[Penelope_Grey]

Also it depends what sort of aircraft it is coming at you. One thing I did was to look in the Museum under British, and then aircraft, just to see what sort of planes, I could expect to come at me. In particular, how many guns, and most importantly of all, how fast they are coming at you. In many cases they come at you so fast, crash diving is not an option or you risk getting bombed, which is infinitely worse than being shot at.

For instance, a lone swordfish, is pretty much toast. A Sunderland, is a crash dive, no questions asked, something faster like a hurricane, you may have to stay up blast him a bit with the flak crew then when he passes over you then hit the crash dive.

One other thing you have to consider, is that it depends what U-boat you are driving. The Type VIIC's be they standard or 41 or 42 versions... crash dive at speed. The VIIB crash dives pretty quick, but does lag on the surface a little bit. The Type IX's need about 40 seconds, and when you have an aircraft charging down on you, that's just not viable.

As I say, check the aircraft out from the safety of the museum, what weapons and how fast they are going. Then you have to decided, dive the moment its spotted or bide till he has made his pass and keep him at bay with the flak.