Bomber troubleshooting

[shotgunneeley]

   I think I have seriously underestimated the power of a fighter when it comes to attacking bombers! So far I have had 4 bombing runs: the first two went without incident, but the next two I got my butt lit up. I went over a radar factory and was just barely able to drop my bombs before I was ambushed and destroyed by an incoming mustang; though, I was able to destroy him aswell. The next time I was targeting a grunt facility when I was attacked by three fighters at different times. the first got away when a friendly fighter came to the rescue, the second I killed, and the third killed me before I was even halfway to my target. The moral of the story is that I have learned the value of teamwork and should coordinate my bombing runs with other bomber/fighter escort pilots. This is a prime example of going it alone and paying the price for it.

[Hap]

Just like in a fiter, alt and speed are your friends.  Scooting along at 20K or better at 265 to 295'ish depending on your ride will help you complete more sorties.

The E6B computer on the clipboard is your friend too.  The "Climb" # gives you your rate of climb, and let's say you're level and it reads "8," for example, you've not reached top speed yet.

Steering from the bombardier's chair allows you to make gentle turns while not losing airspeed.  Also you can peer out the plexiglass (8 on your keypad or "forward" on your hat).  That along with your map with you in F6 (bombardier's position) minimized a bit to make a nice fit while not blocking your view, is too much fun!

[Rich46yo]

Ive bombed alone on 99% of my bomber sorties. There is only a small fraternity of bomber hunters in this game I even worry about, and I know its one of them by the way they set up for an attack run. I dont even worry about multiple fighters unless its 3 or more attacking at the same time. And I personally dont believe in climbing that high, 14,000' is tops for me, cause you miss out on shooting down to many fighters.

For months I would start up every game day by a sortie or two in the TA. I'd post a comm message, "go ahead and attack the bombers taking off N/E from A1", and I would practice my gunning on real targets making real attack runs. It will get to the point to where gunning comes 2nd nature to you. I also suggest flying fighters against bombers as well just to get an idea what the fighter stick is actually seeing.

And buy separate foot rudders. Small adjustments in course can screw up an IB fighters attack profile.