C O N V E R G A N C E ...the debate ;)

[Zak33]

Welcome Pilots....Happy New Year

Now...this has been done to DEATH, but we have lots of noobs in here now (welcome guys) and it's time to talk about, and therefore try to help ya, with CONVERGANCE.

Every Single Pilot has it set differently...be aware......its important but only once you understand it.

The point in front of your AirPlane where your bullets CROSS each other is the CONVERGANCE POINT.....

you can ADJUST it for MACHINE GUNS (small calibre, solid tip, rapid fire) and for CANONS (explosive tip, slower rate of fire) and ROCKETS (now come ON, I aint helping you on this....)

BUT...these projectiles are NOT CONSISTENT.....they are NOT always EXACT. Its not a sniper scope....no WAY. They go all over the place.

The bullets/cannon shells/rockets also DROP with gravity....they fly like a rainbow shape. So when you set convergance, the cross left and right and ALSO curve in an arc.

On planes with the guns in the wings, especially out wide on the wings, the ammo has to cross a long way...the guns are aimed to the centre of where the plane is flying.....both sides.

and once they are PAST the convergance they continue going wide.....very wide....and they DROP more too.....

NIGHTMARE

Tell ya what to do......go to Multiplayer, create a mission (whatever, it doesnt matter where and what) make sure you have EXTERNALS on .....and UNLIMITED AMMO

then choose your favourite plane.....

Hit F2.....its external.....now move your joystick to your left hand....you aint gonna fly, dont panic....

now LEFT CLICK yuour mouse and pull back about 300 metres.

Now left go of the click and rotate your camera view infront of your trusty plane, until you are looking DOWN THE BARREL...but from a distance...

now use your left hand to start firing thosemachine guns...and use the right hand to move the mouse very gently into line with the bullets path......get RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE...zoomin and out a bit with LEFT CLICK if need be...


YA SEE.....they whizz ALL OVER the place

Now you MIGHT need to put summit HEAVY on the B Button on your keyboard (its the brake) cos the plane will be rolling backward on the runway....these guns are powerfull old boys. Recoil ya know.

Do same with CANONS......(itswhy we want unlimited ammo, it takes AGES to get dead centre of the bullet spray) and you can SEE how far the bullets cross...

now..while holding the trigger, left click and ZOOM IN AND OUT..you'll see how the bullets vross and then widen again.

Now ....same with ROCKETS (also a good test for your surround sound set up, cos you should hear them whoosh past)


now THAT is what hitting the bad guy is about......trying to get his plane to collide with one or more of those bullets....

and when you see HOW they radomly spiral and whizz around, you'll see why getting the convergance set to where you're gonna take shots from is so vital.


Mine....? well that's a secret, but its down to you to work out yours....and for each plane with different gun positions, it becomes more and more important.....

so if you are INVERTED and shooting, remember that your guns are aimed for when you are UPRIGHT...and they aim a bit high, so the bullets then drop to your convergance...

NOT UPSIDE DOWN THEY DONT


goo dluckpilots

Over and out

[MA_Shadow]

220 ish for me

[Nick]

I have mine set at about 400 for MGs and 200 for cannons in fighetrs. The IL2 I set cannons to 600... so I dont fly smack into whatever it is I'm trying to straffe!

[Knoxville]

300 for mg's 250 for cannons normally

[MA_Moby]

With rockets I've been experimenting with 200m and a 1 second delay. They explode shortly after they converge (they converge but never collide for some reason). As I rarely open up on a big target like a bomber until I'm close, this seems to work well. If you fire from about 300m and miss the rockets explode right next to the target, whacking them with a blastwave that does them damage. At 200m, a direct hit is catastrophic, both rockets causing maximum damage. At 100m, the liklihood is that 1 rocket will miss, so I guess it's all about the timing.

I usually have MGs at 250/300m, and Cannons at 200m. Though I wonder if it would be better to bring them both closer. With some planes, Laggs and Yak series spring to mind, the cannon is in the nose, so convergence isn't an issue.

