Dive bombing discussion

[Charge]

"This is also the reason the Germans on the Eastern Front and in North Africa changed the Stuka's role to anti tank busting and bombing artillery gun emplacement's even in this role with a fighter escort they where still easy meat for fighter's."

Not really. Many times on the eastern front there was simply not enough fighters to provide air cover and cannon armed Ju87s were accompanied by bomb carrying ones which would first take out AAA on the target area and then proceed with protecting the slow and clumsy gunships against fighters. A Ju87 D5 with MG151/20 in wings had a decent armament to do that and a Ju87 which maneuvered was a difficult target for a fighter. I have a hunch that during BoB they stupidly flew in tight formations and thought that their tail gunners would fend off the attackers. Armed with a single MG15 that was not a too realistic expectation.

-C+

[BulletVI]

"This is also the reason the Germans on the Eastern Front and in North Africa changed the Stuka's role to anti tank busting and bombing artillery gun emplacement's even in this role with a fighter escort they where still easy meat for fighter's."

Not really. Many times on the eastern front there was simply not enough fighters to provide air cover and cannon armed Ju87s were accompanied by bomb carrying ones which would first take out AAA on the target area and then proceed with protecting the slow and clumsy gunships against fighters. A Ju87 D5 with MG151/20 in wings had a decent armament to do that and a Ju87 which maneuvered was a difficult target for a fighter. I have a hunch that during BoB they stupidly flew in tight formations and thought that their tail gunners would fend off the attackers. Armed with a single MG15 that was not a too realistic expectation.

-C+

That is most likely true but remember the Stuka Really was outdated by 1939 and a jet replacement was asked for before they even thought 100% about a Jet Fighter. But Hitler in his thankfully mad hatter of a mind decided that Jet Fighter's where better

[W7LPNRICK]

Just watched Battle -360* by History Channel. It's a CGI animation recreation of Pearl Harbor, Midway, Guadal-Canal ship battles. Was interesting with some heart felt testimony of the survivors or the Enterprise and it's planes pilots and gunners alike. You can take the first hand stuff pretty much to the bank, but the history channel has been criticized for their inaccuracy before. The way they portray the pacific battles there were no other dive bombers except the SBD that did any substantial damage. Yes, It had a Great set of dive grates, that living pilots say allowed a very steap angle of well controlled attack, but was it the best? Really? or did most of the SBD pilots survive to taut it's exceptional abilities. Which might in some ways make it the best, if it got ya home more often. Our early torpedo plane attacks were apparently little more than experimental suicide. That part of the clip was very sad. This was perhaps accurate, but the F6-F didn't get any air time other than as a fighter. I'm no history professor, but it sure drops a lot of bombs on the game. 

[Chalenge]

Every pilot has to believe that his airplane is the best or there is almost no point in being a pilot.

Hitech did us all a real favor in taming down the ack in the game. IRL ack was much more severe and just like in AH it didnt care about friend or foe. SBDs very well may have had some statistical accuracy over aircraft like the F6F but for carrier planes I would put money on the F6F or F4U surviving more attacks than the SBD (not that I have seen the statistics its just an impression).