Though virtually all of my considerable ballistics experience is with much smaller caliber weapons, I have read enough material and viewed video footage that convinces me that the larger of the calibers of weapons we are dealing with here would indeed have a lethal range out to the distances people are complaining about. Minute of angle accuracy from a moving platform, no, but especially against a level target hits would indeed occur, and those hits would cause damage. Consider the number of rounds being fired, and even at longer distance the odds of rounds hitting is higher than might be expected. Factor in also that tracer ammo makes it easy to adjust the angle of fire in midstream, and it doesnt really surprise me that these hits can occur. Considering that a single, tripod mounted Browning .50 cal. machine gun was used as an effective sniper weapon out to 1500+ yards (conservative estimate)during the Vietnam War, against human sized targets, it seems VERY possible that a few hundred rounds of the same caliber, from multiple guns, could indeed score hits on a target the size of an aircraft, and as always, location of hits is usually the determining factor as to damage. And remember convergence. Even though convergence is most deadly at close ranges, it actually helps adjust for your inaccurate aiming at farther distances. Rather than all of your rounds being focused on one narrow point (more likely to miss at distance), they are fanning out, much like a shotgun blast. Ask yourself this.. would I feel safe driving my car around a big open area, with a guy unloading belt after belt of .50 ammo (not to mention 20mm) at me from 1.2k? I sure wouldn't. Sure, his aim wouldnt be accurate, but the volume of rounds comin my way would erase any safety I might feel due to distance. In reality, these rounds can, and do, travel these distances while retaining their lethality. I think it is another of the realisms that AH has been good about including. In fact, I use this theory in HO's when the need arises (probably much too often due to my lousy sense of enemy direction)
. Fire a one second burst starting at 1.3k or so, and then pull up and hard bank. Works more often than not to escape unscathed, and very often takes out the other guy. The combination of the above factors, and the closure speed of the enemy, combine to work quite nicely most of the time.
