"THE SHOT"

[Getback]

I really need to start filming these things. First let me say this probably happens quite a bit. Yet for some reason this one stuck with me.

We were defending 235 I believe. There was a cv off shore of the Vbase. I'm about 5k when I spot a low f4u1D coming in. I dive down to the deck. When the F4 lowers it's gear. Now I don't know if that was done in panic or to slow the craft down to cause an overshoot. My immediate response was to hard left rudder my F6. At that point he hard left rudders his F4. In turn I slam my my right rudder.

Now what happens next feels like slow motion. I'm doing about 100mph and he is ever so slightly faster. The nose of the F6 is just ever so slightly ahead of the his cockpit and I'm at a right angle to his plane and not more than 50 yards away. I can clearly see the pilot and he is moving from my right to left. I chop the throttle just a hair to let the F4 cockpit drift right into my gun sights. Point blank and dead on the pilot I pull the trigger. Instant explosion.

Honestly could not believe I waited for the cockpit to drift into my sights. Yet I saw the whole thing playing out and those speeds there was much of a chance of an exit.

[scott66]

would have loved to see that on film .. .

I really need to start filming these things. First let me say this probably happens quite a bit. Yet for some reason this one stuck with me.

We were defending 235 I believe. There was a cv off shore of the Vbase. I'm about 5k when I spot a low f4u1D coming in. I dive down to the deck. When the F4 lowers it's gear. Now I don't know if that was done in panic or to slow the craft down to cause an overshoot. My immediate response was to hard left rudder my F6. At that point he hard left rudders his F4. In turn I slam my my right rudder.

Now what happens next feels like slow motion. I'm doing about 100mph and he is ever so slightly faster. The nose of the F6 is just ever so slightly ahead of the his cockpit and I'm at a right angle to his plane and not more than 50 yards away. I can clearly see the pilot and he is moving from my right to left. I chop the throttle just a hair to let the F4 cockpit drift right into my gun sights. Point blank and dead on the pilot I pull the trigger. Instant explosion.

Honestly could not believe I waited for the cockpit to drift into my sights. Yet I saw the whole thing playing out and those speeds there was much of a chance of an exit.

[MK-84]

Niiice

For me thos types of shots are accidential and usually leave me either in disbelief or still maneuvering wondering why I cant see my enemy anywhere.

[Getback]

would have loved to see that on film .. .

So many times I wished I had filmed.

[JimmyD3]

I always film, but then I've got into the habit of automatically deleting everyone.  So that doesn't help either.

[Ripley]

Many of my kills are Pilot kill shots, i would say probably about half of them which I believe is a high number. It's never planned though, just kind of happens. I have a nice video of me dogfighting a 109. I was on his six and he chopped his throttle and whipped his plane sideways. We ended up in a chopped throttle-spiraling dive. I pulled the trigger ever so gingerly and it seemed like every bullet went into his cockpit. It was a beautiful thing.

[Dragon Tamer]

I saw an F6F attacking his own base one day (don't ask, I have no clue). He didn't seem to see me in my spit, so I casually pulled up behind him and closed to about 200. The odd thing is that it seemed like slow motion and my rudder movement kept the bullets going just forward of the cockpit. Normally my rudder is very spuratic since I use  a twisty and it's hard to control when you have adrenalin going.

Another time I was cruising into town with my M18 and there was a spit being chased by two greens. Without even realizing I did it, I swung the turret around popped an HE round and took his wing off, then centered the turret again. I was told seconds later about what I had just done by one of the greens, and was dumbfounded.