Having grown bored at flying defensive sorties against Bishop raiders down south on the Equinox map, and having limited time remaining, I scanned the map looking for a fight where sides would be reasonably equal. I truly dislike the current SOP of hordes attacking lightly defended fields.
A huge brawl was taking place over between A3 and A4 between the Knights and Rooks. That looked like fun. So, I went to A1 and selected a P-51B in one of the new skins. I loaded enough gas to stay airborne for at least 40 minutes.
Rolling about a minute after a P-47N, I lifted off and climbed out heading southwest.
Scanning the radar, I detected a dot headed towards A1. Naturally, I assumed its purpose was to attack and disable supplies or ordnance.
Having no idea how high the bogie was, I assumed it was at 20,000 feet or higher. So, I continued to climb intending to intercept the enemy. I hoped it was not a formation of bombers as the P-51B is far from ideal for knocking down heavies.
Passing 19,000 feet I can see the enemy as a distant dot. He's still above me and I keep the Mustang climbing. After a couple of minutes, I'm still below the bogie, but I can finally make out its indentity; an N1K2-J.
Off to my right I see that friendly P-47N and warn him.
"Blixin, keep an eye on that Niki at your high 9 o'clock."
"Yeah, I see him".
Making a smooth, climbing right turn, I rolled out 1,000 yards behind and a bit below the enemy fighter. Engaging WEP, I close in.
"Widewing, you going after him?", asks Blixin.
"Yeah, I'm down to 600 yards, gonna shoot at 400."
"Ok. That guy must be in the bathroom or something."
Thinking to myself: "Well, I'm about to wipe his butt for 'em."
At exactly 400 yards (the convergence of my guns are set at 350 yards) behind and slightly below, I squeeze the trigger.
I see hit strikes concentrated aft. The tail simply comes off...
"Hey Widewing, are you gonna shoot? I'm coming up fast from underneath."
"He's dead, tail is off."
"Roger."
Level at 22,000 feet, we turn and head south to A3.
Arriving over A3 we see enemy aircraft just about everywhere. However, a roughly equal amount of friendly fighters are also present. I initially figured that we would be well above the fight, but that was not the case. I spot three 109s at our altitude and I head straight for them. About 3k away, all three roll over and dive. Right behind them are two La-7s, again these guys were above 20,000 feet! Well, at 20k even a pair of La-7s have two chances against a P-51B; slim and none. Blowing through between them, I pull the fastest reverse I can. One La-7 is trying to claw its way around, while the other is diving away. Halfway through his "standard LaLa loop" I nail him hard with a perfect 90 degree planform shot. Smoking and missing some hardware, he dives for the deck in a downward corkscrew maneuver, and I follow. Passing 12,000 feet the Lavochkin maneuvers through a series of slight turns and rolls. I glance at the airspeed and see more than 400 mph indicated. I continue to pursue as the La-7 levels off at 4,000 feet, still jinking like a mad man. His attempt to run away was thwarted by the La-7's lousy compressibility behavior. This guy at least knew that to dive too fast was trouble. On the other hand, my Mustang was rock steady and I had closed the distance down to 600 yards. I see another Rook angling in from the right, it looks like a Dora. Before the 190 gets between me and my target, I squeezed off a short burst and saw a hit sprite. This induced the desired effect and the Lavochkin breaks hard left and up. I pulled lead and fired. Hits concentrated on the left wing, which breaks off.
As I ease off the stick pressure I watch the Rook 190 hose the wingless Lavochkin. It explodes and I have to settle for an assist. Informing the Dora driver of his breach of protocol in no uncertain terms, I receive a half-hearted apology. I will get a measure of revenge a few minutes later.
Chasing the La-7 had brought me several miles west of A4. So, I executed a left turn and head back. Climbing to 8k, I spot a low dot headed to A4. I nose over and dive down. Closing fast, the icon shows me that its a Macchi fighter. I'm sure the enemy pilot sees me as he maneuvers a bit to keep me in sight. It's obvious that he is waiting to time his break turn and he stays low, skimming over hills. The range is dropping quickly. 1200 yards, 800 yards, the icon now reads C.202... Then a sudden flash.
