Aces High Bulletin Board

General Forums => Aircraft and Vehicles => Topic started by: Flyboy on February 08, 2004, 09:30:58 AM

Title: german gunsights
Post by: Flyboy on February 08, 2004, 09:30:58 AM: why did the germans put the gunsights allweys right of the center?

seems rather odd. :confused:

did the pilot seat was to the right of the plane?
Title: german gunsights
Post by: Grendel on February 08, 2004, 09:51:29 AM: Dominant eye.
Title: german gunsights
Post by: Loddar on February 08, 2004, 09:52:52 AM: No Flyboy the "right" way ist the way of the germans at that time and so all the gunsight are on the "right" side not on the left.

Sorry kidding :D ;)
Title: german gunsights
Post by: hogenbor on February 09, 2004, 05:39:00 AM: My left eye is much, much better than my right eye. Despite this I seem to handle 109's pretty well :D
Title: german gunsights
Post by: Flyboy on February 09, 2004, 06:22:50 AM: grendel you sure thats the reason?

what if the pilot had the left eye as the dominate one? will they move the gun sight?
Title: german gunsights
Post by: artik on February 09, 2004, 06:23:17 AM: Quote
Originally posted by Grendel
Dominant eye.

But you should be able to see the gunsite with both eyes?:confused:
Title: german gunsights
Post by: GScholz on February 09, 2004, 10:00:05 AM: No. The Germans were thought to aim using only their right eye.
Title: german gunsights
Post by: frank3 on February 09, 2004, 10:01:37 AM: They told the pilots to "always make a left turn when attacking" so your head would brake right.......

..but anyway...when you look straight back in the cockpit, you'll note that you never look straight back. In all planes you look abit more to the left.
Title: german gunsights
Post by: GODO on February 09, 2004, 03:08:05 PM: Quote
Originally posted by frank3
They told the pilots to "always make a left turn when attacking" so your head would brake right.......

Very interesting point. Certainly keeping the head centered in a turn may not be an easy task.
Title: german gunsights
Post by: Angus on February 09, 2004, 05:56:59 PM: Interesting really.
Was the German aiming system a one-eyed system??? Really don't know,but somewhere I have a pic of a German pilot looking through the sight and he is just using one eye.
Anyway, once one has had years of rubbernecking,one will be able to turn the head backwards much further to one direction, typically to the right. Ask any farm-machine operator. A long day may leave you rubbernecking up to 5.000 times. Belive me, that leaves your neck hurting, and a burn wound from your collar. Just what I have read from pilots accounts!
Title: german gunsights
Post by: frank3 on February 10, 2004, 08:06:50 AM: I guess one can focus better with 1 eye? (better eye)In aces high many (or all?) the Axis fighters have their gunsight abit right from the centerpoint too
Title: german gunsights
Post by: Flyboy on February 10, 2004, 09:17:31 AM: AH has all the german fighters exept the 110 with the gunsight in the right side.

in real life if the pilot left eye was the stronger one, did they move the gunsight?
Title: german gunsights
Post by: Dr Zhivago on February 10, 2004, 04:08:37 PM: Quote
Originally posted by Flyboy
AH has all the german fighters exept the 110 with the gunsight in the right side.

in real life if the pilot left eye was the stronger one, did they move the gunsight?

Interview with Luftwaffe ace Franz Stigler (http://109lair.hobbyvista.com/articles/pilots/stigler/stigler.htm)

Q: On the 109 and the 262, the Revi sights were always mounted slightly to the right…
Franz Stigler - Yes, uh…on the panel…in front sometimes…but usually they were in the middle.

Q: Why did they sometimes have them to the right?
Franz Stigler - Uh, usually we were…uh, right handed, you know…and so…on the 109 they were not so to the right…on the 109 they were right in front of you.