Great fun, and the first scenario of any type I've flown in for a couple of years (only recently re-opened my account). As such, I respectfully declined when WildCat1 asked if I wanted to CO the RAF side.
Kudos to all who participated.
Sabre
21:05:20 Departed from Field #12 in a Boston III
21:27:28 Awarded kill as wagger crashes.
21:30:33 Destroyed a field gun at base #47
21:30:49 Helps SlipKnoT shoot down Wizard.
21:43:18 Arrived Safely at Field #15
Many thanks to my escort. At one point, I had three 109s all lined up on my six pounding away at me. The hurries managed to scrape them off before I was destroyed, allowing me to turn to target and make my bomb run. I managed to damaged two other structures (ammo bunker and barracks) but was down to only one plane by that time, with just 4x500 lb bombs. On egress, I lost my no. 1 engine when the oil ran dry as I went feet-wet over the channel. Fortunately, that engine didn't quite before my bomb run, otherwise I likely wouldn't have been able to hit anything due to the off-center thrust. Was also missing my rudder (still had vertical stab, fortunately) and all my flaps (and had enough holes in my plane to qualify it for the Swiss Air Force
). On final approach, I attempted to drop my landing gear, only to discover a red light on the left main. Retracted the other two wheels and went around again to set up for a belly landing (not easy at low alt, with one engine, and no rudder). Managed to line it up perfect and bellied in right on the center-line for a "good" landing, though I think I only had about a hundred feet of concrete left.
I was only sorry I wasn't able to stick around for another frame.
Couple tips if you're leading a bomber formation: The biggest trick to maintaining a tight formation (for a good defensive box) is holding speed constant. The lead should use the .speed command and then set throttle to maintain a constant climb rate or hold the altitude steady. Wingmen can then do the same, using the .speed command and gentle rudder inputs to ease in or out from the lead. It's also critical for the flight lead to keep turns slow and coordinated (using a combination of rudder and stick to keep the ball in the turn-and-bank indicator centered). The best way to do this is to get into either a gun or the bombardier position and use the rudders to change directions. This is worth practicing in the TA with others.
