3-inch rockets, 1950s tech

[konstpan]

Been playing with Dawn Strike scenario placed in 1950.

Have aircrafts loaded with 3-inch rockets for ground attack but cannot find which was the real world launch altitude.

[Rory Noonan]

As low as possible; rockets are not particularly accurate and they become even less accurate when fired at a distance. From what I can gather on a quick search standard procedure for an F-86 in Korea was to commence roll in at 5,000ft AGL and fire from an angle of 20-40 degrees dive. This would very rapidly put you at around the 2,000ft mark, which depending on the pilot is probably around where most people would want to start pulling up.

[konstpan]

Nice info. Good to know, thanks.

[kevinkins]

Yes, I have noticed the same with rockets fired from USN choppers in modern times. The firing widow in pretty narrow. But if I recall, the window is expressed in the modern databases, but I am not sure about the older cold war databases. I do remember it took a bit of trial and error to get rockets to be effective. But they are fun once you figure them out.

Kevin

[Rory Noonan]

APKWS is a huge game changer here [:)]

~9x the cost though

[kevinkins]

konstpan,

You will not have that system above available in the 50's. So I recommend practicing in the editor various types of rocket attacks. You can even set up small scenarios that just deal with those specific rocket attacks. Then you can bring your learning back into the Dawn Strike scenario you are playing. We do this kind of thing all the time. The editor is your friend and it's really impossible to learn CMO without it.

Kevin

[konstpan]

A trial and error thing. Got it

[boogabooga]

Is there an altitude profile in the loadout description? Like Lo-Lo-Lo or Hi-Lo-Hi and then details? The loadout description should tell you what its default strike profile is.

And FYI, I've played that scenario and the three inchers are next to worthless. Might consider just waiting and loading 500 pounders.

Also, the Seafire 47 should have 4 Hispano 20mm and no Browning 30 cals. The database is wrong about that.

[konstpan]

ORIGINAL: boogabooga
And FYI, I've played that scenario and the three inchers are next to worthless. Might consider just waiting and loading 500 pounders.

Yes, I came to that conclusion too. But at first I wanted to stick to orders that stated for attacks to take place at 06:15 local time.

[Gunner98]

ORIGINAL: apache85

APKWS is a huge game changer here [:)]

~9x the cost though

Yes but if it takes 10-12 rockets to hit a target normally... not to mention loadout vs target efficiency and removing collateral damage - nice piece of kit. Only been around the last 5 years or so though.

B

[Gunner98]

A trial and error thing. Got it

Very true, but as a start point if you tell the unit to fly as low as possible and to terrain follow, you can't go wrong with most dumb weapons. The game will put you at the minimum altitude necessary to engage that weapon and by getting low you minimize a bunch of ballistic variables. Of course that entails risk from ground fire but being low helps with that as well, you're just as juicy a target at 3,000 ft as at 300 ft and when low, small terrain variances might help you.