I can't believe the sadness I feel having found this post. I stopped flying with DHBG almost 7 years ago, the year my dad passed away. For some reason tonight I found myself wondering about DHBG and fully expected to find Vega still leading the group. The picture posted by Papa of Vega and DNR911 together on what must have been a B-17 flight brought back so many memories. I started flying with DHBG back in the Warbirds days and believe I had received or was close to my 10 year anniversary the the squad when I had to leave. I still can't believe the hours we logged in Warbirds when we were paying by the hour. Although I loved and rarely missed squad night my favorite memories were from the early 2000s when I'd login in the middle of the night to find Vega and one or two other squad mates online. We'd spend hours fighting to control one area of the map or even one base. The game however was only part of the experience. Vega promoted such a feeling of excellence in the squad. I still have to smile when I think of the number of hours I spend practicing landing my B-25 on a CV for the annual Doolittle raid. Working with Flight Simulator to prepare for the "Wings over America" tour. (I never did get ACARs running) Vega was instrumental in making me a much better online pilot. I still kick myself for never having gone for my actual pilots license.
To all the squad: shokko, papafox, Loser111, steely07, knob, thunder, hatman, flybywire, er, doctor, ctrlv, comet, chrish, cetus, cballs, bobcaa, turbo, hatman, tapakeg, steely, behindya, everyone I missed and dnr911 - thank you all for the years of fun and friendship. Dnr911 - I remember the first night you flew with us, I remember flying your wing and I'm so sorry for your lose.
To Vega - I'm sorry I never got a chance to meet you in person and I'm so sorry the I missed this thread by almost 4 years. Thank you for making us the best bomber squadron ever to have flown in cyberspace. It was your encouragement that enabled many of us, missing major sections of our aircraft, often on fumes or gliding, to deny the enemy their victory by landing safely at home. Knowing that you will be waiting, I don't fear what is ahead of me. On that day when I head to my final debriefing I look forward to seeing your smiling face and hear you once again say "You grab a load of grunts, I'll fly cover and together we'll go kick some Rook butt." Until then set your channel 5 password to 'vega' to keep the traveling turds off our freq. Salute old friend. <S>
Salute DHBG,
Zipity
still - zipity@comcast.net
