medium bombers

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Comrade Vorshilov's Medium Bomber Guide Tips and tricks for swinging a match in your favor

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Page 1: Medium bombers

Comrade Vorshilov's Medium Bomber Guide

Tips and tricks for swinging a match in your favor

Page 2: Medium bombers

Getting started

Congratulations, you are now in the cockpit of a sophisticated instrument for ground attack

This guide centers more on medium to high altitude level bombing, and covers gameplay in arcade, historical and realistic modes

Hopefully by the end of this guide, you'll have learned a thing or two about using bomber aircraft to maximum effect

Page 3: Medium bombers

Taking off and flight planning Every flight starts on the ground, unless you're flying in arcade mode (you filthy casual [unless you're grinding xp for skins, I don't blame you]).

Around this time, look around and check if it's safe to take off. There's no point in getting off the ground in a big slow target when there are zeroes and 109s strafing things. If so, clear them out with AA

When taking off, do spend the extra time to line up with the runway. Might seem tedious, but patience is a virtue when flying bombers. You're going to see more of that in a bit. Lining up with the runway gets you a clean takeoff, instead of having to pray you clear those fuel tanks in Pearl Harbor or do a lousy takeoff in a bumpy field

Page 4: Medium bombers

Also, watch your speed. As I hope you know, when your airspeed is in red, you will stall and your fleet raiding adventure has now come to an abrupt end before it even begins. To be safe, only rotate (pull up) after you reach more than 150 mph (~240 kph) in realistic mode

Now once you have taken off, turn in the heading opposite the direction of the target, and circle your base while gaining altitude. This way, you have time to gain speed and altitude, which are a bomber's primary defense against fighter attacks

When climbing, the aircraft has an ideal angle of attack in which speed is maintained or gained while climbing to as much altitude as possible. Instructions for finding your ideal climb rate are also on the next page

Page 5: Medium bombers

To find your ideal climb rate, first enable autopilot for 30 seconds. locate the airspeed indicator and the climb rate indicator, calibrate and disable autopilot and very gradually pull up until the needle moves up. Try to keep up speed, and stay level by watching the yaw indicator. When your speed stops increasing and you can't move the climb indicator up any more, you have reached your ideal climb rate. Look at the artificial horizon and note how it looks for future reference, so you know how to position the aircraft without having to find the proper rate every time in the future

Page 6: Medium bombers

The ideal altitude for medium level bombing is at 10,000 -15,000 ft (3,048 - 4,572 m)

By these altitudes, fighters coming up to try and kill you via sharp climbing will probably lose a lot of speed and interest in killing you in the process, making defending yourself or running away much easier. Fighter pilots also have a tendency to ignore high flying bombers due to the sheer distance between you and them

Only risk flying lower if there are only a few high end fighters or the game has to be won as fast as possible by eliminating enemy ground targets

How to read an altimeter - the short hand shows your altitude in thousands, and the long hand shows your altitude in hundreds. For example, this one reads five thousand four hundred feet. (if your aircraft uses meters, then the altitude is given in meters, duh)

Page 7: Medium bombers

Another note on the altimeter, when you reach 10,000 feet (or meters), the short hand that indicates thousands cycles over zero again. So you might get a reading of 0 ft (or meters) while very high up. Well, you should be able to tell by looking out of the window what ten thousand feet looks like. Why did I mention this? Just wanted to prevent smart alec comments by the audience

Flight pathsAnd now for navigation, this is a path that we have all taken at some point. Bomber pilots should never just press autopilot as soon as you spawn in and make a beeline for the enemy base.

By plowing straight through the adversary, you attract gunfire from everyone, as few would like to miss a big, juicy immobile bomber

Page 8: Medium bombers

There is a zone in between your base and the enemy's at altitudes of 3,000 ft (914 m) in which all the fighters do their exciting stuff. In this area, the enemy will prioritize you, as you are a big xp piñata amidst all the hard to hit targets. The only reason that you should be down here is if the scores need to be urgently tipped by destroying ground targets in the shortest possible time. Make sure to maintain at least 250 mph (402 kph), and man the defensive guns. With the paths on Fig. 1 & 2, you can keep well out of "the zone"

Now observe figure 1. If you are fast or have enough time, and there are many enemy fighters, this path works well. By steering away from the main battle, enemy forces will most likely be distracted by all the fighters around them to go looking for you. To follow this path, take off and climb to high altitude, turn such that the target is 45 degrees off either side you choose, and fly until you have traveled about 14 kilometers (8.7 miles). From then, turn towards the target but give the fighters below you a 10km (6 miles) berth. Once on target, fly lengthwise onto enemy shipping or airfields for maximum damage. More on that later

