Ar234 bombing

[Emu]

All-

I've had mixed results when bombing with the Ar234.  Some use it to devastating effect, killing a CV in one pass.  And they do this constantly.  What is the secret?  Going high and fast seems to never work as the crosshairs for the bombsight are so far up, looks like you are about to drop bombs on the horizon.  If you are one of the lucky ones who knows how to use the Ar234 (especially against CVs), please, share the knowledge!

I've tried searching the forums, but came up empty.
Thanks,

Emu

[Lusche]

Originally posted by Emu
What is the secret?  Going high and fast seems to never work as the crosshairs for the bombsight are so far up, looks like you are about to drop bombs on the horizon.  
Emu

You still have the RATOs selected
Switch from RATO to your bombs using your weapons select button. Then calibrate & bomb.

[Emu]

Lusche, exactly what you described came up on my forum search, so I made sure to have my bombs selected.  I am attributing the "crosshairs on the horizon" thing to having the RATOs enabled in the past, although I could have sworn it wasnt the case.  Now what I am looking for is tidbits of information.... such as best altitudes, best speeds... any of that good stuff that can help me hit a cv or two.

[Lusche]

Well, I can't be specific on bombing CVs in Arados, because I do use them rarely for that.

But a few general comments:

Don't take your bird too high. The Arado's climb sucks at higher altitudes. And unless in other bombers, high alt is not neccessary to survive. I usually take her to about 10K. That way I stay out of base & ships ack, fly high enough to spot targets early enough and have sufficient room to nose down when actually being jumped by a high alt enemy fighter.

Arado needs plenty of room to get to alt & speed, so select your takeoff field & route accordingly. Because of it's speed, begin your calibration sequence far earlier than in other buffs. I'd say, level out  1 1/2 sectors away from your target when doing a traditional level bombing run.

When attacking CVs, I would suggest doing a shallow dive bombing attack. The arado's speed makes it difficult to compensate for a turning CV when doing a traditional med-alt level bombing attack using bomsight.

Concerning speed: I fly the 234 usually at full power to attain speeds around 420mph. Thats usually enough to keep enemy fighters away. If some P51 starts diving on to me, I just nose down a little to get to 500mph, turn a little bit to give him a bad angle and leave him behind me

[BaldEagl]

I've never gone after a CV in one but here's what I normally do with them:

I run them up to between 8-10K.  Once level I'll remain in a full powered straight line to the target for about 4 sectors.  This is what I view as the minimum to get to speed, calibrate and prepare for the target.  Minimize any lateral movements after calibration as they burn off speed quickly.  I always set salvo to 1 at .05 delay.

As Lusche said, use a little dive to escape enemys if you must but mostly you won't need to.  Even diving fighters will have a hard time catching you unless they start from directly overhead.

[Xasthur]

Ar234s and JU- 88s are my primary selection for CV destruction.

As stated above, do not bother climbing any higher than 10k.

Anywhere from 8 - 10k is an effective height. (You want to be just high enough to avoid CV ack, the lower the better really)


I usually use the RATO units on take off and therefore do not have them on-board when I drop.

Also as stated above, calibrate from further out… use your e6b to make sure that your calibrated drop speed and TAS is the same.

As for actual CV hitting technique… I usually drop 1 to 1.5 carrier lengths in-front of the carrier with salvo set to 3 in order to hit the CV.

This is roughly 2 – 3 centimetres on my screen (this needs to increase as altitude increases and this is why ‘the lower the better’ (provided you’re above ack) as you need less lead on your bombs)

I believe it was RussHeim who put me onto this method and I have had something like a 80 – 90% hit-rate on CVs while using this method. I rarely bother with CVs, but this method does work for me most of the time.


This should provide you with an effective method for level-bombing CVs in 234s.

Turning CVs shouldn't prove too tricky at the 8k level, you just need to be good at guessing the path it will take and simply adjust your bomb 'lead' accordingly. With the CV slowing right down in tight turns, you really won't need to lead your bombs too much at all (1cm perhaps).

Good luck and let me know how you go with it, Emu

[evenhaim]

i come in 200 feet off the water and 5 seconds before i reach the cv i pull up a bit and drop right away this has a 95% succes rate for me

btw set all salvos to 3 and delay to .05

[Xasthur]

Don't you get raped by the ack?

[Yarbles]

Originally posted by Xasthur
Also as stated above, calibrate from further out… use your e6b to make sure that your calibrated drop speed and TAS is the same.

Use your e6b, what is that all about please?

[Lusche]

Originally posted by Yarbles
Use your e6b, what is that all about please?

When in flight, bring up your clipboard and just click on E6B. You will get there information about you exact current speed, fuel endurance & best engine settings.

The use of E6B is almost mandatory for precise level bombing

[Yarbles]

Originally posted by Lusche
When in flight, bring up your clipboard and just click on E6B. You will get there information about you exact current speed, fuel endurance & best engine settings.

The use of E6B is almost mandatory for precise level bombing

Can you be a bit more specific as to what you do with this info. Currently I calibrate as close to the target as I can with Bomb doors open and try to line up well in advance. I often miss for no reason I can think of. Can you explain how this might help?

[Lusche]

Originally posted by Yarbles
Can you be a bit more specific as to what you do with this info. Currently I calibrate as close to the target as I can with Bomb doors open and try to line up well in advance. I often miss for no reason I can think of. Can you explain how this might help?

You can check that way if your calibrated speed in bombsight does match your true airspeed.

[Yarbles]

And then presumably adjust accordingly. Is this the only function?

[Lusche]

Originally posted by Yarbles
And then presumably adjust accordingly. Is this the only function?

May I cite myself?: "You will get there information about you exact current speed, fuel endurance & best engine settings. "

[BaldEagl]

Originally posted by Yarbles
Can you be a bit more specific as to what you do with this info. Currently I calibrate as close to the target as I can with Bomb doors open and try to line up well in advance. I often miss for no reason I can think of. Can you explain how this might help?

If you calibrate without using E6B you have no way of knowing if your calibration speed actually matches your true ground speed.

Pull up E6B once you've calibrated.  If it's not within about 2 mph you'll have to re-calibrate or you'll likely miss the target.

E6B also gives you precise throttle and RPM settings for maximum fuel conservation while in-flight in any plane.

It also shows you your current minutes of fuel remaining and range at your current flight attitude along with other useful information.