Quote:
Originally Posted by vdr1981
I'm not really an expert on airplanes AI but I do know that it's quite limited (A.K.A. stupid). As far as I know planes with radar work pretty much the same like ships with radar, detect a target and head for it...
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Okay, the main point of the Leigh lights was that early British airborne radars, ASV Mk I and Mk II, had a minimum detection range of ca. 1,000 yards (914 m), which meant that at night, when darkness hid the silhouette of surfaced U-boats, ASW aircrews had to guess the exact position of their targets, having to perform semi-blind attacks. This is where our lights come into the picture: as early as March 1941, RAF started trials with few Leigh light protypes fitted aboard Wellington bombers. Tests were satisfactory, but then Air Ministry turned to the older (and not nearly as powerful)
Turbinlite lights which were already available in some numbers. Results were poor, but it took some time before the Ministry admitted the error, and reverted to the Leigh lights previously tested.
The first front-line Coastal Command bombers started being equipped with Leigh lights in early summer 1942. On detecting a radar contact, aircrews were instructed to drop their height from 1,500-2,500 to 500 ft (152 m) before they attained a range of 1 mile from their potential target, and to switch on their light at a range of three quarters of mile (ca. 1,400 m), just before loosing their radar signal.
It would be nice if, within the restrictions given by SH5's aircraft AI, we could (more or less) simulate those tactics and the inherent sensor limitations.
Other useful figures that might come in handy while setting up our lights:
On-line resources that the info above is based on:
https://uboat.net/allies/technical/uk_radars.htm
https://uboat.net/allies/technical/leigh_light.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASV_Mark_II_radar
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leigh_Light
...and by the way, this is the drawing that my model is based on: