Radio, Radio,
I'm flying toward the enemy base in the company of another friendly. We encounter 3 bogies that are co-alt, a P-38 is about 2k out in front of a Spit and T-bolt heading strait at us. I'm on the left in Yak 9T, about 2k in front of the other friendly who's in a P-51. I call "in" on the P-38. After several turns the P-38 is in my gun sights, he's turning hard and bleeding e-fast. I pass on few snap shots because this yak has 32 useful round of ammo and I don’t want to waste them, I can wait a little longer for a cleaner shot and it should be coming right up because the 38 driver is cork screwing in the hope of making me miss, but not doing anything that's going to turn the tables. In a few seconds he won't have the E to roll fast enough to make me miss. Once I kill him I can turn back to help the Mustang who's on the short end of a 2 on 1. The 38 levels out and starts to make a slow climbing right hander. I turn with him, give it a little throttle and some left rudder to get the nose up and line him up. I'm about the squeeze the trigger when a stream of tracers races past my canopy. Damn a bandit is in firing range. He missed but he has lead on me. I'm in trouble but I can get the kill first. I squeeze the cannon button. The 38 is in pieces and begins to spin nose up when my rounds hit him and he explodes. What the…just then the friendly 51 blows past me. The tracers were his. System: You got an Assist on bandit. For Pete's sake. More tracers fly past the canopy. I look back ad the Spit and the Jug are 400 yrds back, one turn later I'm missing a wing and spiral into the ground. It seemed so inefficient.
What did I learn from the ensuing frustration? That very few team mates think like real pilots. Why should they? It's a game not a real war. There are no generals, no orders, no game plan, no roles and responsibilities, no training, and no accountability. The team dynamics are a result of each pilot acting on his own sense of what he feels like doing at any given moment, and at that moment the 51 driver wanted a kill. He didn’t want to defeat the red menace, or make sure I got home safely, which would be top priorities for a pilot in a real war. He wanted to kill as many red guys as he could, and get back and land them, the bandit I was chasing was the easiest one to get.
Sure, there could be a lot of reason for him to go for the same guy I was after…
He thought I'd miss
He thought the guy might turn the tables
He never saw me
Etc…
I got caught up in very similar situation about an hour later and I in frustration I squeaked over the range channel "G'd Darn it, why are you shooting over my shoulder?" I was told I had just done the same thing by downing a pilot who was on a friendly's twelve o'clock. I replied with this excuse..
I thought he was on your six o'clock.
In my defense I think the bandit was on his six when I saw him and dove to 'help', but by the time I got there they were engaged in a rolling scissors and they friendly may have completed the reversal. He said he had the film. Perhaps he'll post and clear it up. But as I thought more about it I realized what the real problem was. Too much assuming, not enough communicating on the radio. So I'm committing myself to a new radio etiquette where I will asked before entering, and announce what I'm doing so others know. A few already do. I hope it catches on. The MA needs a little more organization, even if it's one furball at a time.
Vinkman
