Poll: How good is your hit accuracy?

[Hellshade]

The real question I suppose should be, "What good is a high hit % if you end up dead in less than 3 to 5 patrols?" (which is what usually happens to me). My hit accuracy is usually very good but my flying is far too aggressive for me to live through too many missions. I need to combine my hit accuracy with Creaghorns patience for only engaging in fights he feels certain that he can win. Then again, my hit accuracy comes from being so close I can shake hands with the EA pilot before I open fire, not because I am a crack shot. I doubt very seriously Creaghorn ever flies and fights that way no matter what the odds. My last two campaign videos I have been taking some long range pot shots and my accuracy dropped to like 9% in one and 16% in the other. I guess as long as we are flying the way that lets us each have the most fun, that's all that really matters.

 

Hellshade

 

 

[Bullethead]

 

The aces with the highest scores felt the same way. IIRC, MvR said something along the lines of "I fly close to my man, aim well, and of course he goes down."' And IIRC, Hartmann said he didn't shoot until the target filled his windshield.

 

I try to do that myself because I'm not a good shot. In a Pup it's no problem, and in fact it's required because of its single, slow-firing gun. Plus, the Pup is agile enough to survive such close encounters routinely. So no worries at all with a twin-gun Camel. But I have to fly this way in inline planes, too, which is what kills me. Either I run into the target or I blow my E.

 

All the true experts say that the better you shoot, the less well you have to fly. This is hugely important to survival. If you're a crack shot, you can shift the odds in your favor very quickly by maiming everything you come across. And you can do this without losing much E, or getting fixated chasing 1 enemy, or risking collision. If you can't shoot well, you have to eschew snapshots and go for good tracking shots at the cost of time, energy, and fixation.

[Duce Lewis]

If you can't shoot well, you have to eschew snapshots and go for good tracking shots at the cost of time, energy, and fixation.

I don't consider myself a great marksman and try to plan my shots as Bullet suggests

But still I try to avoid those tracking attack paths that kill E and end up in collisions

The intent is to try and fly straighter, cutting across the arc of his turn and attack from a more perpendicular position

The straighter flight path keeps E up and the shorter fligh path means closure is more rapid (even on faster crates)

It also results in a firing pass rather than riding right up on his tail feathers

Collisions are rare as, if you open fire at 50 yards, by the time you get there, he's gone

Whipping up into a 1/2 loop or some sort of wingover resets your E, opens the gap, and allows you to setup your next pass

I find this also improves shooting accuracy too

You end up firing at your target in plan view rather than his thin profile from astern