17 January 2012
Convergence Training
Hi guys,
A short debrief regarding the Training portion of the activities on 17 January
2012. We went through a very short, brief demonstration of why it's good to
shoot at your set convergence. A few disclaimers first. This had to do with wing
mounted machine guns all set to a point convergence, that is all set at the same
range. Of course with center mounted, or very near to it, machine guns
convergence does not have as large a significance as it does with wing mounted
machine guns but you still must think about bullet drop, a topic we didn't even
touch tonight. Bullet drop occurs with both types of convergence settings. There
are pros and cons to both point convergence or a spread convergence, where each
machine gun is set to a different range. You can see some of the effects of a
spread convergence by reading this article on our website,
http://www.fw190.org/training2.htm
. If you have to discipline to fire at your set convergence a point convergence
is generally the most lethal setup to use. If you have trouble firing at a set
range a spread convergence might be something to try. With point convergence you
can be very lethal with short bursts of your guns. With a spread convergence you
will need to fire a longer burst as your bullet stream is spread out and less
lethal. If you do ever make a change in your convergence you should use that
setting for a week or two and give yourself time to get used to it. The last
thing you want to do it change it often and not settle in to that range and you
end up chasing your ever changing convergence, that only leads to frustration
and is a waste of time.
In the diagram you will notice how concentrated the bullet stream is when firing
at your convergence. Also notice the changes in that concentration when you fire
closer and farther than your convergence, in this case the change in distance
was half the convergence range. Also notice that even having your hand on the
joystick can effect the dispersion of the bullet stream.
A few other things to consider when setting a convergence with machine guns is
the fact that their lethality is based on the hitting power or kinetic energy of
the round when it impacts the target. The closer the target is the less kinetic
energy your bullet will loose before it hits and the more lethal it will be.
Sure you can hit a target at 1000 yards with a .50cal but unless you hit the
pilot in the forehead or a critical part of the plane you will not inflict much
damage. This is why when using a plane equipped with .303 cal machine guns you
should get in close and fire close. The .30 cal is a much smaller bullet with
less velocity so you need to be quite closer than you would when firing a .50cal
round. Personally I like to set my .50cal machine guns at 275 or 300 yards and I
have a valid reason for this. In game the enemy icon changes from D400 to D200
right at 300 yards. If I have the patience to hold fire when closing on a target
and only shoot when that icon goes from 400 to 200 I 'know' I'm in my most
lethal range. When I fly the Hurricane Mk. I with it's .303 cal guns, I have
that set much closer than 300, with my convergence being 200 or so.
I would also like your opinions on the training method tonight. I'm pretty sure
with my old rig the squad message did display even when there was a arena
message as in the TA but mine did not tonight. That was one disappointing aspect
of tonight. If we can use this method I could set up a training message after a
squad night and before a training night and we could go in there individually
and do our training and then just hop into the LW arena for live practice. This
would be ideal for topic such as dive bombing or even level bombing from a
heavy.
<OT> fuzeman
Download .AHF films of the training and our mission here:
WAR WON BY THE KNIGHTS. ahf
* Disclaimer:
The point of view in the films is from Luft....in
case you'd rather go mow the grass.
