I'm using a combination of the sounds I heard, the situation that they happened in, my experience gathered in a year of playing AH, and my common sense. Unfortunately, I don't have film from the other guys end, but I do have some from mine. I also consider myself quite adept at killing bombers, especially B-17s, and I get pinged on a regular basis doing it. The 1 or 2 pings I hear on my end when I'm coming in on one of my passes are just that- one or two pings. The buff gunner doesn't have the time to hammer me with an extended burst, because I don't keep the same line as I'm coming in. I also make every effort to attack from an angle that minimizes the number of guns shooting at me.
I don't know how much buff gunning you do, but I've done my fair share. I have a pretty good idea of how hard it is to hit a plane that is coming in at an odd angle (as opposed to a dead 6 approach). I've got a pretty good idea of how many hits I'd expect to get on an enemy plane if he attacked me like I am attacking the bomber. I've also flown a fair number of .50 caliber armed fighter planes, so I have a decent idea of what you can expect when you are spraying at a plane that is 1,200 to 1,400 yards away from you. Every 262 I've flown that has taken damage has either lost an engine, lost the engine oil, or had the wingtip blown off. I've never lost an elevator, or a rudder, or any of the other piddly little toejam that gets shot off on a regular basis in other planes.
And in my experience, there is simply no way in hell that any of the damage I took could have been the result of more than 1 or 2 random, lucky hits. I lost an engine to a B26 that was 1.8k away and flying on a perpendicular course to me as I dove past him at 600 mph going after someone else. Could YOU land a steady stream of shots on a target 5000 feet away from you that is flying perpendicular to you and diving at 600 mph? I know I couldn't. I could spray in the general direction and hope for a hit or two at most.
I lost an engine to a P51 that was 1.3k back and rapidly falling away as I zoomed past him. I was in range for perhaps 3 seconds- not enough time for me to draw a bead on a plane going 500 mph and land a steady stream of hits on him based on his projected flight path.... at most I could spray in his general direction and hope for a hit or two.
I've lost wingtips to bombers as I attacked from my normal 1'oc high position- a position I attack from all the time in 109s and 190s.... hearing the same one or two pings.... yet somehow not losing wingtips. If the bombers were able to direct a nice steady stream of hits into a plane going 500 or 600 mph, why can't they do the same thing to one that is only doing 350 or perhaps 400? I have a possible answer, which is they can't.
Look, Pyro already told me that the engine and engine oil were purposely modelled to be easy to damage. What I am having trouble figuring out is WHY they would nueter a plane by giving it the damage model of a piece of paper, AND perk it to 200 points. I understand perking it, the 262 would be the only plane in the arena if it wasn't perked. However, I think anyone that is willing to pony up 200 perks to fly the whoopee jet should at least have a reasonable expectation of making it back to base. I don't try to dogfight with the plane. It wasn't made for that. What I would like to be able to do is attack bombers with it, and be able to kill more than one without losing an engine or a wing to a couple of lucky hits.
