Fester- it really depends on how good of a shot you are, and how willing you are to be shot down going for the kill on the buff.
As an example, I was flying an La5 on base defence the other day, and we killed all the attackers, so I grabbed in an odd direction (because I'm a wimp and I like to come in AFTER the fight has started already
). I spotted a B-26 slighty above and to one side of me, waaaaay off in the distance (i.e. I saw his dot). I closed from the low 7 o'clock position, got within 300 yards without being spotted, pulled up level and took his wing off with about 25 rounds out of my 2 cannon. I really think this is accurate- and should not be changed. I had a non-moving target, plenty of time to line my shot up, and I sawed his wing off at the root. If you are lucky enough to get into position behind a buff and hammer one spot for a couple seconds, I think even the C202 should be able to kill a B17.
However- my normal attack on a buff that is not AFK on autoclimb (lol), is to fly parallel to the buff until I'm slightly in front of it, then turn in and rake fire down the fuselage, from the nose to the tail. I then continue, passing slightly behind and under the buff, around to the other side to repeat as nescesary. On a B17 it normally takes two or three passes (Usually in a 109 with either 3x20mm or 2x20 and 1x30, or in the 190 with either 4x20 or 2x20 and 2x30- I don't even bother with the MGs unless I'm out of cannon ammo entirely) to bring down the bomber, usually because it loses a wing. The odd bomber will catch on fire, or lose a tail, but probably 90% of the buffs I hit lose their wings on the second or third pass. Lancs are an entirely different story- I've had to make up to five passes (with cannon), before breaking off a wing.
I attacked a Lanc the other day in a P47, I expected that the 8x.50s would do pretty good damage on it- I had to make some absurd number of passes on it before it went down, something like seven or eight. I got good hits on every pass, just didn't seem to do any damage.
Furthermore, when I FLY buffs, I must get the lucky ones, because mine tend to be pretty tough. Generally I'll go down after three or four guys have attacked and gotten hits on a wing, but normally I can kill at least two of them before I go down. As someone who both hunts buffs and flies them on a fairly regular basis, I feel that the buffs are fairly well "balanced" for playability.
