Wednesday, August 08, 2007

5 flights 4 strikes 3 landings 2 tankers 1 mboat

I flew for about three hours tonight (realtime). Almost the whole time I was accompanied online over the North Sea by 'Wolf', a far more experienced pilot than myself. He lives on the East Coast. Flight time started about midnight (server time) and I disconnected when the first solid glow is visible in the East. Weather again is fine (although Wolf reported fog over the the Northern part of the map around Gossen).

Mission 1: Flew at 10000 feet in semi-formation with Wolf, he bombed and we both returned to base (myself via a pancake landing).

Mission 2: Torpedo flight to strike targets due East about 50 miles. Wolf followed me in at low altidtude to enemy motor boat. I was at wave top height when AA bursted around me, flipping my plane around in sky too much for me to control and I crashed in the sea. Wolf continued the attack, sunk the boat and returned to base.

Mission 3: Torpedo flight, Wolf following, over tankers to East of Oygarden. He peeled off behind me as I entered attack run at about 200 feet, and we struck neighboring ships. We kept up our low altitude run, sweeping onto a course over Herdla field which we strafed with our cannons. We made three passes. I didn't hit anything. The AA fire I drew, however, got me and I crashed in the bay with fatal results.

Mission 4: Lone torpedo flight towards Oygarden whilst Wolf flew north towards Gossen on a bombing raid. I braved some AA to home in on a lone Motor boat protecting the seaward entrance to the inner sea channel near Herdla. Dropping torpedo from about half a mile, the ship had blown up by the time I had set course for base.

I carefully listened to the reports Wolf was sending from Gossen. Heavy and high AA, submarines on direct bearing between our base and the target, very big german warship in bay on Norwegian East coast.

Mission 5: I set off with torpedo to hunt reported subs on bearing of 35'. I don't find any, so head east at 300 feet until I hit the main enemy island chain and then head towards where the enemy battleship was reported. I don't find any battleship, but do spot a tanker to the North East in the large bay to Gossen's South. With all the time in the world, I excute a long sweeping curve to release torpedo a couple hundred metres from target, and then sweep on up and over it and to home.

At different times during the evening there were various other pilots up in german planes. Not too many of these pilots were able to cope with the combination of full real and night time. Natal was up for about an hour in a FW 190, raiding our field at Peterhead. I never saw him, however. Phew!

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