Author Topic: Gunnery and Stick Stirring  (Read 553 times)

Offline BnZs

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Gunnery and Stick Stirring
« on: April 23, 2014, 11:16:07 AM »
I'd say that my gunnery isn't elite at the best of times, but even the mildest "stick stirring" (random small rolls, dives, and climbs) during a Dead 6 chase often makes it nigh impossible for me to get effective hits in. I have at times expended the entire ammo load of a P-51D on a single 190 doing this without inflicting fatal damage. What training/tactical suggestions are effective for remedying this difficulty?
"Crikey, sir. I'm looking forward to today. Up diddly up, down diddly down, whoops, poop, twiddly dee - decent scrap with the fiendish Red Baron - bit of a jolly old crash landing behind enemy lines - capture, torture, escape, and then back home in time for tea and medals."

Offline ink

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Re: Gunnery and Stick Stirring
« Reply #1 on: April 23, 2014, 11:28:15 AM »
the dead 6 shot is the hardest to make....

give yourself some offset/angles....you will find them much easier to hit.

Offline BnZs

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Re: Gunnery and Stick Stirring
« Reply #2 on: April 23, 2014, 11:43:41 AM »
the dead 6 shot is the hardest to make....

give yourself some offset/angles....you will find them much easier to hit.

Explain please.
« Last Edit: April 23, 2014, 11:46:54 AM by BnZs »
"Crikey, sir. I'm looking forward to today. Up diddly up, down diddly down, whoops, poop, twiddly dee - decent scrap with the fiendish Red Baron - bit of a jolly old crash landing behind enemy lines - capture, torture, escape, and then back home in time for tea and medals."

Offline mechanic

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Re: Gunnery and Stick Stirring
« Reply #3 on: April 23, 2014, 12:01:51 PM »
Dont shoot, you will burn E in the constant corrections. Just taking the two planes you mentioned as an example it would be much more effective to fly as smooth as possible and get closer to the 190 as he will be burning a shed load of E with the floppy fish and make his escape impossible. Perhaps fire a few warning bursts just to keep him stirring if you need to. Get close, then hose him, that would be my advice. Constantly trying to hit an impossible target just wastes your speed and it is hugely frustrating. Not to mention, confidence-crushing in your gunnery ability.
And I don't know much, but I do know this. With a golden heart comes a rebel fist.

Offline ink

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Re: Gunnery and Stick Stirring
« Reply #4 on: April 23, 2014, 12:39:59 PM »
Explain please.

instead of trying to saddle someone's 6......go for angles...

my first 4-5 years of playing I was all about the saddle...get on there 6 and kill them....

once I found angles....it was much easier to down someone....I didnt fly to get there 6 anymore...I flew to get a gun solution at the best angle giving me the largest target possible.


I am poor with explaining stuff in words...maybe someone like Batfink or Grizz can explain it better

Offline Rich46yo

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Re: Gunnery and Stick Stirring
« Reply #5 on: April 23, 2014, 01:43:21 PM »
Actually I think this is pretty good advice that I think will help me.

Maneuvering for the dead "6" might just be impossible given the matchup/conditions as well and trying to position for the 'angles" might also save your life more. Ive gotten myself into trouble more then once trying to get the classic "6" shot.
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Offline Wiley

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Re: Gunnery and Stick Stirring
« Reply #6 on: April 23, 2014, 02:15:32 PM »
instead of trying to saddle someone's 6......go for angles...

my first 4-5 years of playing I was all about the saddle...get on there 6 and kill them....

once I found angles....it was much easier to down someone....I didnt fly to get there 6 anymore...I flew to get a gun solution at the best angle giving me the largest target possible.


I am poor with explaining stuff in words...maybe someone like Batfink or Grizz can explain it better

Basically what he's talking about is setting up for crossing shots to give himself a larger target to aim at.  It's a flying style that gets the most benefit out of large cannons.  Any of Grizz's videos showing how he sets up for the crossing shots with the 30mm is an example.  To a lesser degree, he's talking about not saddling a guy dead six for the shot.  Even being off 5-10 degrees from dead six makes a much larger target.

If a guy is trying to run and I'm dead six and he starts trying to make a cake, I find quite often aiming for the middle of whatever pattern he's running can get a few pings on the guy.  A lot of guys go down, then up, or left then right.  If they're doing that, you can quite often put rounds into him when he reverses whatever it was he just did.  If he's not doing that, I'll sometimes just take a guess at where he's going to jink next, thinking 'Well, he hasn't gone left in a bit, he might be about to.'  It works more often than you'd think, but I've also wasted quite a few little blips of ammo shooting where he didn't go.  YMMV.

Wiley.
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Offline Randy1

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Re: Gunnery and Stick Stirring
« Reply #7 on: April 23, 2014, 02:50:23 PM »
Dont shoot, you will burn E in the constant corrections. Just taking the two planes you mentioned as an example it would be much more effective to fly as smooth as possible and get closer to the 190 as he will be burning a shed load of E with the floppy fish and make his escape impossible. Perhaps fire a few warning bursts just to keep him stirring if you need to. Get close, then hose him, that would be my advice. Constantly trying to hit an impossible target just wastes your speed and it is hugely frustrating. Not to mention, confidence-crushing in your gunnery ability.

Very true.  All things being equal I can close in with a 38 on a stick stirring 190, but not if he flies smooth.