There is a wonderful little wartime publication called “Bag the Hun!”. Issued in April 1943 by the Air Ministry, it set out improve estimation of opening range and deflection in aerial gunnery.
Shooting down another aircraft from a platform that is moving and weaving across the sky itself is no mean task, as I have found out to my embarrassment on many an occasion with flight simulators such as DCS World. It requires much more than just instinct, and this little booklet was a great help to many pilots, including myself, to achieve greater success. If you do a little search on the internet you are sure to find it.
Which brings me to the main subject of this post. Not only do you need good visual calculating skills, but you also need good sighting equipment to be successful. Enter the Reflector Gun Sight Mark II, as fitted on our Spitfire Mk.IX Simulator.
We have recreated this beautiful optical piece in exacting detail and it offers full functionality within the simulator.
The gunsight has two adjusting rings, one for Range and the other to set the targets known wingspan in feet. In our case the rings do not adjust the optics but turn two independent potentiometers to provide a signal to the simulator. This required fairly intricate internals as can be seen from the exploded view below:
The gunsight also incorporates a dimming screen to better show the aiming reticule in bright light, this can be slid up or down as required. Microswitches indicate to the simulator what the position of the screen is.
The assembly fits into the simulator fuselage beautifully and complements the already impressive panel.
A few more pics for your viewing pleasure:
Pleas let me know how I can purches one and how much please . Paul Mc
Hi Paul, please check out our Products page for details and the Shop page to purchase. All on our website here. Many thanks for your interest!
Roel