The art of shooting down aircraft...

[new_decade]

Hi, apologies for something of a noob question, but... what advice is there for actually landing hits on enemy aircraft??

Ive been playing this class game for a short time and loving the realism etc, and maneuvring isnt a problem, but the actual combat is insanely difficult. Even at 200m range in equal speed pursuit of other fighters, let alone bombers that are firing back, i can barely score any hits. Is it just not a game to be played on a gamepad? (great as the 360 pad is)

Advice please, i cant play forever with vulnerability off and infinite ammo!

[Amsel]

Air to Air Gunnery

[Bombsaway]

First, close to less than 100 on his 6:00 , best at 50 but dont forget to dodge those gunners. Speed is importent, too fast and you'll over shoot the target. Dont always aim for his mid section, engines and wings are good targets. If he's in a turn lead your shots, in other words shoot out in front of him and watch your tracer fire to see where your bulletts are going. Dont fixate on just shooting him, watch his gunner fire,your speed and altitude.
If he dives low and your going too fast you could hit the ground.

[comiso90]

deflection shooting..

aim at the point in space where the plane will be, not where it is when you pull the trigger. Let the bullets and the plane "collide". It's like shooting ducks - allow travel time for the bullets to arrive at the target,

[eddie_brunette]

Essential Read for sim pilots http://web.comhem.se/~u85627360/inpursuit.pdf

edd

[new_decade]

Thanks, will go through those guides but looks like firing from excessive range has been the core problem.

[Soundbreaker Welch?]

I think time and practice are important. Simply flying more dogfights gets you learning about air combat. The irony is I might not have lasted through the first missions if it was real life.

I do have one question though, should the gun range be set to 500 meters or does 200 meters work better? I've always stuck with 500 meters but maybe I'm missing something.

[Amsel]

I like to use 200m for MG and 300m for cannon.

[GrauGeist]

I have mine set to converge at 750 for MG and 650 for cannon. At close ranges the spread is super and also allows me to get in great coverage on deflection shots at further distances.

[Vassili Zaitzev]

What I find best is wait until your target fills your cockpit, no way you can miss there.

[GrauGeist]

What I find best is wait until your target fills your cockpit, no way you can miss there.

I have to agree, however, I hunt big things too.

Big things that will hurt you bad if you get too close

[eddie_brunette]

I have mine set to converge at 750 for MG and 650 for cannon. At close ranges the spread is super and also allows me to get in great coverage on deflection shots at further distances.

It just shows that different sim pilots has differed preferences’

Mine is set to MG 150m and Cannon 100m, but I know my weaknesses and my strengths. Im very good at ACM, but a little sucky in Air-Air Gunnery, hence the short convergence.

edd

[JAMF]

I have to agree, however, I hunt big things too.

Big things that will hurt you bad if you get too close

Big things you attack head on or do slashing attacks from it's high 8-9 to it's high 3-4 position, with the speed advantage you can do those boom'n'zooms.

[Vassili Zaitzev]

I have to agree, however, I hunt big things too.

Big things that will hurt you bad if you get too close

True, I can't count how many times I got flamed by a bomber doing that. Hell, last time my pilot got killed, and I got to watch my 109 sprial for a minute before it hit the water.

[GrauGeist]

In my video I made recently, there's footage of me taking on B-17s with my Fw190 with great results.

It shows my method of attack, which is to stay fluid, use short bursts and always keep moving. Never stay in one spot or you're dead. If your volley doesn't produce results, don't stay there and go for a second try, just move along to the next opportunity.

By the way, this also shows why I like to have my cannon converge at 650m and my MG converge at 750m...the spread allows me to saturate my target at optimal range with shorter bursts.

In the end of the video, it shows what happened to the pilot when he let his guard down and went in on the bomber's 6, however, it also clearly shows that at a range of about 750m - 800m, my fire was at it's point of convergance with lethal results.

http://www.ww2aircraft.net/forum/il-...tml#post491738 (IL-2 videos)