Improve your aiming/marksman skills

this is the loadout i use seems to do real well

conv _Gun03 Gun.Browning303MkII 145.3281 145.3281
conv _Gun06 Gun.Browning303MkII 150.3281 146.3281
conv _Gun00 Gun.Browning303MkII 160.3281 144.3281
conv _Gun01 Gun.Browning303MkII 150.3281 146.3281
conv _Gun07 Gun.Browning303MkII 160.3281 144.3281
conv _Gun02 Gun.Browning303MkII 145.3281 145.3281
conv _Gun05 Gun.Browning303MkII 145.3281 145.3281
conv _Gun04 Gun.Browning303MkII 145.3281 145.3281
belt _Gun03 Gun.Browning303MkII MainBelt 11 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 11 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 8
belt _Gun06 Gun.Browning303MkII MainBelt 11 9 9
belt _Gun00 Gun.Browning303MkII MainBelt 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 11 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 11
belt _Gun01 Gun.Browning303MkII MainBelt 11 9 9
belt _Gun07 Gun.Browning303MkII MainBelt 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 11 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 11
belt _Gun02 Gun.Browning303MkII MainBelt 9 9 11
belt _Gun05 Gun.Browning303MkII MainBelt 9 9 11
belt _Gun04 Gun.Browning303MkII MainBelt 11 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 11 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 8
beltPreset Custom _Gun03 Gun.Browning303MkII MainBelt 11 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 11 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 8
beltPreset Custom _Gun06 Gun.Browning303MkII MainBelt 11 9 9
beltPreset Custom _Gun00 Gun.Browning303MkII MainBelt 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 11 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 11
beltPreset Custom _Gun01 Gun.Browning303MkII MainBelt 11 9 9
beltPreset Custom _Gun07 Gun.Browning303MkII MainBelt 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 11 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 11
beltPreset Custom _Gun02 Gun.Browning303MkII MainBelt 9 9 11
beltPreset Custom _Gun05 Gun.Browning303MkII MainBelt 9 9 11
beltPreset Custom _Gun04 Gun.Browning303MkII MainBelt 11 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 11 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 8

[hegykc]

Bullet scatter is easily modeled with bullet "damage bubbles". If I could just know what size they are in game. At 200 yards they should be 30 inches.

Here's how the Bf-109 looks in sight at 200 yards
- differences between a single point convergence (yellow) and a more spread out (still concentrated) pattern (red):


And same for He-111


You can see, if bullet "damage bubbles" are smaller than 30 inches, getting a good shot would be like finding a needle in a haystack, literally.
At more than 200 yards you might as well throw the bullets out the window.

[lonewulf]

So... just so I'm getting this; you're flying along at about 450kph and the enemy is doing about 300-400 kph and your aircraft is moving around and his aircraft is moving around and maybe he's in a slow turn or climbing or descending and your MGs are many things but certainly not target rifles but these facts notwithstanding, you want to harmonise your guns to try and hit the pilot? Are you aiming for any particular part of the pilot?

Those two diagrams appear to show about 20 degees of angle off, so that's a miss if you pull the trigger.

[hegykc]

Originally Posted by lonewulf

So... just so I'm getting this; you're flying along at about 450kph and the enemy is doing about 300-400 kph and your aircraft is moving around and his aircraft is moving around and maybe he's in a slow turn or climbing or descending and your MGs are many things but certainly not target rifles but these facts notwithstanding, you want to harmonise your guns to try and hit the pilot? Are you aiming for any particular part of the pilot?

Those two diagrams appear to show about 20 degees of angle off, so that's a miss if you pull the trigger.

You misunderstood completely I'm trying to do the exact opposite.
When the convergence is set to single point, that's when you're trying to kill the pilot with a sniper rifle which a plane is certainly not.

However if you set your spread to cover the whole profile of the canopy and then some, then you just have to be near enough. And it's not about a pilot kill, any vital part will do.

And the two diagrams above are an illustration to show how tiny the spread is with single point convergence. There's no target lead there.

[lonewulf]

If you want a wider grouping of your projectiles, just set your convergence for 250m, and start shooting at 200. That will significantly increase the size of the beaten zone on the target aircraft.
So-called 'point' convergence, like any other form of harmonization, is intended to concentrate your projectiles on your point of aim. This is to some extent theoretical because speed, recoil and gravity all conspire to widen the grouping of your shots. Concentrating the impact point of projectiles in air combat greatly increases the potential for a catastrophic failure of the target air frame. If the pilot is part of that catastrophic failure so much the better, however, as far as I know, pilot targeting has never have been considered a realistic proposition when formulating convergence. That would be like shooting ducks on the wing with the intention of head-shooting them. While, that would be ideal, it's just not realistic. That said, many ducks do end up shot through the head.

[hegykc]

Well, after a whole night testing session all I cans say is, single point convergence sucks all the way.

Quick mission against 2 He-111 bombers. Steady targets to practice my deflection shooting.
1. Wide spread convergence:
Flown probably 50 times and 45/50 I down the bomber with a pilot kill. Coming from the left side at a 45 degree deflection and a little above, I get him in 2-3 passes with half second bursts or even less. And every pass one or two gunners get killed.
2. Single point convergence:
Same thing but the difference is drastic. Out of 10 pases maybe 1 or 2 gunner kills and the pilot might as well not be there because I haven't been able to kill him.

Oh and by the way, I did all this with one hand on the keyboard and other on the mouse cause my joystick's broken.
So it's not like it's a close call. Single point sucks. You're wondering how those russian guys get all those pilot kills. Widen your spread, let every gun have it's own trajectory and see how you start shooting pilots like little baby ducks.

Range was 150 meters or even closer. Deflection mandatory, shooting from behind is a complete waste.
For the He-111 either a 30-45 deflection from the left side, or 45 from above and inverted, pilot kill guaranteed within a couple of good passes.

EDIT: Oh and when I missed the cockpit and landed hits on the wing, a minimum of two or three leakage streams appeared

[hegykc]

There you go, 3 bombers down by pilot kills, and that's just the last attempt. I've done probably more than 30 pilot kills on the first day experimenting with wider convergence. Only once have I sent the bomber down by damaging the aircraft itself, after 2 well placed half second bursts.

And that's with a keyboard and mouse, pfff.

Best part is at the end, where I get frustrated because I've missed the pilot twice and then I turn into him.. bye bye ducky.

[youtube]