Fig.1

Page 9: Medium bombers

Path 1 in action. The image on the upper right shows what more or less 14 km (8.7 miles) looks like

Page 10: Medium bombers

Fig.2

A more direct route is this path - no complicated navigation necessary, and takes up less time than the first. While the first path is suited to fast bombers, this one fits slower ones. This path is achieved by climbing to ideal bomber altitude, but this time flying straight towards the enemy. Once you are 20 km (12.4 miles) from the target, turn 90 degrees either side begin a half circle turn to approach the target lengthwise

When deciding wether to turn right or left, pick the side with more cloud coverage. If that can't be judged, you choose. While both of these paths are a better way to avoid fire from the enemy, a bomber crew cannot slack off ! The best way to prevent fighters from downing your precious cargo is constant vigilance. No matter how high or far you are from the enemy, there will always be a fast fighter or an interceptor gunning for you, especially once you take out half of their ground targets. You should make it standard practice to look around and keep an eye out for enemy aircraft, and always be ready to man the tail guns for defense

Page 11: Medium bombers

Defending yourself When defending any bomber aircraft, coordination with the team is crucial to a bomber's safety. When possible, ask a friendly fighter to follow you around. After a field study conducted by yours truly, findings show that fighters are still tempted to attack a bomber even if this exposes him to an escort's fire. Historically, fighter escorts were the most effective way in defending bomber formations. Unfortunately, this is not how most of our pilots think, and they would rather slug it out with other fighters

Don't worry, another solution is to find another bomber to follow you around. The more the merrier. With more bombers in the air, they leave a bigger trail of burning Japanese ships, towns, and trashed airfields, and you have someone to cackle with evilly as the enemy is blown to your level. But more importantly there are more guns sticking out from behind you to take out those pesky fighters.

Page 12: Medium bombers

But when the worst comes to the worst, you can man the guns in your bomber yourself, and you tend to shoot more accurately than your crew (probably because they're all panicked about seeing fighters firing actual bullets at them)

Standard gunnery rules apply - give lead, and spray rounds into the oncoming foe as if the success of your mission depends on it. Also, don't worry about ammunition. You have a large aircraft and can therefore store a lot of rounds. Once you see the shots landing on target, try and spray that spot continuously. When the aircraft gets beyond the firing arc of the tail gun, move the rudder in the direction he has wandered off to from your current point of view. Rudder left if you see him vanish to your left, and vice versa

Page 13: Medium bombers

Bombing (what you're for)This is it. All of your painstaking efforts to reach the target come together here. Either you contribute to the team, or just dump some explosive into open fields and sea. (If it's in arcade, it doesn't really matter. Just wait a bit.)

It is important to note, while carrying the upgraded loadout of smaller amounts of large bombs has it's advantages, using the default load of smaller bombs has it's own as well. Less large explosives are required to destroy shipping, and they cause damage over a wider area. You also carry more weight in bombs in total. But these are not ideal for small, scattered ground targets. Missing also has larger consequences. With smaller explosives, you can pass over targets multiple times, especially useful for destroying airfields

Page 14: Medium bombers

When beginning the attack, steer your aircraft in a way that it is approaching the target lengthwise if it is a ship. This allows more bombs to hit the target. When your aircraft is 10km (6 miles) from target reduce your throttle to 75 percent and, engage the bomb sight. You now need to concentrate. Using small rudder adjustments, center the target in your bomb sight's crosshairs. Zoom into the sight as much as possible to be able to identify ground targets. Beyond 12,000 feet, getting he target into view may become harder as they appear smaller. U.S. Air Force bombers have higher magnifying sights to reflect the Norden Bombsight's accuracy, and your bomber may have less magnification. You must start the attack earlier, and use the view from the window to help get bombs on target.

Page 15: Medium bombers

Fig. 1: simple diagram on the effect of speed on bomb spread. When under attack by fighters, maintain full throttle. Your bombs may not all hit, but you live to fight again another day.

Fig. 2: eight 100 pound bombs impacting on a Japanese aircraft carrier deck

Fig. 3: carrier sinking after catastrophic damage, illustrates the devastating capability of a well executed bombing run

Fig. 1

Fig. 2 Fig. 3

Page 16: Medium bombers

Gallery - low altitude assault

Page 17: Medium bombers

Gallery - B-25 successfully defends itself

Page 18: Medium bombers

That's all for now. Good luck out there, may your flight be safe, and let your bombs fly true. Constant vigilance, careful aim and patience is the way

Vorshilov signing out