Originally posted by Monty405
actually, i ave found that if i hit someone fleeing at about 800 or so away with 7mm i can sometimes scareing them into commiting a turn
All this talk about the 109F got me to thinking about it some more, so last night I took one out for my last hop of the evening.
The map had just reset and us Rooks had jumped on the opportunity to get some quick bases on the eastern seaboard. The Bish were in the process of recapturing the bases more inland and were running nuisance raids on the coastal base. I decided to up a 109F to defend the base.
Since the frontline base had been porked to 25% fuel, I launched a 109F with gondolas and drop tank from our regular base to the south with the idea that I'd hot-pad for reload once I got over station. On my way up the coast I spot a radar blip and mosey over to check it out. Its a Corsair, a birdcage model, about 8k altitude heading inland. I pickled the tank and went diving down.
What I forgot was that I had left my tracers turned on from my previous outing in a ground gun. It didn't matter - the Corsair never saw me coming but my first few rounds flew past his canopy and he tried to go evasive, but by then the 20mm gondola rounds were impacting his airframe and he came apart. Splash 1.
I hit WEP and climbed up, heading northeast into the airway from the nearest Bish base. Sure enough, another radar blip comes up so I set myself up for an offset merge, so that I can keep an eye on the bogey while climbing. I spot the dot and move a little closer. Its a Spitfire.
As he goes flashing past, I recognize that its a Spitfire IX. Surprisingly, the Spitfire doesn't engage, choosing instead to extend out towards the base. I figure he's just out to get some quick points by de-acking the field so I go into pursuit, but he's faster than I am and the distance is growing to around d900, so I pop a few 7.7mm machine gun rounds over his head to try and spook him into turning. He wiggles his wings, probably to see where I am am, then starts a gradual turn to the left to go evasive. By now a couple more Rooks are on the scene and climbing up from the field but they're too low to engage.
Eventually the Spit rolls over onto his back and does a split-S, probably to engage the lower Rooks. As he goes down, I stay upstairs. I figure one of two things will happen: (a) he'll stay low and engage the lower Rooks or (b) climb up and lose his speed, at which point I'll have him. Sure enough, he makes a guns pass on a lower Rook then pulls up into a loop. I close the distance to d400 and start popping 20mm rounds but he's going into a twisting dive and I can't get anything to hit. I manage to stay with him but can't pull enough lead in the turns to land a shot, so I keep flashing the small machine guns to scare him into turning sharper and sharper. Eventually, he runs out of speed and goes nose up, then starts a turn to the left, silhouetting him beautifully against the sky. Splash 2.
Now there's a P-51D coming in from the northwest and a Ki-61 coming in from the east. The Mustang is the more aggressive pilot and he immediately goes nose-low to get some speed and make an attack run on me. I evade and hit WEP to get my speed back.
The Mustang continues going down and strafes the lower Rooks, then makes a strafing run on the airfield and pulls up on the far side. I chase him on the dive but can't catch him. He pulls up then kicks right rudder and does a wing-over and starts coming back down. I try a snap-shot in his face but can't land a hit as he begins his dive. I roll over and follow him down, but I don't pursue all the way down. Instead, I level out at 5k over the field and wait for him to come up. He does, and again he does the right-rudder wingover maneuver and goes back down for another strafing run, and again I miss the shot as he's hanging on his wingtip. He goes back down but I stay topside and wait for him to come back up. And again he comes back up, but by now he's lost some of his energy and he can't quite get the wingover to work. I close to d300 and open up. The gondolas bark once, twice, then are silent. Empty!
I pepper him with the machine guns at d200 and manage to knock off his tail. Splash 3.
Feeling pretty good about myself, and being low on ammo, I radio that I'm rtb and I cut my throttle, drop 2 notches of flaps and my gear, and set up my landing approach. Right about the time I start wondering how many perk points I've earned, one of my countrymen radios "GoFaster, check 6", and then I hear the 20mm shells drill my fuselage.
I had forgotten about the Ki-61.
