Convergence: Stagger or Not

[Slade]

Guys,

With regard to convergence and staggering\slash over laying vs. setting all guns to one range; what is your preference and findings of how effective  (or not effective) it is.

For example: some with a P-51 will set convergence so as inner gun = 350, middle 325 and outer 300.


Thanks for sharing,

Slade 

[Noir]

lots of hit on a single spot -> the part will pop off

lots of hits but spread out on the enemy plane -> won't kill it.

on that basis I put all my guns of the same calibre on the same convergence, which is 300 for me in the P51.

[Hap]

I stagger them 25 yds apart. 

[Krusty]

Set them all the same, or you're only landing a fraction of your rounds. If you're mixing gun types knock yourself out, but for the most part unless you're pulling massive G-shots (low probability shots) they'll all land in the same spot when the convergence is the same anyways.


Set them to the same, for most planes. There are a couple of exceptions I can think of but it's not worth getting into.

[ink]

if you take say the JUG that has a lot of guns it is Good to stagger them.....opposite if you only have a couple guns....

IMO

[titanic3]

Set them all to the same point. My only exception is the 109s MGs. I set the cannon (both 20mm or 30mm) to D200 and the MGs to D600. I only use the cannon for kill shots, I use the MG to pepper them if they run or to scare them off a friendly.

[RTHolmes]

yeah the jug is the only staggered one I have, creates a tunnel of bullets ~10' wide. I figure since most of the damage areas in AH are large its the same as point convergence from model damage perspective. which means you're effectively at convergence ~100yd either side of the centre of your stagger.

[Seanaldinho]

In most fighters I set it up staggered. IE in the brewster i set the cowl guns farther out then i do the 2 wing guns because i only use one set at a time unless im close enough in where it wont make much difference.

[Ack-Ack]

It's best to set them all to one convergence point so to make the damage impact greater but I've read some pilot interviews were they would some times stagger their guns at intervals.  Basically, it boils down to personal preference.

ack-ack

[Butcher]

P-47 is the only aircraft in which staggering works IMO, I've had this discussion 5+ years ago, still is the ONLY aircraft I stagger or have outside 350 (350/375) for my staggering.

[Krusty]

Keep in mind that you're not shooting lazer-perfect lines like in the hangar convergence screen. Each gun will have a "cone of fire" around that path. By scattering them, you're not just making a "shotgun effect" -- but you're making a super scattered shotgun effect because each of those has a large cone of dispersion where any individual round could be.



Observe what your best kill range is. Roll film and look back on many sorties. Pick the range you get your kill shots (NOT the tickle shots, not passing glances), and set all your convergence to that. Generally speaking that's the best solution.

[BaldEagl]

Point convergence.  All guns, all planes.

[Acidrain]

set your convergence to whatever blows your skirt up , then bring up the in flight target and set it at different ranges and see how it affects your spread. Adjust your convergence to whatever looks best at the range you shoot from most. 

[Seanaldinho]

I think with cowl guns or central guns you can set them way out then push the wing guns in.

[tmetal]

point convergence for all except the 8 gun package on the p47s, even on the 47s i still pair the guns so the inner 2 pair of guns are at 375 and the outter 2 pair are at 400