Originally posted by Apache
Ever had a night where everything that can go wrong...does?
Yeah. Last night started out like it would be "one of those nights".
I logged on and saw a fight brewing over at A5, so I upped a SpitXIV and head over that way. Cruising towards A5 I get distracted with a mic problem. Finally I look up and see a sky full of Bish. Had to be at least 15 of them, and all at or just below my alt. Uh oh, better do that old dissappearing act again... Too late, they spot that SpitXIV icon and come 'a runnin'. Thankfully, the Mk.XIV is a beast, so I carefully reverse (gotta preserve that E), push my throttle into WEP detent and hit autoclimb. Bye bye Bish.
Later, I get involved in several fights at different locations. I had two fighters killed by miracle flak hits at alts up to 18k. Seems as if HTC cranked up the ack lethality for this tour. I collide with wreckage twice, both times my FE showed me clear, but obviously not (I like to get REAL close). I had an Osty blasted by a Lanc before I could get out of the VH. I suffer a ground collision by being overly aggressive (yet again). A mid-air collision adds to my misery. Lastly, I get in a big fight over A5, kill two Bish but get hit by an M16. Wounded, I'm in the middle of a furball and blacking out. Finally someone takes advantage of the blackouts and kills my SpitIX (Busher, I believe). That annoys me because it was my first air to air loss so far this tour. There are other losses assigned to enemy aircraft, but every one is a proximity kill, being the result of ack or a collision with trees, hangers and the like. That's why I hate the proximity system. It distorts the record.
A bit later, I took a Seafire to 32 and knocked off three Knits. Back to 22 and killed seven Bish plus 5 assists in my Seafire, and another kill with two assists in a Hellcat.
All in all, it turned out to be a decent evening despite the shakey beginning. So far this tour, I'm 32/1 with 24 assists in air to air combat, 60/14 overall.
Here's an example of how things can go from real good to real bad in no time. Last evening Fester won the Wild Wednesday shootout. No small accomplishment. Shortly after this, he goes to the MA. I had a Osty up defending an airfield when a Corsair (F4U-1) races across the field in an effort to shake a Rook in hot pursuit. It passes right over my Osty and I blow its tail off. The message buffer declares: "You shot down Fester."
Even the very best need a little luck now and then. The rest of us need luck AND a few guardian angels...
My regards,
Widewing
