Dogfight

[jayrc]

thanks everyone, gives me something to think about and experiment with. ~S~

[Venatore]

Agree with IceFire, my guns convergence are set to 275 meters as well however; I'm a JaBo pilot and fly exclusively for the Luftwaffe. I find 275 meters for ground attack staffing is perfect for me. I target a lot of AAA fortified positions / AAA vehicles etc, so it has to achieve maximum effect with the least amount of rounds striking the target. For me (after a lot of testing) 275 meters suits my closure rate / engagement to target.

For your consideration

Ven

[IceFire]

Originally Posted by Venatore

Agree with IceFire, my guns convergence are set to 275 meters as well however; I'm a JaBo pilot and fly exclusively for the Luftwaffe. I find 275 meters for ground attack staffing is perfect for me. I target a lot of AAA fortified positions / AAA vehicles etc, so it has to achieve maximum effect with the least amount of rounds striking the target. For me (after a lot of testing) 275 meters suits my closure rate / engagement to target.

For your consideration

Ven

Actually this is another good point... I also do a lot of jabo (fighter-bomber) work and for strafing runs the 275 is a good mix. In fact I wouldn't mind setting it out further in some cases, however, this is pretty good for hitting tanks and vehicles with anti-tank guns and the like. It's the distance where I have a reasonable chance of being on target with the first or second shot.

[BadAim]

Sometimes the individual aircraft might also make a difference. For instance, if I'm flying a plane like the early Zero, or an Emil, I'll set my nose guns out to .300 and the wing cannons to .200. This allows me to 'nibble' on longer range targets with my machine guns but still have my cannons zeroed at a more effective range for them (and the nose guns will still be close anyway). If I'm running a Friedrich or later with all the guns in the nose I'll just run them all at .300 or for instance a Spitfire which has cannons that can "reach out and touch someone" I'll also set the convergence out more.

I guess what I'm saying is that part of the fun of this gig is learning more about the different plane types and where their weapons work best.

Beyond that the best advice I can give you is to stick with just a few types at first that really suit your temperament and really get good with them, then slowly add new types and adjust your style to suit.

For instance if you enjoy a good "knife fight in a phone-booth" you're going to want to fly planes like the Zero or the Hurricane. If you like to cruise around in the stratosphere and pick out your target and pounce like an eagle an FW190 or a P51 is for you.

Different fighting styles will also dictate how you set your control curves; if you like to 'Boom 'n Zoom' your going to want a "softer curve", where as you will want that stick as tight as you can get it for 'knife fights'.

[Erkki]

I prefer using linear curves for all axis, ie. all-100 in the in-game settings, no filtering, no dead band. This has the advantage of always having the same reponse per stick move, regardless of trim settings.

It might feel tricky first, though, as its more sensitive than default settings in the middle area.

[jayrc]

turned the sensitivity up on my rudder pedals, changed convergence to 150, and set up 3 buttons (one wide, normal, gunsight) it's working out great, blew the wings right off a couple planes tonight, got mine blown off too but I feel like I've leveled the playing field a little, freetrack is still hard, wouldn't think of flying without it but it's really difficult to turn you head sideways and look at the screen, or when you try to look behind and up, thanks for all your help

[jayrc]

my boom and zoom sucks still, everyone plays soooo low, tried p51 but blackout pulling g's, need to work on my throttle control. wish there were more video tutorials, saw one on gunnery teaching lead which really helped, was funny also, would be cool to see some on prop, throttle, dive angle, landing, everything. anybody know where some vids like that are?

[Azimech]

My MSFFB2 is almost 10 years old and is a bit worn, so I use a completely different scale. 1, 4, 9, 16 etc. Otherwise the smallest movement jerks my plane way past my intended aiming point. It's tricky as well but I have more success that way. I zoom in & out on the fly, using buttons 3 & 4 on my stick, using joytokey repeating 25 times per second, pushing the keyboard buttons I configured to increase or decrease the zoom in small steps. Very smooth. I have convergence at 200 meters because I don't like the collateral damage when a plane blows up in my face.

[TeeJay82]

If you want real boom and zoom... (not that american .50 crap), take a FW190

[TinyTim]

Originally Posted by jayrc

my boom and zoom sucks still, everyone plays soooo low, tried p51 but blackout pulling g's, need to work on my throttle control. wish there were more video tutorials, saw one on gunnery teaching lead which really helped, was funny also, would be cool to see some on prop, throttle, dive angle, landing, everything. anybody know where some vids like that are?

Keep in mind that Boom and Zoom is much easier on full real servers, where it's much easier to jump an unsuspecting enemy (no F6). People also generally tend to fly higher on full real servers - where P-51 is better.

Also, never take more than 50% of fuel in Mustang. Its maneouverability changes dramatically as fuel drops below, say, 40 or 30%, which still gives you about the same flying time as a Bf 109 with full tank!