DRAFT Flight School Gunnery Training

Gunnery model

Here are some other terms that you will need to know about.

pipper

The pipper is part of the lead computing gunsight. It is the floating diamond shaped gunsight on your sight glass. The pipper has a settable range and takes into account G loading. With a proper range to the target dialed in and a pipper settled on a target, you can pretty much be guaranteed a hit. Setting the range is controlled by the [ and ] keys. The pipper can be turned on/off and colors changed via the aircraft options panel. I recommend you fly with it on at least until you are used to predicting proper lead for a target.

hit bubble

A hit bubble is a volume around an airplane which defines the hit area. Any bullet passing through the volume is considered a hit. The size of the hit bubble is defined in terms of wingspan radius. A 1x hit bubble is a volume which stretches from wing tip to wing tip. A 3x hit bubble has a radius 3 times the wingspan. A 0x or no hit bubble says bullets must actually hit the aircraft to count as hits.

The reason for needing this has to do with communication speeds and delays. You will not need to worry about this when flying offline, but if you fly head to head or in the arenas, it will become apparent. Your lethality realism option setting will affect the hit bubble size offline. For online flights, the arena settings control the hit bubble size. These settings are not visible to the average pilot (it requires special priviledges to see them).

blanks

Blanks is a problem that crops up from time to time. It seems to only appear in arena play. It appears as if your gun is loaded with blanks instead of real bullets. You will see a bullet stream, but nothing will ever hit the target. If you believe you are experiencing blanks, you should probably turn on local hits to see if your front end at least thinks you are hitting. If you are getting local hits, but not seeing chunks fly off, then you may be experiencing blanks.

bullet velocity

Different guns fire their projectiles at different speeds. I doubt that AW models velocities of guns that fire differently (e.g. cannons and MGs on the same plane) as there is only bullet stream which is visible. However, it likely models the fastest or most prevalent velocity gun. Another possibility is that everyone has the same projectile velocity. [ which is it? ] The effect of this is that you will see less bullet drop with higher velocity guns. Less bullet drop means you will have to lead your target less.

firing range

Apparently, firing range is a settable item that applies to everyone. I find this somewhat disturbing given that some guns have a higher velocity than others, but that's the way it is. It currently is set to 650 yds, but has been as high as 800 yds in the past and has been lower during some special arena play. The default for offline play may be around 800. However, it is not recommended that you try to get hits at this distance. Save your ammo for higher percentage cases at closer range.

firing rate

Firing rate is usually expressed in rounds per minute. It describes your ability to fill a given space with shells. The faster the rate, the closer the shells are to each other and the easier you should expect to get a hit. In general, machine guns fire at a faster rate than cannons. Firing rate and ammo load will determine how much firing time you have. You should examine the firing time chart to determine how much time you have to fire weapons and at what point your damage drops.

weapon load

Each plane can carry a certain amount of ammo. This ammo is used at the rate defined by the firing rate, giving you a maximum amount of firing time. However, there may be different amounts of ammo loaded for each gun. This means that as ammo is used up, the total amount of damage you can cause may be smaller.

weapon energy

Each weapon has its own amount of energy it can put on a target. This is a function of the weight of the projectile, its speed, and explosive capability (e.g. cannon shells). In general, cannons are more powerful than machine guns.

bullet dispersion

In real life, small differences in bullet shells cause the bullet stream to spread out to cover an area. The further away the shell is from the gun, the larger the dispersion. Pilots would tune the dispersion using gun convergence to either concentrate firepower on a specific small area, or spread the dispersion area out to increase the chance of getting a hit. However, this is not modelled, in AW. You can sort of get the effect of it with hit bubbles, but the bubble size doesn't appear to change with range as dispersion does.

armor

Armor is your protection. Different planes had varying abilities to take damage and survive. AW models the survivability of planes in their armor rating. The durability chart describes the hardness ratings of each of the aircraft so you can compare them.

range and position bonus

AW tries to reward realistic behaviour and discourage certain non-realistic behaviours through the use of range and position bonuses. These bonuses increase or decrease the likelihood of getting a hit when a bullet passes through the hit bubble and they can adjust the amount of damage done as well.

