"When we have mastered these tactics, we will use them to seek out and confront the forces of evil, and kill 'em deader 'n hell!"
- Tommy Lee Jones, Fire Birds
Fritz the Destroyer
New aircraft are always fun to fly, until you learn they suck. Thankfully this isn't the case with Fritz; the Fw-190 F8. A normal pilot will take the biggest bombs he can carry to a target so he doesn't have to be that accurate on drops. A Fritz driver will ALWAYS take the highest number of bombs; more chances for a hit. My typical load is 4x 50kg bombs plus a single 250kg bomb; you can blow up lots of stuff with this. Other aircraft have varying loads of bombs and rockets. A P-51B can tote a pair of bombs and six rockets, while a P-47 can haul three bombs and eight rockets. Which you pick depends on two things: a) do you feel like driving an eight ton aircraft and b) does the target need this much ord. My usual answer to a) is NO; I hate unmaneuverable bricks, even if they can take a beating. As fas as b) is concerned, YES the target DOES need this much ord. I'd rather have a few extra rockets or a spare bomb then run out with targets left standing.
Dropping bombs from a fighter can be done in three ways, each method obviously differing in skill:
Dive bombing is the easiest way to hit something since it only requires you to point the nose down and chop power. Once your target is centered in the sight, drop one bomb and pull out. Don't forget to add power or you'll stall it shortly after you get the nose leveled off. This is a simple method for putting ord on target, and only requires altitude. Since the higher you are the less chance of being hit by triple-A fire it's a good thing. One reason not to dive-bomb targets is that getting to higher altitudes chews up fuel. So you can't really dive bomb targets that are a good distance from home. Naturally this also includes a very unique challenge; taking on triple-A guns head on. It's really easy to hit a target when you're flying right at it, and the target finds you pretty easy to whack too. That's why you gain copious amounts of altitude before diving in on something. You'll stay out of ack range and most likely not take any return fire.
Glide bombing is a world of difference away from dive bombing. You come in at a medium to low altitude; somewhere around 6,000 feet works usually. Chop power and push the nose down until you can see the target, at which point you pull up and release the bombs. This takes practice to get perfect since you can't see the target when you release. I use a one second rule; one second after pulling the nose up release the bombs and they should hit near the target. Believe it or not, this is usually the way fighters deliver bombs to targets. You can also drop with power on; it generally makes no difference as far as hitting the target goes. I'd use a slightly higher altitude so you aren't thumped by a 37mm AA round or worse, an 88.
Level bombing is the way bombers do it. Fly level and drop when you think you'll hit the target. But in a fighter you don't have a bomb sight, so this is just a waste of bombs in my opinion.
Another tactic to dumping ord is to Split-S directly over the target and drop just after the target vanishes under the nose. I've gotten pretty good at this, and it's a snap to learn. Fly directly over the target, rolling inverted to check where it is every so often. Once you get right over it, pull a Split-S and drop just after the target goes under the nose. Don't drop exactly when the target goes under your nose, drop just after it does. The easiest way to explain this is:
1) See it
2) Lost it
3) Drop
Just as fast as you can read that off is the speed it will happen at. Try it a few times to get the hang of things and before long you'll be hitting anti-aircraft guns from 10,000 feet. You can use this method in Kette flights to hit hangars with fairly good speed. A Kette is a typical flight of three planes, usually in echelon formation. I prefer line astern formation because no one gets in each others way during the drop. Have each Kette come in lined up on their hangar, and when the flight lead pulls his Split-S follow right behind him. Use the three point rule I spelled out above; see it, lost it, drop. If you're short of the target (not right over it) then you can still use this. Why?
Thrust line, to put it into two words. Ever pull up fast and have the aircraft mush before it starts doing what you told it to? That's because the flight line changed while the thrust line remained constant. The reason you wait until the target goes under your nose is because the thrust line will match the target's location just after it goes under. Only in level flight do the two match. When you're maneuvering around your thrust line and the direction your nose points rarely match up. Bombs like to follow the thrust line and not the direction the nose points. Why they do this is a matter left up to some physics nut.
If I tried explaining this further it would take a lot of images, so I'll leave it at that. Firing rockets has basically the same requirements, but a rocket will one thing a bomb won't. It will accelerate forward at the target due to the rocket motor in its ass. Just like a bomb it will follow a ballistic arc based on your aircraft's thrust line when it's fired. This explains why you get rockets that fall short when you fire them while pulling up. Always level the aircraft and let it settle for a second or two before firing rockets to get the best effects. You can use the Split-S maneuver described above when launching them, but it takes a LOT more practice.
See, a rocket doesn't have that big of a warhead based on its size. Granted a rocket will readily blow a single ack gun to bits, but it won't do much if your shot is off by more than 10 yards. When firing rockets against fuel or ammo bunkers always fire in pairs to make sure you get hits. Unfortunately this has the same side effect salvoing bombs does; it eats your rocket supply. Practice extensively offline with rockets to learn the best method of launching them. Same goes for dropping bombs. Once you get it down pat against friendly targets, try doing it while under fire from enemy guns. As they say, no plan or tactic ever stays the same when taking fire.
