'realistic' ground attack pass speeds / parameters?

[MetalMania 0]

I've been spending some time on the range map experimenting with dive and level attack profiles using various weapons and planes (how about that, actually TRAINING before my next foray into combat!) and was wondering what a realistic approach would be.

 

For dive bomb attacks I start my run at about 10,000 ft and 450 - 500 kts. At around 3 miles from target I chop throttle and go into about a 30 degree dive. Different planes have different sight references for release points but I release at about 1 mile from target, altitude is between 4000 - 4500 ft AGL (I think) and airspeed shows +/- 500 kts. I got that attack profile from an article at SimHQ a while ago and it works to a pretty decent level of accuracy so far, barring something like precision guidance or CCIP.

 

For level bomb runs (both high and low) I set throttle to I guess what you'd call military power, the highest I can go before the afterburner kicks in. In the planes I've tried so far this usually gives me again pretty close to 500 kts indicated, +/- a little depending how far out I start my run. Release points of course vary with altitude and speed, but so far I've had fairly consistent results from 700 ft on the low end and 10,000ft on the high end. I need to work on going lower and higher but it's a start.

 

So I guess what I'm really wondering:

 

- Is using mil power (no afterburner) a "normal" practice for an attack run, or is it really open to the target environment at the time of the attack? It just seemed easier to achieve a more constant speed to work out repeatable release parameters by staying out of the burner.

 

- What would a "normal" low level high speed / high drag munition pass be made at (alt and airspeed)?

 

- What speed and altitude would a medium or high level strike by something like an F-111 be made at, generally?

 

 

Obviously, at the end of the day we need to employ whatever works best IN THE GAME with its own strengths/weaknesses and limitations - but I think most of us would try to do that with whatever degree of realism we can manage within that framework.

[Viper6 3]

I use the F-4 for mud moving and Your dive technics are pretty good. I use a 45 degree dive at five miles out from 10,000ft I use level bombing only in CAS when I'm packing CBU's then I'm at 500ft to 700ft at full Mil. power

[Lt. James Cater 62]

Here's what i worked out for high drag delivery.

 

Depending on how bad the defenses are i begin my approach at 15-20 miles. From altitude i line up with the target and get my aircraft at full military power at 100-450ft. 150-250ft is best. 5 miles from the target i pull the nose up sharply and level off from 950-1000ft. The ordnance is released 1.3 miles from the target with a 100ms delay setting. Once the target is overflown the aircraft is taken back down to the deck until a safe distance has been established to allow a climb to altitude.

 

You should be able to hit building sized targets with no problem.

 

I've had success with it using F-4s and F-16s. I'm pretty certain the difference between a number of high performance aircraft is minimal.

[Romflyer 25]

I just read a great article on this very topic, it's two loooong pages but it's really informative about speeds, altitudes, timing, and tactics.

 

 

"QUOTE (GreyCap @ Feb 10 2009, 12:07 AM) Check this out for bombing. http://www.simhq.com/_air/air_055a.html

 

 

GreyCap......... that article is spectacular!!!

 

Thank you for sharing

Rom "

Edited February 11, 2009 by romflyer