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The Schrage Musik Gunsight
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"Schrage Musik" ("Slanted Music, or "Jazz") is the term used for a gun configuration used in Luftwaffe night fighters in the Second World War. First experimented with in 1941, the use of cannon angled to fire upwards between 60 and 80 degrees became standard equipment on most two engined night fighters by the end of 1943. This enabled the Luftwaffe pilots to fly below the RAF bombers (who had no armament--or even a window--to observe below!) and fire up into their unprotected underside. In fact, the greatest danger to a fighter using Schrage Musik was often getting out of the way of the stricken target as it fell to earth!
The Schrage Musik in the He219 were usually two MK108 30 mm cannon with 100 rpg angled upwards at 65 degrees. The upward firing cannon are on the secondary armament firing keys "2" on the keyboard or as you choose to program them on your joystick.
The Sight in CFS1
To replicate the Schrage Musik gun sight, you have three options:
When you lock on to a target ("Tab" key) and you are in the proper position to fire from below it, hit the "~" key and the sight will come into view. It is a "ladder" type with a middle cross hair for the firing position. If the legs of the ladder are to starboard, you are approaching the target. If the legs are to port you have passed the target and must slow down or come around for another attempted shot.
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Above is standard padlock view.
NOTE: The ladder site responds opposite to the direction you turn the airplane. If you bank right, it will swing left and vice versa. This is due to the function of the padlock maintaining track on the target but showing the relationship to your airplane. It can be confusing on the first few attempts and has the added disadvantage of putting the bright yellow brackets around your target. If you’re trying for realism, you’ll want to avoid using padlock.
Standard gunsight in a new window
1. Set this sight up by opening a new window (using the "[" key on the keyboard).
2. To set the upward angle click the "Enter" and "Backspace" keys at the same time (fifteen clicks or so, depending on your computer). The sight will initially appear as a small green + mark (you may need to Right Click with the mouse over this window and select "Virtual Cockpit" so see the green + mark).
3. Clicking outside the new window will bring up the normal gun sight in this window (if it doesn’t appear, you may need to Right Click with the mouse and select "Cockpit View."
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Above is standard gunsight in a new window (upper left corner).
Use "enter and backspace" simultaneously and click 15 times to set the sight angle for the upward guns.
Padlock ladder sight in a new window
After you have locked on to a target, open a new window with the "[" key. Once you’ve encountered the enemy, click on "Tab" and then padlock "~" and now the ladder sight will appear in that window when you are in the proper position to fire. This method allows you to maintain aircraft attitude (difficult for some in padlock view) and still see the ladder sight and the target.
click for large view
Above is padlock ladder sight but in a new window.
NOTE: The ladder site responds opposite to the direction you turn the airplane. If you bank right, it will swing left and vice versa. This is due to the function of the padlock maintaining track on the target but showing the relationship to your airplane. It can be confusing on the first few attempts.
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