not to argue with ya but, I read (wish I remember who said it) from a WW2 ace? that "the better shot will almost always win against a better pilot."
anyone know who said that?
I've heard that a time or two as well...
And like most things, there's more than one way to look at it.
What makes one pilot the "better shot"? Shooting can be broken down into just a couple of basics.
Knowing where/when to aim/fire, and
being able to physically aim/fire at that point in space at the correct time. To do well at shooting a moving target, both things need to be accomplished. The biggest/best gun is worthless if you can't hit your target with it. The guy with the computer-brain who knows exactly where/when to fire is not going to do well if he can't physically aim and fire his gun at the target correctly.
Considering that the nose and wing mounted guns are aimed by flying/piloting, the pilot with the better piloting skills is going to end up aiming his guns better than the poor pilot, at least the majority of the time. His/her "better" use of ACM will also probably yield an easier (in both profile and range) shot solution, which he'll be more likely to succeed/hit with.
Better aiming skills, and easier shot solutions are bound to equate to more hits (higher hit%). The "better shot" is generally considered to be the guy who can score the most or best hits on target (higher hit%). Therefore, in AH, the better pilot will also appear to be the better shot, even though his actual shooting is probably going to be on easier targets at much closer ranges than the less-skilled pilot.
It'd be really tough to find a "great shot" who isn't also a very accomplished pilot...
It may also be worth noting that it isn't very often that we see an experienced/successful/highly skilled pilot too concerned with the maximum range that the AH guns are effective. Or for that matter too concerned with the guy trying to hit him at the far reaches of effective range. There may be some substance to that idea...
That of course would be different if the pilot couldn't "move to" his target. Maximum effective range of a fixed/mounted gun (ack) would be very useful information, as it would be for a tank, since the more successful GV driver may be the guy who drives least!. It would also be useful for bomber guns, since those are generally relying on a target coming to them as well.
