Air Warrior For Windows - The Bomber Experience V1.0

By PCA Joseph

 

Nah, They Really Didn't Need That Tower...

Completely obliterating enemy facilities is nearly as satisfying as coming out of a 3:1 furball with 3 scalps. There's something about delivering tons of explosive munitions that strikes that visceral bullseye in all of us. And, of course, it really ticks off the enemy...

 

 

This document explains the art and science of bombing and presents my unique view. While I won't cover every detail, I will hit on several tactics, the keys to successful bomb runs, defense, offense and the aircraft you should fly under a given set of circumstances. You should leave this writing with a better sense of the bomber experience.

What's It All About?

Bombing (also called buffing) requires some thought. First you must select the proper aircraft, fuel and bomb load, pick the best route to the target and deliver your ordnance. For a given ground target, you'll need a given number of bombs, enough fuel to get you there and back, and a plan to weave through enemy defenses. Some buff pilots prefer sneak attacks while others favor out-of-sight, high altitude runs. You must consider all of this to become an effective bomber.

Keys To Successful Bombing

I see many novices take off in their B-25 Mitchells, quickly (or not so quickly!) climb to 3 or 4,000 feet, and head straight through enemy fighter cover. They do it time after time. Sometimes they have gunners but often they're ungunned. I have yet to see one of those flights return. Why? They haven't taken the cautious approach. Yes, even with a fully manned B-17, you'll often be shot down under those circumstances. Any bomber, regardless of number or quality of gunners, can be taken down by a well-flown fighter, especially the FW190...but more on that later.

Here are some things to think about:

Have properly calibrated controller hardware

Having to fight a continual pull to the left is not beneficial. Calibrate daily if necessary.

Know your aircraft

Can I make a high altitude approach in my Mosquito bomber through a blanket of fighter cover? You can, but guile and speed are needed. And, of course, some nearby friends can't hurt.

Know when NOT to take off

It's more difficult to shoot down bombers as they're taking off as opposed to fighters since bombers take more damage. But it can happen. Never take off when your field is under heavy fighter attack. The possible exception is when you have gunners.

Take the right stuff

Bring little fuel (remember, bombers have huge tanks) and a full bomb load. The possible exception here are those rare times when you feel a deep-seeded urge to bring an unladen A-26 Invader to bear.

Use stealth

Fly below radar. That means under 200 feet. Yep, that's pretty low but the enemy won't be able to spot you until it's too late. I recommend 100 feet. Make sure that joystick is calibrated!

Situational awareness

Some will say it applies only to fighters, not bombers. Not true. The difference is simply a matter of range. For bombers, you must know the locations of far off enemy fighters and adjust your approach to avoid them. This is a real challenge without your radar.

Should you come under attack...

...you're pretty much screwed. Even the highly maneuverable A-26B is hard-pressed to dodge an enemy attack when it's loaded with bombs. Always avoid enemy fighters when you're loaded. In fact, avoid enemy fighters period. You'll live longer.

Know what to bomb, have a plan but be flexible

All fields have common target types. Have an idea of what you're gonna bomb before you arrive. That way, you can plan the best attack route. Sometimes others will have taken down your targets so always have a contingency plan. Find or make your own arena maps.

 

 

Know how many bombs will do the job

A single fuel tank takes 2 bombs. Ack takes only 1. Obviously, dropping 6 bombs on an ack isn't very effective. Sometimes, there's reason for it. If, say, several friendly fighters are over the field, go for it. Otherwise, choose a different target and leave the ack for fighter-bombers.

The Kesmai manual lists the number of bombs needed to destroy the different structures.

Practice offline

Unlike air combat, you can practice bombing in offline AW. Take a look in the mirror Use the flight recorder to tape yourself. Examine the results and critique what you see. You won't have access to the Norden bombsight during film playback so open the map display and zoom in.

Slow down before release

If you fly fast, your bombs will spray. If you attack an ammo dump with a B-17, you'll fail to destroy it if you're flying too high and too fast during release.

The Aircraft

The Kesmai Flight manual has bomber aircraft information. Be sure to read it. Here's my stint on each of them:

B-17 Flying Fortress

The Flying Fortress carries 12 bombs, the most of any bomber. That, plus its many gun stations, is reason enough to fly this beast. The tail and upper gun stations are the most important to man; both provide great sky coverage. On the downside, the B-17 is slow and climbing to bomb drop altitude seems to take forever. In addition, it's easy to auger when you drop the gear. It's also easy to damage the gear if you get too fast for too long. The Flying Fortress is my pick for high altitude runs.

