P38 as target and P38 as shooter.

[Pongo]

I noticed that the P38 seems to have a very small front cross section when viewed from a tail gun position. With the silver grey colour it seems to disapear even at 1100 yards some times...Since the bird is huge but shallow(low verticle tail) I thought it might have something to do with that. I also got 2 bounces last night that supprised me. In the first one I approached someone high on his 6 he was manuvering a bit but not a real evasion. After he blew up ...He wanted to know if I was the spit..There was a spit and another plane much farther away then me and soda in our FTDs and he was watching his 6 alot and never saw us...got his wingman seconds later...like the new cant tell your wingman died code...lets you get both of them...
Anyway as a target from the front the P38 seems to hard to see, when it shows you a place view though its like a CVN standing on end...

As shooter, didnt notice much difference with the all you can shoot ammo load on performance, time will tell. I had a long 1.1 down to 700 chase of a fw last night...If I had been in a cannon hog al-la ver 1 I would have got him much eirlier..This is the same 20mm so it seems toned down a bit..(I had to plink him with 1600 rounds of 50cal befor he turned then burrp...gone.

last note - black outs that bottle seems to induce long lasting and very uncomfortable black outs..Happend more to me last night then in last 2 months.  I just mention it because the spit V at 250 mph can turn in half a plane length...surrly the pilot would hit nates bottle bad doing that? But I didnt just the usual tunnel that clears up. In the 38 I was going down for the 10 second out variety...


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Pongo
The Wrecking Crew

[Tern]

 

Originally posted by Pongo:


last note - black outs that bottle seems to induce long lasting and very uncomfortable black outs..Happend more to me last night then in last 2 months.  I just mention it because the spit V at 250 mph can turn in half a plane length...surrly the pilot would hit nates bottle bad doing that? But I didnt just the usual tunnel that clears up. In the 38 I was going down for the 10 second out variety...

I noticed the same thing, re the blackouts.  Thought I was dead when I bounced you between F5 and F6 last night.  Tunnel cleared just enough for me to see you start a climbing turn across my front and took the shot... Almost 90 degree high angle off and away went the back stuff on your 38, compliments of mine.
As a shooter... My next contact was a HO against another 38 at 12K over the hills.  He got my left halfwing, (I ditched nicely) and I hosed him on his wingroot with a 2 second burst... and nothing happened to him at all!    I had hit him in the rudders earlier and Toad had tagged him pretty good too, but this guy still flies with all parts back to F6?
I tried a few more flights and the guns they dinae seem to hit no where near as hard as they should for such concentrated firepower.  
Went back to the 51 and life resumed a steady pace once more.
 


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Tern
"Live to Fly!  Fly to Fight!  Fight to Live!"

[BaneX]

 

Anyway as a target from the front the P38 seems to hard to see

I noticed the same thing myself. I was in a HO merge with a 38 and even from d300 - 400 I could not see the plane at all. Now granted I won that merge, but only because I had a good idea of where the plane was in relation to the enemy icon above it. Now granted the plane might have some camoflage, but to be seemingly invisible when I'm almost on top of it is a bit much.



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BaneX

JG2 "Richthofen"

[Dnil]

Tern, that 38 might have been me, I remember you saying something on common about it.  Might be wrong, although I think I was at 23.  I hit the wing of a plane, blew the tip off then got pounded.  Left side of the plane was swiss cheese, engine out, flaps, and left ron out. Got hit again later that took out right ron, made a nice ditch on the way back home.  So if it was me I surely took some damage.

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Dnil
902nd Immortal Jaguars
Part time aircraft restorer

[CavemanJ]

I did several HOs with 38s tonight defending field 21 before the net went right to hell and kicked all th bish and rooks.  The only time the bird seemed to disappear was from d1.2k to d900.  I came out about even on the HOs, but I never had problems putting rounds on targets.  Just had problems with rubber bullets

[bloom25]

I was having rubber bullets problems as well.  I landed 35+ hits on a b26 in a 109 with gondolas, no damage.  (Btw:  The b26 had been hit previously by Granger in a 205, he reported no apparant damage as well.)  The b26 pilot even said that he had no damage.  Both of us were killed by single pings, after seeing no tracers.

I'm also getting discoes, lockups, stick spiking, and sound popping as well.  

bloom25
THUNDERBIRDS

[Vermillion]

Noticed this last night as well.

For some strange reason, if your looking directly at the P-38, the thing almost disappears, even with the "zoom" feature.

Makes the merge with one a real pain in the anterior.

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Vermillion
**MOL**, Men of Leisure,
"Real Men fly Radials, Nancy Boys fly Spitfires"

[Westy]

Roger that Verm. I was chasing a 38 on the tail of a friendly last night and at D1 to D12 the plane had pretty much a super thin profile to the point of disappearing. The two "fuselage" did not and the pilot unit was there too.
 Seems to me to be about right though. The P-38 was very very slim from the 6 or 12.
 I don't think it's a bug persay but a problem of not having a fine enough dot-pitch on the monitors used. There aren't enough small pixels to render a good representation of the plane form.  imo, of course.

 -Westy

[Lephturn]

Note about blacking out in a 38...

Before the last patch, there was no induced drag... so you could black out in a pull and the 38 just wasn't slowing down.  I must have hit the ground 5 times the first day flying the 38 because of this.  Oh well.. back to my hog.  

I'll hafta try the 38 again now that it has some drag...

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Lephturn - Chief Trainer
A member of The Flying Pigs
Visit Lephturn's Aerodrome for AH news, resources, and training data.
 http://users.andara.com/~sconrad/

"MY P-47 is a pretty good ship
And she took a round coming 'cross the Channel last trip
I was thinking 'bout my baby and lettin' her rip
Always got me through so far
Well they can ship me all over this great big world
But I'll never find nothing like my North End girl
I'm taking her home with me one day, sir
Soon as we win this war"
 - Steve Earl

[This message has been edited by Lephturn (edited 03-02-2000).]

[SC-GManMP]

I also have sound popping, but no trouble with stick spikes.  Last night i dumped a respectable amount of 20mm right on the head of a P-38 from my Hog, lottsa pings... no damn damage! 600 yds.. and the P38 at any distance looks like wonder womans jet...

[Minotaur]

 

Originally posted by CavemanJ:
I did several HOs with 38s tonight defending field 21 before the net went right to hell and kicked all th bish and rooks.  The only time the bird seemed to disappear was from d1.2k to d900.  I came out about even on the HOs, but I never had problems putting rounds on targets.  Just had problems with rubber bullets

This is about what I see, but I don't really see the plane reappear till about d700.



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Mino
The Wrecking Crew
Trainer

[Minotaur]

 

Originally posted by SC-GManMP:
I also have sound popping, but no trouble with stick spikes.  Last night i dumped a respectable amount of 20mm right on the head of a P-38 from my Hog, lottsa pings... no damn damage! 600 yds.. and the P38 at any distance looks like wonder womans jet...

Check the readme file in the AH directory.  I think that cannon lethality has been reduced at longer ranges.



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Mino
The Wrecking Crew
Trainer