190F8

[Tank-Ace]

My main base defender against GV hordes. Being a tanker, it salves my concionce to use these damned rockets instead of bombs. So how exactly do you use these stupid things (PB1 rockets)? I have a gunsight but its relability is terrible.

[Butcher]

My main base defender against GV hordes. Being a tanker, it salvs my concionce to use these damned rockets instead of bombs. So how exactly do you use these stupid things (PB1 rockets)? I have a gunsight but its relability is terrible.

Climb to 4k, dive on your target and fire off a round.  Yes its that simple.

[MK-84]

you practice

[Tank-Ace]

Lol. ok, but is there any angle of attack that works best? Any particular speed that works best due to rocket trajectory? or is it just kindof an art?

[mthrockmor]

Do the first suggestion (4k, dive and shoot) but with a spotter. You are doing two things. First, angle of attack. Play close attention to roughly how steep the dive is. I suggest greater then 70 degrees first go, then roughly 45 degrees. Put the dot right on the target and about 2k away pull the trigger. The spotter is essential so you know where it hit.

AAR, then fly the same attack envelope and repeat though adjust the dot on your gunsight. Good dive bombing/shooting rockets is about consistent set up and confidence. Once you know where to put the dot with a certain angle of attack you will hit it 99% of the time, so long as you fly the right envelope.

In about 30 minutes with a buddy spotting for you, several sorties, you should be highly qualified. From there it is practice.

Boo

[Tank-Ace]

Alright, thanks boo.

[Butcher]

The Training Arena works best for this, however unless you get lucky to have a base with Ords up, but every once in a blue moon when someone doesn't take ords I enjoy an Il-2 with full rockets and bombs.

Although the Il-2 flies like a Pig, once you can get to 3.5k it does wonders on GV's.

[Hap]

My main base defender against GV hordes. Being a tanker, it salves my concionce to use these damned rockets instead of bombs. So how exactly do you use these stupid things (PB1 rockets)? I have a gunsight but its relability is terrible.

tank, offline makes for easy practice: take 25% gas and your panzer blitzen rkts and flail away at the red tanks on your base.

[Butcher]

tank, offline makes for easy practice: take 25% gas and your panzer blitzen rkts and flail away at the red tanks on your base.

What about making an Offline mission with a bunch of tanks stacked around a base?

[FLS]

What about making an Offline mission with a bunch of tanks stacked around a base?

You could just put the offline drones in tanks. You can enable the dive bomb cross in options/arena settings/environment/flight mode flags ,if you want to use that to develop a sight picture. You'll notice that dive angle, speed, and release height, all affect the impact point for a given sight picture.

[SmokinLoon]

Those Pb1 rockets are devastating against armored gv's (the best [and only] anti-tank rocket in AH.  The British 60lb rockets are SAP = "semi" AP), but they are tied with the Soviet RS-82 for weakest rocket vs OBJ.  Here are a few things to remember when using them:

1. There is no convergence, they fire straight off the wing.  So your reticule is NOT where they are going hit, ever.  They will hit either side of where you aim the width of the wing mounting points, compare that size to the length of a tank.  So, it is best to come in from the broad side and your human error will hopefully land a hit somewhere.  Obviously, a stationary target is best.  Put the reticule dead on your target and go for an "area effect" target.  Again, your human error will actually help you.

2. The 190's have a horrible stall characteristic when trying to pull out of a steep dive at anything but high speeds.  So with that in mind, keep your speeds up (250+TAS), your attack angle 45 degrees or less, and think just as much about your egress out as your attack route in.

3. Patience is virtue.  Take your time and do not rush.  The Germans figured 1 in 6 rockets hit the mark, and they usually fired them in 6 or 12 rocket volleys.  I suggest 3-4 rockets per volley.
   

[Tank-Ace]

So relativly steep dive from 4k up, aim broad-side at a tank, and cut loose with 3-4 rockets, praying for a hit?

Am I going to want to set a delay and hope one hits where the others miss, or am I better off with the .05sec delay?

[Becinhu]

If you prefer the shallow attack run, the following works fairly well.  Fly at roughly 100-150 ft level. Salvo 1-4 rockets as soon as the tank disappears under the top of your cowling.  It is harder to master than the high AoA method but leaves you less vulnerably to ground fire.  I used to be fairly good with this method until I stopped flying the f8 for some reason.  Now I have to completely relearn the finesse of it.

[bustr]

1. PB1 rocket has the same trajectory as the MK108 30mm round.

2. Set salvo for 2 and your best range is 400 or 600 yards. Direct hit kills most tanks.

3. Make a long run from 2-3k alt about 2-4k distance away until about 1.5k and shallow dive at the tank.

4. Whatever marks on your gunsight you use to hit things at 400 and 600 with the tater use them to fire at the tank.

You can verify all of this offline with the DiveBombSight enabled under the Flight mode Flags in the arena setup. To modify your own gunsight from a screen capture. Map your rocket launch button to do a screen capture. Then perform 3 or 4 runs taking screen captures when the green cross is on the tank at 400 and 600. Open the pictures offline and place marks in your gunsight accordingly. Then go back, remap your rocket launch button and practice shootng tanks at 400 and 600.

If you make a 512x512 pixel gunsight with a 100mil ring.

Top of 100mil ring @ 256, 156

Center of 100mil ring @ 256, 256

Rocket aimpoint 400 @ 256, 291
Rocket aimpoint 600 @ 256, 326

Bottom of 100mil ring @ 256, 356

With a 512x512 gunsight remember whatever its name (gunsight.bmp) it needs a (gunsight.mil) text file with the number 256 in it.

[SmokinLoon]

1. PB1 rocket has the same trajectory as the MK108 30mm round.

2. Set salvo for 2 and your best range is 400 or 600 yards. Direct hit kills most tanks.

3. Make a long run from 2-3k alt about 2-4k distance away until about 1.5k and shallow dive at the tank.

4. Whatever marks on your gunsight you use to hit things at 400 and 600 with the tater use them to fire at the tank.

You can verify all of this offline with the DiveBombSight enabled under the Flight mode Flags in the arena setup. To modify your own gunsight from a screen capture. Map your rocket launch button to do a screen capture. Then perform 3 or 4 runs taking screen captures when the green cross is on the tank at 400 and 600. Open the pictures offline and place marks in your gunsight accordingly. Then go back, remap your rocket launch button and practice shootng tanks at 400 and 600.

If you make a 512x512 pixel gunsight with a 100mil ring.

Top of 100mil ring @ 256, 156

Center of 100mil ring @ 256, 256

Rocket aimpoint 400 @ 256, 291
Rocket aimpoint 600 @ 256, 326

Bottom of 100mil ring @ 256, 356

With a 512x512 gunsight remember whatever its name (gunsight.bmp) it needs a (gunsight.mil) text file with the number 256 in it.

I suggest to NOT salvo the rockets.  They will land too close to each other and the odds are they will miss.  So, in a sense you've just wasted a rocket.  It only takes a single rocket to hit to destroy the tank so space them out. 

K.I.S.S., forget all the fancy trajectory stuff.  Just work with the rockets off line, observe your hits and misses, and learn.  It will take time, patience, and practice.  Fire directly at the center of the tank, regardless of the angle on the tank you come in at.  Just remember that your rockets fly directly out from the wing, no convergence just trajectory AND if you are coming in at a 45 degree angle the trajectory will be minimal.  Aim dead center. Do NOT aim high. 400 yards and closer is what I suggest, but not too close so you cant pull out of the dive.