Why

[FTJR]

Im really curious, and perhaps those more learned than me can help.

The other day while egressing from a jabo run I was hunted down by another P51.

Ok so the situation is this 2 p51 at sealevel the 2nd is 950 and losing ground. He is giving short bursts trying to make me turn.

At about  960 yards and directly on my 6 He hits my radiator??

how does one do THAT???

[Seagoon]

He used the same magic right angle bullets Kennedy was shot with...

No but to be serious, the radiator for a P51 is an oil cooling system located under and just behind the wing, not a solid block up front like in a car. The oil radiator for the spit (which also used a Merlin engine) is under the right wing.

During WW2 Good shots used to aim for the oil radiator because it was a critical system.

- Seagoon

[gofaster]

Chances are, he put his pipper just over your cockpit, fired a burst, and the trajectory caused the bullet to drop off and find your radiator.

[Ripsnort]

What Seagoon said, heres a pretty picture for ya:

[SUP0NGO]

The Damage Modelling in AH is BAD modelled.
say you as it is possible to break to rudder of less than 1 inch of wide to 1000y? whichever projectiles hit in that rudder to break it? 1,3 1000? and the dispersion?
Is normal in AH.



Salute

Supongo

[Ripsnort]

Originally posted by SUP0NGO
The Damage Modelling in AH is BAD modelled.
say you as it is possible to break to rudder of less than 1 inch of wide to 1000y? whichever projectiles hit in that rudder to break it? 1,3 1000? and the dispersion?
Is normal in AH.



Salute

Supongo

Supongo, where are the control cables for the rudder? Thats right, the tail, aft fuselage, running up through the body of the aircraft.  One bullet into the tail can take out a rudder in real life...not sure if its modeled that way here.

[Apar]

Rip, it is a nice pic, but I don't think it matters much where the radiator is located at the moment.

I had my fair share of hits in 190 radiator from dead six at 900-1200 too.

[Ripsnort]

Originally posted by Apar
Rip, it is a nice pic, but I don't think it matters much where the radiator is located at the moment.

I had my fair share of hits in 190 radiator from dead six at 900-1200 too.

Hehe! Radial head!

[Masherbrum]

Apar, why do we even have radiators?  Wouldn't the challenge be to see who can shoot down the most planes upon TO without radiators?  Oh yeah, who cares where the ENGINE COOLER is located.

Karaya

[beet1e]

Chances are, he put his pipper just over your cockpit, fired a burst, and the trajectory caused the bullet to drop off and find your radiator.

I would have thought that to get a hit using a trajectory that allowed that kind of hit, the angle at which the round struck the cowling would not be sufficient to cause penetration. The round would more likely glance off. I think the pilot was Lee Harvey Oswald, sitting on a grassy knoll.

[beet1e]

P51D

[Turbot]

moral of the story - Dont fly straight on auto pilot with a bad guy your 6- in AH you make yourself a much better target that way.  In my experience, if you can change flight path at all (even just a little bit of an aileron roll) 99% of those long range bullets have no chance to hit you.

[ccvi]

If it's a shot from a long range, the bullets are coming at the plane from above, not from below.

Unless you're flying inverted it shouldn't hit the cooling system so easily...

[Rover]

Most likely the bullet was doing its own trip, enjoying the landscape and you run over it. Be more careful next time  

[Dago]

Ah, Seagoon is right about radiator below the aircraft on the P51, but as Ripsnorts picture shows, it is a coolant radiator, not an oil radiator.

dago