Spitfire Resources

[badfinger]

dnr,

I did same thing as you, put it on my desktop.

Thanks for trying,

binky9

[dnr]

Good summary on the topic of gun convergence. the key here is to understand the inherent dispersal pattern of any one MG, then multiply that by the number of guns and you can see where getting the proper range setting for both horizontal and virtical convergence is critical. Nice bit on percentages.
http://www.slowcat.de/slowcats1/AHTC/Convergence.pdf
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CyberpowerPC Gamer Ultra 2063 120mm LQ, AM3 Phenom II X6 1090T(3.2GHz), ASUS M4A87TD EVO MB, G.Skill Ripjaws PC3 12800 DDR3 1600 16 GB RAM, 2TB HDD, Dual 1 GB AMD Radeon HD 6870 (Crossfire) GPUs, Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit, Saitek X52 Pro stick/thrust/ rudder, Cyborg, 70” Sharp Quatton

[dnr]

For those who are interested in prefecting their air to air gunnery skills using the Spitfire with the reflector gunsight, the link below will take you to a very good explaination of the gunsight, how it works and how to use it. This may be a repeat for some as I'm sure it can be found elsewhere in this forum, but for those particularily interested in Spitfire resources, I'll add it again. The Tides of War/Cliffs of Dover post below includes a summary of the typical wingspans of all your favorite playmates. The website is ToW Forums> by Air> IL2:Cliffs of Dover> No. 616 Squadron> 616 - Dispersal Hut at the following link:
http://forum.tidesofwar.net/index.ph...ht-adjustment/
I did some simple math, being Christmas leave what else would I be doing?
Set your gun convergence according to your preference (remember to convert the convergence setting which is in meters, to yards to match the gun sight). If you set your gun convergence to 100 yards (x .9144 = 91.44 meters), then considering that the British .303 Mk VII at 174 grains with a muzzle velocity of 2,440 FPS takes .12 seconds to travel that distance, your application of lead in a turning fight where airspeeds drop to about 250 MPH, a Bf 109 with a length of 29' 4" and wingspan of 32' 6' will travel about 44' in .12 seconds. So your lead should be about 1.5 x lengths at that speed. Then consider angles of attack (to compensate for ballistic drop), rates of closure or separation and you should be on target with some practice.

[winny]

I'm feeling christmassy so here.. For those who don't already have this.

Spitfire MkII A/B Manual (scan of original)

Never tried to print it but with some scissors and staples...

[bolox]

spit production summary
http://www.spitfires.ukf.net/production.htm

(hurri also
http://www.k5083.mistral.co.uk/APS.HTM )

[dnr]

Great article on a variety of munitions used during the BoB including some data on penetration effectiveness at 200 yards against structure and light armour. Also mentions standard RAF convergence settings for the Spit and Hurricane at the beginning of the battle and later as operational experience was gained (e.g. convergence distances were reduced from 360 to 225 meters (393 yards to 246 yards).
http://www.quarry.nildram.co.uk/BoB.htm

The second article is a good comparative study of munitions effectiveness with some useful charts to help figure out your optimum ammo load.
http://www.quarry.nildram.co.uk/WW2guneffect.htm

[dnr]

Thanks Cheesehawk, I'll read through your link to see what new nuggets are there. Having read through the summary of BoB munitions effectiveness, I did some basic math in order to more fully understand the weapon dynamics between firing at and hopefully hitting another aircraft. When I first started Cliffs of Dover I wondered why the RAF fighers fired such long bursts. The I recently read a history of the Spitfire where the British Air Ministry wanted a stable gun platform that could deliver 2.5 seconds of sustained fire at a bomber. The eight gun .303 set up was considered sufficient to cause the failure of the target aircrafts systems. In reading the data in the previous links I now understand why this was. If you read the data below, it's clear that anything less than 2.5 seconds, the chance of penetrating 4mm armour plate was very slim. Also Cliffs of Dover tracks our hit percentage which is critical in estimating your chances of downing an aircraft with a well placed burst. I've gone with 5% (although I checked my stats and am now up to a whopping 6%). Of these, only 33% are expected to penetrate the aircraft skin and structure, and of these only 6% are expected to penetrate the armour plate. Based on your burst duration, and how you set your gun configuration, you might be surprised by how little effect you really have on that target of yours. I've based my calculations on six guns firing .303 AP. I have my #1 and #8 guns firing incendary, tracer and observer rounds

.303 AP Penetration @ 200 Yards
Column titles left to right:
(1-Burst duration in seconds) (2-Total AP rounds fired 6 x guns) (3-Gunner accuracy @ 5% hit ratio) (4-33% penetrate aircraft skin) (5-6% penetrate 4mm armour) (6-Length in feet of bullet stream) (7-Total rounds per liner foot)
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)
0.25 30 1.5 0.495 0.0297 607.5 0.049
0.5 60 3 0.99 0.0594 1215 0.049
0.75 90 4.5 1.485 0.0891 1822.5 0.049
1 120 6 1.98 0.1188 2430 0.049
1.25 150 7.5 2.475 0.1485 3037.5 0.049
1.5 180 9 2.97 0.1782 3645 0.049
1.75 210 10.5 3.465 0.2079 4252.5 0.049
2 240 12 3.96 0.2376 4860 0.049
2.25 270 13.5 4.455 0.2673 5467.5 0.049
2.5 300 15 4.95 0.297 6075 0.049

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CyberpowerPC Gamer Ultra 2063 120mm LQ, AM3 Phenom II X6 1090T(3.2GHz), ASUS M4A87TD EVO MB, G.Skill Ripjaws PC3 12800 DDR3 1600 16 GB RAM, 2TB HDD, Dual 1 GB AMD Radeon HD 6870 (Crossfire) GPUs, Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit, Saitek X52 Pro stick/thrust/ rudder, Cyborg, 70” Sharp Quatton