ground attack!!!

[CAP1]

here's my latest. hope you guys n gals are enjoying. if so, let me know....if not, let me know. 


this mornings mission sounded fairly easy. there were 4 bridges that needed to be taken down, due to the threat of an entire battalion of panzers
crossing, and capturing the town there.
 if this happened, the loss of one of our main supply depots would become imminent, and our airfield would be at serious risk.

 it was decided that a single attack aircraft could accomplish this, and it was within 50 miles of base, requiring only a short flight to target.

 i was almost looking forward to this flight. i would not be above 10,000 feet, and this meant i didn't have to go on oxygen. although our oxygen masks were our lifelines at high altitude, most of us so hated those dam things. they were extremely uncomfortable when worn for an extended time, and often chafed.

 i chatted with louie, as his crew loaded and secured the six rocket tubes, plugged in their electrical connectors, and then carefully.....very
carefully loaded the high explosive air to ground rockets into them.
 the ground crew worked in near silence, and in perfect choreography as they finished with the rockets, and loaded a pair of 500 pound bombs
on the pylons that normally carried my external fuel tanks. i wouldn't be needing them today. watching these kids(am i REALLY so old that 21
year old men are kids to me?) work so efficiently instilled confidence in me.
 louie was lecturing me. he was rather upset that i brought Catherine back with holes in her, and a blown radiator hose on number 2. he was
reminding me that this wasn't my airplane, but rather that it was HIS airplane, and he was only lending her to me, so i could go do the job
Uncle Sam was paying me to do. he mentioned something about a boot, an ass, and a hospital bed should i bring her back with damage again. of course
i knew he was joking(i hoped anyway), and smiled at him, knowing full well this was his way of telling me to be careful, and bring my bellybutton back
to base in one piece.

 ordinance and fuel loaded, i thanked the louies guys for taking care of Catherine for me, and promise to not damage her today(it always made
them feel better to see that some of us actually did appreciate all of their hard work).

 louie helped me strap in, took up position as i completed my checklists, and fired up number one. oil pressure in the green a little quicker than
usual....I'll have to keep an eye on that. number two coughs to life as i engage the inertia starter, and everything checks out OK.
 as i taxi out to the runway, i set my radio frequencies, rock the rudder pedals back n forth, watching my turn and slip indicator, dg(directional gyro),
and compass move accordingly. pull the yoke back into my belly, while watching the elevator, push full forward as i rock it back n forth, noting
both ailerons and elevator move full travel. a quick check verifies that both props cycle as they should, mag and fuel pump checks, and I'm ready to
launch. noting no traffic in the pattern, i obtain clearance from the tower, pull onto the  runway, line up, and set my dg to match the compass.
 these runways were amazing. it was called "marsden matting". give the corps of engineers one night, and they could build us a runway. this always
amazed me.

 throttles forward, as i approach 100mph, Catherine flies herself off the runway, pull the lever, and listen to the motors whir as they pull the wheels up
and the doors closed. i leveled out at only 500ft AGL, as i wanted to accelerate. i felt this was going to take one or two trips minimum. once i reached
cruise speed of about 350mph, i lifted the nose slightly, and climbed to 9,000 feet AGL, and turned east towards the target. it would only be a few minutes flight to target. presuming my aim is true(i always have problems hitting anything with these dam rockets)i should be able to take out all four bridges.

 intel didn't expect any enemy aircraft in the area, as by this point, they didn't send up their fighters unless there were bombers. they couldn't afford
the risk of loss in a dogfight. i kept my head on the swivel anyway, and noted the beautiful morning sky as i droned along to the music of my allison
v-1710's. a quick scan of the gauges shows everything in the green, and i go back outside.
  there it is, dead ahead, about 4 miles. our vehicle supply base, a small village, and the bridges i needed to destroy. i quickly scan the sky for enemies,
and arm the bombs. turning slightly south, to fly parallel with the river, i start to set up for my bomb run, pulling the throttles back, to keep myself safely
below diving speed. p-38's were a little quirky. if you got them too fast in a dive, the controls would lock up. the brass called it compression. we called
it death. at this low of an altitude, if the controls locked in a dive, there would be no room to recover.
 first bridge at 9 o'clock, throttles to idle, roll over, push the nose down, here we go!!! it is truly amazing how fast she accelerates. from 150mph to 350mph
in mere seconds. alllmost there....my thumb trembles on the release button, as i wiggle the yoke, feeling Catherine respond, letting me know all is well. alllllllmost there......pipper on the middle of the bridge......BOMBS AWAY!! i hit the release button twice in rapid succession, and ease back on the yoke. i want out of the dive, but i have to be careful to not pull too hard, as it would create an accelerated stall, and i would have no room to recover. i always attacked bridges lengthwise, as this nearly guaranteed a hit.  as i brought the nose to the horizon, i slowly advanced the throttles to full, maintaining my speed for climb, and set up for next pass.  looking out the back, i clearly see one of my bombs hit dead in the middle of the bridge, the other missing slightly, but hitting a support pillar under it. DAM.

 back up at altitude, throttles back, scan the sky for enemies again. the only thing in the sky was me, and for this i was thankful. it truly was a beautiful
morning, with the cloud layer about 15,000 feet, with some cumulus clouds(beautiful clouds) from 8,000 down to 1,500 feet.

