Aiming??

[uberhun]

Good Job on the explination Fry and thanks for the link to the Mafia site Fugitive. There is a good example of leading your target there with illustrations.
Uber:aok

[Krusty]

Originally posted by Schatzi
Oh and the LCG in AH2 works different i believe. It puts a cross where you need to aim your gunsight at to hit the target you have selected with 'friendly lock'. That means when the target it out of convergence range you actually get two crosshairs.

Actually you get a crosshair for primary and secondary guns. If you fly a yak9t or a 109g6 with 30mm you'll see that even when in range the second crosshair is usually further out than the other (because the round is freakin' slow as heck). Generally both crosses will meet (be in the same area, or on top of each other) when you're at the range your guns' convergence is set to.

[LoneStarBuckeye]

Nice explanation, Fry.

I believe that the technical reason why you need to be at 1g for your pipper to give you true feedback as to where your bullets will end up is because when you're pulling more (or less) than 1g, your plane's velocity vector is not aligned with your gunsight.  Because your plane's velocity is imparted to the bullets when they leave the gun barrel, if it is not aligned with the gun barrel, the bullets will not travel as the gun sight indicates.  So, if you're pulling positive gs when you shoot, you've got a positive angle of attack and need to aim "higher" than you would under 1g, because the plane's velocity vector is actually "below" your gunsight.  The plane's velocity and the bullet's initial velocity are added together when the bullet leaves the barrel, so that the bullet's resultant velocity is along a vector somewhat "below" the gun line (Even though it appears that the bullets (or water from a hose) "curve," they don't, really.  Each bullet leaves the gun barrel and travels at a constant velocity--namely, that imparted by its propellant plus the velocity of the plane--except as affected by after-applied external forces, such as air resistance and gravity.  The apparent "curving" is created by a sequence of bullets, each of which leaves the gun barrel with a slightly different velocity vector.).  The degree of this "depression" depends on how severe your plane's angle of attack is -- the more g you're pulling, the greater the angle of attack and the more "aim-high" compensation you need to hit your target.  This, I suspect, is why many folks chronically fire behind their targets when chasing them in a circular fight.  It just doesn't seem like you should need so much lead, but that is the effect of the high angles of attack that typically occur in max-turning circle fights.

The same thing applies, albeit perpendicularly, to firing when your plane is "slipping" (often induced by mashing a rudder pedal) -- your plane's velocity vector is misaligned (in the yaw axis, as opposed to the pitch axis) with its gunsight.  This is why you might see some advise shooting "with your feet on the floor."  Of course, those who know what they're doing can exploit this to great effect by using the rudder-induced slip to correct for misalignment of the gunsight and target.  

LoneStarBuckeye

[MOSQ]

Actually it's not G's that matter. Although knowing whether you are pulling G's will help you in your calcuation of how much lead to apply. What the real issue is for calculating lead is the speed of the target, and the angle of the interception between your guns and the target.

For example in Fry's water fight he is not pulling any G's, he's standing still and merely rotating as he fires his hose. This is analagous to being in an Osty or field gun. If his brother is running perpindicular to him, so that Fry has to swivel to lead him, he leads because if he fires now, by the time his water has gone 7 feet his brother has moved from point A to point B, so the water goes behind him. So Fry fires at a point ahead of his brother so that the water and his brother both arrive at Point C at the same time.

The most important factors here are: A) How far away the target is;  B) How fast the target is travelling; and C) How long it takes your projectile to cover that distance. Which is why if the target is close, you lead less, far, you lead more. Target is slow, less; Target is far, more. If you have a low velocity projectile, it takes longer to cover the distance, therefore you have to add more lead than a high velocity projectile.

In order for Gs to have an effect, Fry would have to be chasing his brother, not standing still. If Fry chases him around in a circle, then Fry would experience some G's as he makes the ciricle. However the G's would have very little impact on Fry'a aim point, the most important thing is to aim at point C ahead of little brother so that the water and little brother arrive at C at the same time.

When you're in a 6 tail chase, the amount of G's is an important indicator of how much your target is changing course. The more G's, the more deviation from a straight line in front of you, therefore the more lead you apply to make sure your projectiles arrive at C the same tme he does. It's not the G's that are causing your bullets to go behind the target, it's the fact the target has moved from point A to B before they get there.

Want to prove it to yourself? Use the .target command to create a target at various distances. Go into a circle pulling G's and as the target passes by fire at various times. You'll see that even though you are pulling Gs, you don't have to lead the target to hit it, because it's always staying at a fixed point. So its not the G's you pull that determines where your aim needs to be, but whether or not and how fast and far away your target is moving.

Another example is a crossing shot. Your bogie is scissoring in front of you. You go straight and level, unload your wings and are pulling 1 G. If you fire when the bogie is in your site as he crosses, you will fire behind him. You must fire before the bogie crosses so that your bullets and his plane arrive at a point in front of you at the same time. The faster he is going the earlier you have to fire.

A good way to practice is offline against the drones circling the base. Use the Lead Computing Sight to see how much lead you have to apply when attacking at various angles.

[pellik]

Originally posted by MOSQ

The most important factors here are: A) How far away the target is;  B) How fast the target is travelling; and C) How long it takes your projectile to cover that distance. Which is why if the target is close, you lead less, far, you lead more. Target is slow, less; Target is far, more. If you have a low velocity projectile, it takes longer to cover the distance, therefore you have to add more lead than a high velocity projectile.

Aside from the ~1 degree drop from gravity, factor A is irrelevent to lead. The only thing distance changes is your chance to miss on account of your target changing direction before the bullet gets there, or your shot missing for poor aim.