Made two mistakes....

[Widewing]

Mistake #1

Last evening (Friday), I was flying an A-20 with 50% fuel southwest of A27 on the NDisles map. I leveled off at about 600 feet and was having a discussion with another player. I set course for a friendly CV. I wasn't paying any attention while I scanned the map and relayed the position of a high bandit inbound to the base. I didn't notice the CV flashing...

I spotted the 109K-4 hugging the water as he angled in 45 degrees off A-20's left, turning in behind me 600 yards out. Uh-oh, my complete inattention now required some fast work.

Mistake #2:

Caught flat-footed, I had to drop the clipboard, open the bomb bay, pickle off 4 bombs one at a time, then close the bomb bay, all while maneuvering into a climbing turn. Yeah, I was busy. I evaded him well enough to cause an overshoot, but when I went to dump flaps (which shares a 4-way with the landing gear) to roll in behind the 109, I accidentally dropped the gear. I also managed to hit the auto level button (just above the 4-way) when I went to raise the gear. Swearing beneath my breath, I wrestled the A-20's autopilot out of its attempt to level the bomber, which takes several minute-like seconds to do. That gave the 109 a snap shot, but I regained control and managed to avoid any damage of consequence.

Gofbat tried his best. He stuck it out when he could have fled. He demonstrated a desire to fight, even when it was obvious that it wasn't going the way he'd hoped. That is a great attitude, something many vets could learn from. He's going to be a good pilot with some experience and perhaps some training.

Here's a brief film... Kind of comical as I'm all knees and elbows trying to gather it all up and then screwing it up to boot. View it in Fixed View with Trails on. Zoom in and use the sliders to follow the fight. You can double-click on names to switch plane views. And yes, when flying a bomber I do use F3 view (can't see behind).

http://home.att.net/~historyzone/Gofbat.ahf

As to my mistakes... Situational awareness is probably the most important aspect of Aces High in the arenas. I violated my own rule of keeping one's head out of the cockpit. Enemies can show up anywhere, anytime. I was lucky I noticed the 109 at all.

Careful attention to setting one's controls is very important. I have my flaps and landing gear switches sharing a 4-way hat. This wasn't the first time I lowered the gear and the flaps when all I wanted was the flaps. It's not a major issue, assuming you catch it immediately. I turned up the volume for landing gear sound, so I don't miss it in the future. Just above that 4-way hat is a button I had mapped for auto-level. It's barely a 1/4 inch from the hat... I remapped that switch as the bomb bay door toggle.

Long-time vets make mistakes. They get complacent. They ignore potential issues until bit on the left cheek by them. The key is to learn from them, and hope to run into a relatively new player like Gofbat when the mistakes or complacency pay a visit.


My regards,

Widewing

[Mace2004]

Howdy Widewing...haven't viewed the film yet but your description reminds me of the description of problems early P38's had when jumped enroute.  Switching fuel to internal, arming then pickling drop tanks, changing mixture to auto-rich, turning on the gunsight plus a few other things that have to be done right as they're getting jumped.  We usually got it pretty easy in AH .... except for that darned text buffer. 

Just watched the film....I actually wonder who was more surprised there...you or him.  Loved the bomb pitch 

[Traveler]

The F3 view is really very gamie.  It appears from what I saw you fly with tracers off, something else that also never happed in real word aireal combat.  Ordnance Loadout policy was dictated by army and navy comand policy and not something that even a company  CO could over ride, let alone a butter bar pilot.  

[TequilaChaser]

The F3 view is really very gamie.  It appears from what I saw you fly with tracers off, something else that also never happed in real word aireal combat.  Ordnance Loadout policy was dictated by army and navy comand policy and not something that even a company  CO could over ride, let alone a butter bar pilot.  

oh nos.... Widewing....... Murdr gonna make you clean the Head! now.....you so gamey

[Mace2004]

The F3 view is really very gamie.  It appears from what I saw you fly with tracers off, something else that also never happed in real word aireal combat.  Ordnance Loadout policy was dictated by army and navy comand policy and not something that even a company  CO could over ride, let alone a butter bar pilot.  

Nahh...squadron's pick their ammo loadouts.  If they wanted no tracers or all tracers that's what their ordies will do.

[Hungry]

Hehe, besides the tactical part my favorite was "Several Minute Like Seconds" weve all been there <S>

[BnZs]

Gofbat tried his best. He stuck it out when he could have fled. He demonstrated a desire to fight, even when it was obvious that it wasn't going the way he'd hoped. That is a great attitude, something many vets could learn from. He's going to be a good pilot with some experience and perhaps some training.

 

Oh pshawww. I don't have a problem with you Wide, but come on...If one can pull one's chestnuts out of the fire with horsepower, one should go ahead and get out of dodge. Otherwise, we might as well all putter about  in Zekes. At 1:14 or 1:40 he certainly should have gone for more separation and gotten his head together.

