Aces High Bulletin Board
Squadron Forums => Squadrons => Topic started by: shoresroad on July 31, 2013, 04:02:47 AM
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Rough Puppies is now recruiting bomber pilots and fighter escort pilots to form up 3 times a week to run U.S. prime time evening Bomber Raids to the Strats, HQ, and in support of Base Capture Missions.
Squad Nights
Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday night starting at 9pm Eastern (8pm Central, 7pm Mountain, 6pm Pacific) and will run for approximately 2 hours. During this time we will run 1 or 2 missions depending on the distance and time of the first mission. We may adjust the starting times and days based on input from squad members, but this is where we will start.
Non-squad Nights
Do absolutely whatever you want! Drive GV’s, furball, take bases, have fun. There will be no pressure to do anything organized at all other than what you and your squaddies feel like putting together ad-hoc or what you feel like doing alone or with other friends outside the squad. Of course I'll be online a lot on non-squad nights also and we can put together ad-hoc activities. I also enjoy flying fighter sweeps and escorting bombers, so you'll see me in fighters a lot on non-squad nights.
The Lowdown
Bomber Pilots will use the new, very powerful Autopilot Wingman Mode feature. This feature allows a formation of pilots to select a wingleader and then move into an advantageous position to that wingleader and then lock in the position of your planes relative to his. At that point the wingleader is now flying all planes in the formation. One huge advantage to this is that when you go to your guns the formations won't drift apart and you have the advantage of concentrated fire from all planes in the formation. The second big advantage is the ability to carpet bomb. The wingleader calibrates his bombsight while the other pilots man their guns, then on the command of the wingleader all pilots can jump to the pilots position (F1) and drop their bombs. No need for each pilot to calibrate their bomb sight as the wingleader has effectively calibrated for all of the planes in the formation when he calibrates his bomb sight.
This feature is very simple to use and setup:
1. First you must map the Autopilot Wingman Mode on your keyboard. Here is how to do it:
A. Go to "Options" on your clipboard
B. Select "Controls"
C. Select "Map Keys"
D. Select "Flight" on the left lower side of the keyboard display that will pop up
E. Select "Autopilot Wingman Mode"
F. Hold down the CRTL and W keys at the same time (they will both light up)
G. Press "Set Key"
H. Done!
You should only need to set CRTL-W once and you should be ready to go each time you start AH.
Here is a practical application of the above, but there are many more. You have 5 bomber pilots heading to a target to help bring it down, let's name them:
John
Tom
Dick
Harry
Pete
It is decided John will be the wingleader of the formation, so the other four pilots each use the dot command in the text buffer ".wingman John" (without the quotation marks).
The other four pilots will see John's icon turn white indicating the wingman command has been engaged. John goes to "Normal Cruise" rpms and manifold pressure. This allows the other pilots to move into position around John.
For example let's say Tom moves 200 yards to John's left, and Dick moves 200 yards to John's right forming a shallow "V" formation. Harry moves directly behind and above John by 400 yards, and Pete moves directly behind and below John by 400 yards. Harry and Pete have filled in the gap in the rear of the "V" both high and low and all pilots can bring guns to bear on just about every angle of attack from interceptors and their entire formation is only about 400 yards in size. As each pilot finds his position relative to John he holds down CRTL-W to turn on the Autopilot Wingman Mode and at that point John is now flying that pilot's planes. To break the CRTL-W lock simply touch your joystick while in the pilot’s seat, or go to your bombsight and you are flying your own planes again. This allows you to make adjustments to your position or bomb independently and then hit CRTL-W again when you are ready to lock back into the formation. There will be times where carpet bombing will not be the answer and instead each pilot will take control of their planes for precision bombing over the target, but still enjoy the defensive advantage of formation flying in transit to and from the target.
This holds the formation incredibly tight (as long as John doesn't make any radical maneuvers) allowing the other pilots to go to their guns without the formation drifting apart. John can also set his autopilot and man his guns also. Imagine the defensive fire of 5 B-17 formations (15 planes) holding this formation in route to their target.
Now the formation is nearing their target and they want to level the city at the strats or some other target. Harry and Pete swing out of their high and low rear positions and take positions to the left and right of Tom and Dick. The entire group adjusts the width of their formation to their liking and resets the Autopilot Wingman Mode by hitting CRTL-W again. John is now flying all planes again, and this allows John to calibrate the center of the target while the other pilots keep a lookout from their gun positions or F3 knowing that the group will hit everything the width of two formations to the left and right of John. Add more pilots and cut a wider path or split the formation to hit multiple targets.
