I made another custom mission to test how practical it is to score a pilot kill against a B-17 in a head-on attack.
To reduce the closing speed somewhat, the B-17 was set to fly at around 150 km/h, while I used an F8F-1 as the attacking aircraft.
The video only shows the successful attempts, so it should not be taken as an indication of the actual success rate.
The result is clear: if the shots hit the cockpit and kill the pilot, the B-17 can be brought down immediately.
However, even under these controlled conditions, the attack was quite difficult. The closing speed is still high, the firing window is very short, and in several attempts I either overshot the aiming point or ended up colliding with the aircraft, including the tail, after the pass.
This test confirms that pilot kills are highly effective, while also showing how demanding the required shot placement can be in an actual head-on engagement.
Is the bomber even shooting at you?
Now try this from behind the aircraft while it has altitude advantage by 1km or so
I feel like that would be a more realistic scenario when facing a competent bomber pilot
It may also be a good idea to compare different aircraft’s munition types instead of just .50 cals
Hi,
The bomber was intentionally not firing back.
This test was meant to isolate how practical a cockpit kill is under favorable conditions for the attacker, rather than simulate a complete real-match engagement.
I agree that attacking from behind against a bomber with an altitude advantage and active defensive guns would be much closer to an actual match, but that would be a different test with many more variables.
I have already done some separate tests with different aircraft and heavier weapons, including 20 mm, 37 mm, 57 mm and 75 mm guns, so I may compare those more systematically later. Thanks.
If someone turns around it makes the entire frontal interception basically impossible, while also making any interception take so much longer. It very likely could take so long that the match is over before you can even do anything.
I tested pilot kills against a B-17 from a 90-degree side attack.
The test was performed in a custom mission, with the B-17’s defensive guns disabled in order to focus on the aiming and firing window itself.
In practice, this was quite difficult. The video includes both successful and failed attempts.
The effective firing window is less than one second, and precise cockpit hits require very accurate timing and aim.
In an actual battle, the attacker would also have to deal with defensive fire and a maneuvering target, so successfully landing this kind of shot would require both skill and some luck.