For example, to discourage the use of head-on (jousting) shots, which would be suicidal in real life, many hits are thrown out. Some high deflection shots are thrown out to simulate the difficulty in getting hits. For close range (~200 yds) shots, a damage multiplier can be added in.

head ons

As described above, head-on shots are discouraged as the chance of collision in real life would make them suicidal.

gunners

Gunners are people who fly in buffs with you and man the machine gun stations. There are usually seperate settings for the gunners since it is difficult to model groups of buffs flying together for mutual protection with a single buff and possibly only one gunner.

local hits

Local hits is an effects option which shows a sparkle effect when your front end believes it is getting hits. This information is passed on to another party for verification and if confirmed chunks will fly off your target.

It is believed by many that local hits can be confusing. It does appear to be possible to just bairly hit the trailing side of a hit bubble, see sparkles, stop the motion of the target for a tracking shot and get no verification since the hit bubble has moved and you are no longer getting hits in it. I recommend you turn it off.

AW theory of relativity

Time and space can be distorted in AW. This occurs some in h2h play, particularly if you are using IHHD to play across the Internet. It also occurs in the online arenas. You will not see it in offline flights.

The basic problem is the delay between sending a position update and having it arrive somewhere else. The longer it takes to get the data, the more out of date it is. Given that the position update information you have is out of date, a plane behind you will actually be closer (putting you at a much higher than apparent risk) and a plane in front will actually be further away (giving you the advantage in range). This is compounded even further by the fact that your pursurer will have out of date information (i.e. he will have your position from a little ways back).

Now, given that there is a finite firing range, this delay will affect the apparent range at which you can be hit. In order to do proper guns defense, you will need to be able to estimate your position from your attackers point of view. Here are two writeups which try to explain this.

• Chinook's simple description of rear view lag
• Caligula's analysis of lag effects on buff gunners

Saddle Up

There are two types of gun shots that can be made. These are tracking and snapshot. Tracking shots occur when the sight remains steady on the target long enough for it to settle. Snapshots occur when when the target passes through the sight.

Tracking shots have advantages and disadvantages. They enhance the probability of getting a good hit on the target, but they also require you to fly a predictable flight path. Snapshots tend to reverse the above. For a snapshot, you must remember to open fire at least one TOF (time of flight) before the target passes through the sight.

For various reasons (including target size, closure, and lead), the optimal firing position for a tracking shot is about 30 - 60 degrees AOT (Angle Off Tail) near the targets vertical plane of symmetry. To track, you must stop the relative motion (both lateral and vertical) of the target to the sight.

Steps to Use for a Tracking Shot

1. Placing yourself in the target's vertical plane will simplify the targets relative motion. To do this, manuever into the rear hemisphere, inside the targets turn.
2. Place the nose well ahead of the target and match your aircraft's attitude with the targets.
3. Match your turn rate with the target's so the target maintains a constant position below the sight.
4. Use small bank corrections to counter the lateral motion of the target.
5. Repeat steps 2 - 4 until all relative motion has stopped. At this point you will be in the saddle.

At this point, relax the turn and allow the target to fly up into the sight. Use short bursts (~1 second), watching tracers and adjusting lead until hits are detected, then a sustained burst can be fired.

If you are in a hard turn, you may not be able to place your nose well ahead of the bandit and still maintain sight, or your pipper may be out of sight. In this case, you will need to fly the boresight from the target, out ahead of it to a point where you will begin to register hits. How far this is, is a matter of experience and practice. You must also be careful of how the enemy plane manuevers while you can't see him.

Practice

To use this film, you must place it in your AW film directory and begin playback. As soon as it starts, take control of the plane (use function key F8 on SVGA AW) and then create a camera plane (use function key F9 on SVGA AW). Pull up, watch the rear view and then fall down in behind of the camera plane. The camera plane will follow the track of the original P-38.

Your first time through should be nothing but following the P-38 in your plane at something less than 650 yards. You should try to keep your gunsight range set properly for the range you are at. You should also try to keep the P-38 camera plane in the pipper.

When you are comfortable with just following the movement, you should try to actually shoot down the P-38. After killing it, you may have display problems (a blinking camera plane). Release control of the plane (using function key F8 again), then grab the controls back and recreate the camera plane. You will need to pitch up, look behind and find the camera plane again.

Leading the Target¹

Many players find that this is at first some kind of magic skill that seemingly eludes them as easily as the *sharks* cruising round seem to be able to invoke it. But it is in reality quite simple.

