Late at night, on the NATOMA map:
A suspicious, slow moving darbar has been spotted. Could be heading for the AA
02:58 CET Taking off from A83 in a TA 152H-1. Loadout 75% fuel + drop tank
Darbar is moving kinda erratically through sectors 11-12, 11-13 and 12-13. First moving towards strat area over the ocean, then away from it. Using sector dar, flashing shore batteries and CV dars to narrow down search area and possible headings
03:16 CET I have guessed his vector correctly. Enemy contact spotted in sector 11-12-2. A box of bombers, well above my current altitude of 25,000 feet. Definitely a strat runner
03:19 CET Co-alt achieved at 32,000 feet. Strat runner is a set of B-17s. Beginning maneuvers to get into a favorable attack position.
03:21 CET SAAB, who apparently had the same suspicions about that darbar, shows up in his Spitfire 14 at 33,000 feet. It's becoming obvious that the bomber pilot is a veteran. He is maneuvering in a clever way to foil the setup
03:23 CET First shots are fired. Got some hits, but nothing decisive. Approach wasn't very good.
03:24 CET Second pass, overhead. Good hits on lead, but no apparent effect.
03:27 CET Third pass, frontal top attack, firing around D400. Again, good hits on lead. Parts fly away, fuel leaks.
A few seconds later, SAAB dives onto the bombers from 37,000 feet to commence a high-speed rollercoaster attack from abeam. His right wing disintegrates, either from defensive gunfire or collision. At the same time, he sets one bomber on fire, but I get the kill credit. Sucks for him. The identity of the bomber pilot is now known, it's a certain "Thunderegg". Never heard of that guy
03:30 CET Fourth pass, top side attack. Again good hits on lead, parts fly off, but the defensive fire knocks out my oil cooler.
03:33 CET Fifth pass. This time the lead blows up.
03:34 CET Tried to get into another attack position, but ran out of oil. Shut off the engine and start gliding home.
03:42 CET Landed at the base and had to take a break. Combat beyond 30k is exhausting for an old man.
The whole sortie took me 44 minutes, of which 18 minutes were spent in contact with the enemy, for one kill and a shared one. It was definitely the highlight of that night
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Thunderegg, if you want to do something cinematic with your film, you might want to use my film as well:
https://www.mediafire.com/file/qs52swqvldxq2ts/film205_vs_ThunderEgg_at_alt.ahf/fileJust like old times, Lusche. Fun stuff!!
In the old times, you would have had another dozen formation at your side, and most importantly: Escorts.
