Hello all,
I've run what I think was a successful gunnery training course for VF-17 and am going to be doing so again. This time I will open up a few slots to the general public. I generally like to have no more than 6-8 people at once, so space may be limited. PM me if you are interested in attending, and I will let you know if there are slots open. I'll likely run another one of these and a continuation of the course, depending on interest, again in June or July.
The first night will be Wednesday, May 28th starting in the TA at 7:30 Central time and wrapping up around 9:30 Central time (in the DA.) It will be in two parts, roughly 1 hour each (roughly a 2 hour session total), with a short break in the middle to refill your beverage of choice. Again, a PM to me is required to participate, as I cap the number participants to allow for individual questions/issues.
This session will focus mostly on characteristics of the 6-gun 50-cal package, using the F4U-1A as the training aircraft for this session. I feel the F4U has some unique quirks that make it interesting, and getting kills with 50-cals has it's own nuances, so we'll use that aircraft specifically and discuss those things in this session. That said, many of the concepts discussed and practice methods demonstrated will apply to any/all aircraft and gun packages.
The specific layout and topics of the course are as follows:
Part 1a - Basics (Ground School, TA)
Convergence and Sights
Using the .target Command
Understanding and Visualizing the Bullet Stream
Effects of Range, Dispersion
How to Kill vs. How to Hit
Part 1b - Initial Practice (In Flight Training, TA)
Getting Concentrated Hits
Maneuvering and Unloaded Firing
Minimizing "Nose Bounce" (as needed)
"Shoot Around the Clock" Practice Method/Test I
"Shoot Around the Clock" Practice Method II
Break
Part 2a - The "Sight Picture" (In Flight Training, TA)
Inside Convergence Shooting Nuances
"One Wing" Shooting
Aiming vs. Leading
"Aim Small, Miss Small"
Part 2b - "Live Fire" Partner Practice in the DA
"Remove the Mossie's Gear I" Exercise - Level flight, Dead Six
"Remove the Mossie's Gear II" Exercise - 30% bank, Lead required
If time permits, I will discuss how some of the things learned in this session apply to different types of shots (Snap Shots, Tracking Shots, Dead Six Shots, etc.). Those topics will be covered in more detail in a follow-on Part 3: Deflection Shooting to be run later, which will be open to those who complete this first course (Part 1 and 2).
Feedback/suggestions for other gunnery related topics are welcome.
Again, please PM me if you are interested and I will let you know if there are slots open.
<S>
Ryno