Oh, btw, Traveler:

"[The commanding officer] ordered the tracer ammo removed...I'll never forget the spectacular results we got. Our kill rate went up from 50 to 100 percent."

--Colonel Charles W. King, USAAF
5 victories, WWII, as quoted in Fighter Combat by Robert Shaw

As far as outside view goes, you know the A-20 has no rear-view to speak of right? But it does have a rear gunner, so the f3 view makes up for that level of eye coverage. In real life, I suppose one would simply break every time the gunner shouted "Oh $@%@#$^@!!!"

[Widewing]

The F3 view is really very gamie.  It appears from what I saw you fly with tracers off, something else that also never happed in real word aireal combat.  Ordnance Loadout policy was dictated by army and navy comand policy and not something that even a company  CO could over ride, let alone a butter bar pilot.  

Gamie? Tell ya what, I'll take a 109K-4 and you take an A-20. If you don't use F3, you will never see me after the initial merge. If you use F3, you'll see me... For about 10 seconds before you get to revisit the tower.

If I had 999000 gunning for me, I'd never even think about anything behind me... It would be shredded wheat. But as it is, I fly without a gunner 99% of the time (999000 would be stealing all my kills anyway) and never have a wingman. Flying an A-20 means that I don't need bait. Better yet, a Boston attracts trouble like dog doo draws flies. The Boston easily outflies the heavier A-20.

Tracers were part of an ammo load-out if it was desired. Many Groups left it to the discretion of squadron COs, who sometimes left it to the individual pilots. Turn them off and it'll make you a better shot. Besides, why tip your hand? Let them realize their situation when pieces start falling off.

8th AF studies indicated that tracer ammo was of little value. Modern fighter gunsights (especially the K14) completely eliminated the need for it in fighters. If you watch late-war gun camera film from USAAF fighters, tracers are rarely seen. Tracers were even deemed undesirable for bomber gun mounts as they created a serious issue with gunners ignoring their sights and trying to use tracers to lead targets. This simply didn't work. It doesn't work in the game either.

My regards,

Widewing

[Widewing]

Oh pshawww. I don't have a problem with you Wide, but come on...If one can pull one's chestnuts out of the fire with horsepower, one should go ahead and get out of dodge. Otherwise, we might as well all putter about  in Zekes. At 1:14 or 1:40 he certainly should have gone for more separation and gotten his head together.

Well of course! You or I would have extended, gone vertical and pushed the A-20 real hard. But, this fellow is a new player. He had a great fighter, but didn't quite know how to use it. That and the shock effect of having to fight for your life against a damned bomber ($@#%*&@!). As I said, he wasn't very good, but he was very game. That's the beginning of getting to be very good. Running never dawned on the guy. For that, I give him credit. You know, I thought he was going to HO me, so I beat him to the punch and took the tight angle quarter shot. I realized later when reviewing the film that he never even considered going for an HO. That's another thing to his credit. I don't even know the guy, but I like him already.


My regards,

Widewing

[Widewing]

Howdy Widewing...haven't viewed the film yet but your description reminds me of the description of problems early P38's had when jumped enroute.  Switching fuel to internal, arming then pickling drop tanks, changing mixture to auto-rich, turning on the gunsight plus a few other things that have to be done right as they're getting jumped.  We usually got it pretty easy in AH .... except for that darned text buffer. 

Just watched the film....I actually wonder who was more surprised there...you or him.  Loved the bomb pitch 

Yeah, it gets real busy when you're not prepared for a fight... I have a copy of Colonel Harold J. Rau's (20th FG Commander) letter the 8th AF Fighter Command on P-38 combat problems. I've cut and pasted in what you are referring to.

20th Fighter Group Headquarters
APO 637 U.S. Army
(E-2)

3 June 1944

Subject: P-38 Airplane in Combat.

To: Commanding General, VIII Fighter Command, APO 637, U.S. Army.

1. The following observations are being put in writing by the undersigned at the request of the Commanding General, VII FC. They are intended purely as constructive criticism and are intended in any way to "low rate" our present equipment.

2. After flying the P-38 for a little over one hundred hours on combat missions it is my belief that the airplane, as it stands now, is too complicated for the 'average' pilot. I want to put strong emphasis on the word 'average, taking full consideration just how little combat training our pilots have before going on as operational status.

