[caldrail]

First of all caldrail, the subject of this thread is shooting down betty's with a Hurricane MkIIb, using this sim, it is not about you or your assumptions (young man indeed !).
:wink:

Thats the trouble with us Brits. We do rise to challenges

But essentially the issue with convergence in this thread is how best to exploit that feature, which is not entirely realistic in its application. Some might agree, others won't. IL2 is a game and the methods of conducting operations within are not exactly as complex or historical as it was in the 1940's. After all, you decide what aircraft you fly, what weapons it carries, what mission it flies on. There's no risk of official punishment for unfortunate disgressions or mistakes, and generally speaking, very little command structure impinging on the players activities. Thats not an assumption, it's the difference between strapping in to an aeroplane going to war and clicking on an icon on your desktop safe in your own home.

With reference to shooting down betty's with .303's, they are big tragets, albeit vulnerable ones. I tend to target engines - I don't know about other peoples preferences. An engine fire will often cause a bomber to drop its bombs prematurely or the crew to bail out.

Now... Strictly speaking this is a little cowardly and I don't usually do this, but since this is a game and we all want an advantage to play from... When attacking bombers, stand off and wait for someone else to close in. The bombers gunners will focus their fire on him. Then go in and target at will with lesser risk of enemy fire.