What's the official range for 'rock throwing'?

[Geier]

They'll stone you when you try to be so good

They'll stone you just like they said they would

They'll stone you and say that it's The End

Then they'll stone you and come right back again

But I wouldn't feel so all alone

 

Everybody must get stoned

 

(Thank ye thank ye, stay right there I love ya.)

[Winston DoRight]

...............I'm flying an un-patched version of OFF............

 

That's definately your problem. On the original and early patches it was damn near impossible to get a plane to go down. They all just seems to go into a long gradual decent and crash.

 

Get the latest patch and you'll see that now your doing some real noticable damage. Wings get ripped off, engines come flying out and pilots/crewmen jump or fall out. Just today I blew both upper and lower wingtips off a Camel! First time I've seen that!

[+Olham]

Geez - Geier, what's the matter?

Had a good smoke? Or have you read, that good old Bob will come to town

on his never ending world tour?

[Hauksbee]

On the original and early patches it was damn near impossible to get a plane to go down.

Amen to that!

 

Get the latest patch... Wings get ripped off...

 

Bloody Hell! The patch turned my Maxims into Browning .50's!

EDIT: They awarded me both ears and the tail.

Edited March 26, 2009 by Hauksbee

[+RAF_Louvert]

Holy Schnikee! Hauksbee, you must be using that 37mm cannon that Guynemer was testing out.

 

Cheers!

 

Lou

[Hauksbee]

Holy Schnikee! Hauksbee, you must be using that 37mm cannon that Guynemer was testing out.

 

I can only wish!

[Todt Von Oben]

In the spirit of "unusual fighting techniques" rock throwing for instance, have any of you brought down an enemy via ramming/collision and survived to tell the tale?

ZZ.

 

Yes. My first campaign in OFF. Shooting the hojees out of the bugger but he wouldn't fall. Expended the entire nine yards with no effect. The machine said I was scoring, but the enemy was bulletproof. Opinions ranged from patch not installed correctly to don't know how to shoot. After it happened a few times I finally said frack it and deliberately chopped the sucker's tailfeathers off with my prop at low altitude. We both went down, but I survived and was back on the flying line after 27 days in the hospital. Funniest thing was: that was the only kill that got confirmed in that whole campaign!

 

As for the problem" it turned out I did have the patch installed incorrectly. Once I got that fixed, everything was fine.

 

Prost!

 

TvO

[Todt Von Oben]

Tonight I'd like to get it settled: what is 'rock-throwing' range?

 

Howdy Hauksbee,

 

Put together a little photo sequence of what I think are pretty normal engagement distances during a dogfight.

 

I set this up in QC flying a D7 against a Yank Ace in a Camel. We met in the merge at 5,000 feet. I jogged left and down to avoid his fire, he passed high in my 2 O:clock and started a descending right turn. I came around after him in a right turn. The guy did a reversal and when he didn't turn up where I expected him to be I had to reacquire the target. Found him again, lined up a distant deflection shot, and put in a few rounds to slow him down:

 

 

Here's the Spot View of that moment to show what the distance was:

 

 

We continued to maneuver and I caught him again in the turn at closer range:

 

 

And here's the Spot View showing the distance between us at the time:

 

 

After he'd absorbed some damage, his maneuvering slacked off and I dropped into his six:

 

 

And the Spot View of that:

 

 

Now, I could have shot him from that distance, but I usually like to get in closer if possible. And since the question here is "What's rock throwing distance?" I decided to hold my fire and close in for the kill.

 

In the next scene, I've let go at fairly close range some heavy bursts; he's started to burn and entering a spin to the right as the pilot leaves the aircraft:

 

 

Here's a couple Spot Views to show what the distance is like:

 

 

 

And here's a couple more views of the same moment. It looks really close, but there's still enough room to avoid a collision.

 

 

 

As I said, I think this is pretty normal for a dogfight. I'll take a distant shot if I think I have a chance to score hits that will slow him down. (And no, I don't use the sights.) After that, if an opportunity presents itself while we are maneuvering at closing distances, I'll take that shot, too. But to put in the kill shot it's advisable to get in fairly close. Offhand, I'd say about 100 feet or a bit less, from my gun muzzles to the pilot's head, would be about right.

 

It might be possible to estimate the distances using these pictures and based on how many fuselage lengths separate the two aircraft. A D7 is just a bit less than 23 feet long, I believe.

 

I guess the bottom line is, "Do what works for you." This is what works for me.

 

Anyway, hope this helps!

 

Prost!

 

TvO

Edited March 27, 2009 by Todt Von Oben

[Hauksbee]

Put together a little photo sequence of what I think are pretty normal engagement distances during a dogfight.

 

Nice engagement, TvO. Now, with accumulated practice, and the patch, and lashin's of good advice got here, I think I've got my rock calibrated. Boche beware! [ah...present company excepted.]

[Todt Von Oben]

Nice engagement, TvO. Now, with accumulated practice, and the patch, and lashin's of good advice got here, I think I've got my rock calibrated. Boche beware! [ah...present company excepted.]

 

Very kind of you to say so, Mr. Kelley; thank you. :yes:

 

And nice website, BTW. Interesting artwork.

 

Especially like your take on Verne's Nautilus: one of the few I've seen that addressed the issue of protecting the prop from debris when the sub was passing through a ship's hull "like a needle through sailcloth." Nicely done.

 

Prost!

 

TvO