Originally posted by Stringer
The math isn't that hard...2-3k climb per minute means 10 minutes to alt. That's not all night.
Not trying to argue or sound whiney stringer (even though I'm sure it will come across that way) if you climb out at a 3K climb and try to get to 30,000 feet with a droptank and pair of gondolas, it will tak a lot longer that 10 minutes, as you will run out of speed about every 8,000 feet, have to level off to build speed back up (which takes a while with all that crap hanging off your plane), and then climb all-out for another 8K or so and start the process all over again.
Instead you find yourself climbing out at about 1.5K a minute, max. Which takes twice as long, say 20 to 25 minutes. And you can't do that straight into the bomber stream, as you will be far too slow to maneuver at that altitude and a sitting duck for even a complete newb running a Pony, Jug, or Lightning on escort.
So you have to either climb out in front of the stream and hope that you line yourself up correctly, which is a lot harder than it sounds, or you shadow the formation and setup your attack, which leaves you, again, at the mercy of the faster escort fighters.
So you climb as high as you can get- to date I have yet to get a 109G6 higher than 32K, where it was flying with the nose on an almost 30 degree up angle- and you come swooping in, dropping your by now 1/4 to 1/2 full tank (and you are about a half hour, maybe 40 minutes into the flight) to get as much speed and maneuverability as you can manage. But at that alt, as the P-38 drivers will tell you, its very easy to compress. So after you make that slash, by the time you pull back up and climb back up to your starting altitude, you are so far behind the bombers that you have the choice of either bugging out and going home for a new plane, or engaging in a long tail chase and putting yourself, once again, at the escort pilots mercy.
So you have just spent a grand total of about 45 to 50 minutes to take one attack run, probably being badly hit by the buff guns or being chased off by the escorts. Then you either land or die, and do it again on their outward leg.
Last Tuesday(?), the night of the B-17 attack on the oil refinery, I spent nearly 45 minutes in flight before I ever saw an Allied plane, and another 20 after that before I engaged the bomber stream. Then on the second attempt I through half my gas without ever catching sight of the bomber stream before I just called it a night and turned for home.
Now, don't get me wrong- having said all that, my favorite part of being a 109 flier is buff-interception missions. I was at work, or I'm sure I would have been up there dieing repeatedly alongside my fellow Looftwaffles. I've been looking forward to the 8th finally getting into the fight the whole setup, and I'm glad to see the kind of numbers you guys managed to get. I just wish that there were more who enjoyed the challenge of "making love to a flaming porcupine" as much as I do. I could fight buff formations all day. I'm not a furballer in the least bit.
Wow, I never meant for that post to get that long. I can ramble on, can't I?