• Biggest Strength: 12 eggs!
• Worst Weakness: Moves and climbs slowly

A-26B Invader

Unlike the other bombers, the Invader can become a deadly fighter after it's unloaded. Think of it as a fighter with 8 eggs! That's enough to satisfy anybody's need to break and shoot things. The A-26 has 8 wing-mounted machine guns that fire forward. It can out turn a P-51 quite easily at low speed. Add an upper and lower gunner and this thing is unstoppable.

• Biggest Strength: It's a bomber-fighter!
• Worst Weakness: Poor performance at extreme altitudes

Mosquito MK XVI

This is one quick bomber! In fact, with altitude, you can easily outright most fighters. I favor the Skeeter for slash attacks, usually against enemy fuel tanks. Why their fuel? Well, the Mosquito carries a token 4 bombs and you'll want to fly it fast so it's very hard to destroy the larger structures. Four bombs is enough to take out all 3 tanks on a fast pass. The Skeeter is fragile so avoid main enemy fields, which have abundant ack. I believe most if not all WW II Mosquitos had forward firing guns. AW's version, however, does not, so rely on speed when flying the Mossie.

• Biggest Strength: Speed
• Worst Weakness: Only 4 eggs

B-25 Mitchell

The B-25 is annoying slow and it has poor acceleration. It's good for a change of pace but you won't see your bomb score skyrocket if you fly it a lot. On the plus side, it has a fine array of gunner positions and 8 forward firing machine guns. But remember the B-25 isn't nimble so bringing those 8 guns to bear takes patience.

 

• Biggest Strength: Gunner slots and forward firing guns
• Worst Weakness: Slow and unresponsive

G4M2 Betty

As of this writing, I haven't flown it. The Kesmai docs say it's very fragile and it isn't very lethal. There are no forward firing guns and gunner positions use small caliber machine guns. Someday I'll try it. Someday...

• Biggest Strength: Unknown
• Worst Weakness: Fragility

Junkers JU-88

Kindof a baby A-26, the Junkers can be used as a bomber-fighter. It's not as lethal, agile or as quick as an Invader but it gets the job done. Keep in mind it has only 4 bombs and small caliber guns. And the forward firing ammo load is only fair.

• Biggest Strength: Forward firing ammo
• Worst Weakness: 4 eggs

Fuel

Because bombers have very large gas tanks and because you'll usually be flying short missions, take 30% or less. This is very true in the B-17 which can probably fly around the world 100 times before needing a refill. The bomber-fighters, as I call them (the Ju-88 and A-26B), are more agile with a near empty fuel tank. Of course, if your target is a Spitfire factory, take enough to get the altitude you need, hit the target, and return.

There is one annoying disadvantage of a small fuel load. If the enemy punctures your tanks, you may not make it back to base. Still, I'll take the better performance of a smaller fuel load any day.

Eggs

Always take a full complement of bombs with one exception: those oh-so-rare A-26 attack/vulch missions. For those, take none at all.

What To Bomb

The tower has the highest priority. Destroying it affects not only the aircraft launching from that field but also those entering the area from other sectors. Losing a tower makes it hard for the enemy to spot you. This really ticks off the boom and zoomers. And follow-up bomb runs are much easier because they won't see what's coming.

Next comes fuel. If you can hit all 3 tanks, launches from that field will fly with greatly reduced performance (except for Bf109s). And remember, sometimes destroying 1 or 2 tanks will cause the others to combust as well. On a lucky run, 2 bombs is all you'll need. Destroying the hanger (maintenance) shed is helpful. Some aircraft will take off with fuel or oil leaks. These leaks are seldom noticed in bombers.

The ammo shed is fairly low priority. Downing it won't affect fighters much (I don't think...) but some bombers will find they don't have gunner ammo.

You can also bomb nearby industry. From what I gather, this may affect the availability of some aircraft (eg. Spitfires) at the closest field. And don't forget about oil refineries, Spitfire factories and other big industry targets. Consult the Kesmai manual for details.

High Altitude Bombing

I don't do it much. I got burned during the AOL AW beta test phase. The host would dump me just when I had reached 20,000 feet. Again, and again this would happen. It takes a lot of time to build up that altitude in a heavy buff and losing it like that was not pleasant. However, given stable conditions, high altitude bombing has its upside. You're more or less invulnerable because you're above fighter cover. And those few who fly at that height may not want to waste precious ammo on your skin. For high altitude runs, take the B-17. It has the performance and bombs you'll need.

Bomb runs at 10,000 or less are risky but often effective. You can see all but the smallest targets from that height. And there's a chance you'll bypass enemy fighters especially if the enemy tower is down. Fly at this height if you have cover and/or gunners.

