Aircraft guns/cannon don't do enough damage

[Whiskey_Zulu]

Has anyone noticed that your airplane's guns and cannons seem to be pretty weak?  Or the aircraft you shoot can take way too many hits before being destroyed?

I seem to remember reading somewhere once that a U.S. Air Force study back in WW II showed that it took roughly 10-20 20mm hits, on average, to destory a B-17.  Well, a B-25 (smaller & less durable) in this game can take 50+ 20mm hits and it won't even fall out of formation.  There's just no way a thin-skinned aluminum cigar with people in it can take that many hits and keep and flying.

It's even more obvoius when your bullets/shells strike an aircraft engine.  It seems as if you can pump one or two 30mm shells into an engine with no apparent effect (the B-26/26 won't fall out of formation).  I can gaurantee you that in real life, a 30mm single shell hit will instantly destroy the most durable engine.

Sometimes even a hit from the big 50mm cannon on a Me 262 will leave a B-25 or a B-26 still flying.

Also, notice in the Machines of War handbook provided in the game that "high lethality requirements" for the 20mm are 10-20, while the 50-cal is 15-20.  That's not much of a difference!  Considering a 20mm projectile weighs twice as much and is explosive, I think a better propotion would be something like 1 20mm hit = 4 50-cal hits.

[Woodlouse2002]

I have no comlaints over the weapons. Remember that if a bullet hits nothing vital then the plane won't go down. With cannons any hit is going to do damage but it still depends where you hit.

[Oz]

well those enemies have laser guided bullets!  ;D

[SyPrO_CaStEr]

i have no problem shooting down a aircraft, its 3 to 8 shots to shoot down a Do335 in a spit

[Maccers]

I know the USAAF fighters were thick skinned compared to RAF or Luftwaffe fighters, but when a Bf-109 or Tempest goes down in 4 guns and a P-47 will take 50+ guns and cannons (from a Fw-190) and not even smoke... well  :-/

[Whiskey_Zulu]

It's more the bombers I was talking about.

[Woodlouse2002]

Maybe the AI are better pilots than you...

[GunnerMan]

Uhhhh look at the big picture bro. IF they did tone donw the weapons(i think they work mighty fine) it is because in a sim its alot easyer to get on someones six and shoot/hit him then in real life. Trust me I have flown in an f 16 simulator over at Luke AF Base and well those f 16s are harder than you would think. They are not as manuverable as you may think and they have very specific conditions to make the bes out of it. If I were a trained f 16 pilot I could probably manuver like crazy but me an everage flight simmer found getting on the enemys six and getting a shot into him is alot harder. That is prolly why they were toned down. And it does matter where u hit.

[Brad60012]

Umm, history also shows instances of B-26's getting not only well over 50 hits, but also having major control surface and fuselage damage but still succesfully making the run on a target.  Like wood says, it depends on what you hit.  
 And just because a book says something doesn't make it 100% true.  I personally know members of my family that have withstood multiple engine hits but were lucky enough not to take major damage due probably to the angles of the projectile strikes. I.E., they got some nice dents in their blocks, and some holes to brag about, but very little damage.  Number of hits doesn't garantee anything, only how and were the projectiles strike and the quality of the rounds, not to mention a whole host of other random circumstances.

[1danny]

it does seem to require a lot more hits than cfs2to bring down a plane , but  i noticed the closer you get the more damage you make.300 yard is the conversion?
in cfs 2 i can hi them from a mile away. this game seems a lot less arcade like as cfs2
i love this game

[Whitey]

As default 300 yards is the point where your bullets converge.

[Woodlouse2002]

[quote]
Also bombers could take a hell of a beating and still get back.

[Whitey]

Well I saw it on a painting somewhere too...

[Whiskey_Zulu]

Umm, history also shows instances of B-26's getting not only well over 50 hits,

Maybe you could point me to this history.  While I can't remember the number exactly (I think it's 10-20, but I can't remember precisely; and I might be way off but I don't think so) the source I cited was the U.S. Army Air Force.

I personally know members of my family that have withstood multiple engine hits but were lucky enough not to take major damage due probably to the angles of the projectile strikes. I.E., they got some nice dents in their blocks, and some holes to brag about, but very little damage.

Are we talking about bullets and shrapnel?  Or direct hits from 20mm and 30mm cannon?  Becauase  explosive shells, which could shred all kinda of lines and hoses and manifolds without hitting them directly (as a plain metal slug would have to) are a lot more destructive.

[quote]

[Woodlouse2002]

Whiskey, when you say the number of hits it takes with you, is this solely cannon hits or are you firing with cannons and machine guns? Because machine guns fire much faster than cannons and aircraft can soak up hundreds if not thousands of machine gun rounds. So why don't you attack an aircraft and only fire your cannons and see how many hits it takes.

Also the number of hits per kill is not a rule. Its and average. The number of hits will vary from plane to plane. Best not to complain really.