Re: USAF Bomber Raids

Tero P. Mustalahti wrote:

Pure instinctive firing is pretty much impossible for most people. Ask someone to throw a baseball to a gently arcing trajectory and try to hit it with water from a hose. Very difficult in practice.


Using sights is hard enough for some people. Using a stream of water to hit a baseball is indeed difficult. The water is not moving much faster than the target ball. Using a spray of water makes it a little easier. the thing to remember is not to aim at the target but to aim ahead of it and to send a spray of shot or bullets ahead of it so that the projectiles will hit the spot at the same time as the target.

When hunting birds with a shot gun you lead the target, adjusting the lead to the distance and speed of the bird so that it meats that little cloud of pellets that is sprayed into its path. You do the same with a machine gun when aiming for planes. The bombers used sets of 2-4 guns mounted together and squeezed off bursts ahead of the target planes hoping that the plane would fly into the flurry of bullets.


Even a simple ring-and-bead sight is in fact a firing aid based on a mathematical model. The trick is to learn how to use the sight properly but instinctively. Without the sight you won't hit anything, but if you think about it too much, you will be too late and the target will pass by. Proper use of ring-and-bead sights requires a lot of training, but once you learn how to use them they are much better than no sight at all (i.e. pure instinct).

Those sights only work if the person using them is lined up properly. That is pretty hard to do when you you are standing or sitting and the gun is swinging. The best you can do is to spray lots of bullets in the path of the target and hope that one or more hit.


On a related note. Heavy AA does not aim at the planes. A battery of guns aims at a predetermined point in the sky. That is based on the coarse, speed and altitude of the planes. It may take a few seconds for the projectile to get to that point. Then the trick is to start sending shells up there so that they are exploding and sending out masses of shrapnel when the plane arrives at that point.


Ship to ship naval barrages are even trickier. Your artillery platform is moving on a set course and speed while the target is likely on another course and travelling at another. You have to aim your shots to arrive at a point where the target will be some time after the projectile leaves your gun barrels, and since you are both moving, that is constantly changing.

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