De-acking w/rockets

[RipRap]

I downloaded the game 2 months ago and been doing offline missions, following the BBS and all the links, studying, researching, etc..before jumping right into it and getting blown out of the sky every time that I up. The one thing that is annoying the heck outta me is aiming rockets. I am either way long or way short.

Questions is: are the rockets set in relationship with convergance settings or a fixed range in conjunction with the gun sight?


(I just started flying in the arenas this past Wednesday, hooked is not a strong enough word) 

[lulu]

there is a sight, named jabo sight, that have two dots.
One to aim vs planes, and another to hit ground target.


 

[curry1]

there is a sight, named jabo sight, that have two dots.
One to aim vs planes, and another to hit ground target.


 

mmm... not really...

[BrownBaron]

[fuzeman]

You can turn on the training aid offline or visit the TA and it's on automatically. It brings up a green + that indicates the impact point of a rocket or bomb. I've always just gotten used to a certain attack profile, ie: dive angle mostly, and have become familiar with where that + would be in relation to the gun-sight in my attack plane. The P-51D gun-sight is a nice one for rocket attacks too.
   With some practice you can plink field guns from a safe distance.

And actually answering your question, rockets fire straight ahead along your flight path. Rudder input does not effect rockets or bombs the way it does with the guns mounted on the plane. You can noticeably see this in the TA after you select bombs or rockets and yaw your plane left and right and see the + not move left or right corresponding to your rudder input.

[BaldEagl]

You're better off de-acking with machine guns and/or cannons and saving your rockets for more valuable targets.

[Gooss]

Just to amplify redundantly, aiming rockets is like divebombing in a fighter.  Sights help you get a sight picture, but it's still by feel.  You have to have a feel for how far you are from your target, then decide where to aim.

Offline practice is good for getting back into the groove for aiming rockets, bombs, and guns.

HONK!
Gooss

[mtnman]

A big part of success with rockets is consistency in your approach.  That means taking pains to dive in at the same angle and speed every time.  Speeding up, slowing down, or changing your dive angle will all effect where the rockets impact.  Another factor is obviously going to be distance...  Fire them from farther away, and they'll eventually slow down and dive in steeper.

As previously mentioned, rudder doesn't have much effect, because the rockets will self-correct and continue on your flight path, regardless of where your nose is pointing.  That means, though, that you cannot use rudder to correct your aim, either...  So, if you're giving any rudder input, and using the sight to aim, you'll miss...  You need to learn to direct your approach without rudder, or at least fine-tune your aim without any rudder input, before you fire the rockets...

A final point to consider is how high your head is in the cockpit.  Are you using the page up button, and then saving that view as default?  If so, that changes things slightly.  Especially if you use rockets in multiple planes, and don't have the up/down aspect of your head the same in each... 

What I generally use as a reference for aiming is the space between the actual gun-sight and the top of my cowl.  I fire my rockets when the target is about 1/2 way between my sight and the top edge of my cowl.  For bombs, I drop them just as my target passes out of sight beneath the top edge of my cowl.  That only works though, if my approach speed and angle are correct, and I'm not using rudder, and I'm the correct "same" distance from my target each time...

[Agent360]

Rockets are actually really good for de acking.

Take the same angle as you would for a bomb....say 30 deg down but you can fire them much farther away than dropping a bomb. They go strait and then drop.

You can make a high speed pass nose down from 1k and get 4 or 5 acks on one pass.

Taters are just as good. The taters drop like rocks. You can come in 400 plus on the deck and tick them off and they will drop right on the ack. ONE tater will kill an ack.

A single 109k4 or G14 can de ack a large airfield if you jig correctly to miss being hit. The key is to realize that the auto ack is programmed to fire of a table...so if you jig correctly you can fly through it without being hit....the secret is to make a pass off angle from the runway...if you fly parallel to the runway you will get blown up. Taking a pass at 45 deg across a runway on the deck is the best way.

[uptown]

If you'll notice the little "bowtie" as I like to call it, between the center dot and the bottom "bowtie" of the sight....that middle one is your rocket mark (If you're at a steep enough angle) say 45 degrees or steeper. I usually come in at maybe a 75 degree angle.
When I'm at a very shollow angle I'll use the bottom bowtie to aim the rockets. But generally the bottom bowtie is the aim point for my bombs.
For instance, when I'm diving on a hanger, I'll select rockets, come in at a 75 degree dive and when my middle bowtie is on the door of the hanger i'll shoot rockets and change over to bombs right away. When bottom bowtie lines up on target, I drop the bombs. BOOM! Hanger down in 1 pass.

Deacking with rockets is fairly easy to do once you find a spot in on your gunsight and adjust your angle of attack to that. I can usually deack with rockets 1.5K to 2.0K out. Some folks can do it even farther out, but I like to get in close to lessen the chances of a miss. Almost always I can get 1 ack with 1 rocket using this method and gunsight.

The gunsight above is the P51D sight that Fuzeman mentioned. It can be found in Sketchs Gunsight pack in the custom skins and sounds section of the BBS. Or in his sig.  

[JunkyII]

Just about an hour ago I deacked a medium field in an FW190F8.

I dont worry too much about my speed/dive angle honestly when Im in it as long as I got a pretty decnt dive angle and I dont go so slow that I stall out trying to turn my nose toward the next gun.

This is how I do Jabbo runs in a F8

First, grab alt to about 12-15 k(depending on alt of cons at enemy base), this will make it so you will get plenty of alt back for your second run through the ack looking for targets.

Next, make sure you dive toward friendly planes just incase someone picks up your six o clock....you can set up a nice easy kill for a buddy.

If you bring the 500KG bomb too make sure you get rid of that on first dive in. I like to drop it on the radar if its up, and if that isnt there I hit ord. If you come straight down on the dar from 10k you can drop the bomb pretty high and still have time to engage a few ack guns with rockets.

Aiming the rockets is actually quite easy. On a default gunsight you see tics at the top/bottom/left and right of the circle. But the tic at the top(near the gun) of the gun and shoot the rocket. The rocket doesnt even need to be close to kill it.

On small airfields you can hit a line of about 6 guns right down the main pad side of the runway....this will make it loads easier to get the rest without any damage. On the bigger airfields I like to start on 1 side and work my way over.

If you lose your to much alt so you dont got a steep enough angle for the rocket just press the backspace button and kill the next gun with cannon.

[321BAR]

You're better off de-acking with machine guns and/or cannons and saving your rockets for more valuable targets.

sometimes a rocket is better. .50cals dont explode and sometimes you won't kill the gun first pass and if its a soft gun, youd better be a good shot with a .50 to kill it before he gets you. So rockets are sometimes better.

[WMLute]

sometimes a rocket is better. .50cals dont explode and sometimes you won't kill the gun first pass and if its a soft gun, youd better be a good shot with a .50 to kill it before he gets you. So rockets are sometimes better.

Agreed.

I for one am terrible at shooting ack with a .50 and use my rockets for ack.

[Gooss]

What I generally use as a reference for aiming...

What he says is true.  I'm just having a hard time picturing MtnMan with ord.

HONK!
Gooss

[Spikes]

I also like the F8's rockets for deacking.

Seems the rockets have a better flight path and don't drop as quickly as normal HVAR's.

Taters are great for it too. Can de-ack a small airfield with a K4 and still have 40+ taters left.