Comments of a real fighter pilot from today

[Guppy35]

I had a talk with a 474th FG P38 pilot today as part of a research project I'm doing.  A couple things he said made a lot of sense in particular in response to the thread about "furballers mentality"

His name is Bud Holecheck and he was a 19 year old 38 pilot thrown into the middle of things in October 44 flying ground attack.  Their alt he said was generally 8K for the job so the bad guys were above if they saw them.

Paraphrasing a bit from 4 pages of notes.

-If you wanted to be a fighter pilot you had to want to get into the fight.  It didn't mean you weren't scared, but it meant you believed you could beat anyone you came up against.  He said he dreamed of fighting 109s and 190s but never got the chance.  He had the confidence in his ability that he could win.

I thought that spoke volumes about what we describe as 'furballers'.  I think that means that 'furballers' are 'Fighter pilots', which is what this game is about I thought

The job he did in ground attack meant he had to fight the flak, which was like 'flying into a Christmas tree that was shooting at you".  He lost 3 of 4 room mates in 6 months and numerous friends.

He said when they got to England, they had a lot of chances to 'rat race' with Spitfires and he felt like he could beat anyone but a great Spitfire pilot in his 38J.  He then went on to describe corkscrewing up and watching the Spits follow, and because of the no torque of the 38, they Spits would stall out first and then he would kick rudder and nose down and 'they were dead'.  He wanted the chance to use it against a 190 but never got the chance.

Oh, and the 38 was far and away the best plane he flew, and he'd flown 51s and Jugs too.  They didn't compare

[mensa180]

There you have it folks.  Furballers win, and the 38 is the best plane.   

Neat stuff Dan.

[DoNKeY]

Oh, and the 38 was far and away the best plane he flew, and he'd flown 51s and Jugs too.  They didn't compare

 

donkey

[WWhiskey]

i have heard of alot of combat pilots who said the 38 was way better than anything else,,, and i would like too believe them,, but then i heard alot of jug pilots say it was the best so i dont really Know! but in the game i like the jugg better ! i wish the 38 was as good as they represent it too be although it could just be me!
 as far as furballing there was alot of war going on and alot of different ways to kill they enemy but i imagine command would tell you not to tangle when you didnt have to ! just get the kill and move on down the road!

[Ack-Ack]

He said when they got to England, they had a lot of chances to 'rat race' with Spitfires and he felt like he could beat anyone but a great Spitfire pilot in his 38J.  He then went on to describe corkscrewing up and watching the Spits follow, and because of the no torque of the 38, they Spits would stall out first and then he would kick rudder and nose down and 'they were dead'.  He wanted the chance to use it against a 190 but never got the chance.

Oh, and the 38 was far and away the best plane he flew, and he'd flown 51s and Jugs too.  They didn't compare

It's amazing how well corkscrewing up really does work in here against Spitfires like it did in real life, it's a favorite tactic of mine roping co-alt, co-E Spitfires.


ack-ack

[wrongwayric]

And there we have the problem with the game. Furballers don't care if they die, just grab another ride and up it into the horde/furball again. The pilots in real life know that that plane is there ride home. You lose your plane not only do you lose your ride but very possibly your life! I do tons of porking missions in the game and know how hard that is, i can't imagine in real life diving into the ack knowing 1 lucky hit can make me a POW or dead. Courage and fear went hand in hand with those guys and nothing but respect for em.

[mensa180]

AKAK could you post a picture or film with trails on so I can see what you mean against spits?  You mean just avoiding the HO that they will take, and then doing a climbing turn up?  Or like barrel rolling up?  I'm a little confused.

[Gianlupo]

I thought that spoke volumes about what we describe as 'furballers'.  I think that means that 'furballers' are 'Fighter pilots', which is what this game is about I thought

Woo-oooh!

Oh, and the 38 was far and away the best plane he flew, and he'd flown 51s and Jugs too.  They didn't compare

Just because he never flew a Ki-84!

Mensa, I think he's referring to a climbing spiral.

[2bighorn]

Mensa, I think he's referring to a climbing spiral.

CC, or continuous chandelle. All three terms are fine and mean the same.

[Guppy35]

And there we have the problem with the game. Furballers don't care if they die, just grab another ride and up it into the horde/furball again. The pilots in real life know that that plane is there ride home. You lose your plane not only do you lose your ride but very possibly your life! I do tons of porking missions in the game and know how hard that is, i can't imagine in real life diving into the ack knowing 1 lucky hit can make me a POW or dead. Courage and fear went hand in hand with those guys and nothing but respect for em.

You missed the point.

His point, and we weren't talking about AH, we were talking about flying fighters, is that you have to have a confidence in yourself and your ability to go looking for a fight.  That's what he dreamed about when he became a fighter pilot.  He was willing to take the risk for real, and it's what he became a fighter pilot for.

To take it further, he didn't get to choose to go to 25K and hang above a fight.  His job had him at 8K in a 38 with liquid cooled engines, fighting flak, hardly a job where life expectency was high. 

No one in the MA dictates anyone elses mission parameters.  No one tells you to go in at 8K and look for ground targets.  He didn't have the choice.  Given the choice he'd have been in a dogfight.

The beauty of the "GAME" is that we do have the chance to fight other people, and with no risk so we can in our cartoon airplanes live out what he dreamed of doing for real and never got the chance to.

The irony is some folks happily avoid fighting real folks to go kill buildings and run through the flak, when they have a choice.

[thndregg]

Flying and fighting is what this game is, but from a business standpoint, remove the potential to achieve various objectives that instigate fights from the arenas, leaving ONLY the absolute furball aspect, how much business would HTC really have?

[Masherbrum]

And there we have the problem with the game. Furballers don't care if they die, just grab another ride and up it into the horde/furball again. The pilots in real life know that that plane is there ride home. You lose your plane not only do you lose your ride but very possibly your life! I do tons of porking missions in the game and know how hard that is, i can't imagine in real life diving into the ack knowing 1 lucky hit can make me a POW or dead. Courage and fear went hand in hand with those guys and nothing but respect for em.

You'll be PNG'd soon.   Newsflash, we DON'T DIE in this game.   

[Masherbrum]

There you have it folks.  Furballers win, and the 38 is the best plane.   

Neat stuff Dan.

         S.A.P.P. is right on a couple of things.   

[Mustaine]

Suddenly! A challenger appears!

[hubsonfire]

Good stuff, Dan. Here's another that, strangely enough, also directly translates to AH, despite the fact you can't really get hurt or killed even if you try. Emphasis is mine. 

It is fascinating to watch the reactions of the various pilots. They fall into two broad categories; those who are going out to shoot and those who secretly and desperately know they will be shot at, the hunters and the hunted. The majority of the pilots, once they have seen their name on the board, walk out to their Spitfires for a pre-flight check and for a word or two with their ground crews. They tie on their mae-wests, check their maps, study the weather forecast and have a last-minute chat with their leaders or wingmen. These are the hunters.

The hunted, that very small minority (although every squadron usually possessed at least one), turned to their escape kits and made quite sure that they were wearing the tunic with the silk maps sewn into a secret hiding-place; that they had at least one oilskin-covered packet of French francs, and two if possible; that they had a compass and a revolver and sometimes specially made clothes to assist their activities once they were shot down. When they went through these agonized preparations they reminded me of aged countrywomen meticulously checking their shopping- lists before catching the bus for the market town.

-Johnnie Johnson, Wing Leader (1956)