 OK, rockets armed, line up on the second bridge. i only have 6 rockets, and if i do this right, i can take out the remaining three bridges in this single mission.
lined up on the bridge, i nearly broke my neck, as i noticed something that appeared to move at my 3 o'clock. as i looked, i saw the black puff that was the telltale sign of 88mm flack. DAMMIT!! i hate them with a passion!! at least if it were a Messerschmidt coming for me, i can fight back. i feel totally helpless against the flack. and german flack crews are notoriously accurate. i can only hope that the speed of my p-38 throws them off a little.
 OK....concentrate LT. you gotta get this done, and get the hell outta here now. speed right, roll, throttles to idle.......waiiit for it....waaiiiiit for it.......just
a little longer.......waaaaiiiiitttt.. .....FIRE!! twice i hit the fire button, and watch the two white trails as my rockets clear the tubes. they appear to be tracking
perfectly, as i pull out of my dive, throttle up, and re-climb. as I'm climbing, i look back, but don't have the right angle to see the impact, but strangely, i do hear to rather insignificant sounding explosions. i couldn't possibly have hit the bridge with them. level out, and slip, to view the bridge. DAYUM!! i hit it! WOOHOO!!! it didn't sound it.  more 88's going off around me, and i thought i heard something hit the plane. scan the gauges, all is well, except that my thoughts turned to the boot/ass/hospital conversation. 
 

[CAP1]

the two remaining bridges are crossing the river near a bend......i think i can make a single pass, and get both of them. lined up, roll, throttle back, nose down,
looking....wait for it.....waaaaiiiitttt........c rap.....no go. pull up, firewall the throttles, re-line myself, and roll right back into the dive. four rockets, two bridges right next to each other. easy. as i drop below 4,000 feet, i notice tracers. although i don't like anti-aircraft fire, i smile to myself, happy that i disturbed
the enemies sleep on this beautiful morning. i can tell that they're groggy, and not fully alert, as their fire is very inaccurate. two rapid hits of the fire button, and as i see the smoke trails clear, i lift the nose slightly, lining up the second bridge, not realizing I'm already at the firing point, i hit the firing button again, and see my last two rockets clear. rather than climb, and risk giving the anti aircraft gunners a slow big target, i go level, and firewall the throttles, and continue south along the river until i'm out of their range, then climb and turn back to confirm the last two bridges.
 the last one i fired at was easily repairable. dammit. only one rocket hit it. i couldn't tell where the other one hit. the three other bridges were gone. \
they would require serious work to repair.

 i headed home, happy to have hit with all but one of my rockets. as soon as i was clear of the bridge, i descended to 500 feet, as i just wanted to enjoy the scenery.
the flight home was uneventful, and although tired, i climbed to 2,000 feet at about 4 miles out. took up runway heading, slow descent, bringing myself to about 375mph, and as i crossed the runway threshold, pulled up, kicked rudder, and did a nice big fat barrel roll. boy, if louie wasn't gonna be pissed about the shrapnel, i bet he's gonna be pissed about that stunt. i had to have a little fun though. it was a good flight, i didn't have to fight another aircraft, possibly killing another person, nor did i have to blow up anything with people in it. i only had to destroy those bridges.
 i was smiling as Catherines wheels chirped on the marsden mats. i taxied to the maintenance hangar, completed my shutdown check lists, shut down, and headed to the ice box that i knew louie kept stocked with pretty much anything he, his crew, or any of us would want to drink. i shoulda grabbed an ice cold beer......but i felt like an ice cold coke instead.
 i was sitting there drinking it, when louie sat next to me. he took a gulp of his beer, and mentioned the boot/ass/hospital conversation again.

 yea i know louie......you guys got me there and back again. ain't no one better than you guys, you know that, right? "i know" he said, and laughed as he mumbled something about not getting off the hook that easily.

[CAP1]

i got a lil carried away...that one was a lil long......some pics to go with it.
first pass. good hits. one in a row.



rocket attack!!(or baby torpedoes)

[AAJagerX]

Good stuff man!  Alot of fun to read.   

[Traveler]

Was that a misprint the cruise speed of 350 MPH.    In AH with the same load out your lucky to 275.

[captain1ma]

rocket dweeb!!    

[CAP1]

Was that a misprint the cruise speed of 350 MPH.    In AH with the same load out your lucky to 275.

actually, i'll have to look at film again...i think i was cruising around 350. i use twinbooms soundpack, and i get this creak/rattle that starts around there........

[CAP1]

rocket dweeb!!    

would you believe that's the first time i really actually hit my target with those dam things? 

[Traveler]

Indicated or ture airspeed?

[captain1ma]

would you believe that's the first time i really actually hit my target with those dam things? 

why yes i would, i cant hit squat with them. im jealous!  good for you for hitting the bridge, the screen shot looks awesome. almost like something out of iraq!

[CAP1]

Indicated or ture airspeed?

i was originally cruising around 500 to 1,000 feet....so with no wind, they'd be the same. i'll look at the films tonight, and see what they really were. 


 on that note.....of wind that is..........seeing as we have moving clouds now, i wonder what would happen if wind was turned on? is it possible for it to be variable?

 and i'm glad you guys enjoyed again.