Typhoon: target drone tests

[oc2209]

I mean no disrespect to the Typhoon, but with full armor mods, rockets, and no improved engine/prop, it makes a great target drone. Better than the P-51 for testing the new dynamic damage visuals, because it's slower and easier to hit.

 

Without further ado, here are some tests I just completed that a few of you might find marginally interesting. Personally, I just love having any excuse to test the DVD system because I find it fascinating. I think it can teach us a lot about individual gun performance, ballistics, etc.

 

Holes from a Hurricane's .303x12:

 

 

P-38's .50s only. Note the high concentration of strikes from a very short burst (I only used 184 rounds in the test, and most were higher deflection misses):

 

 

Russian mix of 12 and 20mm from a Yak-9:

 

 

Russian 37mm AP ammo, from a Yak-9T (the only two holes I can see are the long ones on the horizontal stabilizer and behind the canopy):

 

 

Russian 20mm AP only, from an La-5FN:

 

 

Russian 20mm HE only, from an La-5FN:

 

 

German mix of 7mm and 20mm from a 109F-4; note how the German 20mm HE holes appear larger than the Russian 20mm HE above:

 

 

These last shots are just for fun.

 

Note the family resemblance:

 

 

Oops:

 

Edited June 1, 2021 by oc2209

[oc2209]

Okay, did a few more.

 

109G-6 Late, only the 13mm (mix of AP and HE evident):

 

 

Tempest's 4x20mm (again, both AP and HE are visible on the trailing edge of the wing root):

 

 

P-39 with 2 .50s (no .30s), and AP-only 30mm:

 

 

The following is from a P-51. Note the minimal concentration of holes, even at close (under 200m) range. Gun convergence set at 200m.

 

 

A close-up of the above screen reveals a bullet that entered the cockpit just behind the armor plate attachment (look between the brackets on the left-most attachment; the hole is visible); this likely wounded the pilot, who subsequently died from the fire very shortly after the fire started:

 

 

Another P-51 test follows. In the first test, I used ~400 rounds; the second, ~300. The pilot was killed instantly in the second test, from what I strongly suspect are one of the holes visible here (either the one above the 'B' or the one on the roundel):

 

[Jade_Monkey]

Get on the Typhoon, open the canopy, take out your personal gun and start shooting at the wings.

The results are quite nice.

Edited June 1, 2021 by Jade_Monkey

[sevenless]

Poor Tiffy...

[Feathered_IV]

You can see how the airframe is divided into sections and each has three or perhaps four variations of damage decals which are applied depending on what size of round hit it.  
 

[oc2209]

3 hours ago, Jade_Monkey said:

Get on the Typhoon, open the canopy, take out your personal gun and start shooting at the wings.

The results are quite nice.

 

I gave myself a fuel leak, but I didn't see any holes. Peculiar. It should leave something between a 7.7mm and a 13mm hole, assuming the caliber of the pistol is either a 9mm or a .45.

 

Anywho, I ran a few more tests, this time with the P-47. Quite fun. The P-47 is able to turn with a fully loaded Typhoon without flaps, but with around 15% flaps it becomes very easy. Note that this is on the deck; and that my P-47 had only a 42% fuel load.

 

Lots and lots of .50 holes here:

 

 

This time I just gutted him:

 

 

Point blank double wing tank fires:

 

 

By point blank, I mean from this distance (zoomed out a little):

 

 

In my next experiments, I'm going to try to detach the wing with a convergence strike of all 8 .50s. So far, I have not yet managed to break a wing with only 4 .50s hitting each wing separately.

[IckyATLAS]

What a sad career ending, typical of many airplane models that retired as training targets.

But here this one is brand new out of the factory. I suppose we can call this some kind of crash test prior to full production ?.

[Elem]

Oh no! That is wicked. You killed all those hapless pixel pilots in the name of fun experimentation! Shame on you!!

[oc2209]

11 hours ago, IckyATLAS said:

What a sad career ending, typical of many airplane models that retired as training targets.

But here this one is brand new out of the factory. I suppose we can call this some kind of crash test prior to full production ?.

 

Yeah, I do feel guilty about beating up a new plane like this. But it's just so fun... unlike using bombers or transports or Stukas/Sturmoviks as target drones, the Typhoon has a good deal of agility even when overloaded. If it had a better roll rate, it'd be quite formidable. As it stands, its turn rate seems better than the official 23 seconds would indicate.

 

8 hours ago, Elem said:

Oh no! That is wicked. You killed all those hapless pixel pilots in the name of fun experimentation! Shame on you!!

 

Indeed. I really got into the habit of aiming for pilots when I started flying Yaks. Knowing you're carrying so little ammo, you're forced to really think before you shoot. It's generally a good habit that stays with me even in non-Yaks.

 

Here's a few more tests while I'm around.

 

The following two shots are from a P-51. In the first screen, I fired 172 rounds, and I counted at least 60 holes on the plane. I'm very pleased with the convergence accuracy at approximately 200m.

 

 

In this next one, I fired intentionally into the outer and mid wing, which seemed to break something. The plane was starting to roll on its side in a seemingly uncontrolled dive. But then, because I'm a dick, I kept firing anyway and killed the pilot and started the fire.

 

 

I know I should turn icons and distance readings on for these tests, but I always forget. So the distance was whatever this is (and recall that my convergence is set for 200m, always, no matter what plane I'm in):

 

 

This last one is a P-38 result. I'm continually impressed with the 38's accuracy, especially with so few rounds spent (168).

 

[oc2209]

Some conclusions from my testing so far:

 

Nose guns are the best. I already knew that, but it's good to confirm.

 

P-51s are less effective at brawling (firing at close range) than P-47s, for the simple reason of having only 3 guns per wing instead of 4. Lining up one of the 47's wings against a point blank target is considerably more devastating than doing the same in a P-51.

 

I wish there was a P-39 variant that had the cannon removed, and just had 4 nose-mounted .50s. The greater agility of a single engine plane (instead of the P-38) plus the concentration of firepower, would make for an excellent short to mid range sniper. 'Short-range sniper' might sound oxymoronic, but the ability to get off accurate snap shots with rapid-firing guns with good penetration--that would be very useful.

Edited June 2, 2021 by oc2209

[oc2209]

My testing is getting compulsive, but whatever.

 

Italian 12.7mm:

 

 

Practice makes perfect (118 rounds spent):

 

 

German 30mm. I'm assuming the pilot died from the proximity of the wing hits.

 

 

At least 4x30mm strikes here (one is mostly obscured by the old decal damage; the big hole on the rearmost white invasion stripe near the tail):

 

 

P-47. This is one of, possibly the best, wing-gun strike concentrations I've seen yet. I was about 100m below and behind him. The pilot was killed instantly.

 

Edited June 2, 2021 by oc2209

[oc2209]

Very peculiar damage result here:

 

 

I was firing a 20mm at the Typhoon during a test, and it just so happened that a rocket detached and struck the wing. No explosion flash evident.

 

The giant damage pattern is clearly a result of the DVD system, but I'm unsure what it's indicating. The radial pattern of the AP holes suggests shrapnel; maybe the simple impact of the rocket to the wing?