Busy watching me, he never saw the ground rise just a bit and he flies into a tree. I'll take that kind of kill anytime.
Zooming back up, someone calls out an enemy C-47 north of A4. I level off at 3k and pour on the power. I see several other friendlies all racing to get there first. I consider breaking off as I despise the pack mentallity of the MA. But, I'm higher than the others... I'll get there first, so why not grab the kill if I can?
After about a minute the Goon's icon is visible. Pushing over, my Mustang accelerates well ahead of the pack as I dive down to the Goon's altitude. Just below I see something that motivates me even more. Flashing past the Dora that had swiped my La-7 kill, I closed on the Goon rapidly. At 800 yards, the C-47 breaks to the left. I see tracers wizz by my canopy as the Dora driver tries to shoot around me. I open fire at 600 yards and the twin-engined transport explodes.
Once again, I turn and head back to A4, climbing up to 8,000 feet. A large gaggle of enemy is on the radar. Having come from a more distant field, they are high, very high. It's a mixed group of 109s and 190s. They come barreling down, but are going too fast to be much of a threat. I sidestep a couple of 109s and smack a 190 with a nose-off deflection shot. He starts smoking but continues towards the field. It's not safe to pursue him, so I concentrate on chasing a 109 off of a friendly. I get a few hits at 800 yards and the 109 breaks off and runs. His wingman tries to turn into me but I get around faster and shoot off one of his elevators as he flashes in front of me. He too runs for the deck. The fight has now descended down to the deck and I'm still at 8,000 feet. I spot a P-38 trying to sneak in by hugging the mountain to the west. I head to cut him off. Seeing me roll in above him, the P-38 breaks right.
I take a snap shot and score hits. Executing a climbing turn I take another snap shot at the turning Lightning. Debris flies off as my rounds find the target. Once again, I repeat the maneuver scoring on the cockpit and the P-38 detonates.
Over the course of the fight with the P-38, I received three assists for the two 109s and the 190, which obviously had not made it back. The guys fighting directly over the field were tearing apart the survivors of that last gaggle, knocking them down in quick order.
With ammo and gas getting low, I decide to head back to A1 as A4 was still too hot to attempt a landing with La-7s, 190s and Spitfires arriving in a steady stream. Since there is a mountain range between the fields, I must climb. Passing 9,000 feet, I see a bogie on the radar to the west of A1. Having less than 400 rounds of ammo remaining, I debate whether or not to intercept the enemy. Spotting his dot below my altitude makes the decision for me. It's a lone B-24 trailing smoke from one engine.
I make two diving passes from his high 12 o'clock, the second of which sets the Liberator ablaze. With just 43 rounds remaining I make one last run from his right side, emptying the last of my ammo into the hapless bomber. A minute or two later, it explodes.
Arriving at A1, I set the Mustang down, guns empty, tanks nearly empty and without so much as a scratch to that fine paint job. My virtual crew chief would be a happy man.
Five kills (really 6) and four assists made the sortie worthwhile. Granted, some of those kills were virtually effortless, but you take 'em how you find 'em.
Anyone care to guess why I like the P-51B? It's one of the those fighters that allows you to fly amongst a crowd of enemy with near impunity, as long as you manage your speed and are aware of your surroundings. I've said this before; if the P-51B had retained the four 20mm Hispanos of the XP-51B prototype, it would have been the absolute best fighter in AH2. But, since the AAF viewed four .50 cal MGs as adequate, we must make the most of marginal firepower. Of course, performance is top tier as it is. Considering that the P-51B was generally a mid-war fighter (1943), its ability to match and even out-perform most of the perked prop fighters marks it as a great ride.
My regards,
Widewing
