Bombing problem

[Rich46yo]

This has cropped up from time to time. All night long Ive been bombing short in my B-26s. Im calibrated perfectly, releasing perfectly, and should be hitting the X, but each time my bombs are coming in short. Im pretty much bombing from 12,000' at full speed with 500 lb salvo of 2 delay 0.20. But Im perfectly calibrated and at most 1' off in my calibration from adjusting my direction.

                            What would cause this? Could it be my stick? The airplane? My speed? I haven't been able to hit a thing all night. I have the same thing happen to me in the AR234. I know Im releaseing right on the X.

                           Say I'm doing everything right, and no suggestions to go to the TA to learn how to bomb.

[Latrobe]

I've had this happen a few times. Once I looked at my calibration after I dropped and my speed had decresed by atleast 20mph. I'm not sure why though.

[Jack16]

make sure you put autopilot on as well, or your plane could drift upwards which would explain the loss of speed.

[Spikes]

Originally posted by Jack16
make sure you put autopilot on as well, or your plane could drift upwards which would explain the loss of speed.

I believe in calibration mode it is auto-level.

[Rich46yo]

As I said Im doing everything right. Ive dropped a lot of bombs since I joined this game. Its very disheartening to climb to these altitudes, fly these distances, and then come away with nothing. Im bombing perfectly because each time they are coming up exactly as short as the previous.

                         I went to the TA and same exact thing.

[Spikes]

I'm a bomber dweeb...

I made our squad plane the 234...lol

I hit anything and everything that comes in my way and is enemy.

What I do is level out a sector ahead...so I have all the time I need to get set up.

[DoNKeY]

Originally posted by SpikesX
I'm a bomber dweeb...

I made our squad plane the 234...lol

I hit anything and everything that comes in my way and is enemy.

This doesn't really help...

[lagger86]

Originally posted by Rich46yo
As I said Im doing everything right. Ive dropped a lot of bombs since I joined this game. Its very disheartening to climb to these altitudes, fly these distances, and then come away with nothing. Im bombing perfectly because each time they are coming up exactly as short as the previous.

                         I went to the TA and same exact thing.

Well then figure out how short they come up and adjust your drop time. wait an extra half second(or whatever) and drop then. Use the sight x as a referance and not as your actual sight.

[StuB]

Have you tried dropping at a slower speed?

If so, did they hit "less short"?

Originally posted by Rich46yo
This has cropped up from time to time. All night long Ive been bombing short in my B-26s. Im calibrated perfectly, releasing perfectly, and should be hitting the X, but each time my bombs are coming in short. Im pretty much bombing from 12,000' at full speed with 500 lb salvo of 2 delay 0.20. But Im perfectly calibrated and at most 1' off in my calibration from adjusting my direction.

                            What would cause this? Could it be my stick? The airplane? My speed? I haven't been able to hit a thing all night. I have the same thing happen to me in the AR234. I know Im releaseing right on the X.

                           Say I'm doing everything right, and no suggestions to go to the TA to learn how to bomb.

[Rolex]

Pinpoint bombing is difficult at full speed and gets even more difficult the faster you are.

Try to get your speed stabilized 1/2 sector away.

Reduce rpm ([-] on numpad) a few hundred rpm.

You can align yourself from 1/2 a sector away of target by going to front gun position, then F3 view, zooming in and out with [z] then [[] & []] until you see your target. Steer with rudder only and formation will stay in place.

Once close enough, fine tune your bomb run alignment from the F6 view, using the Look Forward view ([8] on numpad) and zoom in again.

One long calibration at that stable speed with no turns before dropping will help you hit every time. Remember that your drones are slightly behind you, so the center of the formation drop is the middle of your formation, not the lead plane.

We do have bombing clinics in the TA. You should check them out when they are scheduled, or see a trainer in the Training Arena for more detailed advice.

