P-38 Gun Dissapointment

[uvwpvW]

Kweassa is right. In Il2 you can run a 128 player server at home with no super connection or computer. AH has dedicated server farms.

If the makers of Il2 or even 3rd party modders made a server based “war” with strategy, nifty statistics and squads like in AH. HTC would quickly find themselves out of business.

[Ack-Ack]

Originally posted by LEDPIG
I've always been led to believe that the P-38 gun arrangement was pretty deadly, but i've been pretty dissapointed by the stopping power in the game. You have to spray them a number of times to get a kill whereas a Spit will cheew you up on first pass. I've always heard the 38's guns in the Pacific would eat a Jap plane alive, Japanese planes being sawed in half was not uncommon, even German planes bit the dust. Does the fact that the guns are so concentrated make up for the fact it has one hispano, other planes have more than one cannon and 6 or 8 50 cal's while the 38 only has 4 50's and one hispano. Does the concentration make up for it's lack of guns?

The P-38 guns are lethal in AH but not as they were in RL.  In RL they had a little more punch and pilots described the hitting power of the first burst as a shotgun blast and substained bursts cutting through planes like a buzz saw.  That's something that isn't true in AH but it's close enough that it's not an issue.  Even without the 20mm cannon, the concentrated firepower of the 4x .50cals will easily remove vital parts with a burst.  But as someone pointed out, a lot depends on other factors such as gunnery skill and where you hit the target.  If you hit the target in a well protected area then the damage won't be as great as hitting the target in a less protected or weak spot.  That's why I primarily aim for 3 spots, the engine, wing root area and tail and make sure that I get in close (400 yards or closer) so I have a better chance of hitting the target and doing severe, if not fatal damage.  YMMV.


ack-ack

[bkbandit]

u might be having the "rubber bullet" problem. Alot of guys are screaming about it in the m/a, im one of them.  Ill com up on one spit and rip off both wings on one pass, then the next one sucks up damage like a il2. maybe thats the problem.

i never seen 750 people in the m/a, at the most u see 500.When is ct goin to be done,

[bozon]

I'm not sure what you consider "deadly" guns. This is no 30mm bombs.

The P-38 has more effective guns than the P-47. You may have 8*0.5 in the jug but they come at two sets of four. This means that unless you are very close to convergence range you hit two places on the enemy airplane. If you shoot at point blank in a P47N, the  guns sets are so wide apart that you'd hit both wingtips of an La7. So localy you only hit with 4*0.5 guns - same as the P38 but with no 20mm and a wacky aim.

Now throw in the Hispano which is worth another 3-4*0.5 hitting at the exact same location and snap shots with the 38 are more effective than the P47. Unless you really know how to utilize all the 8 guns (firing at convergence, rolling so snap shots are cross nose instead of up/down), P-38 has better hitting power than a P47.

Bozon

[bkbandit]

lol bozon is right, i have done that before in a 47. get close up and start shootin and the plane fits right in between my coverage lol.

[Kazaa]

Originally posted by Hoarach
Your kidding right Ledpig?

The guns are very deadly on the 38.  You can get 10-12 kills when the cannon runs out and the other 1200 mgs can get you another 6 kills.  Its all about accuracy.  If you know the weakspots of each plane you know where to aim.  Such as a spit aim for the wings or a 51 aim for the engine.  Its all about knowing a planes strength spots and weak spots.  But like you said about a zeke just drop a match on the zeke and it will go boom so saying something about a jap plane isnt all that good of an example.

Just pray that HT puts in a 38L super strafer (38 with 12x50s).  Ill at least settle for a 38 with 6x50s.

All hail Hoarach, the only person I know that can aim directly at a wing, nose, tail etc in a dog fight.

LEDPIG, do you have any evidence that supports this ? Like WW2 gun cam footage ?

[Treize69]

Another factor to consider is that pilots who are used to 6-8 wing mounted guns can be at a disadvantage in that they don't have the shotgun effect with the bullets.

I a P-51 or P-47, you can be a few feet off target and with all those bullets firing in a cone pattern, a few rounds are bound to hit something just by sheer percentages, while the "Firehose" stream from a P-38 (or Bf-109) is much more demanding of pinpoint accuracy. They're very rewarding of a good shot, but it's also much easier to bejust enough off target to have what should have been a kill shot miss a vital area or go wide altogether than with the wide-pattern fire of the other types.

[Raptor]

I don't know about you, but I have no trouble with the 38's guns. Usually a quick burst on any of the main fighters in the MA (spit, 109, la, n1k) will rip its wing right off. The other day I was rtb because of ammo, I had no cannon left and only 24 50 cal left. A 110 was vulching the field I needed to land at, and I was able to get behind it and kill it with the remaining 24 rounds.

[Ack-Ack]

Originally posted by Kazaa
All hail Hoarach, the only person I know that can aim directly at a wing, nose, tail etc in a dog fight.

 

It's actually easier than you think.   I do the same thing, depending on my angles I'll either aim for the engine, wing root or tail area.



ack-ack

[bozon]

I shoot in the direction the sound is comming from. That's why I need all 3400 bullets.

[Have]

Originally posted by Kweassa
The only reason AH doesn't have a 'realistic damage model' is it started off without it in the first place, and it would need a total overhaul in the DM system to depict damage in that manner. And when the developers are already hard-pressed with the development of the CT, the new interface, and redoing 3D modelling which has got a long long long long long long long long way to go, it's no wonder they could hardly find time to start another fundamentally influential change such as redoing the DM from scratch.

Kweassa has a good point, as usual. I just wish the damage model had  received even a fraction of the work what they have poured to the CT development over the years..
About the P-38 guns then, I usually don't fly the P-38, but my impression is at the receiving end that you are very close to be sent to the tower when that plane points its nose at you. I suggest that Ledpig tries to fly with a 109 F4 or G2 and for a while and then switch back to the P-38. You'll learn that the 38 is actually pretty nice plane to fly and packs quite deadly guns

[Stang]

lol you guys don't aim for an exact point or part on an enemy airplane?

Good for Ack-Ack and Hoarach at least then, lol.

[bkbandit]

All my planes i fly have te wing mounted 50s, i dont aim at parts of the plane i just put the con in the sight or get tracers in front of the con.my converages have a decent set so they take something off whether its the tail wings or ur engine. I have had ALOT of time when i come out on a con and take both his wings off in a pass. I noe its not what u vets do but it gets the job done every time.

I tryed the 38 for alittle and i really dont like nose mounted weapons, its supposed to be easier to aim but i cant shoot wit it to save my life:lol . I need my guns on the wings.

[Murdr]

Originally posted by LEDPIG
Oh yea i sometimes wonder why the Army air corp didn't mount two Hispanos in the nose, Too heavy you think?

[Captain Virgil Hilts]

Rather than add a second 20MM to the 4 50's, they should have just installed 4 20MM cannons with about 250-300 rounds each instead. As hard as planes with 4 20's hit, imagine 4 20's in the nose of a P-38.