Flak gunner sleeping on the job??

[Herr Russ]

Playing patched Vanilla...

Did great during the Academy Flak Gunner exam.. Crewman hit more planes than I did..

Fast forward to patrol (VIIB).. Got an alert that airplane was spotted & since I had just saved the patrol, I decided to engage.. Made sure I had a watch officer & flak gunner on the bridge. Gave the Watch officer an order to 'Engage all targets' and 'Fire at will'.. Ran at TC of 8 and saw the small window open showing the aircraft on a strafing run. TC slowed to 1 and I went on the bridge. WO had his binos trained on the plane, gunner was at the ready and I watched the plan swoop in and drop a bomb near us. Gunner was seriously hurt & never got a shot off. Looked at the WO orders and fire at will was still selected. Grabbed the gun myself and got a few rounds off before the plane disappeared..

Anyone know why the gunner didn't shoot at the plane?? He didn't have a 'Flak' qual if that matters...

Thanks!!

[Redwine]

Playing patched Vanilla...

Did great during the Academy Flak Gunner exam.. Crewman hit more planes than I did..

Fast forward to patrol (VIIB).. Got an alert that airplane was spotted & since I had just saved the patrol, I decided to engage.. Made sure I had a watch officer & flak gunner on the bridge. Gave the Watch officer an order to 'Engage all targets' and 'Fire at will'.. Ran at TC of 8 and saw the small window open showing the aircraft on a strafing run. TC slowed to 1 and I went on the bridge. WO had his binos trained on the plane, gunner was at the ready and I watched the plan swoop in and drop a bomb near us. Gunner was seriously hurt & never got a shot off. Looked at the WO orders and fire at will was still selected. Grabbed the gun myself and got a few rounds off before the plane disappeared..

Anyone know why the gunner didn't shoot at the plane?? He didn't have a 'Flak' qual if that matters...

Thanks!!

Are you sure you was not having the "Hold Fire" order activated...?

Did you removed the "Hold Fire" order.... ?

[Herr Russ]

I'm positive.. As soon as I clicked on the 'Fire at will' icon, the WO confirmed the order and the 'Hold Fire' icon (Hand) color changed to blue vice the tan when selected..

The gunner never swiveled or aimed the gun. Just stood there. I checked the crew & compartment page & the bar above the flak gunner was solid green..

Thanks!!

[Subwolf]

If the plane is behind the boat or at an angle that could cause the gunner to hit the conning tower he will not shoot.

Anyway, it's a bad idea to engage aircraft...if you want to survive this war crash dive when spotting an aircraft ;)

[The_Blockade_Runner]

Hey Russ, Check this link and read on the ' sleeping flak gunner'



http://www.communitymanuals.com/shiii/index.php?title=Flak_Gun

[Cerberus]

When I have decided to fight it out on the surface, I usually instruct the chaps to only fire on aircraft which are within mid-range or shorter.

Shooting at aircraft at long range has a low success rate & wastes ammunition.

There are however, times when aircraft have been able to bomb us without the chaps opening fire.

That seems downright strange, but when they do that 'dive/pull back the stick/lob the DC at the U-boat' routine, they sometimes manage it without getting within range.

Do you have 'only open fire on targets within mid/short range' selected?

[Warmonger]

Hey Russ, Check this link and read on the ' sleeping flak gunner'



http://www.communitymanuals.com/shiii/index.php?title=Flak_Gun

Oi, that seems to have been my problem too. Wasn't aware that a known bug like this exists...:hmm:

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=100171

[Respenus]

I always order them to open fire at approaching targets for the best effect. It's possible (as someone pointed out before) that the gun must have been blocked by something (a good attack angle for the plane :dead:).

[Herr Russ]

The plane attacked from the stern, so it should have been a clear shot. I was able to jump on the gun and get some rounds off.. I just think the 'bug' kept him from shooting.. I'll try it again sometime if I get detected after a save..

Thanks for all the ideas!!

[Herr Russ]

Must have been a bug... Had just started another patrol, left Port & was heading to AN73 (Eastern England). Got a report of an aircraft spotted.. For kicks I let my Flak gunner engage. Even had flak quals. Put a good WO on the bridge with him and stepped back and let him blaze away..

Well, it wasn't AN aircraft, but 3 with wasserbombs... After my gunner & WO were killed, the deck gun destroyed, I dove to safety. Major flooding in several compartments, compressor damaged and repair team working away.. Didn't notice the depth gauge going down and down and down :damn:

A quick reload to the beginning of the patrol & this Kaleun's nightmare was over.. Ran into another aircraft spotting a few minutes later & wisely dove to safety...

Thanks for all the help!!