Am I the only succesful BOMBER pilot?

[ALF]

The old bomber modeling was silly, and hats off to HT for making a change to something a little more reasonable.  Now, however, I see whine after whine about how bombers are useless, and we need to change things etc etc etc

The only thing I can come up with, is that those doing the complaining must want something for bombers that fighters dont get....guaranteed success without practice, patience, and skill.  Imagine the resposes someone would get if they posted about how the "new fighter system" needs to be fixed because fighters are innefective now that you need to lead your targets, and manage your E state.

The new bombing system is not one that you can just in, and become an instant success at.....IMAGINE THAT!  I fly one sorte a day in bombers, and more in fighters than I care to admit (lol...ok about 5-10 a day).  Now I had problems in the begining, and I was very frustrated at not being able to hit anything more specific than the ground.  A month or more latter, I now can hit a FH with 1 salvo at 10k, and a salvo of 2 (delay .3-.4) is all I need to get direct hits 90% of the time.

What has the new system done?  It has made it so that I must plan my route carefully, well outside of the enemy base.  I usually even plan my turn for the second pass, and the egress heading after that 2nd pass towards home.   I can no longer cut the throttle, so as to make a quick heading change in the bombsight to correct for a poor approach.  I have to turn my flight in smooth, deliberate, turns so that I can recallibrate quickly without having to wait for my speed to stabilize (I maintain speed througout the turn so as soon as I am pointed back at the enemy base, I beging to callibrate).  Also, because of the extended time I need for callibration, I have to take special care to check for enemy fighters as I arrive on target.

 The one thing that will add to your accuracy is callibrating your bombsight for long periods of time ( I like at least 15 seconds ) and making sure your speed is stable as you begin callibration.

The satisfation I get from a successful run, is tenfold what it was before the change.

A little time

A little effort

A little practice

A WHOLE LOTTA SUCCESS!!!

[Zaphod]

I like the changes also.  I fly bombers about twice as much as I did before, the challenge makes em much more enjoyable.  I would agree that the changes imposed raises the bar so that bombing is now a skill, much like flying fighters and that's probably why I fly them so much more than before.  By the way, I was doing good to hit the ground right after the changes.  I can now hit almost as well as I could prior to the changes.  I just have to work a whole lot more at it.
 
The biggest assist for me in accuracy was the time I calibrated.  I went from 2 sec.s to 10 sec.s and my accuracy improved immensely.  I also calibrate twice (sometimes three times).  I get lined up with the base I plan to hit at full speed about 1 sector out.  I calibrate at that point at full speed (this throws the site waaaaaaaaaaay out in front of the bomber).  I then get my speed set at about 1/2 sector out.  Once my speed is set and I am lined up (on the map....this takes some practice) I wait until the base is in the bombsite.  I then line up exactly as I want to be for the run.  I then calibrate again to adjust for my new slower speed and any heading changes if there is a wind layer to deal with.  Because I had originally calibrated at cruising speed my sites were very far forward.  This allows me the time needed to calibrate after lining up through the bombsite.  My second calibration normally leaves me lined up (or within one hanger width of being lined up) and usually results in not being able to see the base through the bombsite.  I then wait until the base in again in the bombsite, realign if neccessary and recalibrate again if more than one hanger length off target.  

Zaphod

[Saintaw]

I don't fly Bombers much (mostly because I log in for a short time now & then). But yeah..... maybe took 10 practice runs, and I seldom miss anything now.(town, factories, city... FH's is another matter, as I usualy spread my bombrun.).

My gripe is that if you Divebomb with JU88's... you will loose your AI wingmen.

[SuperD]

Every bomb I have dropped has successfully hit the planet
Earth.  Not once has it gone astray and hit the moon, Mars, or Venus.

[deSelys]

ALF, I completely agree. But I don't think you'll ever hear whines about the new bomber aiming system from any dedicated bomber pilot.

As Saw, I mostly fly fighters but I am now reasonably accurate with a bomber. I like the 'mindwork' it requires.

Originally posted by SuperD
Every bomb I have dropped has successfully hit the planet
Earth.  Not once has it gone astray and hit the moon, Mars, or Venus.

Yep. Me too. But I must admit I haven't destroyed it yet...

[SFRT - Frenchy]

I agree too.

[Shiva]

My gripe is that if you Divebomb with JU88's... you will loose your AI wingmen.

Look at the films from the period. While the dive bombers flew in formation, attacks were made by individual bombers against separate targets; trying to model that with the buff formation code would be a nightmare. You want a mass Ju 88 divebomb attack, get a mass of pilots.

[Revvin]

Alf I agree practice is all that is needed, you're not alone I have a squad of guys happy with the bombsight system. We enjoy carpet bombing with various salvo's and delay's and dropping on leaders command, it may not give us great hit percentage's like pre 1.10 but we're having a hell of a lot of fun with it.

[Mark Luper]

I like the new bombing system too. It has brought me back to flying the "targets" again

[keyapaha]

i have dive bombed with ju88's and not lost wingies i think its all about the angle you dive at

[muckmaw]

Alf-

As a dedicated bomber pilot, and Commanding Officer of the Marine Air Wing Level Bombing Group, I am, obviously, a dedicated bomber pilot.

I love the new bombing system.

But here is the primary fault you will hear about on these boards. The bombers are good. The sighting system is great, and challenging. The targets that make a difference, as of this moment, are NOT designed for strategic bombing. That's the problem. I'm sure you know what the 17, Lanc, etc was designed for. They were not designed for bombing hangars at a single airfield, which, when working a base capture, is the role of the BUff. Whats been said several times on this board, is that in order for the the Bomber system to be effective, we need strategic targets that mean something to the overall war.

Currently, my squadron is assigned to destroying towns at the fields we are assaulting. We do it well, but frankly, the jabo's can do it faster.

So, though I love the new bombing system, I just want a sweeter target to blast.

to all the Brethern of the Buff!!

[Turbot]

Originally posted by ALF
Am I the only succesful BOMBER pilot?

Quite possibly.  

I don't know anyone on my squad who is nuts about the new system "as is".   We may not be super experts like you guys, but we have managed  to get by

(Being able to do it and enjoying doing it being entirely separate things of course.)

[Staga]

Bombing in AH is still easy if compared to WWIIOL.

[Turbot]

Originally posted by keyapaha
i have dive bombed with ju88's and not lost wingies i think its all about the angle you dive at

I once dive bomb killed a CV with the formation JU88s - it wasn't pretty but it worked and I survived the drop till a La7 came along.

[RoyofCA]

I do not feel that a 5 mph change in speed should cripple your accuracy like it does now.