Gunnery

[SPKmes]

Ok guys, what's the secret..The guys who know me will know who I'm asking this of.....Over the years what have you done to improve yours ...I have tried and tried but my guns ability is still very lacking
Do you guys have any tips or hints ..... This is frustrating me to no end .... I still have much to improve on in all areas of the game but in the grand scheme of things gunnery is falling behind/stagnated compared to other improved areas during my time here..

 

[JC67]

What he said,,,any tips would be very helpfull. i seem to overlead too much or something to that nature.

[Bruv119]

how big is your monitor and what resolution are you running?

I would say anything over 22"  should be enough.

You have to apply different tactics to every weapon tongs.  Convergences set to how you anticipate the type of fighting you will be doing.  Slower turn fighters I tend to set closer in.  

You have zoom toggle mapped?   I use this to A) see what a con is doing a good 1.5-2k out and 400+ shots are done zoomed in.  

Page up over the nose for a slightly better view on deflection shots.  Use a gunsight your happy with.  I use the 'borsight' dot.  Have tracers on but do not fire unless you know it is a good close shot.  If you happen to miss you can quickly adjust.

For small accurate adjustments make sure your stick is smooth and if you have pedals I would say it is easier to control / snapshoot.  Seperate your triggers so cannons are on a secondary trigger.  If you get someone at 600 odd in a spit pepper them with MG only they will usually panic and turn in.  Then nail em with hispano.

Some convergences I use;

303:  <200
50cal:  300-400
20mm:  400 on fast rides 300 in my spit.

Get close, then when you think your close enough get closer then shoot.  

"good flying never killed an enemy yet"

Just try and anticipate where they are going to be rather than where they are.

[Patches1]

In my opinion, gunnery shows who out flew whom; skilled Air Combat Maneuvering and good Situational Awareness will put you in position to fire your guns to good effect and let your opponent know that you did, indeed, "out-fly" him.

Fly to your opponent's six, get very, very close, and fire...

You can play with convergences and gunsites all you want, but nothing beats good ACM combined with good SA.

Just some thoughts...

[SPKmes]

I have/do all of the above excepting the large monitor .....
I will play around with my convergence some more but generally I am set at about 300 - 450 ride dependent..
In the Ki I have 20's at 450 (straight shooter so not too much issue really) and MG's at 350....most of my shots that hit are at the 400 mark or less. 600 is my usual in the 50's planes P40/51...

Just try and anticipate where they are going to be rather than where they are.
I think this is where I am failing big time
I just feel I'm missing something...not doing something in my lead process. When I review film I am always just under over over or to the side...working out the formula for contact is just not there
My sight is the jabo 2 sight, just a couple of dots..

"good flying never killed an enemy yet"

Sometimes it does hahaha

I'll just keep on then...I have to change something though because it is the same mistake over and over I think

[Ack-Ack]

In my opinion, gunnery shows who out flew whom; skilled Air Combat Maneuvering and good Situational Awareness will put you in position to fire your guns to good effect and let your opponent know that you did, indeed, "out-fly" him.

Fly to your opponent's six, get very, very close, and fire...

You can play with convergences and gunsites all you want, but nothing beats good ACM combined with good SA.

Just some thoughts...

Good ACM/SA only do so much if you can't hit the broadside of a barn.

ack-ack

[SPKmes]

In my opinion, gunnery shows who out flew whom; skilled Air Combat Maneuvering and good Situational Awareness will put you in position to fire your guns to good effect and let your opponent know that you did, indeed, "out-fly" him.

Fly to your opponent's six, get very, very close, and fire...

You can play with convergences and gunsites all you want, but nothing beats good ACM combined with good SA.

Just some thoughts...

I can saddle a con OK...I just can't hit them with consistency
I have a better chance at running them into the ground than shooting them...many times this is the tactic I turn to....once you get a few guys on you and the frenzy starts it is easy....

[Belial]

I have the same problem I think alot of mine is due to lag though, right when I'm about to shoot they warp 50% of the time.

[cactuskooler]

I was in the same lousy gunnery boat as you for a looong time. About a month ago I started trying to spend a little bit of time each day shooting the drones. I take shots from every which angle until I can kill the drone in one shot, under any circumstances.

Then I turned tracers off. With tracers on I would find myself focusing on the tracers, rather than aiming with the gunsight. With tracers off I had to use the gunsight to aim and my gunnery instantly improved. I would probably leave them on if I flew something like a 109K4 with it's Mk108.

