Full realism Campaign Series using the GWX OneAlex Edition

[Tristand]

I wondered why airplanes didnt always drop their bombs on the first pass. Is that a bug?

Anyway, absolutely love this series, I am now not using the recognition manual and conducting historically accurate methods of determining speeds and directions of travel. Its added a new element to the game thats been missing before. And doing some guesstimating really adds to the realism a uboat commander faced!

[Hooston]

I understand that failing to drop on the first pass is a bug associated with a particular level of aircraft competence.
Of course there are many reasons why it could happen in real life. Before the invention of the Leigh light aircraft night attacks would involve a first pass dropping flares followed by a second attack pass.

[propbeanie]

The aircraft "AI" is not good. Even when set to Elite, they have issues with recovering from a dive. You get below Veteran, and they'll often crash after a bomb drop. The decision as to whether or not to drop a bomb depends upon the plane's approach angle to the sub's angle, and also whether they "saw" your boat, or if you might have been detected by radar. If detected by radar, but you dive in time, you will often see a single pass without a bomb drop, almost like they dropped a marker in the water (wouldn't that be nice to see??), and then they'll come back for a 2nd pass and drop, usually missing you. If they see your boat, you might get a strafing run first, then a bomb drop. It depends upon how the plane is loaded out, and if they have weapons available...

[Tonci87]

Episode 93
Sometimes you go in blind

[Davie Jones]

Originally Posted by propbeanie

The aircraft "AI" is not good. Even when set to Elite, they have issues with recovering from a dive. You get below Veteran, and they'll often crash after a bomb drop. The decision as to whether or not to drop a bomb depends upon the plane's approach angle to the sub's angle, and also whether they "saw" your boat, or if you might have been detected by radar. If detected by radar, but you dive in time, you will often see a single pass without a bomb drop, almost like they dropped a marker in the water (wouldn't that be nice to see??), and then they'll come back for a 2nd pass and drop, usually missing you. If they see your boat, you might get a strafing run first, then a bomb drop. It depends upon how the plane is loaded out, and if they have weapons available...

Now I'm confused. Via the readme in his scripted bombers mod, Stiebler said this about radar.

"Aircraft don t really use radar:
In the course of testing, I found something very interesting. The land-based bombers are fitted with radar from 1943 or earlier, which can be detected by the U-boat s radar receiver. They close very fast to the U-boat in a direct line. The scripted bombers also have the same radar, which can also be detected by the U-boat, but the aircraft fly along their pre-plotted path until they see the U-boat visually - not easy in darkness. I believe that actually no radar-fitted bomber uses its radar to locate the U-boat - the radar serves only to alert the U-boat in SH3. The scripted bomber flies unconcernedly on until it sees the U-boat visually - then it will attack. The land-based bomber however is generated just a short distance away from the U-boat, and is given the correct angle by the code to fly towards the U-boat. Only later does the aircraft see the U-boat lying across its path.
"