Is the delay switch for rockets or bombs?

[White Owl]

Simple question. Is the INST - DELAY switch supposed to change the timing for rockets, bombs, or both?

 

I could swear I dropped bombs on a delay before, but the manual says the delay is for rockets. Currently banging my head against campaign mission #24, and the switch doesn't appear to do anything at all. Instantaneous explosions from rockets and bombs regardless of switch position.

 

How is this system supposed to work?

[Scrim]

It's for rockets, since it's on the rocket panel, everything on that is for the rockets. The delayed explosion is probably just one of those super small delays of less than even a second, since the thought is for it to be able to penetrate armour before detonating when you turn on the delay.

[cichlidfan]

From the DCS P-51 Flight Manual pg 155.

 

To fire rockets, perform the following steps:

 Turn the Rocket Counter dial to 1.

 Set the Bomb-Rocket Selector switch to ROCKETS.

 To nose-arm the rockets for delay upon impact, set the delay switch to DELAY.

 To fire rockets singly, set the Rocket Release Control switch to SINGLE and press the Bomb-Rocket Release button on the control stick once for each rocket.

 To fire all rockets in train (ripple), set the Rocket Release Control switch to AUTO and the Bomb-Rocket Release button depressed for approximately one second while the rockets are fired.

 

and pg 76.

 

8. ROCKET DELAY SWITCH. The Rocket Delay switch is used to set the fuse mode for rockets. When set to DELAY, the rocket detonates a moment after impact. When set to INST, detonation is instantaneous upon impact.

[White Owl]

Yeah I must have been remembering incorrectly about the bomb delay in past missions, or mistaking the delayed explosion when a vehicle burns before exploding.

 

Still, I know that many WWII bombs had delayed explosions. Was this system simply not available on the Mustang?

[hvengel]

IRL the bomb fuse is setup on the ground and is not configurable from within the aircraft. Late WWII era fuses could be contact, delay or proximity (Doppler radar - air burst) fuses. In Europe proximity fuses were not used until the battle of the bulge since they didn't want the technology falling into enemy hands. In the pacific proximity fuses were only used over the open water until very close to the close of the war for the same reason.

[Zag]

I may be completely wrong here but i think the arming delay was set by the ground crew. So i think that it just isn't modeled in DCSW.