[bj229r]

I never bomb at full speed as the planes never REACHES full speed until you've gone most of a sector, and as stated, it's REAL hard to make course corrections

[CAP1]

Originally posted by Latrobe
I've had this happen a few times. Once I looked at my calibration after I dropped and my speed had decresed by atleast 20mph. I'm not sure why though.

i usually bomb in JU's or Lancs.....but i've noticed that speeds vary by as much as 20kts.......also noted that my alt changes een with auto pilot on. the best i can figure is that this is done delibretly to simulate more realisticaly, as we all know that no ww2 bomber held perfect alt, and that no pilot was good enough to hold an exact speed......not a shot at anyone...just reality.

because of this, i make sure my last calibration is within 10 seconds of my drop.....very rarely miss that way.....


hope this helps

[BaldEagl]

I used to fly Lancs at 23K all the time but have turned to AR234's @ 15K for several camps now.  I always drop at full speed but...

In the Lancs I would level and turn to target 2 sectors out.  I'd build speed for one sector (doors open) then use the final approach sector for calibration. *Note:  If you are opening doors after calibration and just before drop you are losing speed which explains your problem.

In the AR234's I begin this proccess 4 sectors out as they take a long time to get to speed.  I use the last 1-1.5 sectors for calibration.

In either plane, last minute couse corrections will bleed off speed (at least 1 mph, possibly as much as 2-3 mph depending on how much correction is needed.)  The bleed is worse in the 234's than it is in the other heavies.

Also, after calibrating, particularily in the 234's, you're likely to gain an additional 1-2 feet of altitude (so you want to calibrate as late as possible).

All of this amounts to loss of calibration accuracy, therefore, once the target is in sight and I'm aligned I check E6B and drop alt one final time so I can quickly decide whether my drop has to be at the leading edge, trailing edge or dead center on my target.

If I'm faster or higher I have to drop early.  Likewise if I'm slower or lower (unlikely) I have to drop late.

Hope that helps.

[EDIT]  Cap1, your alt changes on auto pilot as fuel burns off and your plane becomes lighter (you will slowly gain alt).  Similarily, adjusting course with rudder drags off speed and alt decreases as it does.

[Coshy]

I was goofing around in the TA the other night and upped a set of Lancasters. I too have had the same problem and I wanted to see if it was my calibration that was the problem.

After calibration I noticed that the green crosshairs would sometimes be as much as 1/4 inch ahead or behind of the bombsight crosshairs. It seemed the longer I held Y down to calibrate, the closer the actual impact point was to the bombsight crosshairs. Just like it says in the upper right of the bombsight.

How long are you calibrating for? It seemed that between 5-8 sec the impact point would be off a bit, while at 15 sec it was dead on.

[Rich46yo]

Originally posted by StuB
Have you tried dropping at a slower speed?

If so, did they hit "less short"?

                      Thanks for all the responses fellas. I was assuming as long as your speed is calibrated it doesn't matter what speed you bomb at. I furthered believed this after noticing my high speed bombing was very accurate, I would be exactly on target only the on exact same short point time and time again.

                   Further, when approaching a heavily defended front line base slowing down to 240 mph really isn't an option. I also remember times when my high speed bombing was accurate, this problem only crops up occasionally. Tho it happen often in the 234, so much so Ive been taking out formations just so I can hit something.

                  I can adjust for short bombing sure. But then I'll get in the mode of the problem not occurring. And whats the plan then? Its right back to square one, and an hour wasted of climbing to ALT, flying to and from, and landing.

               I'm sure its just some aspect of the game. Maybe I'm just going to fast, maybe its that "ping" thing, maybe its my controller. I understand the fundamentals of bombing and using the views, and Ive been to the training area asking for help on this numerous times. No doubt there just hasn't been anyone available. This is the 3rd time Ive posted about it here in this forum.

           I'll get back on it tomorrow as I have a 20 hour workday today. Thanks again, and for the record I put Spike on ignore so I cant read anything he says. He's a Mommies boy.