BGBMAW, take your meds..... and then grow up. Starting something as "GO TO Hell" simply doesn't show a level of maturity. Still, let me try and help:
I do agree the bomber formation stuff screws things up, but that's a problem with the drones being stupid and trying to follow a mortally wounded lead bomber. It screws up both speed and altitude to be honest, and I've had bombers drop 500ft on me by the time I wrestle control back, and level smoothly enough so the remaining drone doesn't disco below me. The dumb drone thing is really a bummer though since the only time the lead falls out of formation is when it's critically killed, which is easy to detect and should be compensated for by the other drones (ie, if you see the leaders wing fall off it doesn't mean to follow his death plunge).
You really want to know my trick, it's not to calibrate at 100% throttle... it's stupid to do that since it's almost impossible to maintain that speed if ANYTHING happens. It takes too frick'n long to accelerate that last 20mph if you get slow, and any maneuver you do bleeds off that speed. Instead, calibrate at a lower speed. You are incorrect that it's impossible to do that, it is totally possible. The key, as you point out, is that the speedo is too tough to read, even if you zoom in on it. At best you are likely only accurate within 10-15mph. Also, because it takes so long for the bomber to show acceleration/deceleration trends, once you jump to the bombsight you may be missing a speedo change.
So, here's what I do (and you are wrong that I haven't bombed a lot, I have, just not in the MA with a squad that doesn't bomb). Climb to alt, and calibrate at 70-80% throttle, noting the speed you achieve and manifold pressure for that speed/alt. Then, don't change alt but you can change speed all you want. Throttle up to 100% and cruise in. It's 100 times easier to slow to calibration speed than accelerate though at least when you have an extra 10% of excess throttle you have a chance to fairly quickly accelerate back up to calibration vs no hope at 100%. Just before you jump into the bomb-sight, cut your throttles until you get close to your calibrated speed (like I said, maybe between 10-15mph is as close as you can tell without a magnifying glass). Then immediately set the throttles back to your calibration setting by watching the manifolds and getting them back to your calibration cruise settings. It's easy to see those, and they are way more responsive than watching the speedo. From that point on, you know your plane is tending towards your calibration speed since your throttles are at the same setting that gave your calibration speed in the first place.
It's super easy to try this offline, that's how I figured it out, and it made me FAR better able to react to getting jumped my planes and messing up a fragile calibration. The 20mph of speed I lose by throttling back on my run makes little difference 90% of the time. If anything it actually allows me slightly more time over target to set up my fine aim, rather than racing over at top speed. I also know I can fairly quickly accelerate a bit if I'm slowed since I don't need to eek every last mph of speed out of the bomber. Anything trying to get the last 10% of speed out of is a squeak, even a fighter, so why set yourself up for that. It also allows me to guess my speedo only reasonably accurately and then use the manifold to control my true speed so that it'll average out to my calibration point. It gives me a % of error room on both the fast, and slow, sides of the calibration speed, knowing the manifold setting, since I knew what it was, is compensating automatically either way for me.
btw, you didn't check my stats very well. Post bomber calibration (after tour 28), I was an excellent bomber. Tour 30, I was 34th overall in damage/death, 37th overall in damage/sortie, and 3rd overall in hit %. The next tour, 31, I was 1st overall in damage/death, 2nd overall in damage/sortie, and 2nd overall in hit %. I say that qualifies me as a pretty fine bomber pilot, one that hits targets, with lots of bombs, and doesn't die a lot. Quality has a lot to be said over quantity, and it's pretty obvious from the stats that my quality is pretty damn superior. Last tour I didn't fly much, had a new baby to take care of and couldn't take the time to fly bombers... had to go for the instant action furball thing that I could walk away from at a moments notice and not worry about investing any time in bombing.
-Soda
The Assassins.
