Bomber and bomber killer tactics

[poppysead]

I have seen my share of fighter pilots blown out of the sky due to bad decisions and even worse bomber pilots{and especialy gunners} miss easy tail gun shots resulting in their bomber being killed. Some of the newbys gunnery is so bad that many bomber pilots would rather hit auto pilot and defend themselves rather than trust a stranger to man the turrets. there are all kinds of tricks to be used against and by bombers so lets hear em guys
Personaly I look at the type of bomber im trying to kill and make a decision on what tactic to use. When dealing with Lanc I usualy start at a high 6 oclock posision and dive underneath the bomber, pull up sharply and spray the bottom taking advantage of there being no ball turret, This almost always works and I use it almost exclusivly. with b17's and b26's I usaly start at at 4 or 8 oclock and weave back and forth from about 1000k or so taking advantage of the fact that the gunner must change guns when I pass behind him. youll get hit but it wont be near as bad as the sucker 6 oclock chase. ooops moms calling gotta go weeee!

[Puck]

I was up at 32K last night doing...um...safety inspections of the Rook refinery in a B17.  A lone 109 came up to play, and was doing the weave.  I just patiently waited for him to close to 400 yards and re-arranged his engine compartment.  I'm pretty sure he made it back; I hope so.  Spent a _long_ time getting up that high to die without ever having fired a shot.  

I've had my best success running bomber guns when I let the attacking fighter move in close.  It seems most people open up at 1000 yards, which seems like a waste of good ammo to me.  Far, far better to let the guy in the little plane think you're not looking.  Of course my 32k trick will not work as well once the 163 gets modeled...

As for attacking bombers, I can usually cause harm to a 26 or a lanc, but I haven't successfully attacked a B17 other than the one time the driver was asleep and I had no opposition.  A structural weakness caused the left wing to fall off; pretty sure that woke him up  

[Blue Mako]

At the risk of giving away my trade secrets:

If you want to attack a  bomber, climb until you are directly above it with about 5k of alt (if bomber is above 25k, just go home and grab a 262).  Fly out ahead of the bomber (a short distance only, practise until you get this right) then chop your throttle and stay level until you are at about the same speed as the bomber.  Then dive down, as close to vertical as possible, and chop the bomber in half, firing when at about 1k range and holding the trigger down until he is dead.  The best spots to aim for are the pilot, the wingtip and the empennage just forward of the tail.

Gunners find this attack impossible to defend against and it is very easy to shoot at the planform of a bomber.  Check my stats (under BLUEmako until tour 25) if you want to see how effective this attack is.  The only time I die to bombers these days is when I get impatient and make a stupid dead 6 attack.

[Bullethead]

However I choose to come at a buff to avoid the gunners, I find the hardest thing to remember is NOT to aim center mass.  This is because that's so automatic when shooting at the more common fighters.  But hitting a buff there often won't kill it in 1 pass.  Depends on your guns and your marksmanship, but by and large you just get lots of hits and no real effect.

So to me, the most important thing is to aim at a more vulnerable spot that will cause fatal damage when it fails.  I find about 1/2 way out on a wing to be the best choice.  It's big enough that I can hit it (which is a big consideration ), it's weak enough that I can usually saw it off in 1 pass, and when it goes, the buff goes down.

[poppysead]

So it's 2:00 am and im drinking coffee to stay awake, I'm also in my b26 at 10k trying to make it to a base to kill the town that has popped back up 4 times now,... Im too low, but im in a hurry so climbing's out. A veritable swarm of diffrent types of air planes around me are red,,,..and im puckering.I usualy jump in the top gunners turret when im on the right course then I hit f3 and back out away from the aircraft, this is the best view i think since all you have to do to look around is move the stick. Some freek in a 190 {personaly i hate to see a FW when im in a bomber they do baaad things.} I jump in the rear turret and sit still letting him get closer looking like a little newbiw that knows nothing and is screeming for a gunner in the wrong channel. I swear I do this and it works man just keep telling them where you are and that you dont know how to work the radio itsa great hahahahaa..............

[VWE001]

Best advice I can give for taking out a bomber is aim for the outer portions of the wing... your La-7 or Corsair might fly with half a wing but not your buff.

[AKEagle+]

I generally approach a buff from his dead six, and get my wings and engines shot off.

Seems to work every time too!

AKEagle+