The Bomber's Bible

*Air Warrior 1

*Air Warrior for Windows, Copyright © 1996 by Kesmai Corp. All rights reserved.

This document explains the art and science of bombing and presents my unique view. While I won't cover every detail, I will give some of my tactics, the keys to successful bomb runs, defense, offense and the aircraft you should fly under a given set of circumstances.

Successful Bombing

Properly calibrate your joystick

Having to fight a continual pull to the right or left is bad. Calibrate weekly or even daily if necessary.

Take off

It's more difficult to shoot down bombers as they're taking off as opposed to fighters since bombers take more damage. But it can happen. Never take off when your field is under heavy fighter attack. If you need to check a field, go out in a Jeep and if you get killed it won't count against your stats.

Gas

Bring little fuel (remember, bombers have huge tanks) and a full bomb load. The possible exception here are those rare times when you feel a deep-seeded urge to bring a lightweight A-26 Invader to bear.

Stealth

Fly below radar. That means less than 200 feet. Yep, that's pretty low but the enemy won't be able to spot you until it's too late. I recommend 100 feet. I usually fly at about 10 feet. Make sure that joystick is calibrated!

Know the big picture

Some will say it applies only to fighters, not bombers. Not true. The difference is simply a matter of range. For bombers, you must know the locations of far off enemy fighters and adjust your approach to avoid them. This is a real challenge without your radar. Should you come under attack...you're pretty much screwed. Even the highly maneuverable A-26B is hard-pressed to dodge an enemy attack when it's loaded with bombs. Always avoid enemy fighters when you're loaded. In fact, avoid enemy fighters period. You'll live longer.

Have a flexible plan

All fields have common target types. Have an idea of what you're going to bomb before you arrive. That way, you can plan the best attack route. Sometimes others will have taken down your targets so always have a contingency plan. Find or make your own arena maps.

Bomb quantities

A single fuel tank takes 2 bombs. Ack takes only 1. Obviously, dropping 6 bombs on an ack isn't very effective. Sometimes, there's reason for it. If, say, several friendly fighters are over the field, go for it. Otherwise, choose a different target and leave the ack for fighter-bombers. The Kesmai manual lists the number of bombs needed to destroy the different structures.

Practice off-line

Unlike air combat, you can practice bombing in off-line AW.

Learn from your mistakes

My father once said, "If you don't learn from your mistakes then why do you keep making them."(I am sure that he couldn't have meant me!) There is nothing wrong with making a mistake but try to learn from it. Use the flight recorder to tape yourself. Examine the results and critique what you see. You won't have access to the Norden bombsight during film playback so open the map display and zoom in.

Slow down

If you fly fast, your bombs will spray in a wide pattern. If you attack an ammo dump with a B-17, you'll fail to destroy it if you're flying too high and too fast during release.

Dive Bombing

Important Note for All Forms of Dive Bombing: Remember that it takes a full second after you've hit the <b> key for your bomb to actually release. Thus, if you immediately yank the stick after hitting the <b> key, your bomb may be pulled off target.

B-17 Flying Fortress

(MY FAVORITE PLANE)

The Flying Fortress carries 12 bombs, the most of any bomber. That, plus its many gun stations, is reasoning enough to fly this beast. The tail and upper gun stations are the most important to man; both provide great sky coverage. On the downside, the B-17 is slow and climbing to bomb drop altitude seems to take forever and you can tear off the wings at about 320 so be careful when diving! In addition, it's easy to auger when you drop the gear. It's also easy to damage the gear if you get too fast for too long. The Flying Fortress is my pick for high altitude runs and when fully loaded with gunners it is a true death-star.

A-26B Invader

Unlike the other bombers, the Invader can become a deadly fighter after it's unloaded. Think of it as a fighter with 8 eggs! That's enough to satisfy anybody's need to break and shoot things. The A-26 has 8 wing-mounted machine guns that fire forward. It can out turn a P-51 quite easily at low speed. Add an upper and lower gunner and this thing is unstoppable.

Mosquito MK XVI

This is one quick bomber! In fact, with altitude, you can easily outright most fighters. I favor the Mosquito for slash attacks, usually against enemy fuel tanks. Why their fuel? Well, the Mosquito carries a token 4 bombs and you'll want to fly it fast so it's very hard to destroy the larger structures. Four bombs are enough to take out all 3 tanks on a fast pass. The Mosquito is fragile so avoid main enemy fields, which have abundant ack. I believe most if not all WW II Mosquitoes had forward firing guns. AW's version, however, does not, so rely on speed when flying the Mosquito.

B-25 Mitchell

The B-25 is annoying slow and it has poor acceleration. It's good for a change of pace but you won't see your bomb score skyrocket if you fly it a lot. On the plus side, it has a fine array of gunner positions and 8 forward firing machine guns. But remember the B-25 isn't nimble so bringing those 8 guns to bear takes patience.

G4M2 Betty

It's very fragile and it isn't very lethal. There are no forward firing guns and gunner positions use small caliber machine guns.

JU-88

A baby A-26, the Junkers can be used as a bomber-fighter. It's not as lethal, agile or as quick as an Invader but it gets the job done. Keep in mind it has only 4 bombs and small caliber guns. And the forward firing ammo load is only fair.

Gas

Because bombers have very large gas tanks and because you'll usually be flying short missions, take 25% or less fuel. This is very true in the B-17, which can probably fly around the world 100 times before needing a refill. The bomber-fighters, as I call them (the Ju-88 and A-26B), are more agile with a near empty fuel tank. Of course, if your target is a Spitfire factory, take enough to get the altitude you need, hit the target, and return.

There is one annoying disadvantage of a small fuel load. If the enemy punctures your tanks, you may not make it back to base. Still, I'll take the better performance of a smaller fuel load any day.

