Question on Dogfighting/Furballing

[BigShot]

Hey guys. I am new around here. I have posted a couple of times before though. In my ole P38 I am able to dodge pretty good and even get into a good spot where I think I can take a shot. My main problem is I never hit the target. I end up dumping a full load into one target with no effect except to make my plane lighter. I wait until he is with in 500 at the max. I lead the target but never seem to hit it. Yall have any tips for the newbie P38 flier as far as weapon convergence, distance to shoot, how much to lead and all that jive. Maybe even a link or two to some decent target huds I can import. Maybe that is my problem but I doubt it. Any help here would be great. Thanks guys in advance!

[Kweassa]

Some pilots are capable of 'sniping' targets at even from 800 yards with .50 rounds, and some 20mm cannons are sprayed to knock out targets at even from 1000 yards.  

 But basically, even if .50 rounds can cover that distance, 500 yards, is not a close distance. In an extreme fur-ball turn fight situation, taking a lead shot from 500 yards is definately not a good idea.

 Since I'm a lousy shot myself(8~10%), I prefer shooting at a distance I can't miss, generally under 200 yards in a turn fight, under 400 yards in a straight chase.  

[Urchin]

Well.. if you set your convergence to 350 yards or so in the P38 (which I don't even think is nescesary, unless it effects bullet drop), you can put your nose on someone flying straight and level and hit them from probably 500 yards away.  

Understand, however, that the .50 round is not the most damaging round in the world, and it will take more than a few to bring down an enemy plane.  This is especially true at 500 yards or more, because Aces High DOES model energy loss, so a bullet that has to fly 700 yards to hit a target isn't going to hit as hard as a bullet that only has to fly 300.  

I'd recommend holding the distance to less than 300 yards until you are pretty familiar with the way the guns fire.  Also, your P-38 isn't the best plane in the world for taking snapshots with, although with the single cannon it should do it better than a P-51 would.  You can contact Fester, or Tac, in the MA.. both of them are excellent P-38 pilots, and I'm sure you could get one of them to show you the ropes, so to speak.

[Hammerhead]

I am no ace, but this is what I used to do in a P38. Once you r go for a shot (d >350), dont fire your cannon immediately,lead and  fire the MGs first, if u see any hits then before he moves much blow him up with the cannon. The P38 is better to move when its fast so dont get below 300mph in a pursuing chase. Then, u can close up the gap pretty quick and also once d <200 dont bother leading just set up a strafing pass with all guns and he is bound to lose a few parts. The object is not to make him blow up(though it looks pretty nice, when that happens   ) but to make his plane unflyable. Try also to fire at his wings, once one breaks off, his main problem will not be u, but to keep flying long enough to go home....
Try the moves and think up some new tactics. One I found pretty useful especailly against zekes was to roll in no where near his 6, and blow away his tail and roll out again letting him stall and fall behinmd me.
"Bring the Mustang Ia to AcesHigh"

[oboe]

Not sure if this is an issue anymore with the floating gunsite, but it used to be that you could change your head position and throw off you aim.

Try this:  flight straight and level (use auto pilot) and fire a smooth, steady burst.  Make sure your bullet stream is converging to the center dot in the gunsite.

If it doesn't, hit 'home' to reset your head position, F10 to save it, and try it again.

[pugg666]

Another thing you should do is practice your gunnery offline against the drones. and i don't mean just saddle up on the drones 6. attack them from all angles, diving, climbing, front quarter, etc...
once you can easily destroy the drones from any position, try turning off your tracers. practice until you can do the same without tracers. you'll be surprised how some cons act when they don't think that you're shooting at em  

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[ 10-20-2001: Message edited by: pugg666 ]

[Boozer]

Also, try leading about almost twice as much as you think it should be, the planes travel more distance than you think while the bullets are on their way. Once you find the spot you'll begin to get used to it. I can often get a good lead shot on a turning spit from 500 in finally.

  Like a lot of things in this game, the real answer is practice.

 Booz
 *hic*

[Tac]

38 guns dont hit as they should for being a nose package anyway. Go offline and see how close together the guns hit on the 38, then see how they hit on a 4 gun p51 at 100 yds off its convergence point.. same result. See p51 b at convergence, the guns hit tighter than a 38 at that distance. And the dreaded + bullet pattern is disturbing =P

Aim 1 mm higher for every 100 yds distance (for .50 cals). Dont use cannon unless you at d400 or less. If the con is d150 or less, fire the cannon only, a few pings with it will bring anything down. I can hit planes at d1.1 with .50 cals, but just to make them turn, I usually fire short burst then. When they are d700 or less let em 50's rip, you got 2000 rnds of it and a big glass ass... so use the ammo before you die.

[Ghosth]

If a plane is turning, and your trying to hit it start shooting with the crosshairs on the plane & PULL through and ahead of the target.
Watch for when you see hit strikes.

Eventually you'll learn how much lead for a given situation, till then learn to shoot in bursts.

Also get close, then get closer. plane is 10 times easier to hit at 100 yards than it is at 200. Plus your shells will do more damage.

[Am0n]

BigShot

One thing you must consider is how many G's you are pulling when you are shooting.

When you are pulling high Gs so are your bullets which makes them fall faster so you have to lead even more.

(at 5 gs will have to lead your target a hell of a lot)

When making HI G tracking shots close to a enemy most of the time they are not even visable when i hit them.

Also consider the trajectory of your target. 500 yards flying level away is a lot differnt then 500 yards flying vertical, you gotta lead them more in the last scenerio (also consider if you are pulling high Gs to follow them up)

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Tac

I gotta agree with you Tac, ive flown the p38 a few times and beside compression the "glass ass" has been my killer. Seems like 1 ping does you in most of the time. So you gotta take every chance you get, dont be concerned with ammo loss.

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pugg666

I also dont use tracers and i find it funny that some pilots dont really do evasive manuevers when you are 400 back simply beccause they dont think you are shooting at them. Very much to your advantage. Countless times ive been called a cheater because i nailed someone "with every shot".

Little did they know i emptied 600 rounds at them.

[Am0n]

One thing i forgot to add about the tracers is that if you are in a Bomber and i think its true for ground vehicles if you have your tracers turned off they still show to everyone else. This is not true for other AC.


 i discovered this flaw durring a lan game in the MA with a bud of mine, kinda angers me, if they are going to show my tracers to the enemy i just wish they would let me see them to with out making the changes every time i get in a bomber.

[geistx]

How do you turn off tracers?

.tracers off

?

[Am0n]

Not sure of the command line but it is in the "setup" on the clip board