After reading "German Night Fighter Aces of WW2" by Jerry Scutts, I had a revilation.
I beleive that the new frontier for World War II sims is night fighting, after reading the book mentioned above I was amazed at the losses that the RAF suffered--they made the 8th and 9th Air Force losses seem pale. For example, during a raid on Nuremburg on the night of March 30/31 1944 the RAF suffered a loss of 95 Halifaxes and Lancasters, in a span from March to July 1943 the RAF lost 1,000 aircraft. I am startled at how many losses of aircraft and airmen the RAF suffered and still, the Schweinfurt/Regensburg and Ploesti raids are still the most remembered air raid disasters ever in the minds of most WW2 aviation enthusiasts. In terms of bombers lost.
The success of Nachtjagd pilots are impressive as well. I will not going into detail on the score or tactics used by Nachtjagd pilots, since its not the point of this post. I will state, however, that I am starting to have more respect for the Nachtjagd pilots than the day fighter pilots. One reason would be that the Nachtjagd were mostly fighting to defend the families and cities that were being devistated by the RAF.
Anyway, the point...
I think HTC should realy think about starting to model dedicated night fighter aircraft and making nightfighting as equal in features and gameplay as the current day fighting is. This would definatly put HTC ahead of the crowd, Wb3, AW4 and I don't think WW2OL even has a night air war planned.
Aircraft that could be modeled would be:
P-61 Black Widow was used from the beginning of 44 with great success, at first it was used in anti-V1 sorties.
D.H. 98 XIX Mosse was one of the fastest night fighters of the war and spawned some of the highest ranking British night fighter aces.
Do 219 was the arch rival of the D.H. 98 XIX. The 219 or 'Owl' began to see service in the spring of 1943 and make an immediate impact on the Nachjagd leadership. The 219 suffered many engine problems though, but it was fast and could get the job done.
The above 3 would complete the late-war uber night fighters. Below are aircraft that made up the heart of the Nachtjagd and RAF bomber command.
The classic Bf-110. It was the first Luftwaffe aircraft to carry radar into battle, the Lichtenstein FuG 212. The highest ranking Nachtjagd pilot, Heinz Wolfgang Schnaufer with a total of 121 victores flew the BF 110 exclusivly.
The Ju-88 series, C-6, need I say more?
Do 215
Do 17
Handley Page Halifax was used along with the Lancaster for night operations after Mid 43 when the last of the early-war RAF bombers was retired.
Consider it...
------------------
IV.(Sturm)/JG 3 "
Udet"
[This message has been edited by Nath-BDP (edited 10-14-2000).]
