Gunnery in this game goes places that pilots in WW2 really didn't go. But, then it's a game. Like the holy grail of shooting under your nose in turns over 3G. Depending on the AAF fighter, by 4G in a 60 degree banking turn, your rounds at 333yds(1000ft).
P38 - 10ft low and 15ft diagonal down from your turn direction.
P47 - 15ft low and 25ft diagonal down from your turn direction.
Fortunately this had a happy upside in WW2 before you passed 3G. If you look at the Mk8 and N9 gunsights you will notice a common feature. A way to judge 45 degrees or a visual alignment to hold your target on during lead. That diagonal down or lower quarter quadrant area. The AAF relied on the dispersion cone and harmonic patterning, which in a relative relationship to the gunsight at effective range, would cover the lower quarter line (45 degree) of the reticle. I've never been all that sure in our game how true to life the dispersion cone effect is modeled. The game has always appeared to favor holding the center of the ballistic vector path on the target. May lend credence to the damage modeling is hit count based rather than specific damage of vital structures and parts other than the pilot kill magic BB. A single 50 cal API round magic BBing a control linkage is still a magic BB. One of the reasons for setting up convergence patterns at effect range in WW2.
For the AAF a pursuit curve resulting in a 3G turn starting at 1200ft with a 2-3sec shooting window was the holy grail for combat effectiveness.
When you are using a main ring at effective range or inside, it really mirrors the relationship of iron sights to shooting a moving deer running at a diagonal away from you. The lead you add in front of the deer is no different than using the main ring to estimate hold over or deflection for the pipper against a con at 300yd turning 30 degrees to your line of travel. Your brain in real life shooting uses something as a width at range equivalency yardstick.
In pursuit curves 1200ft and closer, 3G and under, the space between the pipper and the ring is the rear sight while the pipper is the blade\elevation gauge. Bag the Hun was the closest to graphically showing this in WW2. Unlike the AAF, the British assumed you were in a pursuit curve and only wanted to address the sight picture at the moment you pulled the trigger. The point of teaching you to visually estimate the con's line of travel relative to yours. 1-2sec in a turn, is a small window, and as an experienced combat pilot you could feel your G state. I suspect the British were taking for granted their pilots knew better in real combat, pulling too many G during a gunnery pass had a very low chance to succeed.
The AAF had cockpit silhouettes on a Mil grid with a 101Mil ring where the ring in the real cockpit would be. They trained pilots to understand the visibility limitations of the rides for shooting at banked deflection angles and under the nose. The different rides had limitations to their effective gunnery pursuit curves due to this. But, then there were the 45 egree lines on the Mk8 and 45 degree lower quadrant marks on the N9.
