lethality goes, well the AH gunnery is very gratifying when you do your part. But the speed of your AC has no benefit  or drawback on the lethality of the guns.  the  film  is only 66.7 KB's. Notice that the concentration of hits are on the tail of this marauder. My convergence is set to 375 yds.

   

[This message has been edited by -ammo- (edited 12-15-2000).]

[This message has been edited by -ammo- (edited 12-15-2000).]