worst place to attack a buff is from a front. most bombers have more guns on the front that back. (example: b17s haveing 4 .50 cals on front, combine that with drones to become 8 .50 cals on target plus 6 top turret guns makes it 14 .50cals on target)
Seems to work just fine for me.
Ludicrous closure speed, coming on a very steep angle from out of the sun at 10/11 or 1/2 o'clock coupled with a small profile makes for a very hard target to track. It negates the advantage one gets from having a "stationary" gun platform as on would have on an attacker on the hind-quarters of a buff.
Also, we're not talking about the DA here, nor do most buff pilots practice defense against this shot.
A Komet closing at say, 450 mph (conservatively) head on with a bomber formation traveling 280 mph (generously) gives a closure speed of ~ 720 mph (not accounting for heading, separation, etc) makes for a shot window of about 5 - 8 seconds. Not much considering the bomber pilot is distracted with flying the plane, lining up the bomb sight and the panic of an encounter with a pilot that has a rocket strapped to his balls and is shooting a cannon that has projectiles the size of a baseball.
You are welcome to do the math.
In 5 - 8 seconds, the Komet pilot is already in and out of guns range of the bomber and if flying smart, has also changed his heading during the encounter completely changing the guns solution of the bomber pilot.
Timing is
everything when killing buffs. Regardless of how accurate the buff gunner may be, the chances of him getting a meaningful shot diminish in direct proportion to the amount of time the attacker stays within guns range.
A disciplined fighter pilot that has patience and has developed a good sense of his intercept vectors and the ballistics of his weapons can make these shots all day long with impunity.
