[AJD-NZ]

What is forgotten here is that the .303 round was a standard ammunition inherited by the RAF from the edwardian era, during which the Lee-Enfiields became the standard infantry rifle and the MG's using that round did so for logistical reasons.

Weight of fire is the essential issue here. A burst of gunfire delivers a certain number of bullets of a given energy. The bullets do not fly straight. Wind, gravity, the motion of the firing aeroplane (have I forgotten anything else?) all affect the course the bullet takes.

Now there's a couple of posts above where it's suggested that you focus your weight of fire for 100-200m. Thats ok, it will work, provided you get close, otherwise your weight of fire is spread out just like everyone elses. Now ace pilots often said that a fighter pilot should get in close bwefore opening fire. One german WW2 pilot suggested you should 'smell' your enemy (He meant burnt oil!) before firing. Again, this is true, it is more effective to fire close up with guns focused at that range.

Not everyone can get that close. The range suggested by the RAF (400m) was chosen for a reason. They thought that was the average distance a fighter pilot opens fire at, or at least a compensation factor for the inevitable 'weakening' of fire at longer ranges as bullets diverge. In other words, they were attempting to make the effect of their guns equal over all the ranges the pilots were likely to shoot at.

Therefore the harmonisation at 100-200m is very effective but only effective at that range. It's a specialisation, a perfect setting, which isn't as adaptable for the simple reason a pilot must close to that range or suffer weak fire as a result. The RAF weren't concerned with individual preferences. As with any military organisation, it did tend to dictate what was best to its pilots. This is something that our virtual pilots don't realise - just hiow spoiled they are. All their aircraft are flying exactly the same as another of that type, they can set which armament and harmonisatiion they want, and fly missions as they please.

What we don't see is variety of aircraft performance and handling, something that comes across from period accounts as very important. We don't read of pilots setting their guns to whatever focus they thought was best. Of course they didn't. The mechanics set that if they had the time. usually, an RAF pilot was too busy to worry about technical details. He had a mission to fly, an aircraft assigned, and let's just hope the mechanics have done a good job.

I think the gist of your rather lengthy reply, is that you lack one of, or a combination of the following, the courage, experience or tactical nous, to attack bombers. Please don't take these observations as a personal attack, for that is not my intention. They are based on comments such as "Not everyone can get that close" & "That's ok, it will work, provided you get close enough". I could prattle on about the advantages of speed & altitude etc, but the simple fact of the matter is, if you want to shoot down a bomber, you actually have to attack it. At close range it is the velocity, heat & sheer concentration of small calibre bullets that cause the damage. Might I suggest that you practice using QuickMissionBuilder, set your convergence at 150metres(HurricaneIIb), use a flight of Ju52's as targets(easy), start firing at about 200metres & aim for the wing roots or engines.

Now, because I think that talk is cheap & actions speak louder than words, I have uploaded the ntrk, for anyone to download, that I used for the screen shots on the first page. Just to prove that I didn't use photoshop or something similar.
Bear in mind, all I did was, go into QMB & record my attack on 4 Betty's, once, I didn't repeat the exercise & pick the best track. In fact, because I had plenty of ammo left over, I started shooting the crew which had bailed out(as ya do) & collided with one of them :oops: Of course this sort of despicable behaviour is only practiced by someone who is a complete & utter bastard. As I'm sure many of you will point out, especially Trooper117, who I have reason to believe is a paratrooper. :wink: :twisted:

Download the file here AJD-NZ_4Betty's.zip