Ok, so I got a PM from a guy asking me for help with aircraft, because of a post I made earlier. Well, I ended up writing this huge thing that is pretty much a guide to aircraft weapons.
If your heat-seeking missiles are not hitting their target, most likely one of three things is happening:
#1: when you fire the missile, whatever it is you are locked on to is flying at an angle to you, as in they are not flying straight, and away from you (this is assuming you are tailing a jet). When trying to hit a helicopter, make sure you have enough time to get the lock and shoot your missiles before you get close to it. If it's hovering, it's as simple as that, but if it's moving, the rules above for jets apply in addition to having to circle around for an attack run. Also note that this applies to AA guns as well, and is the main reason that you don't hit the target you're locked on to in an AA gun.
#2: Your target fired its flares just before you shot your missiles. In other words, if you are locking onto a target, and suddenly a whole bunch of squares appear and start flying in different directions from the aircraft, your targeting lock will try to get one of those. They're countermeasures, simply doing their job to break a missile lock by producing additional heat sources to confuse enemy computers. If you find yourself in a missile lock, hit x for the flares, but you then have to wait for them to "reload" (shows up at the bottom left of the screen, along with the vehicle status).
#3: You lock on successfully, and the angle is right, so you shoot your missile, and while it was tracking its target, the target moved a bit and suddenly there was something else in the missile's way. Missiles are not agile at all. If something comes between it and its target, it will hit whatever is in its way. In this way, I have accidentally tked my team's chopper when my AA turret missiles were locked on to an enemy chopper, so be careful when firing missiles at a target when it is near a friendly.
Now in regards to bomb troubles, I will admit, I'm not the best bomber, but I'm getting better. However, keep in mind that I'm not going to be able to give you the greatest detail about bombing, as it just takes practice. Now, here are some tips:
Enemy vehicles will show up with indicators around them (boxes or some other shape) when your bombs are your active weapon. Line up these boxes with the point where the vertical line intersects the curved line. Your bombs will hit about there, but there is no guarantee of accuracy. What I found works for me is I gain a little bit of altitude, then come in a a shallow angle such that when I drop my bombs, I'm pretty close to the ground. Remember, that the closer you are to the ground when you drop your bombs, the more accurate they are. The altitude is nessesary, as you are in a shallow dive. But make sure that you are not too close to the ground, or your bombs will kill you too. Let me reiterate that it will take some practice, just as learning to fly did. Also, remember that only vehicles and Stingers/IGLA will show up with boxes, not enemy infantry or such. If you want to do a bombing run on infantry, just do guesswork, and aim for the biggest clearing, so that you don't crash into something. Also, randomly hit airfields and carrier decks. Also, do keep in mind that the bombs on two-seater planes are much more accurate, and that the strategy I defined above I use for single-seaters.
Now a special note, speaking of the two seaters. The gunner has an amazingly powerful weapon at his disposal, granted he has a good pilot. Operation Clean Sweep is the best for using it. he can lock on to ground vehicles by right-clicking, and then fire a special missile, one that is not unlike the TV-guided missiles of the chopper gunner. It will one-shot anything. BUT!!!! keep in mind that these missiles, though you can lock on to any target in a 180 degree by 90 degree arc, the missiles will fire forward and have to arc toward their target. Though they are far more agile than heat-seeking missiles, the only way to guarantee a hit is to just aim forward, and lock on to targets generally in the front of the plane. To lock on, you must keep an enemy in your sights for a couple seconds, then as soon as you have a lock, fire! Don't forget you are in a jet flying very fast. You won't have a very long window of opportunity. Also, be careful, the missiles, if they cannot get to their target, will still try! And if a friendly is in its way, it won't care!
Ok, now I shall address the aircraft ribbon. My suggestion is to either rack up kills in the gunner of a two seater, or to be chinese on Wake, and bomb the hell out of the carrier. Also, dont be afraid of the essex gun, if you make a run on it with your autocannon, you will win, so long as you have enough time to pull up. Now, the veteran badge is going to be a LOT harder. You need 100 hours of global time spent in a plane, so just fly around. BUT DO NOT BE AN AIRCRAFT WHORE!! If you can't get to the plane, occupy yourself with something else. Don't wait around at the runway unless you know a plane just died.
Also, as a side note for racking up kills, dont underestimate your autocannon! It's a fantastic weapon if you can use it right. It's simple to use, just get some altitude, and come in with a dive on your target, strafing it with gunfire. A great way to finish a strafing run with the cannon is to drop your bombs. But be careful! It's hard to aim precisely at small targets like infantry or jeeps, so dont try to shoot these if allies are nearby. Your autocannon is VERY powerful, and will tear through most armor. The Essex gun, if you fly steady and aim for the big thing with the gun mounted on it (not the missile launcher) then you'll annihilate it, so long as you start shooting as soon as you see it. Dont worry if it starts firing back, like I said before, you'll win.
