bombing

[flyboy97]

i have been playing for a little while now but i do bomb runs around 18 to 21k but for some resone i have truble at 19k hitting even the bigist hanger what im saying is i need help!!!!!!

[Lusche]

I recommend the level bombing guide at http://www.netaces.org.

But only a few threads ago, HomeBoy posted an excellent checklist which I will just cut&paste for your convenience

Originally posted by HomeBoy
I put this checklist together recently.  Maybe you'll find it helpful.

I Takeoff and climbout
1. 25% fuel (seems to be plenty even for very long missions)
2. Elevator trim neutral, Rudder trim slightly right
3. Start engines
4. 2 notches flaps
5. Rotate and gear up
6. Hold runway heading climbing at 500fpm and wait for formation to form up
7. Raise flaps
8. Auto climb (speed -- red) [ALT X]
9. Go to ball turret (B17) / nose gunner (Lanc) position [2] and use rudder to make major heading corrections. Use rudder trim (button) [J][L] from cockpit to make minor heading corrections.
10. Climb out to 20-25k. This takes 20-35 minutes and requires 50-75 miles.

II Cruise
1. Go autolevel (yellow) [X]
2. Full power
3. Bring up map [ESC] and zoom as tight as possible. Use rudder trim to adjust heading to target.

III Ingress
When 25-35 miles from target
1. Bring up E6B
2. Throttle to idle
3. Open bomb bay doors

4. When ground speed reaches 185, throttle up to 30" MP (B17) or +3 (Lanc)
5. Watch ground speed and make fine adjustments to throttle to obtain 175-185 mph
6. Let ground speed settle out

IV Calibration
1. Set salvo to desired value (e.g. ".salvo 14" to drop all bombs in Lanc)
2. Set delay to desired spread (".delay .5" works good for town, ".4" for field pad)
3. Go to bombadiers station [F6]
4. Make sure ground speed (on E6B) and altitude are constant.
5. Enter calibration mode . Red text will change to yellow.
6. Press and hold "mark point" key [Y] for at least 15 seconds.
7. Turn off calibration mode . Text will change to green.

As long as speed and altitude are maintained, no further calibration is necessary. You can however, calibrate as many times as you want. Making heading corrections with rudder trim will not affect calibration significantly. Gentle rudder navigation from gunner position will not affect calibration so long as you don't bank too much.

V Bombing Run
1. As you get close to the target, use map to line up. Zoom in as much as possible. [INSERT]
2. Move to ball turret (B17) / nose gunner (Lanc). [2] Line gun up carefully with nose of aircraft. Zoom in max [Z][[] and search for target. Make very gentle rudder control to line up on target.
3. When target comes into view in gunner position, move to bombadiers station [F6]. Zoom all the way out []]and watch for target to appear at top of scope. Use rudder trim to line up on the target.
4. When crosshairs pass over target, press secondary weapon button .

VI Egress
1. Close bombay doors

2. Power to max
3. Go to ball turret (B17) / nose gunner (Lanc) [2]
4. Steer with rudder to extend and turn toward landing field
5. Decent: Power to idle. Adjust elevator trim for -3fpm. Auto climb angle (green)

If you follow this list, you will be able to hit from any altitude.

[gobucks]

Some great info posted up here by Lusche via Homeboy.

Keep in mind, practice makes perfect.  

Take the time to read and memorize these steps.  Theres not really a whole lot to it once you have gone thru the checklist a few times and have it committed to memory.

Level bombing in this game is quite simple once you learn to calibrate correctly.  Trust me, you won't miss if you are calibrated and flying level.  Conversely, incomplete calibration and hitting anything will be just plain luck.

Don't expect to hit anything unless you have put in the time.  Just spend 2 hours offline practicing and you can become a pro very quickly.

One final tip-you should be fully calibrated (level alt and constant speed) by the time you reach the radar circle for your target (12.5 miles out).  So plan accordingly.  This distance will decrease with time, but start with this range and your bombing runs will be a success.


"Amateurs practice until they get it right, professionals practice until they never get it wrong."

[fuzeman]

I have never used rudder trim for course corrections. Rudder input from gunners positions yes but never once rudder trim.

[Apeking]

"2. Move to ball turret (B17) / nose gunner (Lanc). [2] Line gun up carefully with nose of aircraft. Zoom in max [Z][[] and search for target. Make very gentle rudder control to line up on target."

