I got shot down by a lanc earlier this evening... something that surprised me. I don't die to often to buffs, and this is the first time a Lanc has shotme down this tour. However, I also fly the B17 on occasion, so I don't think of myself as benig to biased.
My issue with the Lancaster is this - the .50s in the tail have a greater than 180 degree traverse. Was this the case on historical Lancs? My most common way to attack buffs is to come in from their 9 to 3, or 3 to 9, thus avoiding the tail guns- and making myself a more diffucult target. The B17 is fairly vulnerable to an approach such as this, and I generally have some small amount of success with it. It generally works with Lancs to, which is why I was surprised when he shot me down- perhaps all the Lancs have been shooting their tail turrets at me and I never noticed it before, but I certainly noticed this.
Actually, I didn't explain it quite right, my approach I mean. I actually try to intercept the Buff where I'll be at his 9 or 3, when I am firing my guns. To me, it appears that I start out in front of the bomber, and "slide" down as we approach the same place. How is it possible that the Lancs tail gun can hit something that is not even beside it- but is ahead of it flying perpendicular to its course? I can understand that the tail guns will get a shot at me as I pass OVER or UNDER the buff and he continues on his path, but before the merge?
Anyways, another beef I have is with the B17- Many of the guns can actually fire THROUGH the plane. An example of this is the ball turret- which can fire at enemies that are probably 10 to 15 degrees above the nose or tail of the plane- this isnt even physically possible as far as I know- please fix it. The top turret can fire through the vertical stab (the tail?), the left and right waist gunners can fire through both the elevators and the wing- all of which is actually possible- but I doubt if any REAL gunner would ever shoot through his own plane to try to shoot down an enemy (I could be wrong here I suppose). As I have said- I fly the B17 when I am going buffing, and with some small success (I usually kill 2 or 3 enemy fighters a sortie)- so this is not a one sided "please Nerf Buffs" thing. I'd really like to see this fixed.
On a totally unrelated note- I personally don't have a problem with the "power" of buff guns. Even with more powerful .50s than come on the fighters, you still have to lay a pretty good burst on an enemy to knock him down. And the easiest way to kill someone is of course when they come straight up your 6 from d2.0 away.. I normally start shooting at 1k or so and they either fly straight and die or break off.
As always, I welcome replies.