S!
First time in CT. First time in AH Arenas in 2 years. First time back flying AH in about 3 weeks. (I occasionally fly HTH) Let's see how this Arena is:
18 people on server, not bad. Exactly balanced, 9-9.
I'm Allied. What else would I be?
Spit V, hmmm... not really my style since I usually fly a Tiffie or Jug, but...
First up: 100% fuel. Cruise around a bit, get 20k alt, nothing much to be seen, then a 109 shows up, high, makes the usual sneaky pass at my tail. Break turn, not to hard into him, he barrels past, zooms for alt. We do this for a while then he gets bored, goes home.
I get bored too, go to Dover, spot a furball below and ease into it, drop right onto a 109's tail, he's in a slight climb, barely moving, focusing on a Spit ahead of him... 600, 400, 300, wait till I'm 200... toejam, he's cranks it hard left and I overshoot. Gone. Shoulda shot at 300. Arggh... blew easy kill.
Furball disperses as 109's scatter in all directions suddenly realizing someone has speed and alt on them.
Climb again.
Cruise out to mid channel. Hmmm.... No Brits out here. Two black dots in the direction of France...
I circle back towards England.
Spot another black dot 5k below. The first two black dots are still off in the direction of France. This guy has to be a Hun... He passes right below me, seeming unaware.
Look back... The other two black dots are getting bigger. Or is that just my imagination?
The hell with it, I roll and split S down on the contact below, roll off my throttle completely, I'm gaining fast. It is a Hun, red Icon pops up, I'm almost on him, he spots me at the last moment, starts a loop, I cut inside, coming right up on him and...
Yank the stick a little too hard and black out... duh.
When I wake up he's making a gun pass at me. I evade, then look towards where the two black dots were. Oops, red icons, 109's closing fast. First one puts a few 7.92 pops in me, I go into a tight turn, he's hanging on my tail, the other two of them take turns making passes through the circle at me, I avoid the first 3 attacks, but I'm trapped, I try a desperation roll into a split S for the deck and England and get nailed in my transition by the guy behind. Shoulda never made the attack with the two contacts behind.
-1
2nd Up:
Take 75% fuel this time. I'm not going to France until I learn how to fly this thing.
Climb. Another Furball over Dover area.
Drop in on Huns again, 4 of them working over 2 Spits. I decide to stay high, B&Z them. I make a couple passes, but I'm getting thrown off by how easy it is to pull G's and blackout in the Spit V. Get disoriented, then finally get on the tail of a smoking 109, pop him a few times with the 303's, saving the 20mm's for a good shot, he panics and spins it into the drink.
Even
A second 109 is killed by another Spit, the remaining 2 break and run for France. We give chase without thinking, then suddenly they're coming back at us and...
Here comes another 3 109's high, now we're in trouble again, same result, the other Spit goes down, they take turns making runs at me, I'm dead meat on the deck, I get hit. But at least I'm able to bail successfully before I hit the drink... Not captured.
-1
75% Fuel again.
Look at the odds. 11-6 for the Huns. Oops, better hang around the English side of things.
Climb for Alt again. Head for the port at Dover.
I need Roger Wilco happening, I need a Wingie or something.
Spot a Furball at Dover. 2 109's on the deck chasing some poor bastard in a Spit, another 109 hanging about 5,000 ft over them and just watching.
I'm at the same alt as the high 109. I head for him, thinking I may be able to scare him off and then chase away the 109's on the Spit's tail. At the very least I can keep him occupied so he doesn't go down and finish the guy off.
We go HO, I roll to avoid a gun solution since I always lose HO's. He goes into a high loop, he's gotta be a G2 the way he's hanging up there. I kept going straight and he's coming back down on me, I break into him and he's up again. We do this for about 4 times, and each time he is coming VERY close and I'm not getting a sniff at him. He's good.
Finally I say the hell with this, I break into him for the 5th time, he goes high, I go low and head in the direction of a friendly airfield and the furball below. He is still in his zoom, I get good separation. I'm thinking I can get maybe two passes at the 109's chasing the poor bastard Spit, then run for the field...