When it comes time to attack a target via bombing it's best to use a little common sense during the planning stages. It doesn't matter if the planning stage is 10 seconds or 2 hours, use some common sense. If you're going off to a lonely little field where no one is, use any methods and tactics you want. But if that field is in enemy hands, and is heavily defended, the game changes a bit. Low level raids are best done while moving fast, but not at top speed. Every single-seat aircraft that can carry bombs has two attack speeds; approach and strike. Approach speed is used when you're going to and from the target, and generally sits around the 250-275mph mark. As every aircraft handles relatively well at these speeds you know you can maneuver fairly well. If you're bounced by enemy aircraft you've got the maneuverability to get the hell outa Dodge. Now if you were hauling ass instead of bombs (small joke) then you probably can't really yarf it around due to the excess speed. Besides, speed is where a quick strike comes in handy!
So what's strike speed? Balls to the wall. Floor it and don't let up on the throttle so you get up to top speed quickly. Keep it in a shallow climb to get up above the target area, I'd go with no more than 1,000 feet per minute. Since this means a long climb it's best to start when you're still some distance out. 75 miles should work. Once you have plenty of altitude and can see the target, level off and punch the emergency power. Again you want to reach top speed quickly, but since you can see the target you need that speed now. Whatever you do, DON'T DIVE! From ground level to 8,500 feet out in every direction the triple-A guns rule all, but five feet further and they can't hit snot. So what do you do? Stay above 9,000 feet of course. If you're a real lunatic, like me, then fly on down and buzz the field. While bullets are zipping around (maybe through) your aircraft give the altimiter a quick look. Now that you know what altitude the field sits at, you know how high you should climb to avoid getting blown into confetti.
Methods, patterns, and tactics
Feel up to some advanced tactics and other stuff used by real pilots? Alright, let's dance! First we'll get flight profiles out of the way. You probably fly these patterns anyway without realizing it; I wouldn't be surprised. Some armchair guru had to give 'em a name, and here's how they work. A lo-hi-hi-lo profile is painfully easy to figure out. Your initial cruise out is done at low altitude. Going into the target area and attacking is done up high, probably 15,000 feet or so. Leaving is done at low altitude most likely to avoid air-to-air threats. Hence lo-hi-hi-lo. You can change these up to whatever you want to use, attacking from low altitude for example would make this a lo-hi-lo-lo profile. This is one of those little things some guy was hired to name so pilots could keep track of it all. Personally, I think they cooked it up just so pilots would have more annoying terms kicking around. But that's just me.
Envelopes and the like are descriptions of a chart. Think of it like this: "the" envelope is a four-cornered box, with the bottom representing speed and the side being altitude. "Pushing the envelope" means flying at the upper-right corner: high altitude and high speed. Naturally most pilots forget the important piece of info: that's where the postage gets canceled. You can thank some admiral for that little doozy. Still, it's a damn accurate description. Attack corridors are modified versions of the envelope used for low-level attacks. They show terrain following limits, max speeds, and maneuvering G's for a given loadout at a given speed. Pretty useless unless you're driving a Mach capable fighter. Since we're mostly stuck in prop planes, the corridor doesn't apply.
Delivery methods do apply, and in a big way. You've got probably six different techniques for dropping iron on someone, all of which work. I described three of them above, one of which deserves a bit better explination. Glide bombing, while simple, has also been called the "idiot's loop toss" by some. How come? Well, think about it. Glide bombing is one of the few tactics used where you can't see the target after the drop. In case you're wondering, the other one is the split-S trick. Actually you can get very accurate hits on just about anything by glide bombing. Practice makes perfect, especially when dumping dumb bombs. Those people who call it an idiot's loop toss are the idiots; hitting targets with this consistently takes skill. More skill than the split-S, more skill than dive bombing, and it's a pain to master.
So what good is glide bombing? Think about it just a tad more. You're pulling up when you release the bombs, meaning you can completely reverse direction and get out of the area. Not once will you fly over, or through, the target area. Since you're not going right through the middle of their guns, you're exposed to a lot less enemy fire. Plus you don't have to swing completely around, still within gunnery range, for a follow-up attack. It's a great stand-off tactic anyone can learn provided they take the time necessary to master it.
Now, about these other three tricks. Dive-glide bombing is a cross between a dive bombing, and a glide bombing run. You dive in to a lower altitude, level off, pull up slightly, and release the iron. It's more accurate than a straight glide bombing run, and exposes you to less accurate fire. By diving you lose altitude, gain speed, and present a very bad target to any ground gunners. You get a better view of the area too. The reason you level off is to let the aircraft settle before dropping your load. When in a turn, or pulling up hard, the nose tends to be at a higher angle than your actual flight path. When your nose and flight path don't line up, your bombs won't be on target.
A shallow dive bombing run, also called direct delivery, works pretty well. Like a dive-glide run, you dive in at around a 45 degree angle. Steep enough to get a good view of the target, while shallow enough not to break the aircraft when you pull out. Stick the target at the bottom of your sight and wait until your gut says drop. Then simply pull out while turning left or right, so you won't get nailed by any triple-a fire. Think of it like a stretched out low Yo-Yo and you'll probably see how it's done. It takes a bit of practice to get the ord on target, like any bombing tactic. But the results are better than most of the other methods.
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