Aiming with Zoom On

[JimmyD3]

How many use the zoom feature when lining up on an aircraft in a dogfight? A strafing pass, or a dive bombing? As I get older my eyes are not what they used to be. What other ways is this feature used?

[The Fugitive]

My eyes are going to be 54 this year. While my aim has never been all that great in the 10 years here, I have been getting better over the last few months.
 
First, there is no substitute for practice. The more you play the better your aim will get.

Second, Many times I've been told "warm up flying against the drones off-line for a bit before loggin on" Even for 15 minutes or so helps, but even 15 minutes is boring as all .... well you know what. It does work tho. Boring as it is, you tend to pay more attention "where" you aim as appose to "just getting the kill before the other guy can". Changing your angle of attack and such can give you more, and better "site pictures". Site pictures are those views you see after a while and just KNOW your not going to miss.

Third, is understanding HOW to aim. In a split second you have to draw an imaginary line from the tail of the plane your after strait through the nose to a point out front of it. You have to aim your plane along this line taking into account how hard you are pulling on your stick as well as the bullet drop due to gravity, pick that one and only spot that matches all the info you have that will result in a hit and then fire. (I don't think it's our eyes as much as we think, all that math for my foggy headed brain could be whats throwing me off!)

As for zooming in. I have mine set for half zoom. I use it when I'm going in on a fairly steady target, buffs, a sleeper on climb out, the occasional vulch  I find that I can ease into those shots and hit very well with some zoom. In a fight on the other hand I have a hard time keeping things steady enough while maneuvering to use the zoom much. Even at half zoom I find it too easy to lose site of the bogie.

For the longest time I was in the 2% hit area (which is about average for the players if I remember Lusche's charts) and figured with the low number of hours I get to play I'd never get much better. With practice and a lot of work I got to hang around 4%. A friend helped me with understanding bullet drop and where to aim better and now over the last couple months I've pushed it up around 6% and can hold it there most of the month.

[mtnman]

I almost never use zoom to aim/fire, as I find it messes up my ability to properly judge the lead and timing required for my shot.  If I have a target that is trying to outrun me and is presenting a straight, prolonged, shot at his tail that's about the only time I use zoom while aiming/firing.

I use zoom quite often to get a better view of my opponent, and to be better able to judge where he's going to be next (because zoom allows me to see the attitude of his plane more clearly).  When using zoom like this I just briefly "blink" the zoom on, and then quickly "blink" it back off.  It's rare that I have zoom turned on for more than a second or so (a second may actually be longer than I use it), but I might use it ten times or more in a fight, depending upon the situation.  I don't use it for every fight, but I don't really think about using it either; it just happens...

I have it mapped to a button on my throttle that my finger naturally lies upon, so it's available at a moments notice and I don't need to take my eyes off of the screen to find the button.

[BaldEagl]

I use zoom.  I use default zoom (Alt-Z) and have a zoom toggle mapped to my stick.  I'm continually toggling in and out of zoom mode in any and every type of fight.  As Fugi said it's easy to lose a bogie in a dogfight zoomed in so if that looks like it's going to happen I just toggle out until he's back in front of me then toggle back in.

Most important to me unless it's a snapshot or a crossing shot is to steady the nose where I want to aim and therefore I'm generally very patient in getting a shot set up.

My hit rates are generally in the 10-12% range.

[Auger]

I mostly use zoom when I'm on a dead 6 chase and don't have much smash.  It especially helps when down low where it's hard to pick out the con from the ground clutter.  The rest of the time there really isn't time to change over to zoom, and it makes it hard to track a jinking bandit.

[morfiend]

I almost never use zoom to aim/fire, as I find it messes up my ability to properly judge the lead and timing required for my shot.  If I have a target that is trying to outrun me and is presenting a straight, prolonged, shot at his tail that's about the only time I use zoom while aiming/firing.

I use zoom quite often to get a better view of my opponent, and to be better able to judge where he's going to be next (because zoom allows me to see the attitude of his plane more clearly).  When using zoom like this I just briefly "blink" the zoom on, and then quickly "blink" it back off.  It's rare that I have zoom turned on for more than a second or so (a second may actually be longer than I use it), but I might use it ten times or more in a fight, depending upon the situation.  I don't use it for every fight, but I don't really think about using it either; it just happens...

I have it mapped to a button on my throttle that my finger naturally lies upon, so it's available at a moments notice and I don't need to take my eyes off of the screen to find the button.

 I tend to follow this method aswell,but that doesnt mean much as I cant shoot for beans!   Much like Mntman I cant adjust my lead in zoom so it throws me off.

   Instead I went the with a larger monitor,that helps somewhat.

   YMMV.



   

[JimmyD3]

My eyes are going to be 54 this year. While my aim has never been all that great in the 10 years here, I have been getting better over the last few months.
 
First, there is no substitute for practice. The more you play the better your aim will get.

