Post your best fight of the month.

[Reschke]

For me it was tonight and it did not last as long as it should have but still I got extremely lucky.

I had just taken off from A26 (Mindanao map) and I get a quick "check 6" from a high fighter CAP who missed his pass on a P-51D. So being a heavy F4U-1D I dumped bombs and rockets at the call and broke into a hard right break turn into a Split-S with full flaps at about 3k over the ground.

Well when I came out of the Split the 51 was running like hell to the south to clear the area before coming back again and I was about 2.8 away and dropping off fast. I decided that because I had to drop my ord I should at least give a token pursuit and see what else was coming that way. Well as I nosed down some and got my speed up I noticed I had lost a hell of a lot more ground to the 51. Just when I was about to go rearm I saw him pull up into a climbing left hand turn and I got within about 3.5 out and he reversed his turn back to the right. (I must have gotten spotted at this time.) Well I had the WEP punched and I was cruising in as hard as I could and I pulled up to get a snap shot as he rolled out to the left. I started loosing the battle against the gravity until I dropped flaps. Then I realized I was most likely going to loose this fight if I kept that up.

The 51 sort of hovered just off my right side and then dropped behind me and under my plane and ended up taking one of my guns out in a quick pass. Then he was by me on my left side and we started a hard scissors to get into position. This had turned from a BnZ into an angles fight fast.

Well I made another mistake (imagine that) and left the door open for him to get back into position and saddle up on me. The only thing I could do was hope he was a bad shot or sneezed and I think he did both. We were still trading alt and speed for position and things were getting worse for me. Until I dropped flaps and punched my WEP again. This brought me around on him faster with a roll out into his break turn and suddenly I found myself trying to ride the pony's tail. I put a few bursts out in front to get him to break and the fight was on. We ended up with a near collision and then I had this huge view of a wing shot on the bird in front. I squeezed the trigger and saw little sparkles dance along the wing. We swung out wide from each other again and as we came in across with a little speed and separation I put some rounds into his flight path and they ran the length of the plane (on my FE). Still no smoke or parts falling off but I knew that he was hurting because the plane was not as smooth in its turns. I was thinking that I had maybe wounded the pilot and all I would have to do was wait him out and force him to black out.

Then just when I thought he was pulling inside of me he leveled out and I nailed the trigger with a hard long burst on the left side of the plane. Then the plane burst into flames and the left wing let go and started a deadly low alt tumble.

Then it pops up in the buffer; you have shot down.........
AKCurly.

Damn good fight AKCurly! Even if I would have been on the other end of that one I know I would have passed on a crisp for that flying. Thanks for what was without a doubt the best fight of the tour for me.

[TWOLF]

The other night I had just upped from a base only to hear that a spit, and 190 were approaching the base at roughly 10k.  I was in 190A8 with the 4 20mm 2 13mm load out and a drop tank.  I was pretty heavy with all that fuel and ammo so I knew that there was no way I could stand a chance.  So, I attempted to get the hell out of there.  Well, the spit must have licked his chops to see a 190 upping from the base, and down he came.  He was coming in on me on a hard port side bank, so I rolled to starboard, and used what little alt I had to turn behind him and make him burn alt, and E to come at me again.  There was another pilot in the area (Fortunately) whose name escapes me now, but he kept his cool as the 190 dived in on him.  He, I assume made a similar maneuver and found himself with a snap on the spit.  I seen him fire and miss, and the Spit burned a ton of E looping up, and away from him.  As a result he was stuck low, as his ally 190 stayed at around 3-4 k above us.  Between the other pilot and I we worked the spit and tried to avoid the BnZ tactics of the 190.  Well, to make an already long story short.  The spit lost to much E on his initial loop, and we were able to snap at him on Hth's and deflection shots.  His bird lost to many pieces finally and he hit the hills we were flying in.  This left the 190 who was still holding vigil over us.  By this time I was light.  I lost my drop tank at the first pass from the spit and was at about 50% ammo, so my bird was as clean as an A8 can be close to the dirt and little E.  Well, I guess the 190 lost his patience, and started working us and tried to extend us into a stall that he could roll into.  Fortunately my partner wasn't buying it, and neither was I.  The pilot stayed fast, and caught me in a low E climbing bank and bit a piece off my left aileron and punctured my oil, but he also exposed him self.  I cut loose with what ammo I had left and got him leaking, and I assume he was also hurt on his surfaces as well because after that pass he burned out of there.  I had no chance of catching him, but I was rewarded with the kill message as I was nursing my bird back to the dirt.  This was probably the best fight I had in AH since I started flying again.  Great fun for a guy desperately trying to regain his skills.  Gunnery is killing me, but it's slowly getting better. MsWulf, and who ever the spit driver was.

[Moloch]

I got outflown and shot down by a gurl. Took my eye off her pony for 10 seconds and she outflew me and got on my six.

Furious, you'll have to start the beatings again.

[Reschke]

Nice flights there guys.

[batdog]

A squirrel tried to jump me. Luckly I out wieghed it bt about 3000pds...

FatBat