Strat Auto Ack

[JimmyD3]

Has anyone been shot down, in a bomber, from the strat auto ack? And if so, what were you flying and what was your altitude?

[Lusche]

Has anyone been shot down, in a bomber, from the strat auto ack? And if so, what were you flying and what was your altitude?

Yes. For the current tour alone:

1. Ki-67, 24K, ~325mph
2. Ki-67, 25K, ~325mph
3. Ki-67, 20K, ~325mph
-.  G4M, 27K, ~250mph, lost one engine but made it home
4. Ki-67, 20K, ~325mph
5. Ki-67, 20.5K, ~325mph

Most of them weren't instant kills, but fuel tank hits which resulted in running out of fuel while still on  my way home.

My total loss quota due to strat puffy for the current tour is at 13%, which is quite high. As you already may have noticed I'm flying only Japanese bombers at the moment. Other bombers are more suriviable, most notably the B-29.

I could make a more comprehensive list for all tours since Sept 12, including many more bomber types.  

[JimmyD3]

Thanks Lusche, I appreciate your quick response and statistical verification. I have seen 1 set of B24's shot down by the Strat guns and thats it. It almost "seems" that the Strat guns are useless against bombers at altitude, But I am not seeing the full picture obviously.
.

[HawkerMKII]

P51d 30k.....poof tower

[Dragon Tamer]

I could make a more comprehensive list for all tours since Sept 12, including many more bomber types.  

Leave it to Lusche to have the numbers... he probably has a chart with routes, enemies encountered, damage delt, etc. lying around somewhere as well.

[Karnak]

I've taken many hits, but the only system failure that springs to mind is a fuel leak on the inner port fuel tank of a Mosquito Mk XVI.  I was going about 395mph at 28,000ft when I took that hit.

[715]

Lusche: how many times did the strat flak prevent you from dropping bombs on the strat?

[Lusche]

Lusche: how many times did the strat flak prevent you from dropping bombs on the strat?

Never entirely. It sometimes prevented me from dropping a part of my loadout by removing one bomber from my formation and one or two times I had to abort my mission without having dropped all of my bombs.



Here's a chart of my total losses by AA over the strats. DMG only counts incidents with substantial damage on components, not just there mere pings I frequently get.



Of course, with the low number of sorties in some types the numbers aren't always representative. One further note: My B-29 sorties frequently leave me loitering in the AA for extended times, notably with the 56x250 and 80x100 loadouts, in which I do 5-9 runs over the target per sortie (taking 20-40 minutes)

[Dragon Tamer]

Based on Lusche's very detailed numbers, It suggests that flying a KI-67 over a field will give you the lowest odds of survival. Either that or they were just very lucky shots. Instead take the B-29, you will deal the most damage but still have the highest odds of survival.

My observations by the way are only based on the planes that have 10 sorties or more.

[Lusche]

Leave it to Lusche to have the numbers... he probably has a chart with routes, enemies encountered, damage delt, etc. lying around somewhere as well.

Did miss that one..

Yes, actually I have.  
I log all my bomber sorties, and the record includes:

Mission number
Side attacked
date
map
take off time
mission type
plane
formation?
fuel
loadout
takeoff time
intitial bombing level
visibility over target
tons actually dropped on target(s)
# and type items destroyed
real destruction in lbs
loadout efficiency
mission duration
real destruction/hour
kills (# and types)
deaths (# and cause)
perk gain (or loss)
displayed "landed damage"
damage score points
remarks



I really would like to see implemented an auto-log option similar to the one used in special events, just that the file is stored on your disk. Especially helpful to track my fighter sorties, which I can't really track manually like I would like to.

[Babalonian]

Yes. For the current tour alone:

1. Ki-67, 24K, ~325mph
2. Ki-67, 25K, ~325mph
3. Ki-67, 20K, ~325mph
-.  G4M, 27K, ~250mph, lost one engine but made it home
4. Ki-67, 20K, ~325mph
5. Ki-67, 20.5K, ~325mph

Most of them weren't instant kills, but fuel tank hits which resulted in running out of fuel while still on  my way home.

My total loss quota due to strat puffy for the current tour is at 13%, which is quite high. As you already may have noticed I'm flying only Japanese bombers at the moment. Other bombers are more suriviable, most notably the B-29.

I could make a more comprehensive list for all tours since Sept 12, including many more bomber types. 

Yeah those Ki-67s woudl fall into the softer category for sure.  I miss taking the G4m or Ki-67 to the strats, fun challenge usualy (compared to the B-17 and B-24 or Lanc - 1/2 defenders = no problem - get dinged 25 times by puffy = no damage).

[Lusche]

Yeah those Ki-67s woudl fall into the softer category for sure. 

My problem in the Ki-67 seems to be that the relatively small fuel capacity carried in a few tanks makes a fuel hit much more troublesome. Most of my recent ack deaths were simply by running out of fuel after getting a fuel leak. In other bombers I often have much more reserves avilable.

[Babalonian]

P51d 30k.....poof tower

Patch 4 is now available.

Version 2.29 Patch 4 Changes
======================

Added a return salute (.rs) dot command.  Typing .rs will return a salute back to whover saluted you last.

Your plane will no longer try to move when you open your throttle and your tailhook is engaged with the wire.  You need to raise your tailhook before you can move.  This will prevent planes from getting slung off of the deck.

Made the following changes to the 88mm auto flak.  

The maximum range remains at 35000 feet but there is now a maximum horizontal range of about 26000 feet.  

Flak now targets bombers in preference to fighters.  A fighter must be at least half the distance of the bomber before the flak will target the fighter over the bomber.

Flak will stop firing at at enemy planes that have a friendly plane within 1000 yards of it.  It will either switch to a different target or stop firing if no other targets are available.

Fixed a couple more button texture issues on the clipboard.

Added min sortie time requirements to certain achievements like number of sorties and expended ordnance achievements.  

Added a display to the achievement menu to show progress to the next star level.

Added a game id display to the achievement menu to show who's achievements you are looking at.

[Babalonian]

My problem in the Ki-67 seems to be that the relatively small fuel capacity carried in a few tanks makes a fuel hit much more troublesome. Most of my recent ack deaths were simply by running out of fuel after getting a fuel leak. In other bombers I often have much more reserves avilable.

You didn't by chance log what specific tanks you've lost, did you?

[Lusche]

You didn't by chance log what specific tanks you've lost, did you?

Aux & Fuselage, which both carry a huge part of the Ki-67s fuel. Unlike the B-29, which in all of my 117 strat runs in it got always hit in CTR fuel tank exclusively... which is easy to drain before reaching the target.