Originally posted by meinshnake
i am having a real hard time aiming and keeping the crosshairs on their plane. what i want to know is where is the best position to shoot from and any other tips on getting that first kill
The best position to shoot from is from a rear aspect (ie from BEHIND the guy) and as a tracking shot (ie your wings should be roughly parallel to his). Also, get up close and personal - that means shoot inside 400 yards (range displayed on the icon), better 200.
The gunsights in AH (as they were historically) are "fixed sights", that means you have to "compute" ballistics, lead and gravity drop yourself. In other words: you need to aim a little above and a lot in front of your target.
And like the rest already mentioned, practice your lead offline on the drones. Usual mistake at the beginning is to fire from too far out and with not enough lead. So remember to get close (200 is best range) and pull lead.. then double the lead you pulled and shoot 
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To the end of this post ill attach a few tips on gunnery.
sorry and another thing is when I am flying i will hit the G key and my gear will go up like normal but when i hit it again to bring the gear down they never do why is that?
Gear will only deploy at speeds below 180 mph (sole exception being the F4U) since the drag would damage the gear otherwise. If you fail to raise it after takeoff, going above that speed will rip the gear off (you get a creaky warning sound first).
also is there anyway of playing online without a joystick because I am training to become a pilot and my dad is a pilot so we would like to fly against eachother but we only have one joystick
Even though mouse control is not officially supported, its technically possible to do so. Check http://www.slowcat.de for instructions on how to configure mouse as controller. However, especially with both of you being pilots, you wont have much fun playing with mouse. While flying is entirely possible and has no issues, things get hairy in a fight quickly. Especially rudder control and views (SA) are sadly lacking when controlled through keyboard. Get a cheap stick and youll be a lot lot happier (and yes, im also one that recommends staying away from logitech).
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While im not one that has good aim at all, this is what helped my gunnery.
* Stick to one gun type at a time for a while. This removes adapting to the "ballistics" part of the equation constantly and helps you get a better feel for the rest (judging speeds, angles, etc)
* dont fire different guns together, ie cannon and MG in Spit for example. Even if you fire at convergence distance - on a stationary target it would mean both cannon and MG would hit the same spot. But, a2a theres also the other planes speed (ie movement) to take into account. Now, MG has a lot faster muzzle speed then the Hispanos, meaning the MG rounds will get to target in less time - time in which the target moves a certain distance. Now, if you fire a Hispano round, due to the lower speed it will take more time to travel to target, read: The target will have more time to move, read: you will have to pull more lead in the same position/speed/angle then youd need with a MG. So, to make a long story short, unless youre VERY close, youll only hit with one of the guns - and - in my experience - thats usually the MG
* get up close and personal for shooting. Make getting on the six of the enemy for a tracking shot your main goal in a fight. Not pulling for a shot. Ive seen this numerous times in TA when people fought me. They kept giving up position and angles, just to pull for that one, low% snapshot theyd miss anyway. When i fought them "cold guns" and goal of the fight was to get 200 off my tail and stay there, theyd suddely have a 200% improvement in their "skill". By that i dont mean "dont take any snapshots" - i just mean that PATIENCE is a huge virtue and sometimes giving up one snapshot in favor of gaining angle/position and a higher% tracking shot gets you further then you may think
* set your convergences to your usual shooting distance. If you have the feeling that you hit a lot, but dont KILL, it might be you need to adjust your convergences. In a turnfighter, my usual conv is between 175 and 250 yards. For a more BnZ type of flying, you might want to have them a little further out. Play around on those and find out whats best for you.
* fire short (1/2 second) bursts only. Never "walk" your guns on the target. Shoot and hit, or shoot and miss, adjust aim, shoot again. Try to visually remember the "view" in your gunsights when you hit. Develop your gunner eye
* try turning tracers off for a bit. this will force you to judge your aim BEFORE hitting the fire button, and not depend on shooting first, then see where your tracers go and adjust your aim afterwards. If you turn them back on later or not is personal preference. I left mine off, mainly because when i tried turning them on again, all i did was watch those beautiful light effects in the air and not my aquired target (read: my hit% dropped from a solid 10% to 1-2%)
* shoot drones offline. get unlimited fuel/ammo, set yourself certain "rules". Make a game of it. Heres some suggestions, just be creative, im sure youll find more that suit your personal "problem zones" best - put on some loud, badazz music for the occasion
- tracers off, no LCG
- make fast passes from high 4-8 oclock, no shooting inside d400
- turn icons off
- fly the circle clockwise (opposite drone flying direction) - practice snapshots
- aim for certain parts, take the drones apart piece by piece. wingtip, wing, rudder, stab, tail.... If it blows before youre done, youve lost.
* ask Schatzi for a "date" in the TA and blast her full of bullets for suggesting all that BS
