story with lots o pictures

[CAP1]

ok......here's my latest. hope you all enjoy.
 i get these ideas flying in the AvA for what it's worth. the immersion level in there is phenomenal. rammey<<S>> sir. you were the Luftwaffe pilot today.   

i had gotten separated from my group when we got bounced by a small flight of me109's. these were fierce aircraft, and not to be
underestimated. they were flown by some of the Luftwaffe best, and most skilled airmen. i didn't see any of our flight go down,
but then again, as i was trying to evade a lone me109 that broke out of the gaggle, i lost radio contact with my flight, and quickly
found myself alone. thankfully, i managed to shake the 109, and climbed to a higher altitude, hoping to buy time to correct my
radio problems, and re-join my flight. flying alone against Germanys finest wasn't a good way to stay alive.

 i leveled out at angels 17, trimmed Catherine for hands off level flight, and proceeded to check my circuit breakers, and switches.
even as large as the mighty p-38 was, the cockpit was kind of cramped, and i often thought that her designers had never flown,
judging by the placement of some of the controls and switches. i loved her anyway. in my opinion, i was given the USAAF's finest
flying machine to take into combat.

 after a few minutes of tinkering, i got static, and tried to call my flight, only to hear static. dam. i turned my machine, and headed
for home, thinking my day was over. little did i know how wrong i was.

 i caught a glint out of the corner of my eye. i rolled a few degrees, holding top rudder, to maintain altitude, and see better. there it was. a dot down low, crossing that airfield.  it was a fast mover. it could've been an me109, but it was moving too fast i though. probably an fw190. i was going to leave it be. i really was.

 i couldn't leave him alone. i felt i HAD to bounce him. it was just too perfect.  i took the engines off of auto lean, set my rpm and manifold pressures, cranked
the control yoke over, and kicked full right rudder, as i rolled into a dive, giving chase. gun switches on, gun sight pipper set. i pulled
my safety harness tighter. hunker down in the seat. i glance at the airspeed indicator, and see i'm a little over 470 mph indicated. she's
protesting slightly, but fully under control. i back off on the throttles a little, as i dive below the bogey. when i bounce a bogey, i go below,
as I've found that as skilled as the German pilots are, they almost always fail to check behind and below themselves. i can feel my heart
trying to leap out of my chest now, going as fast as my mighty p-38 lightning. . i pull the throttles back, as i close, thumbs twitching over the firing
buttons. close enough to id him, i find i was right right. FW190. dam. i need to get him on my first pass, because as fine as my lightning is,  the fw190 can out turn, out climb, and out run her if I'm not careful.

i can feel myself starting to sweat  a little. pulling back up, i have him in my sights. he looks to be about 1,000 yards out. I'm itching to fire,
but i manage to hold off. getting closer, with the nose up, i feed the throttles back up to 75%. he looks to be about 800 now, and i see him roll
a few degrees left, then right. does he see me? did he see me coming down? crap!! 600 yards now. I've got sweat pouring down my face.
  i can't hold off. i push on the firing buttons like there is no tomorrow at 600 yards. i usually wait till I'm closer, but i don't want to give up any
advantage against such a fine machine, most likely flown by a veteran pilot. those of us that have been on a number of combat missions knew and respected the Luftwaffes pilots, and aircraft.
 at first, i see my tracers go past him, just over his right wing, so i breath a little pressure on the left rudder pedal, walking my fire over. now
i see good hits. all along his fuselage, and some on the wing root.
 suddenly, his aircraft "skids" first to the left, then to the right, then abruptly rolls to the right, attempt to dodge my fire. dam!! i should have waited.
he never saw me coming. at 600 yards, even the four mighty 50 caliber machine guns, and the single 20mm cannon didn't have the hitting power to totally disable an fw190.

[CAP1]

i can't keep my guns on him, so i let off the firing buttons, firewall the throttles, and climb for the heavens. i climb till i feel the shudder signaling
the onset of a stall, and then push the nose over, looking for my opponent. there he is, hiding under my right wing, trying to climb to me. i see the
bright orange and yellow nose. damit damit damit!!!!! this is a guy that's been around awhile. no inexperienced Luftwaffe pilot would dare to paint
his bird in bright colors, unless it was to let us know that he's taken quite a few of us down.
 everything seems to go into slow motion now.  we twist and turn in the sky. almost like a dance a high speed dance in the sky. the advantage changes hands a number of times.
he gets a couple of shots off at me, but thankfully misses. the 190's guns are powerful, and we feared them. i manage to get him a little slow, while
maintaining a position above him. each time it looks like he may get above me, i move in tight, forcing him to break away. this guy is good. scary
good. he should be hanging from the silk by now, but he continuously manages to avoid my shots. no wonder he painted his bird like this. it feels
like he is mocking me. no....not me.....but the entire USAAF, and the RAF. this makes me more determined to take him down. i don't want to kill him,
i only want to disable his machine. there is no pleasure in killing another human being. when i am victorious in a combat, i am just as pleased to
see my opponent bail out as i am to see allied airmen bail out.

