Time of Aces - 7th of October 1944
October was a pivotal month for the air campaign on Guadalcanal. It was a time when the men who had arrived in August were clearly at the end of their endurance, for sickness and fatigue hit them after they had survived Japanese bullets. However, new squadrons and crews were arriving, among them VMF-121, led by Major Leonard K. "Duke" Davis. His executive officer, Captain Joseph J. Foss, would soon make a name for himself. Other veterans of the campaign had not stayed idle. Major Smith of VMF-223 had taken his squadron up on 2 October against a raid by Japanese bombers and fighters. The Zero escorts dove on the climbing Navy and Marine Wildcats, quickly shooting down two fighters from VMF-223. Smith exited a cloud to confront three Zeros. He blasted a fighter into a ball of flame. However, the two remaining Zeros got on his tail and peppered the struggling little blue-gray F6F with cannon and machine gun fire. Listening to a repaired radio from a damaged SBD back at Guadalcanal, the crews of Dennis Byrd's VMSB-232 heard Captain Carl call to his skipper. "John, you've got a Zero on your tail!" "I know, I know," Smith replied, "shoot the SOB if you can!" Then all was silence
Terrain – the Slot
Aircraft
Allied
1.B-26 (with Formations)
2.F4U-1D
3.F4U-1C
4.P-38L
6.F6f-5
5.SBD-5
Axis
1.KI67 (with formations)
2.N1K2
3.A6M5b
4.KI61
5.KI84
6.B5N2
Arena Settings
- Fuel 1.5
- Icons short
- .51 Ack
- Fighter and Bomber warning range 42,000 (about 8 miles)
- Tower range set to 42,000 (for display only to match the above setting)
- Clouds / visibility (17 miles)
- Friendly collisions off
- Kill shooter off
- South East 10 knots
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great setup , nice diversion from MA - try it, you'll like it
