The Blenhiem bomber's armament

[Tavingon]

http://users.cyberone.com.au/clardo/..._armament.html

A truly riveting must read.. includes full bomb site workings!

And also the turrets..

[Skoshi Tiger]

Thank you!

[Megahurt]

I cant get the bombsight on the B to work at all. Anybody explain this?

[ATAG_Dutch]

Originally Posted by Megahurt

I cant get the bombsight on the B to work at all. Anybody explain this?

Hello mate.

See Jimbop's guide here;

http://forum.1cpublishing.eu/showthr...t=28667&page=4

There are still some peculiar things going on with bombing though, such as IAS needing to be entered not TAS, and altitude adjustments being necessary.

Altogether, we've found that for all the effort needed for relatively poor results, it's far easier to go out at low level and shallow dive bomb.

As it happens, this is what the Blenheims did for real!

P.S. Nice link Tav, cheers!

[Megahurt]

It really sucks you cant take advantage of the french half of the map to design some good bombing missions. Even a flyable mosquito or wellington or lancaster would be good. How could they make the game without a working allied bomber. Pisses me off.

[Tavingon]

Originally Posted by Megahurt

It really sucks you cant take advantage of the french half of the map to design some good bombing missions. Even a flyable mosquito or wellington or lancaster would be good. How could they make the game without a working allied bomber. Pisses me off.

If wellington were flyable it would be fantastic fun.. the blenhiem is too weak, the gunner needs dual VGOs at least!

[Squiz]

The Blenheim is a fantastic aircraft to fly once its idiosyncrasies have been mastered. This takes time and patience. Hopefully, the next patch will bring the performance of the aircraft and its systems closer to the actual flight manual.

In the meantime, the aircraft is perfectly flyable and can be used in the low and high level bombing roles. You will need to take careful note of posts by blackdog kt, ATAG knuckles, jimbop and ATAG Dutch.

In addition to the excellent information already provided to fly this aircraft successfully in this simulator, I would like to make some additional points.

High Level Bombing

The groundspeed (TAS, assuming wind does not yet have an effect on the aircraft) must be set manually on the ground speed scale (red scale) on the bomb sight with the increase/decrease velocity control. DO NOT USE the HUD readings as they are completely inaccurate and work in the opposite sense to the real scale. ie increasing the HUD reading decreases the groundspeed.

If you want to see the natural bomb dispersion from a single press of the bomb button, select "Next Bomb Distributor Mode" (right hand switches in bombardier's position) which indicates "Bombs - Selected Mode - Salvo" in the HUD. Selecting the left hand switches reverts to single bomb release mode.

Adjusting the pilot's altimeter to QNH (the height above sea level) by setting the elevation of the departure airfield. This will also correct the bombardier's altimeter. (I landed a Tiger moth on the beach, set the altimeter to 0 and then flew to each airfield on the east coast to determine their elevations).

Allow for the target height above sea level when setting the sight altitude on the bomb sight.

Take a long straight run at the target selecting easy navigation points to assist in tracking. During this run set the pilot's DG to 0 (this repeats in the bombardier's position), trim the aircraft as accurately as you can with the skid (side slip) needle centred. If everything is stable it should only require slight touches on the rudder to centre the target between the parallel lines of the bomb sight when you are in the bombardier's position. Better still, find a dedicated bombardier, however, I am not sure yet how he releases the bombs. The little yellow button works for me, but what about him?

Other Observations

The mixture control does not work. There is no change in exhaust colour or cylinder head temperatures at any height when the mixture is moved from one position to the other.

Although in CoD there are variable positions for the pitch control, in reality there is only fine and coarse positions, so for simplicity, only use those two positions. Although the coarse position produces abnormally low RPM compared to real life, it does produce the required thrust and it is very useful as low temperature engine and oil limitations appear not to apply.

