Gunship Academy
by Richard Sheffield
Rule 3: Avoid Flight in the Dead Man's Zone
In Gunship, flying above 100 feet is extremely dangerous. You become visible to a large number of enemy positions that fire at you before you can react. By staying low, you'll avoid detection, observation, and the resulting fire for as long as possible. Also, once you're spotted, flying low reduces the amount of time that you remain in the enemy's field of fire. Often you'll be gone by the time the enemy's weapons are up and ready to fire.
If you fly too high in Gunship, you can draw fire from all the way across the sector map. If you know that there are a number of bad guys behind a hill, going over the top puts you in sight of all of them. Unmasking laterally, or sideways, lets you engage targets one at a time, keeping you behind the hill and out of sight of the rest of them.
Firing from the maximum range in this situation allows you to attack the advancing tank without coming under fire from the ZSU-23-4 AA gun.
Flying below 100 feet will keep you below the hilltops and out of sight for as long as possible.
When Buzzsaw decided to go over the hill, instead of around it, he made a mistake. The hill was 250 feet high, and, when he crossed the top, his shape was silhouetted against the sky, making him visible to every enemy in the valley.
Table of Contents
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Next Section: Rule 4: Whenever Possible Make a High Reconnaissance