Calculating MS setting for B17's Intervalometer: by GT182
Here's how I do my calculations, maybe this might help.
1. Measure the vertical distance of your photo from Docs S2 site. Lets use
Steyr A/C Factory as an example. Using the mm scale provided in the
Intervalometer Tutorial from the Help Links, top to bottom is 177mm.
2. The length of the bomb run is 65mm. Tis you have to calculate from the photo
and yours might be different than mine figure. No problem.
3. 2792 divided by 177 =s 15.77
4. 15.77 x 65 =s 1025 which is the length in feet of your bombrun.
5. Now divide 1025 by 18(say that's the # of bombs you are carrying) and you
get 56.94' between impacts. You can round that off to 57'.
6. Now say your bombing altitude of the Target is 15,000'. Take the Bomb Time
Delay Calculator and set Speed of 150 to 57 on the outer ring(Distance Between
Impacts). Most of the time you'll have to estimate this as close as you can.
Now look at the cutout on the inner wheel. You will see 15,000' is very close
to 200ms so you can use that as the setting you need to put into you Bomb
Panel. Actually it's 195, but who's going to complain in the air once you drop.
And to make sure your spread hits the whole target you might want to stagger
your settings in all your bombers by about 10 to 20 ms. Just to make sure you
get maximum effect.
You always measure from the top
to bottom of the photo it's self for your 1st measurement. Then measure the
lenght for your bombrun of the target itself. Doesn't matter if the target shows
on a diagonal or not. Your Aim Point should be in the middle of the of the run.
Look for the buildings, or whatever, that are in black. These are the most
important ones to hit.
Also some targets like Regensburg Me Complex, there are more like it also, are
laid out like that to make it harder to get a TD. But it is possible to do, you
have to make sure you take out the important buildings and cause extensive
damage to as much of the complex as you can. That's why you need to measure,
calculate, figure the best approach, and set the right ms for the
intervalometer. That's why B17 is the best bomber game/sim there is, it gets
you totally involved along with being as close to real as can be for the
Norden. Thanks for that goes to AC, as he did the developement for it in B17
for Wayward.
If you can, find a see thru boaters navagation plotter or a see thru compass
rose to use in selecting your heading. I lay mine on the photo and then use
what I determine by laying it on the monitor screen over the target. I found a
plotter at Boater's World and it works great. It's a Weems Compute-A-Course and
cost about 20 bucks. It works great.
Psst....you can even use a protractor to do it. It just takes a little more
figuring is all.
Make sure you do one thing that's
very important. Go into the Control settings and assign a button on your stick,
or keypad but stick is better, for Bombsite Fine Correction Adjuster. It's 3/4s
of the way down the page under Drop Tanks. This will be a big help in setting
the crosshairs where you want them.
When you keyin Manual for your adjustment then keyin the Fine Correction button
and your all set to go.
And from Mile's O'Tool:
All of target photos are laid out
so that up = North. That way you can plan your routes accordingly.
Also, they are all taken from the same altitude - with some math, you can
determine length of bombrun, MPI (main point of impact), and then based on your
altitude and speed, what IVL settings for maximum effective coverage.
Just as clarification - the 1st measurement of the photo itself helps you
figure out the scale. Once you know that, you can measure anything else and
determine it's size. You can measure, say, the length of a runway....or just
the dimentions of a single building.
I strongly advise getting the
hang of doing your drift/rate adjustments as well. Aside from pretty much
everything else - they will make or break your bomb run.
Rate is easy and quick, as all it does is make an adjustment to the bombsight.
Drift is a bit more tough - you're actually adjusting the course of the plane.
So it's very slow reaction. Try moving your joystick fully to the side for like
1 second...then wait for the reaction. Also remember - you have to hold the N
key, not just hit it.
Something that till help you out - there's some distance adjustment on your IP.
Try setting it "out" as far as possible at first - this will give you
more time to get your rate and drift adjusted. Also remember - you'll probably
be tinkering with rate and drify right up until bomb release....
Yup - it isn't easy. Gives you a bit of appreciation for what these guys went
through....
Note: some text has been edited from the original posts deleting names.
