1. Sufficient Altitude: 8-10K is a good place to be right on approach in a dive bomber such as the SBD or Val. You will, of course, need to gain most of this altitude from a rearward base, away from contacts. This altitude will not only ensure bombing accuracy, but a margin of safety from enema fighters.

2. Navigation: Don't begin your descent too soon. Using the map mode you should plant your ac right in front of the target, flying level. You just can't see over that nose to do much from inside the plane. And the temptation is to look down to see the target and ruin your angle of attack out of the sky. Hence there were two men in this machine in the war. The idea is to go down perpendicular to the ground, 90 degrees. Yee hah! Just like dropping lawn darts from the backyard tree on unsuspecting birds below. (G)

3. Aim Easy: In the dive you'll begin to see your target at 5k. You can line up the target with rudders and aileron roll. You should not need any elevator at this point, minimum at most. You must drop unloaded (on the stick and rudder pedals). Hands and feet off, and the bomb goes where the sight is pointing. Add some rudder and you will slide the bomb to the side.

   In a dive bomber it is foolish to try a second approach, unless there are absolutely no enema about. After your pullout you are in a rather precarious position. You can still bomb like the fighters do... skipping stones across the water. But you are slow and the AAA can still eat you up.

4. Pull Out: You just can't miss at this game. As long as your approach is perpendicular, you can line up your target for some 5,000 feet. Plenty of time. Now, however, comes the tricky part. You should release early and have plenty of time for recovery. Don't stay too long for pictures... it brings you too low. Get off the dive brakes as soon as you begin to pull out and hit the throttle full. You should know exactly which way to exit, for once you start heading this way, there will be no turning back. It should be a straight egress out ASAP, with no hard turns on the deck. You can exit any direction you want with aileron roll first, and then use elevator to bring you out of the dive.

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Tactical Considerations

Here are some tactical considerations for basic mud moving in fighter aircraft. Some are remedial others you may not have considered before. Let me start with some common mistakes:

Over-Dependance on Rockets. They are not as cool looking, there isn't the confirmation of an explosion at your twelve, and there isn't the reduced drag, but there is nothing like bombs to get the job done.

Shooting too Soon. There is an anxiety on the part of most to get your load off by the first or even second run, so that you are light enough to do some air to air. Yet floating rockets into the target from too far out, do as much good as no rockets at all, except you wasted more gas and time getting to the target with them.

Bombing from too Low. You can hit your target by coming in low, but accuracy goes up rapidly once you get a three or more showing on your negative ladder. You can use the VSI gauge as well. Remember... we are dropping eggs and not skipping stones. (unless iMOL actually gives us the skip bombs of the latter part of the war.) The greater your nose down aspect when you release the more accurate the bomb. 45 degrees is wonderful.

There is a tendency as one approaches the enema base to vis it and then begin your descent immediately. Try holding level for a bit longer, and going without the view. When you've come in a few more clicks then begin your descent from closer in.

Personally, I like to drop my bombs first for two reasons:

• They cause the greatest drag;

• They need the bigger AOA - angle of attack.

Coming in too Fast. It is easy to forget how fast or how slow you are going when you are busy with bombing or orchestrating. If, however, you come in at, say, 500 ias, and you start to adjust for a target line up... you'll find your Forked Tail Devil locking in that turn and pulling you down like a stone.

Forgetting to Land Right Away. Once the base closes, it begins to repair immediately, and how. According to what I heard HT say some time ago... it takes 10 minutes for full repair. However, this setting can be changed from time to time. You may just have knocked out the HQ, and you decided to land, and as you do so the tower goes up. Surprise! The clock starts with the first target closed.

What I find extremely helpful is the sound used in WB for the building explosion. Not only will they tell you that the tower or HQ is down; it can tell you if you are the one who did it. It is the dull flat explosion. It is different from all the rest. If you listen for it... you'll never forget it. When you hear it on your run, it probably means what you were aiming at not only got hit by you, but also closed by you. At this I get on the radio right away. This way the rest of the piggies will know that they can either change their target line up to the other target; or that it is time to land quick.

I find it too difficult to change from one target to another target in a rapid descent, if I have to do so AFTER I see the target. By then it's too late... and I do a gentle pull through. Yanking the stick for a target change will not only ruin your accuracy, but will take away your E.

It's fun to bomb and then knock out the enema with all that extra E you're carrying about... but every time you kill, they simply take off again - like the night of the living dead. (In the historical scenarios once you are dead, you are out for keeps.) Someone needs to land to close it up. Usually if you follow the sound cue the enema will not realize what you are doing, for they think the base is still open, for they just took off from it for the fourteenth time. Move quickly... and you'll usually get it.

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Part Two

Here are some more thoughts on dropping them venomous eggs from the sky!

Target Practice: You all know that you can now bomb and rocket off line. You can perfect your bombing in external mode - hit Alt + V. However, know that offline targets are soft, and online they are hard.

Damage: Though this can be changed by the host settings (to see the HOST settings, type .show in the tower) here is a general rule. One rocket can do in an ack with a direct hit... salvo two and you get more damage for a close hit. A building needs more than one 100 pound bomb.

Anti-aircraft Guns: Opens up at range 10 and is deadly at 300 meters. The artificial intelligence in the AA fire is very stupid, yet if you are stupid it will kill you very very fast. Don't pull up and over and expose your canopy to ack fire, as pilot kills take only one hit. Pull through the ack changing direction in both the horizontal and vertical plane, and you shouldn't get hit at all. Slow down and lose energy, and your horizontal and vertical moves will not be enough to displace the ack's aim.

Neutral Stick: If you are dropping eggs, and there is still pressure on the stick don't expect your drop to go where you are pointing the aircraft. Remember this: Let the plane deliver the bombs, and not you. Don't release till the plane is relaxed in its position. You can still get hits, of course, without doing this... but, well, you understand. If you can release the stick and your sight is still dead on, you'll score.