Well, I debated somewhat with myself as to whether to post to this sad thread or not, but in the end decided since I was one of the participants flying for hangtime's 51 squad, I had more right than some here who have poured gasoline on the funeral pyre.
I had no idea that this event was going to be filled with so much animosity or expectation that the survival of humanity would depend upon its outcome. Besides being somewhere past 50, I have a very stressful day job and I enjoy WB, AH and hopefully WWIIOL for purely the game entertainment value and community camaraderie, they have usually offered me in the past for general relaxation.
I logged onto the SEA on Sunday without any pre-knowledge of this intense rivalry and debate between the two factions, as I try to avoid those kind of BBS threads. I simply thought it was a regular fun type event and naively asked if there were any openings for a walk-on. Hangtime kindly spoke up and asked if I could fly a 51 and I jokingly replied I'd fly a Cessna if he wanted me to. Ironically, I'm usually an LW guy in scenarios or events as a member of vadr's III/JG2 on AH, as well as his JG2 squad (previously JG27) on WB. Heck, after accepting hangtime's invitation, I even offered to switch to 190's if it appeared there would be a balance problem, as it was simply about having fun for me with a great bunch of comrades and not proving who's better. By the way hangtime, thank you very much for permitting me to join with no prior event preparation, practice, event briefings or a chance to learn the ad hoc squad members. I had no idea there was as much competitive rivalry at stake, so it was very gracious of you to allow this mediocre old 190 warrior with minimal time on type, to participate and take up a valuable P51 slot that could have been filled by a more experienced squad affiliated P51 driver. <Salute>
From my point of view, this event was "pooched" before the merge. We took off sequentially to avoid FPS problems with everyone on the runway, which consumed a lot of time. Hangtime, with so much else to organize and contend with, inadvertently took off with 25% fuel and no external tanks. We ended up circling and debating some of this issue for a bit, which was distracting. It then appeared the numbers looked off in favor of the allies, so Hangtime and CJ (my wingman) did a 180 and in real time, turned command over to citabria while they exited the formation leaving me to try and find "thunder", my newly assigned wingy. You know something people, hangtime could of asked a P51 "rookie" like me to RTB and stayed in the action himself, but he didn't. Again, very gracious so as to not disappoint my enjoyment of the event.
I'm now looking around for "thunder" and once found, start a turn back to him, only to discover the LW full tilt in-bound on us at full E with maximum speed. I then turned into them at very low speed and very low E, only to discover I was actually a bit too high on the 15k boundary. I started to drop down 800-1200 feet when it is very clear that many of the 190's were actually above me and we haven't even completely merged all the way though yet. So, I simply flew straight through the higher and lower 190's with guns cold and come upon the last two trailers who were in a climb up and away from me after a 51 ( jigster I think). I went up into a high Yo Yo (right) on the 4 clock of one of them when I noticed his 190 wingman abandon him, choosing to continue to climb out by himself, as my target broke into somewhat of a split-s maneuver and headed for the deck. Since he was alone, as was I (lost my wingy thunder...never really got onto his wing in first place), we ended up with a one on one engagement diving and twisting. I chased him alone downward 1vs1 towards the deck where I got a fortunate six shot kill. I then began a long time consuming climb back to fighting altitude and worked my way back to the general mass of 190's and P51's. I should have used more time to get to proper altitude, but I noticed that my fellow P51 drivers were taking a beating, so I chose to dive into the furball at equal or slightly lower altitude. As a result, I ended up with a few too many 190's on my six and got real slow, low and in a dirty flight configuration. After watching hristo's film (the 190 who nailed me....<Salute> ) and seeing his stay high out of the fray style while watching for weaker low targets of opportunity, to then swoop in at very high speed, I now better understand how I died. It was really interesting to see one's own death from the attacker's camera film and notice the effects of Internet lag and range differences as perceived by individual front ends. When I saw him diving into me from the rear, I was sure I was able to turn easily and avoid his snapshot, but when I see my camera film then look at his film of the same shot, it looked from his viewpoint that I had virtually turned in front of him. The high speed pass like this with all kinds of E creates a strange Internet effect on distances and views and is a good point that trainers need to teach the younger players about, in learning how to read, understand and plan for that eventuality.
Bottom line, IMHO the 51's never really got into a cohesive formation, focused and up to speed to have a good and fair fight. The Duke of Wellington once said that the battle is won in the preparation and positioning beforehand and not in the actual execution. This event was a good example of that. The long travel and discussion time preparing for the engagement as viewed in hristo's film compared to my 51 film, shows a lot of disparity of preparedness in getting positioned at maximum E with top speed for the upcoming fight. This is not an excuse, but rather an observation. The height disparity clearly is the result of many of the 190's beginning a climb out using this maximum speed and E as soon as the "fight's ON" was called by someone. This simply exacerbated the already lower E and speed state of the still chaotic and organizing 51 flight. In fairness, the event should have been restarted and ROE better understood by everyone. In order to maintain the fun and remove the negative competitiveness aspect of this event, there should have also been an agreement to switch 190/51 rides by both sides and fly each other's planes as a second frame. I emailed nash my film, so I will let him comment on any inaccuracies he feels I may have in my conclusions, as seen from my point of view.
On a personal note, I was very disappointed to read the arrogance, gloating, bitterness, anger and personal attacks by many people in this thread, of whom in the past I have had great respect. It is particularly sad to see many remarks calling others cowards and even worse. One is supposed to demonstrate humility and graciousness in victory as well as defeat, which is a sign of true leadership and maturity. With all due respect hristo, this event didn't really demonstrate "the superior pilot skill of Luftwaffe pilots", but rather superior preparedness in entering this one singular engagement. You are perhaps one of the best pilots I have ever encountered on-line in any sim and need no lessons in virtual aerial combat, however, you could use some mentoring in effective personal communication, that would round out your tremendous leadership potential.
I would like to thank nash, kieren and the others who acted as refs and CM's for this event. Without their gracious giving of personal time away from family or simply selfishly flying for their own enjoyment, none of us would be able to participate in any of these special events. <Salute>
Given the general tone of the communities, both here and on AGW, I said to my wife last night that after 4 years of virtual on-line flying that I think it's time to call it a day. It's supposed to be a game of sharing some good fun with great people. For now, it has deteriorated into a generally unhealthy environment and I'm actually ashamed, disgusted and embarrassed for all of us for being part of this. If any of you don't feel the same way, than you need some personal pause and reflection on what has happened here with this situation.
A sad way to end my virtual on-line career, but I think it's time to permanently cancel both WB and AH memberships. I have a pretty little C172 sitting in a hanger just crying for more real flight time, so I think perhaps I'll pay more attention to her.
Regards,
Badger
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