01.07.2009, 17:13
andqui Wrote:I'm sorry to report that the changed Finnish Buffalo reticle has caused the Avenger sight to be messed up. I see a revi floating in the middle of the windscreen, with the crosshairs lower down on the top of the panel. Any way that it can be fixed?
I'm not using the unified installer, and I can't find the Avenger cockpit mod. I'll take a look at it, if I can find it. [EDIT: (The link is inoperative)found it. I really don't like it, even with the gunsight fixed. It's probably a waste of time, but I'm going to replace the Avenger's Finnish B-239 cockpit with a modified F2A-2 or B-339 cockpit instead.]
Stratodog Wrote:Hello, and Thanks for this outstanding work. I've always been irritated at the size of the USN Mk 8. Thanks so much for correcting this and many other inaccuracies in the gun sight area. Your work is much appreciated and is gold plated beauty.
A few items:
1. I'm 100% sure that the F4U-1 carried the USN Mk 8 and not an N3. There is a ton of photographic evidence of this. (unfortunately the sight in the Corsair I cockpit - in game - looks like an N3, however this is inaccurate.)
2. Even though the in game cockpit of the P-51B, P-51C and Mustang III show an N-9, they actually were equipped from the factory with various versions of the N3 - usually the N3B I think - with a 70 mil diameter reticle.
3. According to "The First Team" by John Lundstrom, p. 468; the F4F-3 was equipped with an N2AN with a 35 mil radius (70 mil diameter) reticle.
1. The gunsight in the Corsair I doesn't look like anything, really. I can try to replace it with a Mk.8, but there aren't really any good Mk.8 models. Do you have any of those photos, perchance?
2. The P-51B and C should mount an N-3B, yes, and they were provided with the adjustable bombing head too (which were often replaced in the field). I plan to change them, but the gunsights are mounted way too low in the cockpit. As soon as I figure out how to change the eye level, I'll replace the gunsights (nevermind, it's easy enough. I'll replace the gunsights for the next version). I'm pretty sure the A-20G uses the wrong gunsight, too.
However, I don't know anything about any 70 mil diameter reticle. USAAF reticles were referenced by radius, not diameter, and I have an Australian manual for the N-2 and early N-3 series that refers to the N-3A and N-3B as being modified to mount the "larger" 70 mil reticle (larger than 50 mil, I assume). I don't know where or when or even if these reticles were used. I've seen various references to a "70 mil" reticle in the P-51 in pilot accounts and the P-51D manual reissue (I'm pretty sure it's wrong, and I'm pretty sure the N-9 has a 50 mil reticle), but nothing I would describe as definitive.
The N-3C definitely uses a 50 mil reticle, and it can't mount anything bigger, but the reticle changed from the N-3B to the N-3C -- I think the N-3B used a glass reticle, while the one in the N-3C is definitely made of brass.
3. I didn't know the naval version of the N-2A was different. I'll see if I can find anything. Do you have a quote, though? A 35 mil reticle still sounds unlikely.
[EDIT]
In other news, I seem to have discovered that the Mk.III telescopic sight on the Buffalo was basically a copy of the British WWI Aldis sight. If that's true, the behavior in game is almost completely wrong. It should be a 1x magnification collimator, and it really shouldn't take over the screen when you look through it. It should actually work almost exactly like a reflector sight, just without the mirrors. I'm still looking for a reticle image (although I think I've got an idea), but I'll try to make it work more realistically, and with 6DOF.
The Japanese apparently used German Oigee collimators on their fighters, and also made their own sights based on that, the French Chretien, and the Aldis. I believe they should all work identically, but I don't know how different the early WWII sights were from those of the '20s. I have no idea if they had sights with magnification, but I assume they mostly used unity sights.
The sight in the SBD apparently was a 3x telescope, but I can find no more information about it. Not even a designation.