Computer controlled 5" puffy should not damage friendly aircraft

[tunnelrat]

I know this is more puffy ack in general, and I am not pissing and/or moaning, just genuinely curious because this matches up EXACTLY with what I have seen...

These are screenshots from Scherf... please note the hit ALWAYS occurs at the exact same spot (and pardon my ignorance here, again just asking, but isn't he in what amounts to a fighter model?)  These are all taken over the strats, and each time he's in a single mossie going 350-380 TAS.












Now, the point here is that it's ALWAYS in that spot in a fighter.  On a single mission, escorting buffs long range to enemy strats in the MA, we passed over a CV task force... the first or second puffy burst blew our fighter lead out of the sky.  We continued on, taking no more one shot kill casualties... until we got to the strats.  In 2 minutes of dogfighting cons over the target, we lost our second fighter lead, again one pingBOOM puff - he said "it blew up right outside my window".  This moved ME into the lead slot.  About 2 minutes later, I got my own pingBOOM, and I saw it for a split second right off my port side.  Reviewing the film, it was just like the pics above (though I was in a Pony, so it wasn't in the wing itself.)

Now, I am not saying or implying anything at all here, just that it SEEMS like when you are in a fighter there is an inordinate chance for that very specific and unfortunate point in space to be selected for an ack burst.

I don't want puffy ack gone anymore, I see its purpose... but I would rather see it cause massive buffeting effects for fighters and bombers alike, and wound fighters more often than it kills them outright.

This being said, all of the events (including the Scherf pics) happened several months back.  My most recent encounters with puffy ack have been far, far less lethal... fuel hits, general damage, etc.  Dunno if I am getting lucky, or the bribes are paying off....   

[bustr]

Maybe those complaining are not asking Hitech the right questions so he can talk with them about his version of puffy ack.

1. - We know that the black puff ball is not the killing part of an ack explosion unless you receive a direct hit.
2. - Only until we see frames from films are we aware of the general method by which puffy ack damages a plane. (Small Shrapnel Shards.)
3. - Fighters are smaller than bombers and the damagable areas are condensed into a smaller space.
4. - Becasue of (3.) fighters are more susceptable to killing by single small shards of flack shrapnel.

How do you describe puffy ack as a fragmentation weapon in this game?

1. - What is it's initial explosive force?
2. - What is the effective range of this force?
...a.) What is the effective near range that the explosion itself will kill a fighter, a bomber?
...b.) What is the effective range and pattern of the shrapnel cloud after the blast effect?
...c.) Number of fragments per explosion?
...d.) Which caliber gun round are the shards equal to in damage counting?
...e.) Is a fixed shard number and pattern used for each explosion?
...f.) Is the round proximity fused or calculated against the alt and travel of the con?
...g.) What is the trigger range for the proximity fuse? Does it trigger off center mass or the nearest edge of the aircraft outline? The trigger source could well be some of the reason fighters are more vulnerable to ack due to their size versus blast and shrapnel radius. 100ft wingspan versus 30-40ft.