Author Topic: a curious observation... (Read 1068 times)

humble · « **on:** October 02, 2003, 11:19:25 AM »

Had an interesting pattern of events yesterday and this morning...was "defending" a base against CV attack late last night (10pm AZ time) and again at 7am this morning. I got nailed 3 times by CV ack well above the "tracer level" ack (8k or so) while roping various enemy fighters. All occurred as I was topping out and rev back...all credited to same guy. I've always viewed ack "golden bb's" as a matter of luck and occasionally you get nailed...never had 3 in one day let alone on almost consecutive hops...also normally dont see a "kill" awarded on "flak" kills that far from carrier (had to be 8k or more up and 8-10 out). I'm certainly not an ace but I'm also not a total dweeb....not a case of bad SA and an "invisable" plane. However the hits didnt quite sound right to me either....just curious if anyone else has had the same bad luck recently?

hogenbor · « **Reply #1 on:** October 02, 2003, 01:16:56 PM »

Humble, I have the distinct impression that for the last one or two months, the CV ack has become more deadly. I cannot recall a single death due to ship ack (the 'puffy' kind, not the 'tracer' kind) before that and I have been flying for over a year.

A few weeks ago I brought a P-47 home and passed very high over an NME CV close to a friendly airfield. I was at 15K or so and some black puffs appeared. When passing over the carrier I started a gentle dive and was blown clear out of the sky at about 10k while doing 400mph TAS. That's not funny anymore.

AcId · « **Reply #2 on:** October 02, 2003, 01:40:57 PM »

It's my opinion that the Flak seems inconsistent. Being that this is a computer game we'd tend to want consistency. But since this a simulation of sorts maybe some perceived inconsistency is a good thing in some areas to represent real life conditions.

On a more personal note it does seem that the Flak has been turned up, whether it has or not I don't know.

Once I see the flak start going off around me I instantly assume my flight time just became very limited. If I want to live I try to exit the umbrella as soon as possible. Most of the time I just wait for the inevitable(death), which occasionaly doesn't happen.

And LePaul makes a good point too about it possibly being manned.

LePaul · « **Reply #3 on:** October 02, 2003, 01:41:43 PM »

Ever consider it was just a darn good gunner?

I can't hit a thing with an Osty...but I know some folks who are downright deadly from 3k out.

Using the Zoom keys, I'm pretty good with those ack guns (puff ones you refer to)...I'm whallooped a fair share of buffs who thought they were home free flying at 10k above machine gun ack

Furball · « **Reply #4 on:** October 02, 2003, 02:18:11 PM »

i ALWAYS get killed by black fluffy ack if i go above 3k for longer than 1 minute or so near a cv.

Batz · « **Reply #5 on:** October 02, 2003, 02:45:23 PM »

small aaa is deadly til 9.5k. 5 inch can kill you in space, theres no alt limit.

5 inch is active above 3k

humble · « **Reply #6 on:** October 02, 2003, 05:52:43 PM »

Since I got a "killed by" message I'm assuming it was manned 5 in vs "puffy" ack. Amazed someone could ping me in a fight at 15k+ range more than once in smae day....

AVRO1 · « **Reply #7 on:** October 02, 2003, 06:48:39 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by humble
Since I got a "killed by" message I'm assuming it was manned 5 in vs "puffy" ack. Amazed someone could ping me in a fight at 15k+ range more than once in smae day....

5" guns are not that hard to hit with.

Try them sometimes and you will see.

I suk big time in ostwind, but in a 5 inch I am deadly.

bj229r · « **Reply #8 on:** October 02, 2003, 08:04:32 PM »

One thing folks ferget-- ya look at altimeter and see '8k' and think ya are safe---WRONG---5" is good to 4k..YARDS, at least---that translates to 12k alt (Having said that, ive been blown out of sky by unmanned ack from so fediddlein far I Cant even SEE the cv)

john9001 · « **Reply #9 on:** October 02, 2003, 08:15:52 PM »

the 5" fires a proximity fused shell, so it dosn't have to hit you, just has to get close.

Boozer · « **Reply #10 on:** October 02, 2003, 10:07:31 PM »

no, there's definately something buggy, my P-47s get nailed at 22k within 20 miles of a CV about 40% of the time.

humble · « **Reply #11 on:** October 03, 2003, 11:23:20 AM »

Whats confusing to me is that I'm well outside the icon range...so the gunner has to be firing "blind" at multiple planes at long range....just amazed I'd get hit 3 times in 5 or so hops. Since a kill was awarded each time (to same guy) I'm assuming I wasnt killed by ack (fluffy stuff) but by a manned 5 inch.

ccvi · « **Reply #12 on:** October 03, 2003, 11:27:54 AM »

Quote

Originally posted by humble
Whats confusing to me is that I'm well outside the icon range...so the gunner has to be firing "blind" at multiple planes at long range....just amazed I'd get hit 3 times in 5 or so hops. Since a kill was awarded each time (to same guy) I'm assuming I wasnt killed by ack (fluffy stuff) but by a manned 5 inch.

The manned 5 inch ack is fluffy ack, isn't it?

Rutilant · « **Reply #13 on:** October 03, 2003, 01:13:35 PM »

I'm not a bad shot in 5" guns.. most of the time i can hit bombers and jabo from 3.0, sometimes 4.0 if i can track it long enough.. If it's flying straight away i can hit from 5.0 and farther pretty consistantly.. heck, i can fire blindly into a swarm of black dots and get kills.. Fairly easy to down planes, but you can see the big 5 inch tracer (the gunner can't, you can) tracking ya if you're lookin for it

humble · « **Reply #14 on:** October 03, 2003, 02:09:46 PM »

I don't know if the manned 5" is "fluffy" or not....obviously I need to spend a bit of time playing gunner on the CV's to get a feel for em...had an "invisable plane" comment on CH 1 last night from someone else around CV...guy who hit him was firing 5"....guess you can snipe pretty well with a 5"