Dive Bombing

[Wingover]

Do P-51's or Mossies have a divebomb sight? Can't seem to hit squat...if no sight, what tactics should be used? Thanks!

[acepilot2]

nothing in this game has a divebomb sight.  Basically what you have to do is climb to an altitude of 5-10k.  Fly directly over your target.  Actually what I do is when I aproach my target I start flying upside down so I can where everything is.  Press 5 on the numpad to look directly up.  When you see that you are over your target, cut your throttle and apply dive brakes (if your plane has them) by pressing control-c.  Then pull up so you are vertical at a 90 degree angle.  Then i roll and sometimes pitch my plane a bit to make sure that either the gunsight is targeting the thing you want to blow up or the nose is blocking it.  Once the target is in you gunsight, release the bombs and pull up.  (note that to never go above 400 mph in a dive.)  However want to release not exactly when it is in your gunsight but wait for the plane to get closer to the ground so it will be more accurate, but still give the plane time to pull up.  Dive bombing is not 100% accurate, if you dropped two 1000k bombs, if you see the craters next to the target its fine.    Now when bombing a hangar, it takes a lot of ordance so if it does not blow up that does not mean you didn't hit it.

[Boozer]

At 45 degree dive you can consistently hit your target by putting the default gunsight's bottom pixel on your target  and releasing at 3k.

[darbar]

Dive Bombing is alot of fun isn't it? I spend the majority of my time when attacking fields in a 51 looking for the enemies strat. Here is how I do it, although I am a work in progress, I have come a lonnnng way (had some serious help too)....

1. Get AT LEAST 10K of alt
2. When approaching your target (for example sake, let's use a field with a FH on it) go inverted and get directly over your target
3. Cut your throttle until you are almost at stall speed
4. Dive down without any throttle
5. I try to line up on the furthest point of my target. Putting my gunsight dot directly on the furthest point
6. When between 3-5k release your eggs
7. Pull up while applying power (use the K key if necessary, but be careful not to rip your ailerons off)
8. Extend , Extend , Extend for another pass

For a 45degree shot:
1. Use your Shift-X key to give you a stable decent platform
2. On the bottom of the 51 gun site, look for the vertical site (two circles connected by a vertical line).
3. This is where practice comes into play with the rockets, but I place my target on the TOP circle and release my rockets.

If you'd like to hook up sometime in the training area, I will be happy to help you.
Thanks!!
Darrell (aka darbar)

[snocone]

goto thr training arena. while in there when you select rockets or bombs a small green + will appear in the screen. this is a "flag" that tells you right where your ordinance will go. with this you can practice different types of bombing attacks, from the straight down approach which acepilot described to attacks at several differnt angles of approach. remember, lighter bombs have a different trajectory than heavier ones. cant tell you how many times i overshot my target because i was using 250 or 500 pounders and not my customary 1000 lbs. with some patience and practice you will be pissing laz off with the best of em!

[Drano]

Originally posted by Wingover
Do P-51's or Mossies have a divebomb sight? Can't seem to hit squat...if no sight, what tactics should be used? Thanks!

You can go to the TA where there's a training sight, a CCIP or Constantly Computed Impact Point. Its a little green "X" that will move about in your view representing where your bombs or rockets would hit if you pickled them. You can bring up the sight offline too by bringing up the clipboard, go to setup, arena settings, scroll down and double click on "flight mode flags". This will bring up a box where several things can be toggled on and off, the practice dive bomb sight being one of them. Note:The practice sight will only work if you have loaded some sort of ordnance and selected it by using the backspace key--so don't panic if you don't see it right away, it won't show if you only have guns selected as your secondary weapon.

To answer your question there might be several different ways of successfully bombing a target. How you do it might be dictated by the local situation at the target. Best thing is to practice with the sight and make a note of things like your altitude, speed and angle. Try and develope a technique that works for you by finding what will work and then get more consistent by trying to repeat the process.

Different planes factor in too. I like the A-20G for attack. In that I'll get no higher than about 10K dropping down to about 8K with a little speed as I get close to the target. I try and make my run such that I can hit the VH and town in one pass. I open bay doors, chop throttle and dive in at about a 45 degree angle trying to maintain my airspeed as close to 325mph as I can kicking rudder if need be. I steady the target at the tip of the little post that sits just outside the windscreen. (Faster or slower than 325 the impact point will drift down the post). I'll drop 6 eggs on the VH at 2K or so, pull up, throttle up, nose over and drop the last 2 eggs singly on the town as I pass it. If I can I'll strafe some of the town ack as I pass but always egress low so as to avoid it. This almost always yields me a dead VH and several town buildings destroyed depending on what's up and where I hit in the town.

For JABOing in a fighter I prefer an almost verticle approach from about 12K using the center of the gunsight as my aiming point. The trick is to keep the target steady in the center for a sec or so before dropping. You can drop from pretty high up and kill small objects like fuel or barracks.

Hope that helped. Good luck.

       Drano

[Wingover]

Thanks pilots ! I think every question I had was answered.

Hungover....err Wingover:D

[Virage]

Use the training room and the dive bomb green + already mentioned.  

imo the best ie safest dive bomb approach in fighters is the shallow but fast approach.  After releasing your bombs the high speed will help you stay alive.

approx 40 to 60 degrees of dive.  make sure ball is centered and your roll indicator is straight up and down.  At a speed of 450 you can use the center dot on the gun site as ur bomb site.

[Nwbie]

I have a great site that I use in P51 and P47, not sure who made it-so can't give proper credit, has line up boxes for both rockets and eggs for dive bombing, will share with ya if ya post your email if ya like

NwBie

[Maniacal81st]

.....divebrakes default is SHIFT C.

[bfreek]

Greatest factor in hitting your target is holding the sight on target for the 2 secs it takes to obtain the correct glide path then release. same goes for rockets.