he turns, and i see a chance!! he misjudged my intent, and flew directly through my sights. i fire off a quick burst, but miss. suddenly, he seems to
stop in midair, and pirouette his aircraft, and he is suddenly bearing down on me. in a moment of panic, i chop the throttles to idle, pull for all i'm
worth on the control yoke, all the while watching him through the top of my canopy, expecting to see the muzzle flash from his cannons any second.
 got the nose around, firewall the throttles, as he screams past me, missing me by mere feet. he;s going too fast now....i pull the nose up, and dump
combat flaps out. as i feel the shudder of the stall, i pull to idle again, and stand on the rudder with all my might, forcing the nose over. as the nose
drops, i again firewall the throttles, as i retract my flaps. NOW I GOT HIM!! he's in front of me and low. he's too close to turn into me. he has to try to
accelerate, keeping shallow turns, as anything he does now will put him easily in my guns. i fire a small burst here and there, trying to control his
movements. there it is!!! he pulled up, and rolled!! perfect shot!! i pull lead, and hold the firing buttons. i score more hits, as he rolls over, and tries
to accelerate again, heading for mother earth. in the back of my mind, i admire this pilot. it is truly amazing how quickly the hunter can become the hunted.


he's starting to pull away from my p-38, but i cannot give up the chase now. to this day, i do not know why he did it, as he could've easily gotten away,
but my talented foe pulled a hard left turn, leaving me a very large target to shoot at. i must have hit a fuel tank, or oil tank, as i saw a fireball, then
observed his aircraft roll over, and enter the dreaded death spiral.

 suddenly everything came out of slow motion, as i leveled, saw beyond a doubt that this aircraft was done. i turned east, and entered a slow climb, as
i checked my fuel gauges. dam......low fuel. i did a quick calculation, and came to the conclusion that i should have just enough to get home.
 i leveled at angels 10, set everything for max cruis range, and headed for home. 25 minutes later, Catherine and i touched down on the improvised runway
of our airbase.
 the gang came out, running, as they thought i had been shot down. thankfully, they were wrong. i just realized that i'm soaking wet from that fight, and
still shaking from the adrenaline.




 

[Grape]

Cool write up. I think I may have to go into the AvA more often.

[USRanger]

[CAP1]

Cool write up. I think I may have to go into the AvA more often.

you're forktail ingame?


sorry i vanished on ya'll. mom's up go visit, and she(although i hate when she goes to the trouble) still insists on cooking something....and at the ripe old age of 48, i can;t make myself not go out there when she says dinners ready.

 by the time i came back, you were just leaving. i'm sure i'll see yas in there again though. it's a blast in there....i used to log on, and check midwar.....now, i log on, and check ava first.

[RoGenT]

I have feeling some of the P38 dweebers on here have had to use a clean up rag after reading that story 

[SoonerMP]

I have feeling some of the P38 dweebers on here have had to use a clean up rag after reading that story 

Possibly....... 

[CAP1]

I have feeling some of the P38 dweebers on here have had to use a clean up rag after reading that story 

are we permitted to take the 5th in here? 

[Dichotomy]

you landed a p38 with no damage?  SAPP's going to yank the blender outta Catherine you know

Nice writeup 

[CAP1]

you landed a p38 with no damage?  SAPP's going to yank the blender outta Catherine you know

Nice writeup 

they let me get away with it, 'cause when we all manage to hook up and fly together, i'm good bait. 

thanks!

[RoGenT]

are we permitted to take the 5th in here? 

Hmmm, I was talking about cleaning up all the drool.

Sickos 

[CAP1]

Hmmm, I was talking about cleaning up all the drool.

Sickos 

uumm......oops?

[BulletVI]

Good story CAP1

i even enjoyed the way you told it. it sounded like what a WW2 Vetran would tell it   

[Shuffler]

you're forktail ingame?


sorry i vanished on ya'll. mom's up go visit, and she(although i hate when she goes to the trouble) still insists on cooking something....and at the ripe old age of 48, i can;t make myself not go out there when she says dinners ready.

 by the time i came back, you were just leaving. i'm sure i'll see yas in there again though. it's a blast in there....i used to log on, and check midwar.....now, i log on, and check ava first.

Hug your Mom and spend that little time with her.

Mine has been gone since October 29th 2003 and I still think about her and miss her every day.

[CAP1]

Good story CAP1

i even enjoyed the way you told it. it sounded like what a WW2 Vetran would tell it   

thank ya sir. that's pretty much what i aim for. even if it's just a story, i try to go there in my mind, and take you guys there with me.