AK Dessert Pizza Map and Level Bombing

[muckmaw]

This is something thatw as driving me insane on the Pizza map.

I take my bombers up to a sufficient alt, line up on target, and calibrate. I always calibrate using the ACTUAL taget I plan to drop on, IE Fighter Hangar, town, etc.

There have been several instances where the bombs fall so short of their target, it's almost laughable.

This only happens on the Pizza map. I've missed on regular maps as well, but only by a few yards. On the pizza map for some unknown reason, I have cratered tumbleweed 1 mile away from my intended target.

I have a theory, and if it's correct, it's insane. I'm thinking the bombs are hitting mountains that surround so many fields on Pizza. These hills or mountains are interferring with the glidepath of the bombs, but there is no way to compensate for them in the bombsight.

Is this possible? Has anyone else had this problem?

(I won't even get into trying to bomb a VH at the bottom of a 12K glacial crevass.)

Any suggestions?

[MRPLUTO]

Muckmaw,

I haven't had any problems like this on the Pizza Map, though I once had bombs drop inexplicably wide while bombing the southernmost city on Mindanao.

Which targets did this happen at?  At some and not others?

MRPLUTO  VMF-323   ~Death Rattlers~  MAG-33

[muckmaw]

Pluto-

I don't remember the targets, but the last one this occurred at was a small strip at about 7.5k Alt

My bombing is usually very close, if not on the mark. As a matter of fact, on the same bomb run, the second salvo was dead on target. The first salvo was so far short, it was laughable. This was on the same calibration.

[MachNix]

Muckmaw,

I believe you are correct in your assumption that there may be a hill in front of the target that can cause bombs to be short.  A couple of suggestions on what to try:

1. If you think there may be a hill in line with the bomb's flight path, you can drop from a higher altitude or fly at a slower speed.  Either method causes the end of the bomb's flight path to be more vertical.  This, of course, works in real life but who knows what HT is doing with the bomb's flight path in the game.

2. If you click on points on the map along your intended approach to the target during calibration, you may get enough terrain information to detect a hill in front of your target and have time to change your approach.

3. If there is a hill under your approach, stick to hitting targets in the middle and opposite end of the field since the field is level.

MachNix

[muckmaw]

Good Advice, Mach.

Thank you.

[Matt1221b]

hey this has happened to me and if you were in a formation with AI planes sometimes the lag behind and when you drop they drop and they could have been like a mile behind and thats why...its happened to me...and right before they land they crash into each other and die ....LOL i have never seen them live the whole ride home to base

[gorski3]

Somone might want to make a quick bomb glidepath calculation, but I think bombs dropped from hi alt are falling almost straight down by the time they hit.  

Gorski

[Midnight]

DON'T calibrate on what you intend on hitting.

Calibrate on something that you are about to fly over. The greater the angle of change on the bombsite during calibration, the more the error effect is minimized.

If you want a full mathmatical explination, I would be glad to elaborate. Otherwise, just try it out and see.

Basically, if you are calibrating on an object way out in front, you only move the sight a little (say a 10 degree arc of movement) If you make an error of 2 degrees on the line up, you get a 20% error on final calibration.

If you calibrate on something you are currently flying over (like a rock or tree line), you move the sight a lot more... (say 100 degree arc of movement) If you make an error of 2 degrees on the line up, you are only off by 2% in the final calibration.

I hope that makes sense. By calibrating on your actual desired target, you are increasing your chances of getting a poor calibration result.