I have flown in these Wingman Autopilot Mode formations with devastating defensive and bombing results. And then I have continued to fly with some groups that aren't using it with the usual results of being picked apart piecemeal by fighters as our formations drifted apart while we were in our guns either in route or over the target. The difference is night and day.
This also makes missions with the lessor bombers like the He111 and Betty more feasible. Right now a lone formation of He111's is often cannon fodder. A formation of ten He111 pilots (30 He111's) tucked in tight together with fighter escorts would be a different story. We will certainly up these types of formations for some variety and a challenge.
Fighter Escort Pilots
We plan on mixing up the composition of the bomber formations for variety (ie: B-17's one mission, Betty's the next) and flying at realistic bomber altitudes which could be anywhere from 10 or 12k up to 28k depending on the target destination and the bomber’s sweet spot for cruising. So we will be showing a large dar bar for at least 2 or 3 sectors (and often more) that should bring lots of hungry interceptors. That will mean plenty of action for escort fighters also.
We plan to fly to fight, as well as bomb! I have been on some large missions which have become epic battles at 20k, with interceptors tearing through the formations with escorts in pursuit and guns blazing everywhere. In the end the mission is not destroyed but heavily damaged with maybe a 50% loss of pilots and drones, but also many interceptors and escorts shot down and hopefully fun for all. I have been on missions where the entire bomber formation has been destroyed, and I have been on missions where we have devastated the interceptors. The risk is there that should add to the drama and fun!
I will be posting these missions as Pickup Missions to give folks an idea of what we’re doing (both within the squad and outside the squad), but you’re welcome to choose your own skin and come into the mission by upping at the field independent of the mission. Bomber pilots are strongly encouraged to bring the same bomber as listed in the mission, as the different bombers have different rates of climb and cruise speeds making mixed formations difficult to maintain and you will get left behind if you choose a bomber with a slower cruise or climb rate. Escort pilots are encouraged to bring their favorite ride and skin, although I’ll also have several escort fighters listed in the Pickup Mission.
Visitors are Welcome!
Already happy with your current squadron as a bomber pilot or fighter pilot but looking for something new to do? We will be posting these missions on country radio and you are welcome to join us on any or all missions!
New players are also welcome, but I will train you on non-squad nights as we won’t hold up a mission trying to explain the basics.
I plan on rotating the wingleader for the bomber formations from mission to mission to keep things interesting for squad mates and we will often split the formations to hit multiple targets over the strats or bases, so there will be plenty of room for individuality as well as strength in numbers both defensively and offensively.
What Country?
Right now I am flying Bishop, so that's where we will start, but where the Rough Puppies end up flying will depend on where the interest lies. I think most players like a “home country” so if we rotate countries it will be slowly (maybe once every 3 to 6 months) or not at all. This will be a democratic decision by the squad once we are up and running.
Send me a PM if you are interested or look me up in the MA. Join us for a few squad nights to find out if this is your cup of tea and then if things work out for both of us I’ll send you a squad invite. I think I can say this for sure once we are up and running: If you are looking for a fight, or for something different to do 2 or 3 times a week for a couple of hours, come fly with the Rough Puppies!
Minimum Age Requirement is 18
For more information on the Autopilot Wingman Mode here is a thread in Help and Training. Lot's of duplicate information posted by me, but also good information and feedback posted by other AH Players:
http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php/topic,351783.0.html
Badger :salute
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Good Luck Badger.
You are AWESOME :banana:
:salute
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Good Luck Badger.
You are AWESOME :banana:
:salute
Thanks, Ghost.
Good luck at the Naval Academy :salute
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Best of luck to you Badger :salute
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Best of luck to you Badger :salute
Thanks, South.
Badger :salute
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Good luck badger. Hopefully there may be small bomber hunting missions for an apic battle.
:salute
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<S> Rough Puppies sure the squad will be great!
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Good luck badger. Hopefully there may be small bomber hunting missions for an apic battle.
:salute
Thanks, Zach.
I hope so too. Once we get decent numbers in the missions we plane on flying to fight, as well as bomb :)
Ain't no fun if we put good defensive bomber formations together with escorts and nobody tries to shoot us down :lol
My goal will be to get bombers home with damage scores AND kills :aok
Badger :salute
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<S> Rough Puppies sure the squad will be great!
