low altitude dive bombing HOW?

[pembquist]

A couple questions on moving mud.  Is the best way to practice dive bombing to goto the online training area and do the air start at the bombing range?  Is there a way to know if you've hit gvs offline? (they respawn so fast) I read the divebombing instructions that talk about 10+k agl start alt and thats all fine but in the arena I see most people zapping gvs from much much lower, any tips on how to go about this?  I have a problem seeing GVs without the big red neon signs, do crts get dimmer with age? My resolutions are pretty low, trees and such disappear when climbing and reappear when diving, do the the GVs do the same?  Lastly I think I've settled on the typhoon and the hellcat for ground attack, any comments pro/con on this choice for a newbie?

One last thing; for training wouldn't it be nice if you could have 10 times as many bombs?

[Melvin]

I have a pretty awful system running AH as well, and suffer many of the same problems as you.

I usually start out dive bombing a base per the instructions. While engaged on whatever target I chose to engage, I also take the opportunity to scan the ground and make a mental note of what I saw as I egress after first release. This way I can say, "OK, I saw two whirbles heading south from the VH and a M4 on the main pad." etc,etc.

Now that I'm back at altitude, I can't see them but I know they're there.

I'll then roll into the approximate area that said vehicles were spotted and by the time they come into view it should only take minor corrections to put the bombs on target.

It also helps a ton when you have a good group of guys calling targets on the radio. When you're almost to the objective, ask out on range if there are any high priority targets. I usually just say, "Where do you want these eggs?" Usually someone will call out a target for you. If they don't, just go ahead and do your thing.

Make sure you drop above minimal alt for the bombs to arm.

To me bombing is almost a Zen kind of thing. I don't have a rigid dive angle or aim point that I follow every time. I just kind of pickle them off when it "feels" right. My success rate is decent, but not great.

<S> Melvin

[bozon]

The secret to low level dive bombing is speed.

When you start lower than 4k AGL a 60-70 degree dive will kill you. In a flat dive, the target tends to disappear under the nose and the impact point of the bomb is harder to predict. This is where speed comes in. The trajectory of the bomb is initially very flat: it starts with the forward speed of the plane and zero component from gravity. The gravity takes time to build up the vertical speed and it needs to be a considerable fraction of the bomb forward speed in order to shift its direction.

When you release the bomb fast (say >300mph) and at 30 deg angle from 2k AGL, the travel time of the bomb will be short enough so gravity only makes a small bend in the flight path. It means that the future impact will be just under the nose where the engine cover blocks your view (depends on the plane and view position of course). Basically, it is just a given angle below your gunsight aiming point, but getting to know you favorite plane and view setup will help a lot for the "feel" of it. The good thing is that when you are fast, speed variations and angle variations and release alt, make only a small difference to the aiming point.

Application:
Good for hunting GV if you know their location. Dive far from them and approach on the deck at high speed (they are usually less aware of low flying planes). When closing the distance, zoom up a little to have room for the shallow dive, and start the attack. Release ~2k AGL (the bomb must travel 3k in the air to arm, so with the horizontal component it is enough) and immediately break away or zoom up so you don't catch your own blast - the bomb will travel almost directly under you!
I love the mosquito for this style due to the excellent over the nose view  - set up the forward-down position all the way up and forward, almost like having a bombardier glass nose.

[FLS]

Low altitude dive bombing is generally the same as high altitude dive bombing. The key is consistency in dive angle, speed, and release altitude so that you have a repeatable sight picture.

As Bozon mentioned, a 30 degree angle is a good choice for low altitude. If you can keep 2 out of 3 variables the same, for example if altitude and dive angle are the same but speed is different, it's not too hard to adjust your sight picture accordingly. If you have more than 1 variable you're more likely to miss.

When bombing GVs close counts, especially if you use a bigger bomb than you need to. Also, it's better to drop 2 at a time to be sure of getting a kill until you can consistently kill them with 1 bomb.

[Delirium]

One last thing; for training wouldn't it be nice if you could have 10 times as many bombs?

If you use the airbases to the far right in the Training Arena, they have airspawns with targets for you to bomb. They range from low to high altitude so you can work on both aspects of bombing, in both fighters and bombers.

[FLS]

You can use the training arena terrain offline to practice from an air start without the bombing cross training aid.