3. As a typical case to demonstrate my point, let us assume that we have a pilot fresh out of flying school with about a total of twenty-five hours in a P-38, starting out on a combat mission. He is on a deep ramrod, penetration and target support to maximum endurance. He is cruising along with his power set at maximum economy. He is pulling 31" Hg and 2100 RPM. He is auto lean and running on external tanks. His gun heater is off to relieve the load on his generator, which frequently gives out (under sustained heavy load). His sight is off to save burning out the bulb. His combat switch may or may not be on. Flying along in this condition, he suddenly gets "bounced", what to do flashes through his mind. He must turn, he must increase power and get rid of those external tanks and get on his main. So, he reaches down and turns two stiff, difficult gas switches {valves} to main - turns on his drop tank switches, presses his release button, puts the mixture to auto rich (two separate and clumsy operations), increases his RPM, increases his manifold pressure, turns on his gun heater switch (which he must feel for and cannot possibly see), turns on his combat switch and he is ready to fight. At this point, he has probably been shot down or he has done one of several things wrong. Most common error is to push the throttles wide open before increasing RPM. This causes detonation and subsequent engine failure. Or, he forgets to switch back to auto rich, and gets excessive cylinder head temperature with subsequent engine failure.

Thank God I had just three things to do... I was already at MIL power, guns charged, gunsight on, main tanks selected..

Pitching off bombs is something I do often when flying the A-20. Did it several times last night. I actually got a kill once with the bombs. I dumped them and chased a fighter down to the deck in a dive (I was flying an F6F). The enemy fighter arrived on the deck, turned hard left and ended up at the wrong place and at the wrong time. The two 1,000 pounders hit the ground right in front him as he skimmed the trees. He disappeared in a flash. Inasmuch as I can't possibly get those results on purpose, I felt the immediate need to go buy a lottery ticket.


My regards,

Widewing

[Mace2004]

Gamie? Tell ya what, I'll take a 109K-4 and you take an A-20. If you don't use F3, you will never see me after the initial merge. If you use F3, you'll see me... For about 10 seconds before you get to revisit the tower.

If I had 999000 gunning for me, I'd never even think about anything behind me... It would be shredded wheat. But as it is, I fly without a gunner 99% of the time (999000 would be stealing all my kills anyway) and never have a wingman. Flying an A-20 means that I don't need bait. Better yet, a Boston attracts trouble like dog doo draws flies. The Boston easily outflies the heavier A-20.

Tracers were part of an ammo load-out if it was desired. Many Groups left it to the discretion of squadron COs, who sometimes left it to the individual pilots. Turn them off and it'll make you a better shot. Besides, why tip your hand? Let them realize their situation when pieces start falling off.

8th AF studies indicated that tracer ammo was of little value. Modern fighter gunsights (especially the K14) completely eliminated the need for it in fighters. If you watch late-war gun camera film from USAAF fighters, tracers are rarely seen. Tracers were even deemed undesirable for bomber gun mounts as they created a serious issue with gunners ignoring their sights and trying to use tracers to lead targets. This simply didn't work. It doesn't work in the game either.

My regards,

Widewing

That's interesting about the tracer stats because we still use them even though we have radar gunsights.  Our standard TP or HEI belts loads were one tracer to five TP/HEI, however, the caution about using them to aim still stands.  Most don't know it (and I don't think it's replicated in AH) but tracers have different ballistics than the TP or HEI rounds due to the burning phosphorus in the base.  The main thing we used it for was feedback so you knew if you hit with the tracer your other rounds were close, something useful mostly in strafing.  If I had my druthers, I'd load my MG's with with tracers and leave the cannon without.  This would work great with the usual US 6 gun packages. Many will break when they see the tracers which gives you a nice plan form to shoot at or to get a trailer off a wingman from long distance.   On the other hand, there are plenty of times that it would be nice to snipe without the warning.

[Widewing]

That's interesting about the tracer stats because we still use them even though we have radar gunsights.  Our standard TP or HEI belts loads were one tracer to five TP/HEI, however, the caution about using them to aim still stands.  Most don't know it (and I don't think it's replicated in AH) but tracers have different ballistics than the TP or HEI rounds due to the burning phosphorus in the base.  The main thing we used it for was feedback so you knew if you hit with the tracer your other rounds were close, something useful mostly in strafing.  If I had my druthers, I'd load my MG's with with tracers and leave the cannon without.  This would work great with the usual US 6 gun packages. Many will break when they see the tracers which gives you a nice plan form to shoot at or to get a trailer off a wingman from long distance.   On the other hand, there are plenty of times that it would be nice to snipe without the warning.

In contrast to the 8th AF, 9th AF fighters used tracers in combination with API ammo (1 to 5 ratio). It was felt that strafing required the ability to walk fire onto a ground target.

My regards,

Widewing

[Murdr]

From Shaw p.10 in the edition I have...

[The commanding officer] ordered the tracer ammo removed...I'll never forget the spectacular results we got.  Our kill rate went up from 50 to 100 percent.
Col Charles W King, USAF, 5 Victories WWII

[Karnak]

I have a HOTAS Cougar and pedals, but despite all of that two things I don't put on the stick or throttle are the gear and engine toggles as I never use them other than the very start and very end (hopefully) of a sortie.  For controls used only in those circumstances, I think the keyboard is fine.