How did HOs work in real life?
Not done..it's suicide?
Only when the numbers were against you.
It didn't happen at all.
From what I understand, Ray, HOs were a valid tactic but often considered very risky.
The one, singlemost difference between real-life HOs and and game HOs is that in real life when you die you die. Therefore, HOing was a risky maneuver with a very small window of opportunity to try and land a shot, and then the pilot would have to immediately maneuver out of the way to avoid collision.
Besides, the very meaning of combat maneuvering lies in trying to maneuver in a certain manner so you can defeat the enemy without being harmed yourself. No matter how advantageous firepower a plane holds, HOs always maintained a certain risk that the enemy will land a shot to your plane - in the worst case, a shot landing on the cockpit area where protection was minimal. Therefore, it took balls, and absolute faith in one's own firepower (or gunnery skill) and the toughness of the plane, to carry out a HO. Even then a HO would be the least preferable choice of engaging an enemy.
The problem with game HOs is that the sense of peril is very much dulled, since we aren't really scared of dying in the game. Therefore what, usually happens is people rely on reckless HOs. Not only do they do it a lot, but also the HO itself is more of a "chicken" contest you'd see in movies, than just 'brushing by, trying to land a brief shot'. Two planes would just head smack into each other on a crash course with guns blazing.. and nine times out of ten results in collisions rather than a shot landing.
Thus, instead of trying to work out a certain logical plan in defeating the enemy, many people just rely on maneuverable planes, trying to bear their guns on the enemy plane in whatever way they can. Typically the fight degenerates into a HO contest - with every turn and circle made resulting in a HO after a HO, until one side loses either by being shot, or by result of collision.
In the case of the Fw190s the HO tactics were a carefully calculated risk. The earlier B-17s had weak protection at the nose and the number of defensive guns an interceptor would face became minimal when attacking from the front. Therefore, the interceptors would find the stream of B-17s, fly ahead, turn around and attack the bombers from the front. This was an effective tactic since bombers were farely large targets flying at a steady course and speed. Careful planning and execution minimized the risk of mid-air collisions while maximizing the chances of survival for the 190s. It also maximized the effect of the attack, since a successful attack would utterly rip apart the cockpits of the bombers, rendering them helpless.
