Center Mount Gunning Tips

[Torcher]

Maybe it's just a fragment of my imagination, but cowl mount, spinner mount, etc. guns seem tougher for me to score hits. FW series, LA's, YAK's give me fits.

Any tips?

Thanks in advance.

[Soulyss]

Not at all, I had trouble with nose mounted guns for awhile till I started flying the P-38 a regular basis.  Here's how I think of it, the same reason that makes the nose mounted guns desirable is the relatively small cone of fire also means that you have to be more precise to score a hit.   Wing mounted guns firing outside of their convergence will scatter rounds over a larger area so in some ways it's easier to score a hit, but the round density is much lower making it less lethal.

Also planes with centrally mounted armament tend to have fewer guns firing, 3 or fewer in the case of the Yaks, La's, and 109's (sans gondies of course).  Fewer guns means less lead in the air, especially since one or more is often a cannon which has a high potential for destruction but slower ROF again means less lead in the air. 

The principles of gunnery are exactly the same, put your piper in the right spot and you'll hit so it mostly going to be a matter of time before the shots start connecting again.

[Tank-Ace]

I would avoid the Yak's and La's, especially at first. Really small ammo load, and really not a whole lot of learning potential I feel (especially with the Yak's, in 6 years of play, I never felt like saying 'wow, that guy could made his yak fly backwards if he wanted!")


Try the P-38 (or the 110, if you're a man who likes a challenge), since it has a very generous ammount of ammunition, so you can spend enough time in the air to get a feel.

If you're interested in smaller, more nimble fighters, then once you get the hang of the nose guns, I would recomend the 109. Lots of potential for growth there, various models that have various combinations of traits, and it will make you learn fire dicipline and how to make crossing shots.

Lala is about the same or better, but its stalls just seem nastier. Amunition is also a bit of a problem since the balistics on the 20mm's are, frankly, rather crappy. Used to fly one, but after a while, it just gets boring.


Or maybe even try the P-39 once you're used to the nose guns. Not a very common fighter in the MA's, but theres a few sticks out there that will have you chasing your own tail in it.

[kilz]

Soul bro no disrespect meant here but i don't see how that helped this guy.

Torcher to my best knowledge a round is a round the only difference is the weight of the round.

here is what you do

goto the training arena and up a plane with only 50 cal guns on it. type in .target 600 (number depends on your conversions, set number for your conversions) shoot a few rounds at it. now up a plane that has 20 MM guns IE TYPH and do the same now up a plane with 30MM IE 109K4 and do the same.

be sure to film these sorties. when done go back and watch the films and see how far your rounds fall especially the 20s and 30s

another good thing is to make sure you understand conversions and how to set it up

once you relies how far your rounds actually drop your aim will improve

again Soul no disrespect meant bro Salute

[Soulyss]

No worries Kilz, it was certainly my intention to try and help the OP and I hope it reads that way.  I think in some aspects that nose mounted guns can be a little more difficult at first due to the reasons I outlined above but I also think that a lot of it is psychosomatic and can be overcome with a little practice.  Drawing on my personal experience I made the switch from the P-51's to the F6F to the P-38's, the gun packages are very similar but the nose mounted guns on the P-38 felt very awkward at first, with time that feeling disappeared. 

Depending on what planes the OP is used to flying there could be more going on than gun placement issues, going from the Browning .50 cal to a German Mk108 is going to potentially require a different approach to setting up shots or compensating for much lower muzzle velocity on the 30mm (ie pulling more lead).

[kilz]

No worries Kilz, it was certainly my intention to try and help the OP and I hope it reads that way.  I think in some aspects that nose mounted guns can be a little more difficult at first due to the reasons I outlined above but I also think that a lot of it is psychosomatic and can be overcome with a little practice.  Drawing on my personal experience I made the switch from the P-51's to the F6F to the P-38's, the gun packages are very similar but the nose mounted guns on the P-38 felt very awkward at first, with time that feeling disappeared. 

Depending on what planes the OP is used to flying there could be more going on than gun placement issues, going from the Browning .50 cal to a German Mk108 is going to potentially require a different approach to setting up shots or compensating for much lower muzzle velocity on the 30mm (ie pulling more lead).

    

[Torcher]

Thanks guys. I know ultimately practice and repetition is the key, but it always seemed I was shooting blanks. Been flying the Dora and have had some great success lately. P39 does sound fun. Maybe next camp.

[Butcher]

Thanks guys. I know ultimately practice and repetition is the key, but it always seemed I was shooting blanks. Been flying the Dora and have had some great success lately. P39 does sound fun. Maybe next camp.

Practice is what it comes down to, after a tour of flying the P-38J, I have finally gotten used to the center line guns, I turned my tracers off.
Once you trust your judgement, ultimately you can take shots that normally you would miss and start hitting.

Problem is you can't swap planes, when you go from a P51D to P38 - you eventually lose that edge. (Wing mounted vs center line)

[Ruah]

center mounted guns are much more pepper intensive - use your gunsight and think in terms of bullet loft on the X axis.   personally its gotten to the point where wing mounted guns are more difficult for me except that they have a LOT more bullets and so you can spray a lot more.

[Tank-Ace]

What? Ruah, what do you mean by 'pepper intensive'?