Was the HE 111 that big of a torch?

[wellenbrecher]

Take a look at the first minute of this, at least. Looks like some German stuff catching fire and smoking pretty easily. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4c25xFStNVw Of course to keep this on topic I haven't found anything with an HE-111 in it yet.

Ah, but those are 

a) .50s

b) a loooooooot of them on every plane at any given time

 

Probably not the best comparison.

[VR-DriftaholiC]

Sure was a lot of strafing of already downed aircraft in that.

[StickMan]

 

Ah, but those are

a) .50s

b) a loooooooot of them on every plane at any given time

 

Probably not the best comparison.

Except that we have 20mm cannons that have more penetrating power and make bigger holes so it's not the best comparison because the damage would be more with the 20mm plus the 2 mg's. By that logic the F-15 should have wings full of fifty cals instead of the one 20 mm cannon it has. Edited September 9, 2014 by GeneralZod

[StickMan]

I wanted to edit that post a little to include that in game we have a lot of crack shots. I'd say a ratio by far higher than RL. In a lot of guncam footage guys are just spraying and praying. Anyway I do agree the DM needs refinement but how much I guess is a matter of opinion. I beleive though, a combination of a high number of skilled pilots with devastating weopons may help in the perception of some out of the ordinary results.

[Matt]

The ShKas seem to be more effective if you want to cause fires than the ShVak. I tend to only use the ShKas against the He-111 when flying the Yak-1, because without the recoil of the 20mm, it's easier to hit the fuel tanks. I would even consider the ShKas more effective than the 23mm and 37mm cannons on the LaGG-3 and i definately have an easier time bringing down He-111 with the Yak-1 than with the La-5.

 

In any case, a half a second burst of the ShKas is often enough to cause a fire on the He-111 (with full tanks), which basically means a certain kill. That's roughly 30 rounds, assuming they all hit. Not sure what the usual belt mix was for the Yak-1 during the BoS, but even with API only, that's pretty effective.

 

But then flying directly behind a bomber should probably cause a bit of turbulence and make hitting things a bit harder to hit.

[Brano]

Shkas ammo belt composition for Yak1 (from book by Robert Bock http://www.amazon.com/Aircraft-Monograph-No-13-Yak-1/dp/8386208996)

50% API (armor piercing incendiary)

25% API-T (armor piercing incendiary traced = tracer made of phosphorus!)

25% Incendiary

 

For german MG17 it was usually

60% of AP

40% of AP-I

Tracers were used only before last 50 (or 100?) rounds were left in belt.Germans put there 10 in a row so it was visual help for pilot to see that he is about to go dry with bullets.

 

He111 vulnerable area is very large and hard to miss (almost half of the wing).On each wing there were 2 tanks,one main inbetween fuselage and engine and second on the other side of engine (this was backup or auxiliary tank)..Engines were not armor protected.

 

Question 1: does 100% fuel setup mean that tanks were filled up to the top?

Question 2: does 100% fuel setup mean that also auxiliary outer tanks are filled up to the top?

Only devs can answer.

 

Anything else is just subjective feeling with no data and facts to back such statements.