by fuzeman

4/12/2010

 

Bombing with manual calibration in Aces High

 

(Standard main arena calibration in Aces High)

 

Hello,

I noticed on our Training webpage that we have a bombing tutorial. It does go through the procedure for manual bombing, which is not used in the main arenas anymore. Therefore I thought I'd go over my technique for automatic calibration bombing. Keeping an eye on a few key aspects can result in accurate and good results, consistently. This description will NOT take into account enemy defenders trying to spoil your bomb run.

[1] You want to be at your bombing altitude roughly 1 sector away from target, that's 25miles out. You can bomb accurately if you reach bombing altitude closer but that usually involves manipulating your speed, generally having to slow down. This is also a good time to check and adjust your salvo and delay if needed.

[2] It is of course critical to line up correctly on your target and you may need to readjust your course slightly before bombing and drastically if making a second pass on a target. Your initial line up can be made using your plane icon on the radar map. A more accurate line up can be achieved using the chin gun or any gun position with a forward down view and looking ahead and down at the target without traversing the gun mount when you enter the chin turret. When in a gun position you are able to maintain autopilot, which is critical to keeping and maintaining a steady altitude and good calibration. In my opinion this is very important for accurate bombing. Your final and minor course adjustments can be make from the bombsight with your joystick when ‘in the scope’ and getting ready to drop bombs.

[3] Before calibrating you should be at a constant, steady speed. You can see your speed digitally if you bring up your clipboard with ESCape and click on the E6B setting for power settings. That is much easier to read and see opposed to looking at your gauges. You can keep your E6B open and bring it up and down with the clipboard as needed. The E6B will also give you time in flight remaining as you usually do not want to run out of fuel on a bombing flight. It may also be advantageous to lower throttle just a little to attain a constant speed as it can take some time to acheive maximum level cruise speed.

[4] Bomb bay doors will effect your speed when they are opened. B17 bay doors, for example, can effect your speed by close to 10mph, much more than is needed to throw off your calibration. There are two ways or times to open your doors. Personally I open my doors early and let speed stabilize. You can however open the doors right before you salvo the bombs and close them after if you want to. You have to keep in mind you need to open the bay doors. There is nothing worse than calibrating and making a perfect bomb run only to find you bombs didn't release because you forgot to open the bay doors.

[5] Lets now assume you’re lined up on the target and ready to release bombs. From the bombsight you can recheck salvo and delay. Its also a good idea to recheck to see that calibrated speed in the bombsight is equal to ground speed on the E6B. One mph is close enough usually, but a difference of two or three can throw off your accuracy.

[6] You should also be aware of how many planes you still have in the formation if you have been attacked or had trouble getting the drones to form up after takeoff. Keep in mind you are flying a triangle formation of planes, if you still have all your drones and that when you drop bombs they generally hit in a similar triangle pattern. If you release bombs as soon as the crosshairs overlay the target your two rear drones will drop slightly ahead of target. You want to keep that triangle pattern in mind when releasing and delay your drop ever so slightly to put the target inside the triangle pattern of bombs you release. If you have lost a drone or two this does not apply and you should adjust your drop to match the number of drones remaining.

[7] You drop some or all of your bombs on target.

[8] If you want to bomb a secondary target or make another pass on the target you just bombed you can. Depending on your target you may need to recalibrate for accuracy, remember you just dropped bombs and your plane may now be several hundred pounds lighter resulting in acceleration and a faster speed. If your target is some distance away it may be better to recalibrate after stabilizing your speed. If you are making a second pass on target I find it easier to try to keep this calibration and reduce throttle some to maintain your calibrated speed. I also think its much easier and simpler to make any course changes back to target from a gun position as covered above. This allows you to maintain your altitude and only requires you to slow down to maintain your calibrated speed. You can extend from target and initial drop point and make a turn to overfly target again all within the targets radar circle if needed. This reduces time over target and minimizes the chance an enemy fighter will be able to climb to your altitude and engage you.

I hope this helps you bomb accurately.
fuzeman