C205 guns

[Thing]

Hey everyone!!

I've been messing around with the C205 every now and then and find it a fun plane to fly.  Only problem I cant hit anything with the guns.  Whats a good convergence for the weapons?  Need advice from you 205 jocks


Thanks
   Thing

[Sunka]

Sounds like convergence  is not your problam,that just makes the lethality greater at the set distance.Sounds like you just need to work on aim.(note,i might be wrong).But they are good cannons i extend em right out.

[Anaxogoras]

If you're used to Hispanos or .50 cal Brownings you'll be disappointed with the ballistics of everything else.  I'd go for the standard 300 yards for convergence, and if you still can't hit from that distance, tighten up even closer.

[Spatula]

what aircraft do you usually fly? Sounds like you just need to spend some time getting to grips with the new ballistics and ROF of the new weapons. This is pretty normal. The only way forward is to keep practising, and don't keep chopping and changing aircraft (or at least weapon types) - eg stick with the 205 for a while.
You may find with weapons with lesser ballistic qualities than the hispano or the 50cal, you may find more success firing closer in to make up for the poorer ballistics. Set your convergence closer in by a 100 yards and shift your mental 'fire point' in by a 100 yards or so (eg fire 100 yards closer in). In short, get close, then get closer, then fire...

[Thing]

I usually fly the Corsair so I'm used to my 6 50 cals.   Thanks for the tip guys. 

[Motherland]

The C.205 has 2 .50 caliber SAFAT machine guns in the nose and two German MG151/20 20mm cannons in the wings. The MG151/20's are what you really want to hit with, as if you only hit with the SAFATs it'll take you a while to do any kind of considerable damage. So... we'll focus on those.

The MG151/20 is the gun I use more than any other, as I mainly fly German planes, and be they 109's or 190's this cannon usually makes up the large majority of their hitting power. They're not as powerful as the British 20mm Hispano found in the Spitfire, nor do they have as high a muzzle velocity (Hispanos fly like laser beams compared to the MG151/20... and they hit like lasers, as well), so, if this is the type of armament you're used to using, it'll be a bit of a tough transition. That goes for if you're used to mainly .50 cal armaments as well. With the slower MG151/20 you have allow MUCH more lead that with a Hispano or M2. This means you'll have to work for your shots a bit more. This can be balanced out by waiting to get closer than you normally do (I very rarely fire my cannons outside of 400 yards, usually in the 300/200 range, and so I set my cannons for 300, but if I can get even closer, I will). When using big, non-Hispano cannons, Hartmann's advice rings true: 'Wait until the enemy fills your windscreen, so that you cannot possibly miss'. This may be going a bit far for AH, but I always hold my fire until I'm really close, compared to some of what I see in my opponents.
With the MG151/20, and the Mk108 30mm cannon as well, I suggest you map your forward position on your hatswitch to a position where your head is up above the gunsight. Do this by pressing & holding forward on your hat and then pressing page up until your head view is the whole way up, then pressing F10, while still holding your hatswitch forward. This way you can still use the gunsight as normal when you need to, but you can also quickly shift your head up for a much better over-the-nose view, although without your gunsight (though, some of the gunsight will still usually be left on the glass for reference), for a high deflection shot.

The aircraft overall, in my opinion, flies similarly to the 109G2 with gondolas or the 109G6, take that bit of information how you will...

Hope this was of some help. <S>

[Thing]

Excellent post Motherland 


 

[trotter]

If you're used to flying the corsair, you're used to having a GREAT over the nose view (best in the game, I believe). This allows you to set up a GREAT lead shot, while keeping the bandit in sight the whole time.

You'll find, as you transition to other planes, that the over the nose view is not so great. The paradox is that you now need to lead your shots more than ever! What to do?

Well, Bubi/Motherland gave you a great idea with setting up your views for an over the nose peak. I use a different method, which doesnt involve shifting my front view (never could get used to doing that).

Assume this situation: bandit 250 yards ahead, you are at his dead six, co-alt. He sees you and starts to break sharp left. Typical M.O. in a corsair would be to roll your wings left with him, match his bank, and pull left with him while keeping him in your low front windscreen until you get the right lead the pull the trigger.

Now, imagine you are in a C.205, or 190, etc. If you bank left and match his turn, he will disappear under your cowling. You can estimate a lead to shoot, sure, but what if he banks another 90 degrees left and goes inverted for a split S while he is not visible to you? You have just lost positioning in what could be a prolonged fight.

