Bomber tutorial out there somewhewre?

[jamesdietz]

Now that I have a Ju-88 campaign ,I'd like to figure out level bombing,something I've avoided even in Il-2.I can't even find the bombsight or the right button command to look through it.Clearly I need help...there must be a tutorial somewhere that will allow me to fool around a bit with this?
Also is there a way to equip a Ju-88's exterior racks before a mission in "Customize" so I can use it as a dive bommber?
Thanx!

[Sokol1]

Fortunately are a great manual for JU-88.

http://www.raafsquad.com/cliffs/ju88/draftpaper.htm
http://www.raafsquad.com/cliffs/ju88/JU-88A-1Guide%20draft.pdf

For some playes are a bug in JU-88 gunsight view - if you hit Shift+F1 with POV diferente of front vision, the game freeze:

http://forum.1cpublishing.eu/showthread.php?t=36759

A quick "how to" procedures, write by Blackdog_Kt (C&C from ATAG's).



i still haven't tested the bombsights. Up till the last patch, there were some errors in the routine that did the bombsight calculations. I don't know yet if these have been fixed.

To give you a few short pointers, this is how i would do it if everything works correctly:

1) Calibrate directional gyro (DG) before take-off
2) After take-off, adjust power and trim for climb
3) Figure out your heading to the next waypoint (don't forget the magnetic deviation correction: if you need to fly a heading of 210 degrees your compass should read 220 degrees, always add 10)
4) Use the repeater compass (NOT the DG) to mark your waypoint heading. It's the round compass card on the instrument panel with the little plane icon in the middle. It's like a second magnetic compass. I use this one for navigating, because unlike the DG it doesn't drift over time.
5) Adjust your DG again, align the autopilot heading and engage it in the first mode (course steering). The aircraft will rock back and forth a bit and then stabilize. This AP mode controls heading only and makes aileron turns. You can still dive or climb by adjusting your trim and power.

From this point onward, i do all my navigation with the repeater compass. The DG will drift and will need correcting, which will then result in the autopilot correcting your heading based on the difference between DG and commanded heading, etc etc...I find it much simple to just ignore the DG once the autopilot is turned on and just use the whole thing as a turn left/turn right autopilot. I use the repeater compass to navigate and the AP/DG to make the turns.

6) Climb 500-1000 meters above your desired bombing altitude.
7) Getting closer to the target, engage the second autopilot mode (R22).

This mode is like the level stabilizer in the old IL2. It drops the nose and holds wings level. You need to be going at least 300km/h IAS in the He111 and about 350km/h IAS in the Ju88 with this mode, otherwise you lose altitude. That's why you climb above your selected altitude before engaging it, so that the aircraft can have some room to dive and "get on the step" (a nose-down attitude that gives more speed without losing altitude, usually reached after a dive...B17s used this technique too).

In R22 mode, all turns are made with the rudder only. Meaning that it bleeds a lot of airspeed and altitude if you make turns all the time. It's meant for course corrections during the bomb run and aligning the target. If you see you are losing too much altitude, you can switch between the two autopilot modes. Going back to the course steering mode will let you climb a bit, then you can align the target with the R22 mode. Once the target is aligned you can even go back to course steering mode for the rest of the bomb run (as long as you don't need to make any other course corrections, CS mode is working with ailerons and it will throw off your aim in that case).

So you can either attain a high speed and bomb using the R22 mode, or you can switch back to CS mode and bomb at different speeds because in that mode you can trim the elevators. Maybe you'll have a bit of inaccuracy because trimming nose up/down means the fuselage is not completely level, but it won't be too much at lower altitudes.

8) From this point on you fly the aircraft through the bombsight and making left/right turns to align the target.
9) Input your altitude above ground into the bombsight (that is your altitude indicator's value minus the target's altitude above sea level)
10) Input your TAS into the bombsight. The bombsight actually doesn't need TAS, it needs GS (ground speed). But TAS is a good first approximation. If/when we ever have missions with wind and dynamic weather, this will be harder to deal with.
11) Move the crosshairs on the target and engage automation.

If the crosshairs moves below the target, the sight is tracking too fast: reduce your GS setting a bit (the bombsight speed)
If it moves above the target, it is tracking slower than the aircraft is moving: increase your GS setting a bit

12) When the sight can steadily track a point on the ground, you have it calibrated correctly. Just place it on the target again, engage automation, open bomb bays, arm bombs and wait

I think it's also possible now to move the crosshairs while the automation is on, so we don't have to engage it, make corrections, disengage, recenter the reticule on the target, etc.

Finally, if the target is moving left/right, it's probably because of cross-wind drift. There are controls on the bombsight to account for that too. I'm not sure, but i think you just need to move the crosshairs left or right to stay on the target and the bombsight will take care of the re


Sokol1