Bombing at over 20,000 is a real challenge. You can see a tower from 20K but not much else! And hitting any target is tough since your bombs will spread out like warm butter over warmer toast. The key here is speed. Less is better. Use flaps and drop throttle to drop speed but don't stall.

Low Altitude Bombing

This is far more common. I recommend 2 approaches: the 3,000 foot run and the stealth attack.

Only do the 3K run when one or more of the following conditions are met: 1) the enemy's tower is down; 2) there are few enemy fighters up; 3) there are many friendless flying; 4) you're feeling lazy and don't want to wait for more altitude. Why 3,000 feet? It gives you a chance to dive for speed to avoid fighters. Often your target is an airfield with fighters overhead. That last minute dive can boost your speed so you can avoid the fighters. But it makes accurate bombing much harder. Tradeoffs, tradeoffs...

Alternatively, fly under radar. That means under 200 feet. Let's go with 100 or less as a rule. Aside from the obvious advantage of being invisible, you'll often have tremendous speed and can cover ground like a cheetah. An upper gunner is quite handy but not required. When you near the target, climb to 1 or 2K and throttle back. Then drop those bombs, dive and WEP back to base...or to the nearest enemy field if you're flying the A-26 (why waste all that ammo?).

Gunners and Gunning

As if solo bombing wasn't enough you can also share the experience with others. A few good gunners are quite helpful, especially if they're good shots. Aiming with the mouse is more accurate than the keyboard or joystick. Keep that in mind.

Always fill the tail position first, followed by the upper and lower turrets. Of course, each bomber is different and you should be familiar with the various stations on each of them. Usually, attacks against you will come from the rear, either at the same altitude or from slightly above. The tail gunner should open up at 800 yards for slowly approaching threats. For fast attacks, start firing at longer range.

It's a good idea to have all gunners call out targets using the intercom. That "wakes up" the sleepers and provides better overall situational awareness for the pilot and crew.

Defense

The best defense is not being in harm's way. Avoid fighters at all costs. The only time I'd suggest flying through them is when friendlies are engaging the fighters and you've got some speed to spare. And, of course, if you have a decent gunnery crew.

Since loaded bombers are sluggish, it's very difficult to jink or otherwise avoid fighter lead. In the B-17, it's impossible. Your best escape route is to dive quickly and level out when you feel the grass touching your underside. Novices will often not pull up in time and they'll crash.

Another escape is to let others defend you. This can either be designated fighter cover or inadvertent. By the later I mean fighters that come to your aid simply because you bring them the enemy! This tactic is somewhat questionable, yes, but I'll do whatever it takes to get home.

A Bomber As A Fighter?!

There are two bombers that can pull this off maybe 3 if you count the B-25. The Ju-88 and A-26 can drop bombs then enter air-to-air combat. This is usually done over an enemy runway. The A-26's turn rate is good and you can molest the enemy as he's taking off. Since launching aircraft are slow they can't turn on your tail immediately.

I prefer starting the fighter mode at around 1,000 feet or more. That provides reserve energy should I need it and lets me loop. I'll usually manage one or two loops, unless there are few fighters in the air, then I won't bother. Looping in a bomber, even when it's empty, is tenuous stuff.

Fly in tight circles around the starting point of the runway and blast launching aircraft. If a couple get on your tail, so what? You'll out turn most of them. Plus your bomber can take a lot of damage. In this situation, use a lot of WEP. Hopefully, by the time you run out, allies will appear to take up the fight. When you're out of WEP, hustle back to base.

In case you're wondering, yes, this is vulching, technically. But you're in a bomber so it's kinda fair...

FW190s and N1K1s

These are born bomber killers! They're fast enough to catch any bomber and those cannons can rip apart even a B-17 in seconds. If one dives at you, always turn to avoid direct fire. If he's a decent pilot, you're in deep doo-doo. If you have a gunner, have him open up at 1,000+. Put everything you've got into downing that FW. He's bad company.

Comms

Call out the targets you've bombed even if you haven't destroyed them. A nearby fighter-bomber may come and finish your work for you (if he's 5 minutes or less distant). And other bombers can adjust their approach accordingly. You'll appreciate it when they do it for you.

C-47s

C-47s can carry paratroopers, supplies, etc. A Gooney must be used to capture neutral airstrips and bases. Drop 8 paratroopers near the runway (for fields) or on top of the building (for bases). A Gooney can also be used for resupply. To resupply fields, land the appropriate supply type at the field. This will repair damaged maintenance, fuel, etc. at that field.

Scoring

If you hit your targets, you'll score higher. Returning to base scores the most points. Do it often enough and you'll rack up points in no time. Ditching over friendly territory is not as effective. Ditching over enemy territory is worse. Parachuting and crashing are next down the list and being shotdown earns you very little.