Originally posted by muckmaw
Just a question.
There have been some very impressive numbers in the Rookland of late. I was wondering if one of the larger squads flipped, or if there was a consorted effort by numerous smaller squads to help out the Rooks.
I recall reading not a month ago about how poor the rooks were, and I was wondering what caused the sudden shift.
The Shillelagh Squadron officially migrated with the start of the new tour, but some of us had already come over before then for a number of reasons:
(a) there's a target-rich environment everywhere Rooks turn;
(b) months of being on the receiving end of major smack-down had made for a serious corps of experienced pilots. Almost everyone flying Rook knew their business, and could handle themselves in combat quite well - probably a result of being outnumbered month-in and month-out;
(c) there's a certain glory in flying for the underdog, kind of like the spirit of the AVG in China: going up against a superior foe and charging into the fight with inferior numbers;
(d) flying for Rooks was more fun than flying for Bishops. We prefer to earn our perk points the old-fashioned way. (John Houseman voice ON) "We
earn them." )John Houseman voice OFF);
(e) no worries about fighting with other Rooks for kills over a capped enemy airbase like hyenas feasting on a zebra carcass because Rooks hardly ever had enough pilots get a raid going against an enemy airbase in the first place; and finally;
(f) cheap F4U-1Cs.
What we hadn't counted on was the fact that flying for Rooks would become cool with the rest of the AH community. I guess a lot of other pilots wanted to be as cool as the Shills.