Eggs

Always take a full complement of bombs with one exception: those oh-so-rare A-26 attack/vulch missions. For those, take none at all.

What To Bomb

The tower has the highest priority. Destroying it affects not only the aircraft launching from that field but also those entering the area from other sectors. Losing a tower makes it hard for the enemy to spot you. This really ticks off the boom and zoomers. And follow-up bomb runs are much easier because they won't see what's coming until it is too late.

Next comes fuel. If you can hit all 3 tanks, launches from that field will fly with greatly reduced performance (except for Bf109s). And remember, sometimes destroying 1 or 2 tanks will cause the others to combust as well. On a lucky run, 2 bombs are all you'll need.

Destroying the hanger (maintenance) shed is helpful. Some aircraft will take off with fuel or oil leaks. These leaks are seldom noticed in bombers.

The ammo shed is fairly low priority. Downing it won't affect fighters much (I don't think...) but some bombers will find they don't have gunner ammo.

You can also bomb nearby industry. From what I gather, this may affect the availability of some aircraft (e.g. Spitfires) at the closest field. And don't forget about oil refineries, Spitfire factories and other big industry targets. Consult the Kesmai manual for details.

High Altitude Bombing

You're more or less invulnerable because you're above fighter cover. And those few who fly at that height may not want to waste precious ammo on your skin. For high altitude runs, take the B-17. It has the performance and bombs you'll need.

Bomb runs at 10,000 or less are risky but very effective. You can see all but the smallest targets from that height. And there's a chance you'll bypass enemy fighters especially if the enemy tower is down. Fly at this height if you have cover and/or gunners.

Bombing at over 20,000 is a real challenge. You can see a tower from 20K but not much else! And hitting any target is tough since your bombs will spread out. When bombing at high alts I usually cut throttle, drop flaps, activate autopilot, and just drift at stall speed over the target. I loose alt, but I mostly get 6 bombs strait and dead on the target. However, when I'm stalling, the aircraft shakes every once in a while and the second set of bombs may fall short. To help the next 6 bombs you should remember to cut throttle to about 16% instead of cutting it all the way.

Low Altitude Bombing

This is far more common. I recommend the stealth attack. Fly under radar. That means less than 200 feet. Let's go with 100 or less as a rule. Aside from the obvious advantage of being invisible, you'll often have tremendous speed and can cover ground like a cheetah. An upper gunner is quite handy but not required. When you near the target, climb to 1 or 2K and throttle back. Then drop those bombs, dive and WEP back to base...or to the nearest enemy field if you're flying the A-26 (why waste all that ammo?).

Gunners and Gunning

As if solo bombing wasn't enough you can also share the experience with others. A few good gunners are quite helpful, especially if they're good shots. Aiming with the mouse is more accurate than the keyboard or joystick.

Always fill the tail position first, followed by the upper and lower turrets. Of course, each bomber is different and you should be familiar with the various stations on each of them.

Usually, attacks against you will come from the rear, either at the same altitude or from slightly above. The tail gunner should open up at 800 yards for slowly approaching threats. For fast attacks, start firing at longer range.

It's a good idea to have all gunners call out targets using the intercom. That "wakes up" the sleepers and provides better overall situational awareness for the pilot and crew.

Defense

The best defense is not being in harm's way. Avoid fighters at all costs. The only time I'd suggest flying through them is when friendlies are engaging the fighters and you've got some speed to spare. And, of course, if you have a decent gunnery crew. Since loaded bombers are sluggish, it's very difficult to jink or otherwise avoid fighter lead. In the B-17, it's impossible. Your best escape route is to dive quickly and level out when you feel the grass touching your underside. Novices will often not pull up in time and they'll crash. Another escape is to let others defend you. This can either be designated fighter cover or inadvertent. By the later I mean fighters that come to your aid simply because you bring them the enemy! This tactic is somewhat questionable, yes, but I'll do whatever it takes to get home alive.

A Bomber As A Fighter?!

There are two bombers that can pull this off-maybe 3 if you count the B-25. The Ju-88 and A-26 can drop bombs then enter air-to-air combat. This is usually done over an enemy runway. The A-26's turn rate is good and you can molest the enemy as he's taking off. Since launching aircraft are slow they can't turn on your tail immediately.

I prefer starting the fighter mode at around 1,000 feet or more. That provides reserve energy should I need it and lets me loop. I'll usually manage one or two loops, unless there are few fighters in the air, then I won't bother. Looping in a bomber, even when it's empty, is hard.

Fly in tight circles around the starting point of the runway and blast launching aircraft. If a couple get on your tail, so what? You'll out turn most of them. Plus your bomber can take a lot of damage. In this situation, use a lot of WEP. Hopefully, by the time you run out, allies will appear to take up the fight. When you're out of WEP, hustle back to base.

In case you're wondering, yes, this is vulching, technically. But you're in a bomber so it's fair...

FW190s and N1K1s

These are born bomber killers! They're fast enough to catch any bomber and those cannons can rip apart even a B-17 in seconds. If one dives at you, always turn to avoid direct fire. If he's a decent pilot, you're in deep shit. If you have a gunner, have him open up at 1,000+ For other planes wait until he is at 800-900. Put everything you've got into downing that FW. He's bad company.

Scoring

If you hit your targets, you'll score higher. Returning to base scores the most points. Do it often enough and you'll rack up points in no time. These are your priority preferences from most points too least:
1. Returning to base
2. Ditching over friendly territory
3. Ditching over enemy territory
4. Parachuting
5. Crashing
6. Being shot down

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Kuksoowa@aol.com helped with revision on 11-22-97

GlobalBil@aol.com helped with revision on 2-16-98