It's worth pointing out that you can use the external view when you are in a bomber, and certain aircraft that you might not think of as bombers, such as the Il2. The external view is F3. You can look around with your hat switch, or the keyboard. I use F3 to line up with the target; make sure it is beneath the lead aircraft. Once I am looking through the bombsight I find myself gradually zooming the field of view inwards as the target crawls down the screen. If you are flying a formation of bombers you find it easier to turn if you swap between the forward view and F3; otherwise you risk losing your wingmen. You might want to increase the view distance and object detail options in your graphics preferences screen, especially if you are flying very high.

And the same applies if you are "flying very high" on drugs. Ideally you want to see for miles and miles and miles. There should be magic in your eyes.

If you are engrossed with your bombsight and you start to hear rapid crunching, splintering, metallic pinging noises, then you are under attack by enemy aircraft. You will also encounter flak, which may damage you. As far as I can tell there is no defense against flak short of destroying the guns on the ground. Apart from bombing accurately and flying the aircraft without crashing, there is another skill you must master. That is the skill of getting to the target without being shot down, and it is also the skill of getting home and landing if you are hardcore. On a strategic level your only goal is to reach the target and pound it to dust. Once you have dropped your bombs, it is in the enemy's best interest to let you go; if they shoot you down, you will be back to attack them slightly quicker than if you had flown back and landed.

If you have spent thirty minutes gaining altitude in your Lancasters, and you find that the target is swarming with baddies, you will be tempted to damn the torpedoes and attack rather than circle back and wait. Perhaps you might make it through. Perhaps you might not. But in that situation you will no longer be master of your fate.

You do not necessarily have to slow to 185mph. The advantage of slowing down is that your bombs will hit in a smaller area, and furthermore you can quickly reach a certain speed. An alternative tactic is to accelerate to top speed well in advance of the target. It usually takes a sector or two to reach top speed, once you have levelled out at cruising altitude. Presumably your top speed will increase fractionally with time, because you have burned off some fuel and thus made your aircraft lighter. As far as I know the bomb bay will remain open and undamaged at any reasonable speed a bomber can reach.

Some bombers carry more than one type of bomb (e.g. the Lancasters), or have more than one bomb station (e.g. the Ju88s). You swap between the two by using your weapon select key.

You do not have to fiddle about with trim. It is the done thing to mention trim, because doing so alerts the target audience that you are aware of trim; and no self-respecting pilot flies with auto trim or admits to doing so. But you do not have to fiddle about with trim. "Fiddle About" is a song by The Who. It was written by John Entwistle, who was often called "The Ox". Ox is a very useful word if you are playing Scrabble.

[sgt203]

All of the above is good advise for your bombing runs and should help you out to start..( I do not use rudder trim for course corrections either I do it from a gunners position).

Once you get down the part of being able to hit your target it is important to know your targets and load your ordinance and set your salvo accordingly...

Example: It makes no practical sense to load your plane with 1000lb bombs and set your salvo at 4 when hitting towns factories etc... it is a waste of ordinance as not that heavy a bomb is needed nor would you need to salvo same..

Plan what you are going to hit, know what it takes to destroy your target, load out accordingly, set your salvo properly to ensure the desired results for your bombing run and maximum destruction of your target.

Bombs away and enjoy...

[HomeBoy]

Originally posted by fuzeman
I have never used rudder trim for course corrections. Rudder input from gunners positions yes but never once rudder trim.

I have elevator, aileron, and rudder trim assigned to physical pots (rotaries) rather than buttons.  That might make them behave differently for you than me.  I should test this to be sure.   For me, when I press "J" (rudder left) the plane yaws left only while I'm holding the key down.  As soon as I release it, it goes back to center.   This is because I'm on autopilot-level (yellow light).   That makes it perfect for very fine alignment on the target while on the bombing run.   I use this same feature to stay aligned while flying in formation.   You can do a similar thing while in autopilot-angle (green light) to trim your climb/ascent using  elevator trim ("K" and "L").  I use this a lot for landing and sticking my plane on a 1k fpm perfect glideslope.

[fuzeman]

Originally posted by HomeBoy
I have elevator, aileron, and rudder trim assigned to physical pots (rotaries) rather than buttons.  That might make them behave differently for you than me.  I should test this to be sure.   For me, when I press "J" (rudder left) the plane yaws left only while I'm holding the key down.  As soon as I release it, it goes back to center.   This is because I'm on autopilot-level (yellow light).   That makes it perfect for very fine alignment on the target while on the bombing run.   I use this same feature to stay aligned while flying in formation.   You can do a similar thing while in autopilot-angle (green light) to trim your climb/ascent using  elevator trim ("K" and "L").  I use this a lot for landing and sticking my plane on a 1k fpm perfect glideslope.