I hope this helps some of you people, but please note that I am not claiming to be an expert here! I just wrote from personal experience.
If your heat-seeking missiles are not hitting their target, most likely one of three things is happening:
#1: when you fire the missile, whatever it is you are locked on to is flying at an angle to you, as in they are not flying straight, and away from you (this is assuming you are tailing a jet). When trying to hit a helicopter, make sure you have enough time to get the lock and shoot your missiles before you get close to it. If it's hovering, it's as simple as that, but if it's moving, the rules above for jets apply in addition to having to circle around for an attack run. Also note that this applies to AA guns as well, and is the main reason that you don't hit the target you're locked on to in an AA gun.
#2: Your target fired its flares just before you shot your missiles. In other words, if you are locking onto a target, and suddenly a whole bunch of squares appear and start flying in different directions from the aircraft, your targeting lock will try to get one of those. They're countermeasures, simply doing their job to break a missile lock by producing additional heat sources to confuse enemy computers. If you find yourself in a missile lock, hit x for the flares, but you then have to wait for them to "reload" (shows up at the bottom left of the screen, along with the vehicle status).
#3: You lock on successfully, and the angle is right, so you shoot your missile, and while it was tracking its target, the target moved a bit and suddenly there was something else in the missile's way. Missiles are not agile at all. If something comes between it and its target, it will hit whatever is in its way. In this way, I have accidentally tked my team's chopper when my AA turret missiles were locked on to an enemy chopper, so be careful when firing missiles at a target when it is near a friendly.
Now in regards to bomb troubles, I will admit, I'm not the best bomber, but I'm getting better. However, keep in mind that I'm not going to be able to give you the greatest detail about bombing, as it just takes practice. Now, here are some tips:
Enemy vehicles will show up with indicators around them (boxes or some other shape) when your bombs are your active weapon. Line up these boxes with the point where the vertical line intersects the curved line. Your bombs will hit about there, but there is no guarantee of accuracy. What I found works for me is I gain a little bit of altitude, then come in a a shallow angle such that when I drop my bombs, I'm pretty close to the ground. Remember, that the closer you are to the ground when you drop your bombs, the more accurate they are. The altitude is nessesary, as you are in a shallow dive. But make sure that you are not too close to the ground, or your bombs will kill you too. Let me reiterate that it will take some practice, just as learning to fly did. Also, remember that only vehicles and Stingers/IGLA will show up with boxes, not enemy infantry or such. If you want to do a bombing run on infantry, just do guesswork, and aim for the biggest clearing, so that you don't crash into something. Also, randomly hit airfields and carrier decks. Also, do keep in mind that the bombs on two-seater planes are much more accurate, and that the strategy I defined above I use for single-seaters.
Now a special note, speaking of the two seaters. The gunner has an amazingly powerful weapon at his disposal, granted he has a good pilot. Operation Clean Sweep is the best for using it. he can lock on to ground vehicles by right-clicking, and then fire a special missile, one that is not unlike the TV-guided missiles of the chopper gunner. It will one-shot anything. BUT!!!! keep in mind that these missiles, though you can lock on to any target in a 180 degree by 90 degree arc, the missiles will fire forward and have to arc toward their target. Though they are far more agile than heat-seeking missiles, the only way to guarantee a hit is to just aim forward, and lock on to targets generally in the front of the plane. To lock on, you must keep an enemy in your sights for a couple seconds, then as soon as you have a lock, fire! Don't forget you are in a jet flying very fast. You won't have a very long window of opportunity. Also, be careful, the missiles, if they cannot get to their target, will still try! And if a friendly is in its way, it won't care!
Ok, now I shall address the aircraft ribbon. My suggestion is to either rack up kills in the gunner of a two seater, or to be chinese on Wake, and bomb the hell out of the carrier. Also, dont be afraid of the essex gun, if you make a run on it with your autocannon, you will win, so long as you have enough time to pull up. Now, the veteran badge is going to be a LOT harder. You need 100 hours of global time spent in a plane, so just fly around. BUT DO NOT BE AN AIRCRAFT WHORE!! If you can't get to the plane, occupy yourself with something else. Don't wait around at the runway unless you know a plane just died.
Also, as a side note for racking up kills, dont underestimate your autocannon! It's a fantastic weapon if you can use it right. It's simple to use, just get some altitude, and come in with a dive on your target, strafing it with gunfire. A great way to finish a strafing run with the cannon is to drop your bombs. But be careful! It's hard to aim precisely at small targets like infantry or jeeps, so dont try to shoot these if allies are nearby. Your autocannon is VERY powerful, and will tear through most armor. The Essex gun, if you fly steady and aim for the big thing with the gun mounted on it (not the missile launcher) then you'll annihilate it, so long as you start shooting as soon as you see it. Dont worry if it starts firing back, like I said before, you'll win.
I hope this helps some of you people, but please note that I am not claiming to be an expert here! I just wrote from personal experience.
