what about P-47 machine guns loaded with 100% APIs ?!?

[Flyingkag]

Hey all,

a friend of mine spoke to me about a P-47 crash site he had been searching about; he was able many years ago to discover maybe about 100 bullets or still complete rounds of cal. .50 ammunition, and ALL of them (100%) were APIs with silver painted top.

Was it usual that P-47 planes used such a loading, using NO tracers?

Seems to me very "dangerous" when a dogfight would happen, not to be able to adjust the trajectory of the bullets when no tracers are used!

OK, on a straffing run the pilot can a little bit "adjust" the trajectory of the plane and make it "come" onto the target, seing the impacts moving forwar on ground, but that is probably less effecient than using tracers in some of the guns, not right?

Did they maybe use (in october 1944 in eastern France) such a curious 100% API loading because they would have been short on ammunition and would have had no more other linked ammo combinations on airfield?

Thanks for sharing your opinion about that, guys!

Best feelings from France, Mathias