What I do sometimes in this situation is, if the bandit banks left and begins to pull, I adjust course slightly to set my nose for where I think he may be when the firing solution is ready. Now the breaking bandit is slightly right of my front windscreen and I can watch his turn the whole time, up until the point when my firing solution is ready. If I did not adjust course, enough, he will begin to slip under my cowling from the right. This is when I kick rudder left to skid my plane just enough to keep him in sight. Remember my wings are level this whole time. If the firing solution is there, it is usually a devastating snapshot at very close range.

If not, (and I miss all the time), then the next move is very different from what it would have been if I had been banking and breaking left along with the bandit. If that had been the case, a good next move after a missed shot might be to continue in the break and saddle up. However, with the wings level snapshot approach I described above, the best move after a missed snapshot is to go vertical. It just does not make sense to then bank left and lag pursuit after a bandit that is already more than 90 degrees through a break turn. If you go vertical, their previous horizontal manuever has already bled more E than any parasitical rudder drag for the shot could have incurred. You will gain the perch easily, and dictate the fight from there.

Hope this helped.

[Krusty]

Take your current lead, double it.

50cals are great for pouring lead out onto targets under your nose. MG151/20s not so much. Plenty of rounds to send out to the enemy, but you have to lead more.

Set up for something other than an under-the-nose shot. Shoot a short burst but then keep flying (move on to getting your next shot) rather than putting everything you have into the 1 under-the-nose shot. For dead-6 shots, aim a little high, and while you're learning I suggest you fire only cannon. You have enough ammo for it.

[Anaxogoras]

Not being able to saddle up is what really makes the C205 and comparable aircraft more challenging than the F4U; it requires a totally different approach to air combat.

[titanic3]

  I'm not sure if this tactic will help you, but it works for me. *For planes with bad gun ballistics only*

I rarely ever pull lead when I'm in the 109 (I barely fly the Focke-Wulf), I simply follow my target's trail, the moment he turns, I straighten out, pull up just a wee bit to allow for drop, and I fire, if done at the right angle, those taters will head straight for the cockpit or engine each and every single time. DO NOT use the MG, their tracers will ruin your visibility of the 30mm round trajectory. If you miss, simply do it again, with a higher lead during the "pull up" procedure. But before you do it, check your 6, or ask a friendly nearby to check it for you, because by this time, the enemy will be alerting his teammates. 

It usually takes me 1 or 2 times to hit, 4 at the most. That's why you can easily land 15+ kills with just one flight. Maybe 10 against bombers.

[Anaxogoras]

It usually takes me 1 or 2 times to hit, 4 at the most. That's why you can easily land 15+ kills with just one flight. Maybe 10 against bombers.

Wow, you must be l33t!

[Motherland]

  I'm not sure if this tactic will help you, but it works for me. *For planes with bad gun ballistics only*

I rarely ever pull lead when I'm in the 109 (I barely fly the Focke-Wulf), I simply follow my target's trail, the moment he turns, I straighten out, pull up just a wee bit to allow for drop, and I fire, if done at the right angle, those taters will head straight for the cockpit or engine each and every single time. DO NOT use the MG, their tracers will ruin your visibility of the 30mm round trajectory. If you miss, simply do it again, with a higher lead during the "pull up" procedure. But before you do it, check your 6, or ask a friendly nearby to check it for you, because by this time, the enemy will be alerting his teammates. 

It usually takes me 1 or 2 times to hit, 4 at the most. That's why you can easily land 15+ kills with just one flight. Maybe 10 against bombers.

What name do you fly under?

[FireDragon]

Set them all the way out. C205 is a very underestimated plane in the game. You will be amazed how fast it accelerates in a dive.  Keep it in the vertical.

[Krusty]

Do not set them all the way out. They are wide guns outside of the prop arc and the landing gear. They are also weaking than other 20mm guns, meaning you can't just get 1 ping on a wing and expect the target to disintegrate.

That means convergence is IMPORTANT! Convergence not only gets your rounds landing right next to each other, that means instead of hitting 2x 20mm round on each wing and not destroying either, you land 4x 20mm at the same point on the same wing and rip the sucker right off.

On top of that, the MG151/20 have more of a drop (and thus more of a "lob" on the up stroke) than hispanos/50cals. If you set them to 600 and fire at a target level at 300 you'll probably miss completely, having your shells fly clear over the target.


I can't stress this enough: Set the guns to the distance you will KILL at, not the distance you want to spray and pray at. KILL distance!