How do you apply "Boom and Zoom?"

[Nealius]

Everywhere I look the Boom and Zoom tactic is simplified by "dive on the bombers, shoot them, then climb back up and repeat." Apparently it's more complicated than this because I can't get it to work:

 

1. I can't see anything below me on account of the airframe.

2. I've tried approaching from the front quarter, rear quarter, and sides. I always undershoot because I have to keep the target visible, over my nose.

3. When I zoom back up to go for another run, I bleed so much energy so quickly I can't regain sufficient altitude. I lag behind the bombers and never catch up. If I don't lag behind the bombers, my altitude gain is so minimal that attempting another Boom doesn't work because I'm too close to line up any shots.

4. There's too much angular movement of the targets with this approach. A two second burst nets 1~2 hits, if any at all.

 

How do you apply this tactic to avoid those four points? 

Edited September 5, 2021 by Nealius

[Exorcet]

Do you fly air to ground at all? It's sort of similar and might be an easier way to practice initially. You can keep yourself banked to get a better view of what's below you. I fly the P-51 more than the Fw-190 but I haven't had issues gaining altitude after attacking, maybe you're not starting from high enough? You should be going pretty fast at the bottom of your dive.

[kablamoman]

Boom and Zoom is something a bit more generalized and abstract than attacking bombers... It's more about energy retention and can be pretty nebulous, with no set rules except for hit when it's safe, and extend away so that you're essentially unreachable by the target. Attacking a bomber formation, on the other hand, could be a bit more formulaic depending on what it was you were trying to do.

 

Are you looking to just dive on the bombers from their high six, shoot and then climb up over them to rinse and repeat?

 

Did you want to extend away, fly abeam till you're ahead of them then turn back for a head on?

 

If you're looking to just buzz around them like a fly, maybe a more shallow climb above them is in order? If you pull up too steeply they'll just pull away from you, as you said.

 

 

So shallow out your climb (be patient) and make sure to get above them and ahead of them sufficiently so you can see them by looking back and down (behind your wing) while you're climbing up. This should let you roll down back on top of them when it's appropriate. If you can't see them below you, roll your wings and look out the side to get an update on their positions.

 

When diving in at a high angle, keep your speed, and if you find your nose blocking them you could try keeping them at your front quarter off to the left or right somewhat so you can keep them in view out to the side a bit. You can even lead your shots with them in view out to the left or right of your nose (but this may not be ideal to achieve a longer tracking shot if your lift vector is not aligned with their direction of travel).

 

 Keep in mind, learning to judge the lead required and guess when to shoot after they pass under your nose, without seeing them directly, is a skill you can and should probably learn too.

 

 

Edited September 6, 2021 by kablamoman

[grafspee]

Remember this is Boom n Zoom, so after it, there is go home

[Nealius]

Still having trouble against the A-20s. They're at 3000m I'm at 4000+. Put them in my quarter window to intercept, place target on the leading edge of my wing between the cannon and the cowling, dive down. I end up 70m his deep six and have a great shot, until his top turret shreds me while magically avoiding his own vert stab. 

 

I have slightly better success diving from the front quarter, but the shots are impossible to make. Any hits that land do minimal damage, but they do cause the aircraft to break formation, so that's a bit of a win. The next problem is getting back up to altitude to hit the next target. 600-700kph at the bottom of my dive. To get back up to 4000m the bombers are practically on their bomb run by then. If I try to gain altitude with urgency I end up in the rear quarter situation described above. 

[GR00VYJERRY]

Here is a video I took a while back of me doing a run on a bomber formation. Honestly, I think the Anton is one of the best planes for shooting down bombers. Hopefully it helps. You can see I am diving in and out of formation. You want to go for engine shots.

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_h6dR2rOnQ

 

Edited September 19, 2021 by GR00VYJERRY