Thanks, Hap!
Badger :salute
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Our first Squad Night and missions will begin tonight Aug 1st at 9pm Eastern :airplane:
We are looking for pilots who are interested in joining Rough Puppies and also for pilots who want to stay in their current squads but fly missions with us, so you're welcome either way :aok
Hope you can join us :cheers:
Badger :salute
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Well, last night was a bust :furious
We had 10 or 12 experienced players show up for a B-17 raid on the strats, and 2 minutes from mission launch the mission vaporized (self deleted?).
I resubmitted it, but then none of us could join it with the error message "You are already in a mission."
After fiddling around for 5 or 10 minutes one player was able to join after restarting AH, and then I found the same to be the case. So everybody would have had to exit and restart AH...oh well, never mind.
Sorry guys...I appreciate you showing up. I've never seen this happen before and I hope to never see it again.
Will try again Saturday night. Too bad...with 10 or 12 B-17's over the strats during prime time in tight formation we would have had a helluva good fight :D
Badger :salute
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Three pilots total (9 B-17's) in the Strat raid on Saturday night (including me) and we had a good time, but all planes were lost (the last one was shot down on final approach to landing). Almost half our planes were picked off before we could form up by what might have been a reception party. We got two kills and smoked a couple of others including a 262.
A friend from another country told me on Friday there had been a reception party planned by his country for our aborted Thursday night raid for sure. Of course, we might have hit the other country (actually, I was going to). But based on the 10+ pilots who showed up for the Thursday raid we would have likely destroyed the reception party in any case :t
But based on that I'm going to run the missions "whenever" rather than on specific nights and times published here on the bbs :D
Badger :salute
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message sent. let me know if you did not receive.
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message sent. let me know if you did not receive.
Got'em.
Thanks, Hap.
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The Rough Puppies welcome BluBerry :cheers:
Blu has accepted the position of Executive Officer (XO) and will be our Escort Fighter Lead.
Blu will be involved in all aspects of squad operations including mission planning and escort tactics.
Badger :salute
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The Rough Puppies welcome BluBerry :cheers:
Blu has accepted the position of Executive Officer (XO) and will be our Escort Fighter Lead.
Blu will be involved in all aspects of squad operations including mission planning and escort tactics.
Badger :salute
Glad to be on board! :cheers:
I'm also excited to be flying with you again badger. :salute
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Watch out if you attack rooks :t
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P-47 vs 152 at 20K would be an interesting fight. :D
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P-47 vs 152 at 20K would be an interesting fight. :D
Eek!
Down low a d25 vs 152 is fun. I need to find blu on his perch to really test this out :devil
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It's a whole different world up there in the wide open skies and thin air :aok
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(http://i1205.photobucket.com/albums/bb426/Danny_Winters/RoughPuppies.jpg~original)
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(http://i1205.photobucket.com/albums/bb426/Danny_Winters/RoughPuppies.jpg~original)
That looks damn good blu! :aok
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That looks damn good blu! :aok
Thanks Zach.
:cheers:
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Special thanks goes out to Cashew, FineTime, Gonzales, 1Eagle1, and all the guys in bombers and escorts who flew with the Rough Puppies last night to first drop the Rooks HQ and put out their lights, and then on our second mission hit the Rook's Strats and break everything we could :D
Of course, the Rooks didn't like that and came up like we had beaten a hornet's nest resulting in a massive fisticuffs at 25k :aok
Want to fly in precision bombing raids or fly escorts and fight in giant furballs at 25k?
Come fly with the Rough Puppies :airplane:
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Best of luck to Badger and the Rough Puppies - good leader!
Ammo
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Best of luck to Badger and the Rough Puppies - good leader!
Ammo
Thanks, Ammo :salute
Badger
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Well, we got the best of the Rooks last night so I decided to try a high risk mission tonight: A simulated Japanese bombing raid on Singapore in Jan 1942. We went in with G4M1 Betties and an all Japanese fighter escort. We hit a port and an adjacent town center while under duress and got all bombs on target but it wasn't pretty after that. Our Betties shot down at least 2 interceptors and our escorts got 2 or 3 more, but in the end we were overwhelmed by superior numbers and American and German technology!