Within the past few weeks every aspect of my flying has improved because I can hit more reliably.

[mtnman]

Get closer before you shoot.  Fire as close to convergence as possible.

Setting your convergence to 350-400 isn't close.  Firing at that range isn't "saddled up" or "close" IMO.  Shots on an icon of D400 can be out almost 600yds.  Shots on a D600 icon can be out as far 798yds.  That's god-awful far.  That's desperation shooting.

I'd recommend a convergence of 275-300.  I'd recommend shooting when you see the icon counter switch from D400-D200 (which is actually right at 300yds).  I'd leave your tracers on.

A convergence of 275-300 is effective on shots at bombers out to 600yds.  I still wouldn't open up on them until around the D400 mark.

I'm using a 17" monitor, and in general furballing I can hold 12-15% hit percentage.  You don't need a big monitor to be accurate.

[Tordon22]

Almost identical to Cactus's post are ones by Delirium, who is one of the few guys in game who can shoot >10-15% over a whole tour (100+ sorties). I've seen some awesome results from guys who've stuck with offline practice on the drones. You just have to be consistant and take a variety of shots.

Also if you search back in the posts on this forum there's instructions for turning on the lead computing gunsight offline which can help develop your sight picture. And for more bang for your buck you can multiply the amount of ammo you start out with. Helps big time to avoid a lot of bailing and take offs.

If drones get boring you can pop into the TA and it's either ctrl+tab or just tab to turn on 'friendly lock'. Which is just the lead computing gunsight. If you ask nicely someone will let you chase them around while seeing how the little arrows move in a variety of maneuvers.

PS- Drone shooting isn't something you need to bore yourself with for hours on end, just 10-20 mins before logging onto the main arena will really help.


Good luck  

[Ghosth]

Mtnman nailed it, try closing to 200 before you let yourself shoot.
MG's especially do much more damage at close range close to convergience than out farther.

Snapshots and deflection shooting is mostly a matter of practice.
But the dead 6 shot that should be a killer is actually a quite small target compared to a crossing shot.

Also I'd say stick with 1 set of guns till you truly have them mastered. Be it 6 .50's or cannons.
Jumping ships too often just makes it harder.

[CAP1]

I can saddle a con OK...I just can't hit them with consistency
I have a better chance at running them into the ground than shooting them...many times this is the tactic I turn to....once you get a few guys on you and the frenzy starts it is easy....

i have this problem when i manage to saddle up.

i spent nearly 3 minutes behind a c202 the other night. i'd get lucky hits here and there, but could never give that one death blow.........and god help me if they go straight n level.....i throw airballs at em all night then.

[Muzzy]

Muzzy's GunQuest(tm): A history of a noob trying to figure out how to shoot.

1. In offline mode, with tracers on, take deflection shots at the drones (coming in at angles while turning).  You will discover that the bullets will curve and drop in ridiculous amounts.  Solution: Unload G.  That is, straighten out, fire ahead of the target and let it fly into your guns.  Shooting while pulling g's is very very difficult.

2. In the TA: Up a 6x .50 caliber plane.  Set the convergence at 400.  In radio: type .target 400.  A range target will appear due north of your plane.  Hit autopilot and shoot.  Zoom in (hit z) and look at where the bullets have landed.  now type .target 200.  Pick a clean spot on the target to aim at and fire again.  The bullets might be landing differently this time.  Try it at 500. Now do this exercise with your favorite aircraft.  Try different convergence settings.  If you have a mix of guns, fire one type first, then the second. You'll see that the bullets will sometimes land higher or lower than your aiming point, or they may look scattered.  Try and keep this information in mind while in combat and fire accordingly.

3. In the TA: hit ctrl Tab, activating the lead target sight.  Close on a willing training partner and use the tab key to lock the sight on him.  Note how much lead you really need to pull to hit a turning target.  Practice shooting each other with the lead gunsight.

[SPKmes]

I don't chop and change my ride that much at all...My staple is the Ki61.....for a bit of a change I will up a P40 or 51....and as base defender Highly capped field) I use the spit5..My 50's aim is better but I'm so used to conserving rounds I never hold  the trigger long enough...

It is the fact that I have been using one plane for 97% of my sorties for at least 12 tours (air that is) and my gunnery has just not improved....why?   I'm picking I have taught myself wrong and continue on the same path...
I will practice more offline....and the TA.......and perhaps a few of the offline missions as this will give a little variance in regard to shots needed...The TA is a hard one because often when I'm on the TA is empty.