Then shoot at that point.
I really, really fail to understand your issue.
Typical altitude I loiter and patrol in ASB is 3000-4000, sometimes I go up to 5k if the germans like being up at 3K as well. Plenty of high energy dogfights that start at such a high altitude and descend down to 500 meters while we’re both sitting at 500-550 km/h.
Then hit something.
APDS bad because I can’t shoot the corner of enemy tank like with HE and instakill the open-top M10!
Positioning is basic dogfighting skill. If you don’t have a firing solution, make it happen - whether by saddling up on someone’s six and riding them until they’re out of energy, jumping them from above in a boom and zoom ambush or by making them reverse themselves in front of your guns.
The literal key to propeller air combat is gaining this dominant position, whether you are flying P-51C, Spitfire II/V, Ki-61-I, Bf109 F/G, F4U-4, F6F-5, P40.
To refuse to do so is a questionable decision.
What’s your problem with AP.
Let’s compare HE shells vs AP:
What happened? (This is following some turning fight where the spitfire lost track of me or decided to go for hail-mary “I’m taking you down” on the bomber we were escorting. Also look at how I only have 62 20mm shells left - about enough for 2 more dogfights and it’s back to base if not even that. I really hated flying the R2001Cn because I had enough ammo for 1 fight and was forced to ditch. Spitfire II and Vb are similar - barely enough ammo for a manoeuvring fight and I MUST drain the opponent until they fly slow and steady using the .303 until I can actually use the 20mm HE on them.)
I got a solid burst into him from his six and his pilot survived and the only reason he went down was because in ASB, losing your rudder without realizing is an easy way to irrecoverably spin your plane to its doom.
Another example of Armour piercing superiority.
If I were shooting with german mineshells and hitting the spot I was, my shells would have fuzed on their skin and did nothing. I’d have had to hope for my APHE to hit a bomb.
Here, my early war AP/AP/AP had such insane volume of fire that I could penetrate right through the bomber and make them explode like fire works.
Meanwhile more MG151 shell failures:
Bf109G10 had my perfect six in the yak-9k. It hit me with a direct burst and chewed off half my horizontal stabilizer but my pilot was not wounded. Having died way too often to P-47s and P-51 and Hellcats in that position, if he had .50s he’d have killed me if you look at my pilot doll being white surrounded by yellow fuselage.
