Author Topic: 110 Tail Gun (Read 676 times)

DREDger · « **on:** February 19, 2007, 08:19:59 AM »

I've noticed alot of people will empty the 110 tail gun ammo when heading out on a mission, I started doing it was well just in case.

People say it lightens the plane wieght and makes it perform better. A small tradeoff if so, because the tail gun is worthless anyway.

Anyone know if this is true. I mean did/do they actually model the plane so when tailgun ammo is gone it wieghts less, etc.

Seems to me it might just do nothing except mess up your hit %.

BlauK · « **Reply #1 on:** February 19, 2007, 08:50:49 AM »

Many people also seem to waste some 2000 or more rounds from their 4000 front mg rounds. I've heard of the same weight argument.

Jonny boy 8 · « **Reply #2 on:** February 19, 2007, 08:54:39 AM »

yeah ive heard of this too. but i would wrather keep the ammo just in case.

p51srule

Lusche · « **Reply #3 on:** February 19, 2007, 09:59:56 AM »

You will save some weight when firing off the tailgun ammo. You can check this yourself by using E6B.
However, the saving is so small (less than 1% of total mass) that it's really not noticeable to most pilots. I doubt anyone wins his fights in a 110G only because he fires his tailgun ammo off.

And I have to admit: I have been shot down by the 110 tailgun. 2 times.

Krusty · « **Reply #4 on:** February 19, 2007, 12:33:35 PM »

I've heard from a couple of folks that the tail gun ammo weight helps prevent the unrecoverable spins and tail slides (helps balance out the ride).

Regardless, on the C if you empty the tail gun ammo you save about 46lbs.... on a 14,000lb airframe. It does diddley squat.

Something might be said for emptying some of the nose guns, but they're pretty potent all in the nose like that. If you can land a solid burst you'll get a kill or some damage. If not at least you know when to fire your cannon, to get a kill.

I keep my ammo. Usually you need it more often than not.

Ball · « **Reply #5 on:** February 19, 2007, 12:45:31 PM »

I dont see the point, most people don't fight the way to reap the benefits of reduced weight anyway.

If anything they should keep the weight to make a bigger crater in the ground when they auger into something

Krusty · « **Reply #6 on:** February 19, 2007, 01:19:43 PM »

Let's face it, if they're in 110s theyll get shot down before they auger

VooWho · « **Reply #7 on:** February 19, 2007, 04:32:00 PM »

Just a question. The 110 tail gun movement seems a little restricted. I mean you can cover kinda high but you can't cover your sides real will.

1K3 · « **Reply #8 on:** February 19, 2007, 04:41:25 PM »

I dump the 1000+ 20mm cans and keep the 2x 30mm cans. End result is that I can keep up with spits in turnfights

Krusty · « **Reply #9 on:** February 19, 2007, 04:53:56 PM »

You may think you can, but you can't. First off, if you've got 1000 rounds of 20mm you have the belly pack. That's adding 600lbs and a LOT of drag, and if you fire off all the ammo it's still about 400lbs and a lot of drag. Either use the guns or don't take 'em.

Second, the weight of the 110G is about 16,000lbs (17,500 with full gas) Firing off ALL the 20mm rounds (750 basic package) only saves you 363lbs of weight. You're STILL in a slow, sluggish, 15,000lb airframe.

If you kill a spit it's one thing, but firing off your 20mms to save weight isn't going to make you ANY better than if you still had them. It's a drop in the bucket.

Ack-Ack · « **Reply #10 on:** February 19, 2007, 05:29:08 PM »

I've heard the same thing with the P-38. I've been told to take the smaller 800 round ammo load to shed extra weight and gain better turn performance. Unfortunately, like the with the tail gun in the Bf110, it's a myth.

Emptying out the tail gun on the Bf110 is not going to gain you any extra performance benefits, just as selecting the low ammo load isn't going to give you the ability to out turn zeros on the deck because you're now a few pounds lighter.

ack-ack

AquaShrimp · « **Reply #11 on:** February 19, 2007, 07:24:06 PM »

In a P-47, if you select the 6 gun package, and fire off all the ammo, you can get a climb rate of over 4000fpm.

Krusty · « **Reply #12 on:** February 20, 2007, 01:05:37 PM »

Only below 5k, maybe. The problem is now you can't fight the enemy, so what's the purpose?

Ack-Ack · « **Reply #13 on:** February 20, 2007, 01:06:44 PM »

But you can turn sweet!

ack-ack

DREDger · « **Reply #14 on:** February 20, 2007, 01:08:06 PM »

Thanks for the inputs, especially you Krusty. Don't think I will fire off tail gun ammo anymore, just throws off your hit %......although it is kindof fun shooting it while bored flying to target.