It came as no surprise that TonyJoey was the last member of our mission still fighting in his Zero as he died like a true samurai warrior! Thanks to the brave members of our mission who sacrificed their cartoon lives in the name of fun! :salute
Badger
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Fly high, fly real...
For you P-51 and P-47 guys, the Rough Puppies will give you the chance to fly and fight in those high altitude fighters where they were designed to fly. Yes, they were also great jabo planes, but they were primarily designed for high altitude escort work and the Rough Puppies will give you the chance to develop high altitude fighting skills that you may not otherwise get!
When the Rough Puppies go into the Strats or other targets at realistic bombing altitudes we are very often met by the best German fighters of WWII due to their superior rate of climb for quick response and cannons for killing bombers. This sets up classic dogfights between the best fighters of WWII the way they were really fought. For one of the most realistic dogfighting experiences in the LWMA join the Rough Puppies :salute
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Hello Rough Puppies!
I'm a green horn bomber pilot getting better with each mission. I would like to join please :salute
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Hello Popeye,
Thanks for your interest in the Rough Puppies! PM sent.
Badger :salute
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The Rough Puppies welcome Popeye27 :cheers:
Badger :salute
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Here is a diagram of a formation flown by the U.S. Army Air Force 2nd Bomb Group in an actual WWII mission flown on August 29, 1944. A picture is worth a thousand words, and this image shows what happened to the laggers...they were shot down.
The moral of the story in the image below is to get yourself tucked in close to your buddies and hold that position using the Autopilot Wingman Mode function so you won't drift apart when you are in your guns.
Because each bomber pilot controls 3 planes in his formation in Aces High it takes only 8 pilots to form a formation very similar to the diagram below, and we will fly smaller segments of the diagram when we have less than 8 pilots.
There were also altitude variations used in WWII bombing formations (high, center, and low positions within a formation), but as the war progressed the elevation differences were minimized to "pack'em in tight." So we will focus most on the horizontal and less on the vertical to keep things simple, fun, and VERY effective.
Whether flying with 3, 4, 5 or more bomber pilots, by using the formation concept below and holding it with the Autopilot Wingman Mode the chance for survival of the entire formation is greatly enhanced. The width of the formation makes it more dangerous for interceptors to approach the "Tail End Charlie" positions and the length of the formation makes raking frontal, top and bottom approaches by interceptors more difficult.
(http://imageshack.us/a/img443/5460/h5mm.jpg)
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"We always crossed the enemy lines at a minimum altitude of 18,000 feet. This enabled us to avoid small arms fire. Our rate of climb after take off was calculated to achieve this goal. The weather played a big roll in establishing the bomb run altitude. The average was 26,000 to 27,000 feet. My highest was 28,500. Our bomb group had dropped from 30,000 plus on one occasion."
Bill Runnels
Bombardier(B-17)
8TH Air Force
HELL'S ANGELS
303RDBG, 360THBS
http://forum.armyairforces.com/Typical-altitude-for-B17-missions-m72178.aspx
http://www.303rdbg.com/runnels-memories.html
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This squad sounds like exactly what I'm looking for. How do I contact the Rough Puppies recruiting office?
Vudoo
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This squad sounds like exactly what I'm looking for. How do I contact the Rough Puppies recruiting office?
Vudoo
Hello Vudoo,
PM sent...
Badger :salute
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The Rough Puppies welcome Vudoo :cheers:
Badger :salute
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Thanks Boss. Glad to be here!
Awesome Squadron! :aok
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The Rough Puppies welcome Qauzara :cheers:
Badger :salute
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Welcome aboard Quazara! Looking forward to flying with ya!
Vudoo
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A big thank you to everyone who joined the Rough Puppies pickup missions last night in the LWMA!
On our first mission named "30 Seconds Over Tokyo" we took B-25's NOE to the Rook Strats, popped to 1500 feet and bombed the city center in a raid designed to recreate the famous Jimmy Doolittle raid on Tokyo in April 1942.
Our second mission named "Raid on German Aircraft Factory" was a recreation of a canceled Allied raid planned in 1943 that we finally completed 70 years later! Special thanks to Cashew for researching the story to put this together :aok
The third mission was a raid on the Rook Strats in 8th AAF style where we survived relentless attacks by 262's, 109's, and 152's beginning 2 sectors out.
We had many VIP's join our missions last night including Vudu15 who may put some of the action on YouTube for your viewing enjoyment! Thanks, Vudu :aok
Badger :salute
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Badger,
It's good to see you guys enjoying some success! Best of luck to you and your members!