AW models several aspects of REAL gunnery such as "time of flight" and "gravity effect" as well as "muzzle velocity" which will decrease over the time of flight your bullets/cannon rounds remain in the air.

What this means is that you must "lead" your target by an amount that takes into consideration :

• Your airspeed.
• Your opponents airspeed.
• Distance to target.
• G forces evident.
• Direction of flightpath relative to the earth.
• Degree of turn you are in.
• Degree of turn your opponent is in.
• Difference in vector between you and your opponent.

I bet you're saying "oh yeah...obviously quite simple!" but the simplicity is how you determine all of this and judge your target point....not the number of issues (above) that you address when targetting an opponent.

If you put the boresight (dot) ON your opponent, you will only score hits if your wings are aligned "in plane" and flying straight behind while the enemy (at least momentarily) flies the same vector (flight direction) as you. Obviously, this doesn't happen very often and usually only when a reversal is made by an enemy in front, and your two vectors momentarily "crossover". A lot of kills are actually made on enemies that do just this while in front of you...and is considered a "gift" by myself and others when you choose to pull a reversal "right in front" of us as new players often do. It's one of the MAIN reasons they die so often. Have a look at the Topic*.txt's for tips on avoiding this kind of death. Now...onto deflection gunnery, what you DO need to do to score all but the dweeb kills.

The "pipper"...that floating box in your gunsight is a valuable aid in being able to understand deflection and how much to "pull" on your opponent. After you understand it though...most better pilots choose not to use it as it is only a guide and only works at a set range, which you can set with the "]" keys. Better once you can determine "lead" (deflection) to use your eye not the pipper. But, if you choose to use it at first, a good idea at least till you understand what's involved, the following will become clearer perhaps.

Remember when you were a kid, and you played with the garden hose ? When the stream of water was solid as opposed to a spray...you could point it in the air and make it land on a leaf or something some distance away. This is sort of what you need to imagine with deflection gunnery. Turn your tracers ON and choose a colour that stands out to your eye against the backround. White, red or whatever. Now...imagine that garden hose. There is a leaf on the ground in front of you. The water is falling short. You lift the hose a bit and the water runs further away towards the "target"...as you go past it you adjust the hose down until you are once again on target. This is basically it. There is a point where adjustment TOO far will come back at you, after you have exceeded that point where water pressure (muzzle velocity) no longer overcomes gravity or range. Just think of that hose, you'll remember what I mean.

When you are following an opponent, usually in a turn you have to aim the bore sight IN FRONT of their plane, the amount will vary depending on airspeed and degree of turn etc., at very close range in tight turns they can dissappear completely below the nose with the correct amount of deflection (lead) applied although the cockpit tracking icon should still be visible at the top of your screen...if it dissappears you have overshot them (too fast/too gentle a turn) or they have reversed and gone out of plane the other way.

Try using your tracer stream as a "water" stream, adjust the angle of the "hose" by pulling the nose of your plane "up" or "down" with the joystick. Remember this applies when banked over in a turn..."up" is now sideways. You will see the sparkles as you get the deflection right...this is the "water" hitting that "leaf" we spoke of in our analogy. Watch the tracers and send them "away" or pull them "back" with adjustment of your nose attitude.

You will need to practice a lot...remember that deflection at 700yds or greater is for the most part a complete waste of ammo...the real killers wait till they are in the cockpit with you. Remember also to turn OFF "local hits" as this only shows you the hit requests from your front end (computer) and are the ones that the "host" (AW server) throws out...in other words the hits your computer "thinks" you got but when online (warp etc) the host says "no dice" to.

You will soon realise that you can kill opponents BELOW your nose and out of sight (except for the cockpit tracking icon) which is nowadays many of my kills. You just have to judge airspeed, closure, angle of turn etc. and apply the desired amount of "lead" (deflection) for the situation, viola ! *BOOM* :) Headon shots are the MOST DIFFICULT to judge, usually a total waste of ammo.

Get in behind them, and get in close, you use less ammo that way.

Test

When you are ready to take your test, click here. You will be given the test and if you pass, you will be allowed to go on to the next phase of your training, XXX.

• Frequently Asked Questions
• UK Air Warrior Pilots Guide
• Aussie AW Training Academy