Uhhh what are you shooting at? Killstreaks 9 and above have flares...

Has to be severe lag then, if you're sure it's not hitting anything like trees or telephone wires. My guess is there's a logic problem with locking on and losing connection to the game briefly. There's nothing wrong with pulling a stinger right down after firing. There is absolutely no way to fire without locking on.

if its attack choppers you are missing its probably just a matter of you turning away too quickily like you said when you watch them it hits. try not to turn right as you fire and you should do better. Also AH-6 tend to avoid being hit by swerving away from the first missle you shoot so try to have a short clear view of them

I get this every now and the too, happened in mw2 with harriers sometimes

the weird one I'm getting bout once a week is firing a stinger reloading then finding I still have 2 shots left :/ (no scav pro but not sure if that works on launchers anyway)