That makes sense Homeboy as I have only used the default key commands for any trim adjustments and they do not recenter after you use them.
Your method and hardware would indeed allow for very fine tuning of the inbound course.

[HomeBoy]

Originally posted by fuzeman
Your method and hardware would indeed allow for very fine tuning of the inbound course. [/B]

And that probably means I should not include "my method" in a generalized check-list that I post for general population consumption.  I should change the references to rudder trim to using your joystick to set course while in the bombadiers station.

As a side note:  There is a real need for a "Using trim in Aces High" document that includes a description of just how much using analog (i.e. physical pots) trim changes the way trim works in AH.  I don't know how many people use analog trim but there is a definite learning curve associated with it and if you rely heavily on "combat trim" as I did, that learning curve is even steeper.  For me though, now that I've "pushed through", I would never want to go back as my control over the aircraft has increased exponentially now that I use analog trim.

Sorry, I don't mean to hijack this thread.  It really is meant to be a side note.

Thanks

[Rolex]

There are some other ways to enhance your "Blowing Stuff Up Experience" (BSUE) that haven't been written up here yet.

1.  I never use flaps on take off. Runways are long enough for autotakeoff and I'd rather have the airspeed. I don't have to remember to retract flaps or gear. At my age, anything I don't have to remember is good. If you take off manually, drones will stay with you if you do not retract gear and need to make a shallow turn before they split at 250' AGL.

2.  I use angle climb also, then go to front gunner position and F3 view and zoom out. From this view, I can use rudder only to steer the formation - they make a nice co-ordinated turn and make my investment in CH rudder pedals worth it. Your tophat views all work to scan for cons and you can check your progress while putting that second coat of paint on the garage during climb out.

I use this view also to make my initial alignment on target. Just zoom in and you can align from half a sector away using your monitor center as your guide.

3. I never change throttle. I reduce rpm (+ / - keys on number pad) about 300 rpm to stay fast, but drones will stay in formation in all but the most radical turns.

4. After an initial alignment, I calibrate once to set bombsight, then use the "Forward View" (8 on number pad) to look "up" while in the bombsight and through the front flexiglass to fine tune my alignment. I have this view mapped to my stick and saved to a view that has moved any guns or objects out of the way to get a clear view. Again, the center of the monitor is your guide. It is easy to align by again zooming in without leaving the bombsight (F6) view. Toggle the mapped forward view and you're looking down into the bombsight again.

5. I'm not clever enough to keep checking the E6B, mostly because I can't understand why I would care about my speed since I do another calibration and read the speed and alt in the bombsight. All I want to do is one final, long (5+ second) calibration just before my drop. It is calibrated to that speed and I've set up my run from half a sector away, so my speed is stabilized pretty well. One or two mph difference isn't going to make me miss.

6. I have zoom toggle (z) and zoom in /out ([ / ] ) mapped on my stick using Mode 3 for bombers. I mapped the * key on the number pad as the toggle for Mode 3. I can do almost everything on controllers and don't need to be fiddling with the keyboard. That's why I bought them...

7. You can take out an entire town with a formation of lancs in three passes. I drop individually (salvo 1, delay 0.05) to target building clusters. If you want to drop a section without fail, you can set salvo to 8 and delay to 0.78 for 1K bombs. That combination will drop across the town perfectly. A delay of 0.48 will carpet 500lb. bombs perfectly.

We all have slightly different ways to doing things, but our intentions are the same - enhancing our BSUE.

[Coshy]

Is there a chart or list that explains how many lbs/kg of bombs you need to destroy a particular structure?

Things like carriers, cruisers, VH, FH and BH are prime targets, but I'm concerned that I'm dropping too much and wasting valuable bomb bay space.

[gobucks]

Bombing Info from Net Aces

[HomeBoy]

Originally posted by Rolex
There are some other ways to enhance your "Blowing Stuff Up Experience" (BSUE) that haven't been written up here yet.



We all have slightly different ways to doing things, but our intentions are the same - enhancing our BSUE.

Excellent points Rolex.  Thank you.  Looks like a check-list version 2 is in order.

[Coshy]

Thanks Gobucks, thats exactly what I was looking for.