Second, Many times I've been told "warm up flying against the drones off-line for a bit before loggin on" Even for 15 minutes or so helps, but even 15 minutes is boring as all .... well you know what. It does work tho. Boring as it is, you tend to pay more attention "where" you aim as appose to "just getting the kill before the other guy can". Changing your angle of attack and such can give you more, and better "site pictures". Site pictures are those views you see after a while and just KNOW your not going to miss.

Third, is understanding HOW to aim. In a split second you have to draw an imaginary line from the tail of the plane your after strait through the nose to a point out front of it. You have to aim your plane along this line taking into account how hard you are pulling on your stick as well as the bullet drop due to gravity, pick that one and only spot that matches all the info you have that will result in a hit and then fire. (I don't think it's our eyes as much as we think, all that math for my foggy headed brain could be whats throwing me off!)

As for zooming in. I have mine set for half zoom. I use it when I'm going in on a fairly steady target, buffs, a sleeper on climb out, the occasional vulch  I find that I can ease into those shots and hit very well with some zoom. In a fight on the other hand I have a hard time keeping things steady enough while maneuvering to use the zoom much. Even at half zoom I find it too easy to lose site of the bogie.

For the longest time I was in the 2% hit area (which is about average for the players if I remember Lusche's charts) and figured with the low number of hours I get to play I'd never get much better. With practice and a lot of work I got to hang around 4%. A friend helped me with understanding bullet drop and where to aim better and now over the last couple months I've pushed it up around 6% and can hold it there most of the month.

That's me, I'm just a little bit older than you Fugitive! My aim has improved some, since I started playing the game back in March, But it still leaves a lot of room for improvement. I think part of my problem is my Joystick. I use a Logitech X3D, with the twist feature setup for the rudder, and I have a bad habit of  twisting the stick in a dogfight. I do use the zoom on strafing runs and when I'm dive bombing. Thanks for all the feedback, more ideas to ponder!

[morfiend]

 Jimmy,

  You're quite right with respect to your joystick,the 2 axises{axii} that effect your shooting the most are the pitch and yaw. Either of these can cause nose bounce and simply pulling the trigger can give unwanted input into the joystick.

  Goto,options,controls,map controls,then select the axis,lets say yaw{rudder} then check advanced box and the scalling window will open. From there you can add some dampening,this will effect input over whole range of movement,or you can contour the sliders to reduce the initial inputs from the stick. Deadpan is basically the centering of the stick,think of it as a circle,you can increase the size of the circle by increasing deadpan and this will help you find "center" easier.

 The nice thing is you can do this while flying and test the results,use auto pilot when making adjustments then check to see the effects.Use of the .target command can add in seeing if the nose bounce is controlled or not.

  Of course you'll want to do this for the pitch axis also,generally I find the rudder causes the biggest issue,elevator is often secondary if at all.

   If you need assistance with this you can find me in the TA most evenings around 9pm est. to 11pm est.



   hope that helps!


   

[JimmyD3]

Jimmy,

  You're quite right with respect to your joystick,the 2 axises{axii} that effect your shooting the most are the pitch and yaw. Either of these can cause nose bounce and simply pulling the trigger can give unwanted input into the joystick.

  Goto,options,controls,map controls,then select the axis,lets say yaw{rudder} then check advanced box and the scalling window will open. From there you can add some dampening,this will effect input over whole range of movement,or you can contour the sliders to reduce the initial inputs from the stick. Deadpan is basically the centering of the stick,think of it as a circle,you can increase the size of the circle by increasing deadpan and this will help you find "center" easier.

 The nice thing is you can do this while flying and test the results,use auto pilot when making adjustments then check to see the effects.Use of the .target command can add in seeing if the nose bounce is controlled or not.

  Of course you'll want to do this for the pitch axis also,generally I find the rudder causes the biggest issue,elevator is often secondary if at all.

   If you need assistance with this you can find me in the TA most evenings around 9pm est. to 11pm est.



   hope that helps!


   

Thanks Morfiend, I'll give that a try and let you know how it worked out!

[Zexx]

 I use the zoom feature quite regularly, but mostly on ground vehicles and ship guns.

On Ground Vehicles and specifically the AAA I can better lead an attacking aircraft and adjust fire  especially during head on strafing shots from an attacker.
On Ships guns; Zoom allows me to walk round into the target when its in visual range, and to see where my rounds are impacting.

[waystin2]

I use the zoom for tracking the enemy planes position only.  Let's me know is he gonna wag right or left, split S, etc.  Otherwise it narrows the vision to much and makes you vulnerable as your SA is disturbed.  Always fire when you are really close then you don't need the zoom!

[icepac]

Me too....I just use the zoom to see the beginnings of a turn from someone I am chasing.........which happens far too often.

For normal operations, set the zoom up for just a little bit and hit Z when I need the slight zoom.

[Daddkev]

  I close my eyes and spray! 

[Latrobe]

I use zoom to get a good look at which way their aircraft is pointing, but not for shooting. I find I lose my depth perception while zoomed in and can't calculate lead as well. I do use zoom when I'm directly behind them as they try to run though.