I have flown the Blenheim up to 15,000 ft (about the maximum height in the sim) and by reducing the throttle to cruise at about 150 mph with gills full open, achieved 15 deg oil and 155 deg cylinder head temperatures without detriment to the engine. Any attempt to come out of coarse pitch at these temperatures causes engine to detonation followed by rapid engine failure. So before changing to fine pitch it is necessary to increase the CHT to 200 deg (oil temp will follow to 40 deg) by closing the gills and increasing power. Watch CHT like a hawk when gills are closed and adjust as necessary to remain below 240 deg. I have noted that engines that have been operating between 240 and 250 deg have randomly suffered damage later in the flight when things are well within limits.

I have never achieved a boost of 9 psi even with full fuel and Boost Cut-Out selected on. The limit seems to be 5 psi.

Synchronising the compass and the DG becomes a Sisyphean task because of abnormally high drift gyro rates. In the current VFR conditions I find it easier to look at the compass when straight and level, check the north needle and determine my heading (albeit to the nearest 10 -15 degrees) by using the fore and aft tram lines on the compass rose. Then the DG can be used for an easy reference relative bearing by setting 0 when steady on a track.

The ground temperature is 15 deg C. Before engine start, oil and CH temperatures should reflect this, any discrepancy being instrument error. I think this is carried forward to the higher temperatures where you will see differences in temperatures even though engines have the same RPM.

Yep, the single rear gun is ineffective against German fighters, but that's how it was during BoB. However, a live gunner is invaluable for advising the pilot where bandits are in his six o'clock and when to begin evasion manoeuvres. It allows some additional combat time before your Blenheim is finally shot down. Fighter top cover is the only effective way to assist bombers as it was in BoB. Plus selecting a safe route to the target and patience in flying a circuitous route as well as setting up a long bombing run from a safe direction.

Sorry about the ramble, but I think nearly everything on the Blenheim has been covered now. What a fantastic aeroplane to master and fly. As I said before, all it requires is time and patience.

Squiz

[ATAG_knuckles]

Squiz: Very well done mate ! everything posted is bang on!!

Should be printed out for those that are interested in this aircraft. I have had many hours of fun flying it

Even more fun flying with others that understand the quirks of this plane.

Bomb Aimers Position: you questioned how to drop bombs ? I have made a profile for my Saitek X-52 for this position that includes all bombsight adjustment: open Bomb doors and drop bombs. All the pilot needs to do is fly straight/constant speed

Turret: also a profile for this which can be great fun riding in the back and taking shots at the Jerry's

For anyone thats interested in this aircraft: if you see me on comms: give me a yell and we can go to a "help" channel and personally work out the buggs

Knuckles

[JG53Frankyboy]

a very interesting link !
these SBCs would be a 'nice to have' in game but i guess it will never appear from official side.

the RAF haveto liefe with the Blenheim as sole attacker, 1C will not modell any more BoB scenario stuff.anyway, every bomber in game is easy meat if he meets a fighter, so................

[ATAG_Dutch]

Originally Posted by Squiz

Better still, find a dedicated bombardier, however, I am not sure yet how he releases the bombs. The little yellow button works for me, but what about him?

Excellent post Squiz.

Knuckles and I tried a multicrew setup the other night with me in the bomb-aimer's chair and Ribbs in the Gunner's.

We bombed from 10,000ft as I recall, or thereabouts. Unfortunately with no result (don't tell Knuckles, but I think I forgot to arm the bombs before dropping ). Also, I'd forgotten to make any allowance at all for the target's height above sea level - something to add to the list!

Altogether, our general conclusion was as my post above, i.e. go out in three Blenheims at low level for quicker and more accurate results, but I'd still like to have a few multi-crew sorties high level bombing, simply because it adds another dimension to the fun we can have with the game.

So if you see me on the server, give me a shout if you'd like to try it out in any of the crew positions. Cheers!

Edit: There are a few controls anomalies for multicrew come to light thanks to Frankyboy's post below - watch this space!