[[MA]DanglyBob]

Convergence is still an issue with nose mounted jobs, as it also takes into aacount the amount oif drop the round has over that distance.
i.e. if you set it at 300m, the shot is aimed higher so that the round will be sighted on target at 300m. At 200m the round will be above the target and 400m, below.

In general, I've been setting my convergence closer and closer, but lately, I've felt that with really close convergences, I'm missing out on long range targets. Theres a lot of spraying goes on with a 100m convergence, trying to hit/frighten a fleeing 109 into turning, at 500m.
I've gon back to 300m and seem to be getting more effect now, both at range and distance.

[Zak33]

good points there from Dangly and Moby.

Convergance is 3dimensional.....so drop is as important as where they meet from left to right.

Tell ya why I thought of it guys......Air Rifle shooting at Squirrels. I zero mine at about 35 metres.....

the pellet whizzes up from barrel to the line of site at about 10 metres.....then over the top of its arc..then back down.....to cross the line of sight at 35 where I set it.....

bleeding obvious huh.....?

Now try shooting the same air rifle UP A TREE....vertically.....

the thing just keeps going "above" the line of site...cos gravity is pulling it BACKWARDS....not "down" cos its not going horizontal....

Which MEANS when your trusty LA5 is climbing, vertically or diving....hard......its all to cock.

And I know it IS......set up a bomber........friendly....so he doesnt wiggle

then saddle up, and then INVERT......at your convergance....and then shoot him...

or NOT as the case is....

there's the reason I miss so much in climbs unless Im ON TOP of the bad guy.

Intersting huh?

[MA_Moby]

I wonder if that means you can use gravity in your favour when firing in a dive, on a diving plane; the gravity pulling it forwards effectively closing the range?

I guess it depends on just how realistic the gravity models are in IL2 FB.

[Zak33]

very realistic I believe...

the fact that climbing and firing involves a totally different deflection to horizontal flight kinda points to it.

Try inverting and hosing a bomber at your normal convergance....you'll have to get your nose REALLY FORWARD UPSIDE DOWN....(ie shoot above him) by a long way....cos the guns are aiming wrong.

BUT.....Im talking AIM not POWER OF THE HIT, or SPEED of the bullet.

I dont think the extra 200 kph will improve a canon shell speed much....BUT....it will travel further...

[Dakaras]

Good thread Zak

Moby it does effect the firing when diving on a target, Ive had 3 or 4 109s in VEF where they dive away from you and think they are gonna be home free, just for them to get a good hosing as they duck away.

Im totally stuffed with my convergence atm Used to fly with it set to 180 cannon and 220 on MGs...Then could get near anything to shoot it down in those I16s we had for an age so opened it up again to 300 for each which is working a treat for bombers but crap for fighters up close. My rule now is

300m for both if on intercept of bombers or ground attack
250m MGs and 180m Cannons if fighter hunting

But Im having a job flying anything well except the P40 atm with this new stick

[Zak33]

Originally posted by Mobydick
With rockets I've been experimenting with 200m and a 1 second delay.

Now there's ANOTHER comparison....its similar to a discovery I made.... I153......set the rockets to a 2 second delay......forget convegance....whatever.....say 400 so they stay wide...

Saddle up a bomber.....get close....then ROLL throgh 90 degrees either way and let loose the rockets of hell

They straddle the wings or fueselage of the bomber and THEN go bang...

Ironically I used to be good at it, and can't doit at all now. But its a Quake/UT thing...SPLASH DAMAGE...

Lets face it.....Rocket convergance is for LAND TARGETS.,.,.....with a fire rate of 2 per second and only 8 in total, you cant HOSE a moving target

Tell ya what tho....they DO scare the carp outta someone in a HEAD ON.......set the delay to 1 second....then dogfight with them.....go nose to nose with a 109.....let loose at .8 ish.....hehe

[Dakaras]

Im rather fond of them for HE111s