ava bombsite

[flatiron1]

just want a simple answer from the AVA staff. Why is the AVA so hung up on they nonMA bombsite?

[Larry]

The AvA bombsight used to be the bombsight for the whole game but because you have to actually stay level and keep your speed right some people whined about it and HTC made the 'easymode' MA one. I for one like it and it would be a lot more fun if we had some wind layers to add to the realism.

[oakranger]

The easy mode.  I bet if Htech removes the easy mode a lot of CVs wont be lost and base capture got harder

[Easyscor]

The AvA bombsight is the best one, and it calibrates for wind, but most people can't plot a decent heading to bring their bombers over the target anyway.

[Oldman731]

just want a simple answer from the AVA staff. Why is the AVA so hung up on they nonMA bombsite?

From its inception the AvA has always been a place that tried to be a little more realistic than the MAs.  We have shorter icon range, for example (which, years ago, many AvA critics complained was what was keeping people away) (heh).  We have lower-effect (and far more realistic) ack settings.  Same thing with the bomb sight.  Not only does it take a bit more effort to use, but it results in more realistic bomb patterns, rather than the the laser-guided munitions that the MA people have.

I don't fly bombers at all, really, but the other night when there was no one else in the arena I thought I'd see if I could work the AvA bomb sight with a Ju-88.  As it turned out, I could.  If I can, anyone can. 

Watching these boards over the past few years, it seems to me that people who have mastered the AvA sight are proud of the accomplishment and don't want to go back to the easy version.  So we've kept it.

- oldman

[flatiron1]

thanks for the answer Oldman. I do fine with it also if I have enough time to fool with it (under attack) after not practicing for a while. The only time I use bombers in AVA is in a war or like Larry's mission last night. I just wonder if it is part of the low numbers problem. One thing about the realism is in real life they had a bombardier that could focus on his work while the rest of the crew defended.

[B4Buster]

could someone teach me how to use it sometime? 

[Larry]

could someone teach me how to use it sometime? 

Level out and set your throttle setting how you want it. Now fly the better part of a sector without changing anything to let your speed level out. Go into the bomb sight and press U, bring up the keyboard, now hold shift and click on your target. Now put your bomb sight cross on something like a tree, sheep, or building and hold Y down as long as you can. I usually hold it for about fifteen seconds. now check your E6B to see if your speed is the same. After that only move your plane from the bombsight.

[B4Buster]

Now put your bomb sight cross on something like a tree, sheep, or building and hold Y down as long as you can. 

got it thanks 

[flatiron1]

don't u have to pull back on your stick to get it to hold on that spot?

[Larry]

Yeah but when in the bombsite it can only move your plane left or right. Even then, when you're in calibration mode it moves the bombsite cross and not your plane.

[flatiron1]

what I meant was when calibrating and you put the crosshair on a spot don't you have to pull back on the stick to hold it there while holding down y button.

[Larry]

yeah

[Oldman731]

Level out and set your throttle setting how you want it. Now fly the better part of a sector without changing anything to let your speed level out. Go into the bomb sight and press U, bring up the keyboard, now hold shift and click on your target. Now put your bomb sight cross on something like a tree, sheep, or building and hold Y down as long as you can. I usually hold it for about fifteen seconds. now check your E6B to see if your speed is the same. After that only move your plane from the bombsight.

If you forget all this, a set of sketchy instructions appears in the upper left corner of the screen when you're in the bombardier's position.

The trick for me was the two step process - first, marking the altitude of the target with the shift-click thing, then doing the speed calibration with the Y button.

- oldman

[Oldman731]

Never mind, I'm losing my mind.

- oldman