Originally posted by RogueTrooper
150 yds? Christ that damn close to have to get a shot in with a fast moving aircraft. What was the effective range of a standard cannon of that
period?
Generally ww2 20mm and 30mm cannons are quite same as those of today.. air combat took place usually at ranges of 50-500m.. but actual effective range
of these cannon were about 1000-3000m.. but as HE ammo used by 20mm would self destruct after flying some 1800-2000m.. or some types of HE ammo.. AP
ammo will of course fly until it drops to the ground.. But closer you are shooting more kinetic energy the round has.. and so makes more damage..
And some more info about firing ranges.. RAF usually started to fire at 500m.. (at least during battle for Britain.. and their weapons were .303 MG:s
at that time..) but Finnish airforce pilots (and Luftwaffe pilots also..) prefered in combat against russians to start the shooting in 50-150m to
ensure the kill and not to give enemy any change of evasion.. and also the Il-2 Sturmovik was so heavily armored that even 20mm AP rounds had trouble
penetrating it..
www.sci.fi...
Check that out info about Finnish aces..
[Edited on 9-8-2003 by Uninen]