Anyone up for SPAA school?

[Silkmonger]

Ok. I'm old, and I'm fat, and I'm past my warrior prime, but I seem to have at least a little bit of a knack for knocking down airplanes. Anyone up to learn what little I may be able to teach? If so, tell me what day and what time would be best for you, CST, and I'll see what I can do.

[Spudbob]

I'm game (Pun intended) Silk. Maybe it'll help me shoot down things in bombers better too...

[Silkmonger]

When are you likely to be on? (so what day(s) of the week, which TZ, and what hours?)

[Spudbob]

You know me, Silk. Usually on any day all day.

[DonnyMack]

I can help. I'll try you later on today

[Silkmonger]

Ok. Well, while we're waiting for another class, here are some pointers:

1) Be very aware that firing an SPAA at airplanes puts up a fireworks show for everyone on the map, giving your location away.
2) In regular tanks, it's good to leave some ammo out, as it makes it harder for someone to 1-shot kill you. Don't do this with SPAA's, as they can run out of ammo pretty easily. (More so as you go up in BR!)
3) In that you can go through a lot of ammo fairly quick, I find it useful to hang out in the capture zones, so the SPAA reloads whenever you're not moving.
4) Since pilots *love* to bomb SPAA's, I find it is good to get up against a wall or building that isn't destructible. This can cut *way back* on the number of times you get to ride a blastwave to death.
5) HE rounds are almost always the better ones to use against aircraft.
6) Airplanes move a lot better than SPAA's. If you're moving, though, it will randomize your aim. (more so on some SPAA's than others) Still, if I'm able, and don't have cover, I like to point my SPAA at the enemy airplane. (not really for M15's, but they're crap anyway)
7) Leading is interesting. Not many SPAA's are really intended for shooting down a single airplane, so they're not really set well for quick rotation of turret or change of vertical aim. The SPAA driver has to try to plan ahead so that the guns are pointed to where a plane will be, soon, rather than where it is, now. If a plane is coming at you, and doing a lot of wiggling (rolls, slips, and dips) feel free to fire at it more, as any of those 3 maneuvers can put it back in line to receive your rounds.
8) If you have fired at an enemy plane, the optimum result is your round hits that plane. If you're not hitting, the next-best thing is to have your round and the image of the plane intersect. If the images touch, but the round does not hit, it will either be visible with the plane flying behind it, or it will be hidden briefly behind the enemy plane. If it's going behind the enemy plane, it means you need to lead the target less, where if the plane is flying behind the round, then you need to lead the plane more.

Ok. If the rest of you want to add to that, feel free. You can also ask questions about this as well. Now get out there and knock down some planes!