I get one pass but I'm going so fast I can't keep the guy in my sights, can't turn I'll black out again, so I miss and go into a loop. I look up, the G2 is coming down on me, doing 5,000 mph. I roll in my zoom, break into him, he goes high again, I wingover and go down into another pass at the 109's below. The good news is I've scared them off the Spit. I get on one's tail, I'm closing, I look over my shoulder, no G2 in sight, I look back to my gunsight... This guy's dead meat... I line him up... BOOM. I'm flying junk...
G2 musta been under my tail, I'm dead.
-2
Odds are now 7-3 for the Huns. 50% Fuel.
Climb towards Dover and the site of my last stupidity. Shoulda climbed until I was above them all. Then the G2 woulda run and I'd have a chance to help the Spit.
Some guy named SAAM is asking if anyone wants to wing with him. I say I've just taken off from A41. As I climb I spot him ahead. But he doesn't join up, he heads for Dover and the Channel.
I think to myself: "Don't go there buddy, not at that altitude..."
I hang back and climb. I am surprised at how well the Spit V climbs. And it has reasonable acceleration too.
I climb and climb.
The chat display reads:
"Help, at port" It's SAAM.
Poor bastard. I ease over in that direction carefully.
"Help"
I can see some glints down low at Dover.
Nothing high.
I scan very carefully all around.
Nothing.
"low at port"
I put my nose down. Below I can see 4 red 109 Icons chasing a single green Spit. The red is all bunched up, the letters overlaying each other. Reminds me of a pack of wolves after a deer.
I roll off the throttle and ease into a dive. If I am lucky, I can start from the back and hit a couple as I work my way up to the front.
They are all low 'E', confident of their numbers, the usual 109 caution thrown to the winds. The Spit is rolling and twisting in front of them.
I make the perfect parabola, come down on them. I try to line up two in a row, but give up on it for a good shot. And I nail him with a good burst, blow his right wingtip and aileron off, plus some other junk. He's goes into a flat spin, heading down.
-1
I go up into a high loop, as they scatter. But they are going too slow.
Now who has the alt yah Golly-gee rat alt monkey 109's! Huh? Heh heh...
I come back down into them again, lining up two. They break right and left, I pull G's on one, he yanks too hard and puts it into the dirt.
Even.
My buddy in the Spit is back into the act. Now he's on one of them. They go into a tussle.
The other 109 has recovered. Something about his style and acceleration has me thinking he's the G2. He's trying to get alt on me, but I'm hanging onto him like a leech, forcing him to roll out of trouble continuously.
I see the other Spit heading out across the Channel chasing the other 109.
"Don't go that way Buddy!"
The G2 gets 900 feet on me, pulls some awesome maneuver that completely fooled me, forces a HO, and keeps going, gets separation. I may have popped him one or two times with the .303's, but he's effectively back in control of his destiny.
Then I see the other 109 coming back. He HO's the Spit, coming in my direction, doesn't seem to see me. I pull up into a high Chandelle, wingover and come back on him, right onto his tail as he passes under.
He spots me and goes nuts, he's rolling like a madman, I'm watching the G2, he's still 1.5 away but he's coming back, I look back and I'm almost overshooting my target, I pull the trigger on the cannon and pop the 109 in the engine. He falls away to the right as I go past, smoking heavily.
Then I look straight up.
Oh toejam.
2 109's coming at me from directly above.
I roll right, and tracers zip past my wing, and they both knife past me and go into a zoom. I roll back but they are already too far for a shot.
And now I'm seeing another black dot coming at me from France.
I look behind, the G2's 500 ft and closing.
Even the guy with the shot engine is coming back at me.
I pull hard to avoid the G2, just in time to see the other Spit go into the drink.
I'm dead meat.
I avoid two more passes from the high 109's come out of a turn to see the 3rd contact coming head on at me.
What the hell...
I HO him.
Of course he blasts my wings off. I always lose HO's.
-1
But then he rams me, "Going 500mph" as he says later, and he goes into the drink.
Even
Then the 109 with the smoking engine has to bail mid channel.
+1
Well, actually I know the last two don't count on the AH scoresheet, but they do in my books.
Time to call it quits.
But it was lotsa fun.
Hope to see you guys there.
