To get the best effect with the b17's guns, try setting up a custom layout and set the left stick to elevator/ailerons, the right stick to freelook, and change the guns to R2. Set l1 and r1 to throttle up/throttle down and leave the rudder off, you won't really need it.
This allows you to shoot and aim at the same time, which you can't do with most of the layouts. So you can strafe any approaching plane with ease.
The only real blind spots for the b17 gunner are the exact 3 and 9 o'clock, and directly above. If you're attacking someone who knows how to shoot below them, flying under them is suicide. After attacking them in training lots of times, I got the best results by flying above and beside them at a distance till I get in front, then dive towards them at an angle, from about 2 o'clock from the top or the side. Just like a head-on pass with fighters, it's harder for the gunner to hit a target when there's more closing speed. After the pass, fly away at 90 to 60 degrees angle to the direction the b17 is headed, then repeat.
B17's weren't hard to shoot down in real life. Check out this video:
The first one has inspired me to keep trying to knock down 4 to 6 with one 109 in training, but so far I've managed it once with a k4, and it took a while.
The gun-cams in the second one, in BOP they would have been blown to bits in seconds. The 110 was just parked right behind a b17 leisurely strafing all 4 of its engines. Try doing that to a b17 in BOP.
01-24-2010, 03:54 AM
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