schatzi....
The real secrets to gunnery are pretty simple. Most people stop flying once they start "aiming" or they start firing before they finish flying. I'll explain both....
Unless you have a zero deflection shot both you and the target are moving relative to each other....now you have 3 possibilities...
1) you actually hit the target (pretty rare)
2) your "behind" the target (most common)
3) your "ahead" of the target (less common)
Now if your hitting alot your not posting so its 2 or 3....
In case # 2 most folks shoot as they pull thru target, the high G load makes it almost impossible to land a good group. Thats all the "I lit you up and nothing happened" whinning. The G's "spray" the pattern to much if you hit at all....
In case # 3 you get out in front and ease off...the good news is you get a nice group and if your "in plane" the bogie flys into your bullet stream...this is the most common "good gunnery" an "unloaded" shot with decent pattern that often damages and sometimes kills
Now...Ideally you learn to continue to fly the plane thruout and shoot when you have the site picture...
You need to seperate bounces from dogfights...in a bounce you want to shoot with the plane "unloaded" (no positive G's) if possible...
in a dogfight you have 3 stages...
Merge
Middle game
Endgame
Ideally you will take ANY shot you get in the MA on the merge...but dont stop flying and dont confuse a snapshot with a HO....
The goal is to either damage the other guy or force him off his game...
If both guys survive the merge you now have the "middle game"...this typically involves relatively high speeds short shot windows and moderate to high G's....We've all had times when we fly the socks off the other guy and cant finish him cause we pissed away 90% of our ammo on low % shots....so few or no shots in middlegame....concentrate on outflying the guy...if you do two things happen...he wont hit you and you'll have the ammo to kill him at the end.
Once you've gained an advantage you can fly your self into position for a good sustained shot....
Last of all "the snap shot"...its just that. You guess and pull...in a spit V my average "killing burst" is less than 1o rds of 20mm. It either hits or it doesnt (usually it doesnt)...just tap the trigger...over time your internal computer will get better....
Of course the best advice is simple....get REAL REAL close....