:salute
Ammo
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Ive flown several times with the Rough Puppies over the last month and am encouraged with the progress that has been made so far. I think with each run the pilots get better and more experienced. Getting comfortable with these runs and anticipating what to do next is something not easily achieved without grinding it out and flying in the missions. Over the next month id like to see these formations begin to maximize damage output a little better once the kinks of formation flying is worked out with the lesser experienced pilots.
<S> I have to say for bomber pilots with a nasty taste for nme interceptors your not going to find a more exciting fight. 25k with 3-10 sets of buff is a force to contend with and damn near suicide for any who try to "Shoot the ball" :airplane: :rock
Hope to see many out tomorrow night 9pm CST.
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I just realized its you and your boys with the huge darbar at strats late at night
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Badger,
It's good to see you guys enjoying some success! Best of luck to you and your members!
:salute
Ammo
Thanks, Ammo!
Badger :salute
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Ive flown several times with the Rough Puppies over the last month and am encouraged with the progress that has been made so far. I think with each run the pilots get better and more experienced. Getting comfortable with these runs and anticipating what to do next is something not easily achieved without grinding it out and flying in the missions. Over the next month id like to see these formations begin to maximize damage output a little better once the kinks of formation flying is worked out with the lesser experienced pilots.
<S> I have to say for bomber pilots with a nasty taste for nme interceptors your not going to find a more exciting fight. 25k with 3-10 sets of buff is a force to contend with and damn near suicide for any who try to "Shoot the ball" :airplane: :rock
Hope to see many out tomorrow night 9pm CST.
Thank you, FineTime :aok
Badger :salute
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I just realized its you and your boys with the huge darbar at strats late at night
That would be us :aok
Wanna come up and play :devil
Badger :salute
P.S. If the 56th rotate to Bishop we would love to have you join our Pickup Missions as escorts. That huge darbar guarantees one helluva fight up there in 47 country :aok
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The Rough Puppies welcome Rogue11 :cheers:
Badger :salute
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9pm cst Tonight see you all there <S>
:airplane: :airplane: :airplane:
:airplane: :airplane: :airplane: :airplane: :airplane: :airplane:
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Hello all, Badger said I could come and put something on as I am now a new member of the squad.
Bombers are mainly my thing at the moment, look forward to flying with you all.
HornetUK
Ben from Norfolk UK
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The Rough Puppies welcome HornetUK :cheers:
Badger :salute
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The Rough Puppies welcome Lightace :cheers:
Badger :salute
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I got to run a P40 with the Puppies here and it was a good deal of fun with some serious shoot out.
Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMIn0uph-a4 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMIn0uph-a4)
Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJPj5xCyrHQ (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJPj5xCyrHQ)
Part 3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PcJ8FzSlf0 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PcJ8FzSlf0)
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The Rough Puppies have moved to Rook as our new home country :aok
Our Squad Vox is still 141
Badger :salute
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Do you want your pilots good at both buff and fitr...or?
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Good luck with the squad Badger, had fun with our duels and batfink. :salute
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Do you want your pilots good at both buff and fitr...or?
Hello Kenne,
Strictly bomber pilots, or strictly fighter pilots, or pilots who like to fly both are all welcome. You will be assigned to either the Bombardment Flight or the Fighter Escort Flight based on your preference, but can fly in either role on any given mission. And of course you can do whatever you want on non-squad nights.
Badger :salute
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Good luck with the squad Badger, had fun with our duels and batfink. :salute
Thanks, Estes.
Also had a great time dueling with you and batfink and look forward to more in the future :aok
Badger :salute
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Badger is a great guy to fly with, and he's saved my butt more times than I can count.
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Badger is a great guy to fly with, and he's saved my butt more times than I can count.
Thanks, Zoney, but probably the other way around :lol
Zoney is one of the first guys to take me under his wing and teach me the ropes in AH.
Badger :salute
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Hello Kenne,
Strictly bomber pilots, or strictly fighter pilots, or pilots who like to fly both are all welcome. You will be assigned to either the Bombardment Flight or the Fighter Escort Flight based on your preference, but can fly in either role on any given mission. And of course you can do whatever you want on non-squad nights.
Badger :salute
well m bttr at buff than fiter.
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well m bttr at buff than fiter.
PM sent...
Badger :salute